If you are trying to pick a CRM software package for your business, it can be a difficult task comparing one provider with another so we have created this comparison article to help you to see the differences between Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce. We hope that this comparison between these two providers might help you decide whether either of these providers fit your needs.
Topics
Key features
Both Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce provide modular-based plans that offer a broad range of features and comparing these plans can be difficult, so we have selected some of the key features to compare. Please note the features listed may not be included in all plans and you should check before purchasing a plan.
| Features | Microsoft Dynamics | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| Email marketing | Not stated | Yes |
| Live chat | Not stated | Yes |
| Contact management | Yes | Yes |
| Automations | Yes | Yes |
| Workflows | Yes | Yes |
| Sales pipelines | Yes | Yes |
| Quote management | Not stated | Yes |
| Meeting scheduling | Not stated | Yes |
| Insights and analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting dashboard | Not stated | Yes |
| Third party integrations | Not stated | Yes |
| Collaboration tools | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Technical support | Not stated | 2 day response unless purchase additional support plans |
Comparing options
Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce both offer plans that are functionality based and are tailored to the needs of that function with tiered pricing to support the level of features included in the plan in many cases. Both providers offer their modules as individual plans or combined to create larger packages or a complete package covering all aspects of their software.
Below are the categories of plans that are available from the two providers.
Marketing software
Microsoft Dynamics offers a marketing module that allows businesses to engage customers in new ways and build stronger relationships through personalising experiences. You can connect customer experiences across channels with AI orchestrated journeys and predict customer intent by unlocking your customer data.
Salesforce offers marketing software that is called Marketing Cloud which is designed to help businesses to manage a wide range of marketing activities including email marketing, digital marketing, B2B demand generation, digital advertising and marketing analytics. The software assists businesses in planning activities as well as gaining insights into these activities to see how they are performing and also to inform future marketing decisions.
Sales software
Microsoft Dynamics offers a sales module called Dynamics 365 Sales that allows you to individualise selling at scale, learn from behavioural insights and accelerate revenue using AI. It allows staff to collaborate to close sales, prioritise leads, improve sales efficiency in the sales pipeline, grow revenue and increase customer loyalty.
Salesforce offers sales software that is called Sales Cloud that combines Salesforce and Slack in a single platform to manage apps, alerts, data and conversations all in one place as well as allowing staff to collaborate in closing sales and increasing repeat sales. The software brings together contract management, sales forecasting, opportunity management, process automation, mobile CRM and revenue intelligence.
Service software
Microsoft Dynamics offers a service module that provides businesses with an intelligent contact centre solution that can personalise service experiences, optimise service operations and elevate employee effectiveness. The software can strengthen customer connections, deliver omnichannel service seamlessly across all channels, resolve customer issues faster, improve case management through collaboration and evolve field service management.
Salesforce’s Service Cloud is a customer service tool that allows businesses to automate their processes and create intelligent workflows. It is designed to support call centres and helps to make them operate more smartly with the use of productivity tools and cross channel support. Some of the features include case management, telephony integration, web services, knowledge base, track service contracts and entitlements, and 24/7 support.
CRM software
Microsoft Dynamics offers a complete CRM suite called Microsoft Customer Experience Platform which provides businesses with the agility and insights to thrive by connecting their data, processes and teams with a single business application. Their software brings together Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams. The CRM software combines all of the modules to create a complete package or you can select several modules to tailor the software to your needs.
Salesforce offers a complete CRM solution called Customer 360 which combines sales, marketing, service, commerce, IT and analytics. This package brings together the benefits of the individual plans and has some combined benefits of integrating more of your business in a single platform.
Commerce software
Microsoft Dynamics offers commerce software that is designed to enhance shopping experiences for customers by making the experience seamless, allowing them to differentiate and automate with AI and become more agile. Their software allows you to connect your physical and digital shopping channels and reduce costs by streamlining commerce operations.
