by Chris Firra and Anthony Cox
Have Sage 300 ERP? Considering a CRM solution? See how Sage CRM compares to Salesforce.com.
We frequently hear from our SMB clients with Sage 300 ERP installed on-premises that the time is right to employ salesforce automation (SFA) to improve their sales processes. We usually find that Sage CRM offers 90% of the functionality that their sales team needs, and that it provides an outstanding platform to easily develop the last 10% of the requirements. Inevitably, the comparison to Salesforce.com arises, which provides much of the same functionality. CFOs must then decide which platform provides the best value.
In almost all cases where the number of potential CRM users is 5 or fewer, the existing hardware infrastructure is more than capable of handling the relatively modest resource demands of Sage CRM. The additional incremental cost of database maintenance is normally insignificant, since normally only a tweak of the current back-up plan for ERP is required. Therefore, in most cases, the total investment is equal to cost of the software plus the cost of implementation.
We usually find that Sage CRM provides the best value for companies that have deployed Sage 300 ERP. This is because the Sage 300 ERP suite includes the Sage CRM Server and the first named user license. It's especially true through June 30, 2013, because of the current buy three get one free promotion. Now, let's compare the feature set and related costs over a 3 year commitment assuming a purchase during the month of June, 2013.
Sage CRM |
Function |
salesforce.com |
Included |
Accounts & contacts |
Included |
Included |
Task & event tracking |
Included |
Included |
Email integration Outlook |
Included |
Included |
Opportunity tracking |
Included |
Included |
Customizable sales process |
Included |
Included |
Email templates & tracking |
Included |
Included |
Lead scoring, routing & assignment |
Included |
Included |
Mass email |
Included |
Included |
Campaigns |
Included |
Included |
Product tracking |
Included |
Included |
Real-time quotes |
Included |
Included |
Contract management |
Included |
Included |
Customizable forecasts |
Included |
Included |
Customizable dashboards |
Included |
Included |
Analytics snapshots |
Included |
Included |
Integration & Synchronization with Sage 300 ERP |
Not Included |
Included |
Professional Implementation |
Not Included |
$3847.80 |
4 user licenses, 1st Yr investment |
$3120 |
$667.80 |
2nd Yr investment |
$3120 |
$667.80 |
3rd Yr investment |
$3120 |
$5183.40 |
Total 3 year commitment |
$9360 |
Included |
Workflow & approval automation |
$6000 |
When factoring in the cost of integration with the ERP system -- which has not even been estimated for Salesforce.com here -- Sage CRM far and away provides the better value for SMB users of Sage 300 ERP.
And, Sage won the Champion and Best Overall Value awards from Info-Tech Research Group.
Want more information or a demonstration? Contact Anthony Cox today.