SAP and Salesforce are some of the prominent software in their fields. Though they both help businesses improve, they have different approaches, for the former is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning Software) while the latter is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management Software).
What’s the difference between the two?
Well, while a CRM is mainly used for customer interactions and the front end of the business, ERPs are used for financial data or handling the company’s back end. Many ERPs also provide CRMs (Like NetSuite, Google, Oracle, and Microsoft).
Then, why should you invest in CRMs separately?
Well, here are a few reasons:
- CRM companies usually offer more features with their software.
- An ERP-CRM might not fit your business process.
- Many CRMs can be integrated with ERPs.
- CRMs are generally more affordable than ERP-CRMs.
Now, if you needed to close out a client, who would you choose – a veteran closer who knows all about the business or a salesperson who does a lot of the backend work but also knows how to close employees? Similarly, while an ERP-CRM might be easier to integrate, it may not be their main product. This means that they can’t focus their efforts completely on perfecting your customer interaction.
Does that mean ERP-CRMs are not good?
No, it just means they might not pay attention to the product as much as other companies focusing on just the CRM.
There might be a lot of ERP-CRMs that fit your business needs better than traditional CRMs. Depending on the features and functionality, you should decide whether an ERP-CRM fits your business better.
Then, SAP versus Salesforce CRM – which is better for my business?
We’ll get to that question in just a minute. Before that, here is some information about the two.
What is SAP’s Sales CRM?
SAP Sales Cloud is part of the SAP business suite, which includes an ERP and SCM. The sales product provides excellent features like opportunity management, sales performance management, analytics, and reporting.
With clients like KitchenAid, Patterson Companies, and BP Petroleum, SAP CRM is mainly (43%) used by US-based companies. It is also well-liked by customers, who have rated it an average of 4 out of 5 on G2, Gartner, and Capterra.
Whom is SAP Sales Cloud suited for?
SAP sales cloud is a great fit for IT, BFSI, or retail enterprises that don’t need a lot of integration with external companies. While companies of all sizes can use the product, it is best suited for larger ones with some prior technical knowledge. Furthermore, it is better suited for those who are also looking to invest in the company’s ERP product as well.
Then, why do companies consider SAP Sales cloud alternatives?
Well, one big reason that companies prefer other CRMs is because SAP is highly complex to use, customize, or learn. This is why many SMBs with limited IT resources or first-time users steer clear of this CRM.
Another issue is that, apart from being expensive, integrations with non-SAP systems, like IVR, analytics, and chatbot systems, are complex and challenging.
And then there is also the poor customer support.
These are a few reasons why some companies choose other CRMs over this one.
Now that we know a bit more about SAP Sales Cloud let’s look at Salesforce.
What is Salesforce Sales Cloud?
Salesforce Sales Cloud, one of the company’s oldest products, is used to help sales teams sell better by providing workflow automation, lead management, sales forecasting, and sales automation.
With over 150,000 clients worldwide today, some companies that use Salesforce are Accenture, Philips, and Spotify. Salesforce is best known for its vast number of integrations and the ability to fit any business process.
Whom is Salesforce suited for?
Since they tailor their solution according to the requirement, the company is best suited for customers with unique business processes and companies that want extensive features. Also, it is an excellent fit for IT and software companies with around 100,000 employees or more because customers can also build their own features using codes.
Why do companies look at Salesforce alternatives, then?
As customizable as Salesforce is, it is costly. And we’re not talking about just the packages. It also has a lot of hidden charges, like when you want to make changes to your existing Salesforce package or while implementing customizations, it gets expensive. In fact, you can find yourself paying anywhere between $20 to $190 per hour for customizing your products, which is one reason why companies look for Salesforce alternatives.
Another considerable factor is that customization usually takes longer to be implemented and can easily go over three sales quarters.
This means that you will only reap the benefits of your CRM from the year after you start implementing it.
Finally, although it is easier to use compared to SAP, the platform has a steep learning curve, and since it has many features, it can leave SMBs, and start-ups confused. It is also hard for first-timers to pick the CRM up easily.
And before we begin with the SAP vs Salesforce comparison, here is another alternative that is more affordable, feature-extensive, and easy-to-use – LeadSquared.
LeadSquared – An alternate solution to the SAP vs Salesforce debate
LeadSquared is an end-to-end sales execution CRM platform that caters to companies of all sizes and industries, including the Healthcare, BFSI, and Education sectors. Some clients that use this CRM are CK Birla Hospital, Amazon Pay, and AdmitKard.
LeadSquared is best known for the following features:
- Workflow automation
- Lead management
- Customer service
- Out-of-the-box integrations
- Sales management
- Lead tracking
What makes LeadSquared a great alternative?
LeadSquared is simple to use and easy to learn. This allows people who have never used a CRM to pick it up in just a few days. Also, compared to other complex software that take months to implement, LeadSquared’s CRM can be deployed within a few days.
Not to mention, LeadSquared can integrate with almost any third-party software on the market.
And all of this would obviously mean that the CRM is expensive, right?
Wrong.
Compared to SAP and Salesforce, LeadSquared is far more affordable in pricing. In fact, LeadSquared’s most feature-extensive package costs just a third of Salesforce.
