In the world of technology rivalries, few are bigger than the battle of Microsoft Dynamics vs Salesforce. Two of the best-known and most popular choices for customer relationship management, Salesforce and Microsoft offer an incredible combination of robust features, intelligence, and analytics. While there are certainly other vendors to explore, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics are at the top of the list for many companies.
In terms of market share, Salesforce is probably the most popular CRM software out there. However, Microsoft is quickly making waves as a clear competitor to the Salesforce giant. The delivery of new intelligent tools, excellent scalability, and extensive integrations is drawing plenty of new attention to the Microsoft ecosystem.
So, how do you decide which solution is right for you?
We’re here to help.
Salesforce CRM: Features
The Salesforce CRM is made up of various “modules” designed to focus on specific things, like sales, marketing, and customer service. Companies can pick the cloud modules most important to their business, mix-and-match capabilities, or even invest in the Salesforce platform for connecting and integrating various apps and tools.
The three central components of the Salesforce CRM are the Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Marketing cloud, but Salesforce has plenty of additional solutions to offer too, including:
- Field service lighting: for field service management
- Commerce cloud: for online retail
- Pardot: for marketing automation
- DMP: For data management
- CPQ: For pricing management
- Community cloud: for self-service portals
- Salesforce platform: for app management
- Einstein: for AI analytics
Let’s take a closer look at what the three central Salesforce CRM modules offer.
Sales Cloud
The Salesforce CRM Sales cloud offers a host of cloud-based tools intended to improve conversions, productivity, and pipeline performance. Features include:
- Contact management
- Lead management
- Opportunity management
- Dashboards and reports
- Email integration
- Salesforce mobile
- Sales forecasting
- Files sync and share
- Approval and workflow
- Data management
Services Cloud
Service cloud is designed to enhance customer service experiences with responsive, intuitive tools for impression our customers. Features include:
- Lightning service console
- Omni-channel routing
- Case management
- Workflow and approvals
- Social customer service
- Telephony integrations
- Macro automation
- Account and contact management
- Custom reports and dashboards
- Asset and order management
Marketing Cloud
The marketing cloud supports fantastic customer interactions designed to convert leads into paying clients. Features include:
- Data management
- Email marketing
- B2B marketing automation
- B2C customer journey management
- Digital advertising
- Mobile messaging
- Social media advertising
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM: Features
Similar to Salesforce, Microsoft splits the features of its CRM solution into various segments. The Dynamics also has a Sales, Marketing, and Service module as the basis for its CRM offering, but companies can also access tools for things like:
- Microsoft Finance tools
- Operations and field service management
- Project service automation
- Commerce for online and offline retail
- HR for managing staff relationships
Users can choose the selection of Dynamics tools they want to access with their CRM investment, though most will start with the Sales, Marketing, and Service modules.
Dynamics 365 Sales:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 sales features help users to build better relationships with customers so they can increate conversions. Some of the features available include:
- Customer data management
- Partner relationship management
- Task management and assignment
- Funnel and opportunity management
- Contract management
- Quote and order management
- Team collaboration
- Customer service management
- Knowledgebase
- Reporting and analytics
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Service:
The service solutions from Microsoft Dynamics fall into two categories: customer service and field service. Both options include features like:
- Self-service support with virtual agents
- Productivity tools for agent performance
- Proactive IoT service
- Knowledgebase management
- Incident routing
- Cross-channel customer case management
- AI-based scheduling for field service
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing:
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing solutions elevate customer experiences by helping companies to create personalised experiences across all touchpoints. Features include:
- Customer journey mapping
- Real-time engagement tools
- Event and segment-based marketing
- Cross-channel communications
- Email marketing
- Landing pages
- Social media management
- Webinars
- Power BI reporting and analytics
Microsoft Dynamics vs Salesforce: Deployment and Integrations
Both Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce CRM solutions are available via the cloud. If you’re looking for a way to accelerate your digital transformation, you can do so with both providers. Microsoft Dynamics also offers an on-premises solution for those who need to keep things like finance and operations within the business environment.