As technology evolves, more companies are rising to the surface. In the year 2021, a record number of applications for new companies were recorded, reaching 5.4 million by the end of the year. As new companies are founded, it means competition is rising in the process. This makes the process of attracting and securing leads harder, while also complicating the process of turning a lead into a sale. In recent reports, it is stated that 61% of digital marketers find that generating leads and building traffic to their properties tend to be a significant challenge in the modern day.
Having an efficient sales platform in place can reduce the burden that comes with capturing leads, processing sales, and maintaining a high customer retention rate. Unfortunately, many sales management platforms fail to deliver on their promises. We decided to take a look at two of the major competitors in the CRM market, HubSpot and, of course, SalesForce. Choosing between these two can pose quite a challenge, but we break things down to help you make the right decision.
Overview of HubSpot
HubSpot is often viewed as an entire office suite that takes care of all your internal management requirements. At the center of HubSpot lies its CRM system, which gives you access to a fully featured dashboard for managing a wide range of customer related information. This dashboard was designed to be expandable, with several additional hubs that can be added to the system.
When you sign up at HubSpot, you can choose which hub you want to start with. Regardless of the hub you choose, even in cases where you decide on a free plan, you’ll automatically gain access to the CRM dashboard as well. In fact, the hubs you choose will be integrated into the CRM, which means you won’t have to go to a different platform or website URL to access the features offered by each extension.
HubSpot is also known for its wide range of apps that can be activated on the platform. This helps you integrate different services that you are using with your HubSpot account. For example, if you are using Google for Business, you can easily install an app to connect your Gmail account to HubSpot. This can automate the process of sending out emails and replying to an incoming email.
Overview of SalesForce
SalesForce is also a feature rich CRM platform that was developed to provide a more complete solution for business management. Initially, the platform had a major focus on sales funnels and related functionality. Over the years, however, SalesForce expanded its range of offerings. It now gives you access to a wide range of modules that focuses on helping you manage your sales funnel, lead capturing system, and support systems more efficiently. You can also use SalesForce to connect team members and provide a more seamless communication experience for employees.
There are a couple of integrations available with SalesForce, which allows you to use data that have already been captured on other platforms. This reduces the need to manually recapture data, which can take a lot of time.
HubSpot Vs SalesForce: Features And Pricing
With the advanced features offered by these two platforms, both can be exceptionally helpful when it comes to setting up a system to streamline the process of making more sales for your business. The table below gives you a quick rundown of how HubSpot vs SalesForce compares to each other.
|
|
HubSpot |
SalesForce |
|
Sales Management |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Team Management |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Team Communication |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Free Trial |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Free Plan |
Yes |
No |
|
Pricing |
$0 upward |
Depends on plan and feature requirements |
|
Free Seats |
Yes |
No |
|
Single Code Base Platform |
Yes |
No |
|
Outbound Call Monitoring |
Included in all plans |
Additional fees apply |
|
Easy To Configure |
Yes |
No, often requires consultancy |
Features
When looking at the variety of functions between these two cloud based CRM solutions, you’ll notice that SalesForce has more to offer. While this may initially seem like a good thing, over a long period of time, it could result in problems. Each of the features that are offered by SalesForce requires additional fees to be paid. Additionally, due to the wide variety of functions, you may easily find yourself confused in terms of what you need. With HubSpot, things are made simpler.
Both options offer integration features that get you to easily add existing data to the system, without the need to export datasheets and then import them into the system of your choice. When it comes to simplicity, HubSpot definitely takes the top spot. With a single code base, everything offered by HubSpot easily integrates with each other without the need for multi-cloud applications or switching between dashboards.
Pricing, Plans, and Trial Offer
Whether you are a new small business owner or have a constantly growing enterprise, keeping costs to a minimum, while still being able to grow your profits, remains an important strategy for future success. This also means ensuring the software your company uses does not add too much to your monthly bills, while also making sure it gives you maximum value for your money.
If you need a software solution that won’t cost you any upfront fees, then HubSpot is definitely the way you need to go. This system does have a free plan and comes with a trial if you wish to test out some of the paid features that are available. With this said, note that SalesForce also gives you the ability to activate a free trial offer, but all of the plans available are paid options. It can be tough to find the pricing for a specific feature you are looking for, however, as the pricing page is not as transparent compared to HubSpot.
HubSpot’s cheapest plan costs nothing a month. The premium plan options start at $50 per month and can be scaled according to the size of your business.
Final Verdict: HubSpot Vs SalesForce
The fact that HubSpot and SalesForce both offer a full suite of tools that can be used for customer relation management, lead generation, and sales services, makes it incredibly difficult to pin down on which one will be the right choice for your company. When compared side by side, however, you’ll find that HubSpot can give you a greater range of benefits. HubSpot does not only offer a free plan, but also gives you transparent pricing. You can easily extend the services offered and have all of your subscribed Hubs integrated into a single CRM dashboard. This can greatly boost productivity and help your team work more efficiently throughout the entire sales lifecycle.