Now that you have a better idea about each CRM, let’s see how they stack up against each other.
Below is a comparison chart between SAP, Salesforce, and LeadSquared. They have been compared on pricing, scalability, how customizable they are, and more. You can use it to decide which suits your business the best.
You can download it for free, share it with your team, and refer to it whenever you need it: SAP vs Salesforce Comparison Table.
SAP Sales Cloud | Salesforce Sales Cloud | LeadSquared Sales Execution CRM | |
Pricing | Custom Pricing. For more information, you can request a quote on their pricing page. |
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Free trial availability | Offers free trials only on the latest additions of the product for 14 days. | It is free to use for 30 days | Upon request |
Implementation time | Depending on the customizability, it takes between 42 to 90 days. | Depending on the customizability, it takes between 35 to 335 days. | Depending on the customizability, it takes between 5 to 15 days. |
Best Features |
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Available on: | |||
Devices | PC, tablet, and mobile | PC, tablet, and mobile | PC, tablet, and mobile |
Mobile OS | Android and iOS. | Android and iOS. | Android and iOS. |
Search Engines | Works on all popular search engines | Works on all popular search engines | Works on all popular search engines |
Languages supported | Supports over 6 languages, including English, Portuguese, and Spanish. | Supports over 16 languages, including English, Chinese, and Danish. | Supports over 7 languages, including English, Indonesian, and Hindi. |
Customizations | You can customize the following: | You can customize the following: | You can customize the following: |
Scalability | SAP is scalable as long as you don’t plan to expand out of its suite of products. For companies needing third-party integrations and customizability, the pricing might become unaffordable for SMBs. | Features essential for scaling are only provided at higher-priced packages, making them unaffordable for SMBs. | LeadSquared provides a significant number of integrations for all its feature plans. Moreover, many companies found this feature-extensive CRM highly scalable and affordable. |
Customer support | The CRM provides 24/7 customer support through online chat, email, and phone. | The standard package includes a help portal, | All packages include self-service resources, a help portal, email, tickets, and phone support. |
User Feedback: | |||
Positives: | Reliable and robust Great integrations | Easy to learn and use Customizability of the CRM | |
Negatives: | Occasionally slow to use | ||
Now that you have seen how different each CRM is, let’s answer another question – Where is the middle ground between SAP and Salesforce?
Owing to our CRM Buyer’s Guide, we evaluated and listed down 4 of the prominent features that are common to both CRMs. You can check out our eBook for more information on what some essential features every great CRM should have and find out how many of those SAP and Salesforce cross out!
4 Prominent features of SAP and Salesforce:
1. Automatic Lead Capture and Distribution
One essential feature both the CRMs are great at is capturing leads from all available sources – whether it’s your website, Instagram, or any other social media automatically.
Furthermore, excellent lead distribution ensures that the right lead reaches the right sales rep. You can easily track where leads are in your pipeline management and distribute them according to your choice.
2. Dashboards and Reports
Reports are essential for businesses to understand how their reps are performing, where the company is headed, and what improvements need to be made.
SAP and Salesforce both give you intuitive and customizable reports for any aspect of your process.
Another crucial aspect for salespeople is seeing all helpful information, like the leads in each sales pipeline, conversion rate, number of prospects called, etc., in one place. This is where a great CRM dashboard can be helpful for your sales reps.
You need to check whether your CRM provider can allow you to individualize and customize your dashboards to ensure your agents can easily view all their essential information in one place.
And fortunately for you, if there was a ‘Dashboard’ section in the comparison chart, there would’ve been a tie, as both CRMs provide great and intuitive dashboards.
3. Omni channel communication
Now the prospects you are targeting might be available on various platforms. Maybe they use Instagram or Telegram more than WhatsApp. Therefore, the CRM you want to invest in should be able to connect and get through to them on different platforms.
Both SAP and Salesforce CRMs can engage with your leads on any channel and are known to provide great omnichannel communication.
4. Customizability
Imagine if you have to change your entire business structure just to incorporate a new piece of technology!
It’s a bummer, right?
Your CRM must be customizable to fit your business process as seamlessly as possible so that you don’t have to change much.
Both SAP and Salesforce offer endless customizations. No matter how different your business process maybe, these two CRM ensure that they fit your needs perfectly.
These are some features where both CRMs find the middle ground. If you want to know more about what CRM definitely not have, be sure to check out our eBook.
If you want to take a look at some similar articles, then here is a list of them below:
And if you want to know more about how a CRM can improve your business process specifically, then you should definitely get in touch with us at LeadSquared. Contact our team for an affordable and easy-to-use alternative to SAP and Salesforce.
FAQs
Both CRMs are great in their own ways, and different kinds of businesses benefit more from different software. For example, SAP is better suited for retail enterprises, whereas Salesforce is better suited for software enterprises.
Yes. It is bigger when it comes to size. SAP, being an ERP, is a much bigger company with far more clients than Salesforce.
While Salesforce is slightly easier to use than SAP, it still is really complex. There are other CRMs like LeadSquared that are much more user-friendly.
