Going to implement marketing automation and considering SalesForce? We advice to view similar platforms to make a decision.

When clients choose marketing automation software, in most cases they are looking for functionality for email builder, marketing lead database, landing page builder, lead scoring, segmentation etc.

Comparing SalesForce with competitors people pay attention to the automation builder, customer data platform, chatbots, conversations, survey builder, segmentation, number of triggers and actions and so on.

We’ve compiled a list of top 10 competitors that are very resembling in cost and features to SalesForce. The list is based on popularity, so if SalesForce doesn’t suit you in any way, here you can easily select the best variant for you.

E2 Shop System

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We help shops and manufacturers of all kinds and sizes work smarter for improved efficiencies, greater flexibility and bigger profits.

SalesCRM

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SalesCRM is the best CRM for Startups. SalesCRM is a sales CRM software specifically designed for meeting the needs of small businesses. This CRM software is a highly recommended CRM for startups, growing agencies, and is ideally suited for generating detailed reports and allowing better project supervision and management.

EngageBay

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With a limit of 1,000 contacts and 1,000 emails/month, Enagebay CRM suggests its users the cheapest paid plans of the 3 providers. The basic plan will cost you $12 a month per user, and it includes 10,000 contacts and the same amount of emails.

edge CRM

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Designated as India's Most Promising CRM, edge CRM is a customer relationship management platform conceived, instigated, and perfected by salespeople for the salespeople. edge CRM is a completely customizable CRM suitable for all business sizes pertaining to every industry profile.

Zendesk

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Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds software designed to improve customer relationships. As employees, we encourage each other to grow and innovate. As a company, we roll up our sleeves to plant roots in the communities we call home.

Wealthbox

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Wealthbox is a web-and-mobile CRM application for financial professionals. Integrated with leading broker-dealers and wealth-tech partners, Wealthbox is known for its modern product design that results in a powerful yet simple user-experience for RIA firms of all sizes.

Commence CRM Software

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Commence is a complete CRM solution designed to automate the front-end business process that impacts the sales execution and customer service including contact and account management and email.

Social CRM

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The SocialCRM auto shop marketing service provides a comprehensive approach to attracting and retaining customers, using the latest digital marketing strategies to engage customers and accelerate business growth.

LeadMaster

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Our CRM our philosophy is based upon taking complex applications than making them easy and affordable.  LeadMaster offers CRM solutions with personal guidance to help you get set up quickly and successfully. LeadMaster will be tailored according to your business' unique needs. The monthly subscription covers installation, upgrades, maintenance, and software licensing. There are 3 versions of the software: Lead-Xpress, CRM-Xpress and Professional, starting from $10/user per month.

Agile CRM

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Agile CRM is an all-in-one, affordable, next-generation CRM software that is globally trusted by 15,000+businesses. This All-in-One CRM is an ideal tool for contact management, closing deals, organizing telephone services, appointment scheduling, improving project management, and adding gamification effects to your business organization.

Practifi

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Practifi is the business management platform powering growing financial advice firms around the world. We’re more than your average CRM. Unlock new insights, manage your pipeline, automate operations, monitor compliance and build deep client relationships, effortlessly.

How to choose SalesForce substitute

Many marketing automation platforms are resembling each other. Software with the same features can differ in cost by 2 times. The first feature you should look at is the availability of node interface. This is a basic feature of marketing automation apps and if it doesn’t include this feature, most likely this software isn’t ready yet. All node interfaces look almost identical. It's important not to pay attention to the UI, but look at the features.

In a month, you'll get used to the UI, but the missing features will always annoy you. Changing marketing automation software is very time-consuming. If you have the usual email chains set up, it's not that hard to change platform. But if you've already set up integrations, workflow, and have complex funnels, it can take years to replace the tool. That's why you should be attentive to study SalesForce competitors.

What to pay attention to when investigating the flow builder? It has 4 important features categories.

1. Triggers. For example, "Form submit" is a trigger that starts a funnel. The most often used triggers are: opening an email, clicking a link in an email, reaching a goal, adding or removing a tag, closing a deal, visiting a page, etc. In each system for marketing automation this set may differ. The more, the better.
2. Action. For instance, "Send email". This is the most standard action you can have. The most popular actions are: add or remove a tag, send a text message, send a messenger message, set a salesperson task, update a transaction, notify someone by email, move a transaction to another stage, etc.
3. Delay. For example, "Wait 3 days. Subscriber submit the form on the website and get in the marketing automation app (Trigger), the system sends a Welcome email (Action). After that the tool waits 2 hours (delay) and sends a second email. This is the most simple automation. But there are other variants. For example, "Wait until something happens". Or wait until January 20th, or wait until 10 PM in the subscriber’s time zone.
4. If/else. For example, "If a lead, has the tag "Purchased product #1", send the email, if the subscriber doesn't have the tag "Purchased product #1", wait 4 days and send the email. The most often used if/else parameters are: visited the site page, bought certain items, opened certain emails, user field the user card matches some requirements. This is information according to which you can segment the subscriber base.

Analyzing the automation builder, you should look carefully at all four categories of features. The more, the better. Usually it appears that powerful marketing automation software with the greatest number of features look uncomfortable. New platforms look nice, but they have few features. You look into the tool you want to use very deeply. Otherwise, it will be very hard to change it in the future.

After you've analyzed the automation builder, you need to whether there are integrations with the platforms you need. Fortunately, Apiway can help you. In most cases, apps like SalesForce are the core of business IT infrastructure. It's like a digital hub for all your customer. This type of app is like an tree, which is putting its tentacles into other software. Software like SalesForce has to integrate with most other ones. Or you’ll have to spend a lot of money and time making custom integrations.

Also those who are looking for alternatives to SalesForce use tools from other categories like chatbot software, helpdesk software, CRM system, lead management software