Needing a CRM tool usually means your business is on the right track; it’s flourishing and growing and you’re ready to implement a tool to tidy up your operations. A CRM can take your [if us_office]organization[/if] [if uk_office]organisation[/if] to the next level, but only if you choose the right fit for your business. It’s a decision you shouldn’t take lightly.

With there being so many CRMs out there, we thought it would be helpful to put together a comparative guide of the two giants in the market. If you’re looking for a CRM that is inclusive and comprehensive, the market leaders are Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce. But which comes out on top? 

Why Dynamics 365 vs Salesforce?

To begin with, you might be wondering why we’re comparing these two CRMs in particular, when there are hundreds out there that can perform similar functions such as managing customer information, tracking sales, offering customer service and analysing data. The reason Dynamics 365 and Salesforce dominate the market is because of the extent of their capabilities. They both have competitively broad functionality meaning they offer much more than just the typical core functions you would expect from a CRM tool. 

Here is an overview of both of their main CRM features:

Pricing

Dynamics 365:

You can look up Dynamic’s pricing online, but many vendors will work out custom pricing and discounts when licensing multiple products so always get in touch and try to negotiate a better deal. 

Salesforce:

Pricing for Salesforce can be complicated due to the various apps, licensing levels and add-ons you need to consider when working out the potential cost. [if us_office]Personalized[/if] [if uk_office]Personalised[/if] pricing is an option for companies who require multiple modules together which can be worked out by the vendor for you. 

Pros & Cons

Pros: Salesforce

• Salesforce manages its customers in-house, and is well known for its customer-centric approach. 
• AppExchange, Salesforce’s B2B store for third-party integrations, is one of the biggest in the industry and allows businesses to get the most out of the platform.
• Salesforce has a ready to use and mature Marketing Cloud that’s had all it’s ‘bumps in the road’ smoothed out already.
• Salesforce has strong e-commerce capabilities, which will only get better now that Demandware, a retailer eCommerce platform, has been acquired.

Pros: Dynamics 365

• Dynamics 365 is reasonably priced and has a flexible licencing strategy, making it more affordable and accessible to small enterprises.
• LinkedIn is already integrated with Dynamics 365. Microsoft Relationship Sales is a hybrid of Dynamics 365 for Sales and LinkedIn Sales Navigator that uses LinkedIn data to discover leads and helps build connections through tailored engagement.

• Dynamics 365 benefits from seamless integration with other Microsoft products, such as Office 365, Outlook and business intelligence tool Power BI.
• Through its Service Level Agreement, Microsoft pledges to provide 99.9% uptime. Salesforce's Service Level Agreement (SLA) is only provided upon request and must be negotiated.

Cons: Salesforce

• Salesforce is a stand-alone CRM. You'll need to install connectors if you want Salesforce to share its data with other business apps, such as your ERP. The fees of these connectors might quickly add up if you [if us_office]utilize[/if] [if uk_office]utilise[/if] a lot of other software.
• According to some users, Salesforce’s field service management module, Field Service Lightning, doesn’t match up to Dynamics 365’s Field Service app, as it’s not as integral to the overall CRM solution. 

Cons: Dynamics 365

• Dynamics 365 is still a very young product, having been released only in late 2016, which is why some companies are still hesitant to invest in it.
• Dynamics 365 is [if us_office]customizable[/if] [if uk_office]customisable[/if], but businesses without development experience may find the process difficult to master. 

Dynamics 365 and Salesforce have become market leaders because they have extensive capabilities. Their features are fairly comparable making it difficult to decide between the two, but the choice often comes down to the pricing format. Since businesses have different needs and requirements, their CRM needs to be [if us_office]customizable[/if] [if uk_office]customisable[/if] and come with a [if us_office]personalized[/if] [if uk_office]personalized[/if] pricing plan.

If you’d like to know more about how Dynamics 365 can be [if us_office]customized[/if] [if uk_office]customised[/if] to suit your company’s needs, speak to a member of our team today. We use it ourselves, so we’re sure we can help.