ACT! verses Salesforce.com
Considering
Salesforce.com? Click here before you do.Before
you get locked into a lengthy contract only to discover that Salesforce does not meet your basic needs without substantial
upgrades and additional costs, consider that over 2.8 million business users
decided that with ACT! the difference was clear. But don't just take our word for
it, see for yourself what
ACT! customers are saying or better yet,
take a
test drive of ACT! today.
Many of our ACT! customers also considered Salesforce before making their
final decision. After comparing both products, and the companies and partners
behind them, they decided that ACT! provided a clear advantage for their
businesses.
It’s important to find the right company and solution that will work with you
and your individual business needs every step of the way. With over 20 years of
experience focused on the specific needs of the small business owner, as well as
the most qualified partner channel in the industry, ACT! works collaboratively
with you to provide exactly what you need, at the time when you need it most.
Here are a few key examples of how ACT! outperforms Salesforce that will
positively impact your business—and your bottom line.
Compared to ACT!, Salesforce is a high cost, high
risk proposition – especially during the down economy.
Salesforce may look attractive in the beginning
with its seemingly low, upfront cost. But over the lifetime of the solution, the
punitive charges for additional subscriptions, access, and basic services really
start to add up!
Salesforce charges you heavily as your requirements grow. For example, Group
Edition does not accommodate more than 5 users, and if you want to add a 6th,
you are forced to jump subscription levels and go from $8.25 per user per month
for Group Edition to the $65.00 per user per month for Professional
Edition—that’s over a 750% increase.
ACT! provides a simple pricing structure so there are no
nasty surprises down the line. ACT! customers benefit from a low total cost of
ownership with most paying the equivalent of between $20 and $30 per user per
month over the lifetime of the solution. On average, a company with 25
ACT! users will save over $50,000 compared to Salesforce.
Salesforce is inflexible to changing business needs
with lengthy contract terms, advance payment requirements, auto-renewals, price
hikes, and no provisions for contract changes!
Salesforce limits you to only one access method
to your critical customer data—on-demand over the Internet. Imagine your team at
a complete stand-still while Salesforce is down due to service disruptions,
upgrades, and Internet outages.
You choose what’s best for your business. ACT!
can be delivered to users over your network, over the Web with an ACT! hosted
partner provider, or as a standalone solution—whatever combination of access
methods makes the most sense for your business.
Salesforce makes it difficult for companies
to truly leverage the business value of their application.
Salesforce imposes a crippling range of
limitations and usage restrictions across their versions, and access will cost
you. Did you know that:
Offline access is not available for Salesforce Group Edition and is an extra
cost option for Professional Edition, increasing the cost to $90 per user per
month.
Data storage is limited to only 20MB for each user. After that, you will have to
pay $1,500 per year for 500MB.
Unlike Salesforce, ACT! gives you full
flexibility and control over the usage and access of your software and customer
data.
ACT! Premium allows users to continue using their application in the same,
consistent manner offline as online, and will automatically synchronize when
reconnected—all at no additional cost.
Salesforce claims its on-demand service can
be deployed rapidly and easily, but who can you turn to when you hit a snag?
Salesforce’s “on-demand” model sounds easy—but
a successful CRM implementation still requires a rock-solid plan that includes
project scoping, customer data migration, configuration, customization, and
integration—regardless of the deployment model.
Salesforce has very few partners on the ground, and most specialize in
larger-scale, enterprise deployments.
ACT! is supported by a nationwide network of
ACT! Certified Consultants who offer on-the-ground, local advice and support for
small businesses like yours in order to ensure that you get the very most out of
your investment.
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