Salesforce is not just a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, it is an entire ecosystem that can independently handle the entire sales and even some of the marketing process in a company. According to a recent study, Best CRM Software 2015, by Business News Daily, Salesforce is currently one of the best, all-in-one, cloud CRM software for small businesses while another study by Fit Small Business pegs it as the largest CRM provider today with an annual turnover of $4.1 billion.

Top CRM products for Small Business

For a small business, it is all about growing by boosting the sales and gaining more customers. Due to its relatively small size, a small business has to work hard to create a systematic, efficient process of gathering leads and converting them into prospects and then loyal customers.

It is a time consuming process and a good CRM can cut the effort and cost into half, by not only offering a host of valuable features and tools but also by automating the most crucial sales and marketing processes freeing up valuable resources to concentrate on closing sales. The market is not lacking in options for a good CRM and depending on a company's budget and growth, one can choose from High-end CRM like Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, mid-range CRM like Microsoft Dynamics, Sage or basic CRM like Zoho, Nimble, Insightly.

Why Salesforce

However, when it comes to an overall CRM that has all the tools to manage, organize, track activities and get the right analytics and metrics to grow a business, Salesforce stands out from the rest. It is one of the few CRMs that can be tailored to fit a company's needs, can seamlessly automate and streamline the entire sales process and offers a host of add-ons and configuration options to cater to any market.

• • All-in-one, Cloud-based CRM – Salesforce is perfect for all types of businesses, but when it comes to small businesses, Salesforce Small Business Solutions is a comprehensive package offering important features like:

lead generation

opportunity management

contact management

forecasting

workflow automation

reports and dashboards

collaboration with built-in social tools

mobile access (Salesforce1)

All of this is available on a single platform. Moreover, since it is on the cloud, users can access their data anytime, anywhere.

• • Scalable and Easy to Use – Though as a system it handles a lot of complex processes, a simple user interface makes is easy for a user to access the tools and interact with the CRM. Salesforce is also a highly scalable system and can be turned up or down according to the company's requirements. The best part is, there is no minimum user count meaning any business can implement Salesforce irrespective of the number of employees they have, the only thing is, it works best for a business with a dedicated sales team.. Salesforce also offers superb and reliable customer support with 24x7 live chat and toll-free calling for those who need help with any issue.
  • Customizable – With customizable dashboards users can get a quick overview of business performance and relevant metrics. A simple navigation bar on top (Home, Contacts, Accounts, Leads, Campaigns, Opportunities etc.) means easy access to various tabs and sections and businesses can further boost their operations with a host of add-ons from its extensive AppExchange portfolio or integrate with different kinds of third-party apps, software and ERPs. It also works as an efficient reporting tool and offers a streamlined, systematic approach to sales and marketing processes.

Benefits of Salesforce

The best advantage of using Salesforce is it makes the sales and marketing team productive and efficient by catering to a company's specific needs. While the benefits of a robust CRM are numerous, with Salesforce, the ones that stand out most are:

• • Sales Performance Management – From lead generation to campaign management, everything related to a company's sales process such as evaluating sales performance, tracking progress, setting goals, etc. can be managed from Salesforce.
• • Process Automation – By automating processes like contact management, reporting, lead generation, workflow, email marketing, businesses can minimize the scope for human error and save on time and resources.
• • Real-time Data – Salesforce dashboards and report provide a customized, comprehensive bird's eye view of how the business is performing.
• • Third-party Integrations – Salesforce can be integrated with different third-party apps, including those on the Salesforce AppExchange as well as other ERP, Accounting, Marketing software.