Salesforce offers a commerce plan called Commerce Cloud that supports businesses to sell across different platforms and unify their sales channels and customer journeys. It enables businesses to connect online and offline shopping experiences, collaborate, run personalised campaigns and increase sales conversions.
Finance software
Microsoft Dynamics offers a finance module that helps build finance and business operation agility allowing you to adapt faster to avoid disruption, work smarter and drive efficiencies and performance improvements through automation.
Salesforce doesn’t offer a comparable product.
Supply chain software
Microsoft Dynamics offers a supply chain module that allows you to work better with your supply chain through digitisation. Their software allows you to maximise asset performance, transform manufacturing operations and meet increasing digital commerce requirements.
Salesforce doesn’t offer a comparable product.
Small Business software
Salesforce also offers tailored plans that cater for smaller businesses and these plans include sales, marketing and service. These plans are the basic plans for Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud and they can assist in automating processes and reducing administration.
Microsoft Dynamics also offers plans that are tailored to small and medium-sized businesses which include sales, customer service, operations in either essential or premium packages. These plans have similar features to the wider plans but tend to be more basic except the premium plan.
Pricing
Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce offer many tiered plans that are based on an escalating pricing model where the price of plans increases as the number of features included increases. Some of the plans may not be tiered but based on their speciality features.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics offers a range of plans that are largely priced based on a higher rate for the first user and a reduced rate for subsequent users.
They offer a wide range of plans that are tailored to different functionality but do not provide a combined package price. They also offer plans that are tailored to small and mid-sized businesses.
Marketing
- First Dynamic 365 app from £1,131.20 per tenant per month
- Subsequent Dynamic 365 apps from £565.60 per tenant per month
Sales
- Sales Professional first Dynamic 365 app £49 per user per month then £15.10 per user per month
- Sales Enterprise first Dynamic 365 app £71.60 per user per month then £15.10 per user per month
- Sales Premium £101.80 per user per month
- Microsoft Relationship Sales £108.34 per user per month
Service
- Customer Service Professional first Dynamic 365 app £37.70 per user per month then £15.10 per user per month
- Customer Service Enterprise first Dynamic 365 app £71.60 per user per month then £15.10 per user per month
- Field Service first Dynamic 365 app £71.60 per user per month then £15.10 per user per month
- Remote Assist first Dynamic 365 app £49 per user per month then £15.10 per user per month
Supply Chain, Commerce and Finance plans
- First Dynamic 365 app from £135.70 per user per month
- Subsequent Dynamic 365 apps from £22.60 per user per month
Small Business
- Business Central Essentials £52.80 per user per month
- Business Central Premium £75.40 per user per month
- Customer Service Professional first Dynamic 365 app from £37.70 and subsequent Dynamic 365 app from £15.10
- Sales Professional first Dynamic 365 app from £49 and subsequent Dynamic 365 app from £15.10
Salesforce
Salesforce offers many tiered plans across their product range and some plans have comparable rates and others like the marketing plans have a more unique pricing structure that is based on their features.
They offer a wide range of plans that are split up into functionality as well as a combined plan. They also offer tailored plans that are designed for small businesses.
Small Business plans
- Sales Cloud is for up to 10 users from £20 per month per user.
- Service Cloud is for up to 10 users from £20 per month per user.
- Marketing Cloud details are not available and you would need to contact them for a quote.
Sales Cloud and Service Cloud plans
- Essential plan is for up to 10 users from £20 per month per user.
- Professional plan is £60 per user per month.
- Enterprise plan is £120 per user per month
- Unlimited plan is £240 per user per month.
Marketing Cloud plans
- Pardot B2B Marketing Automation is from £1,000 per month for up to 10,000 contacts
- Email, Mobile and Web Marketing is from £320 per month
- Social Studio is from £800 per month
- Datarama is from £2,400 per month
- Google Marketing Platform is from £10,000 per month
Commerce Cloud plans
- The pricing for these plans is only available by requesting a quote.
Customer reviews
If you want to see how good a business is, looking at what their customers have to say about them is an effective way of understanding what might be some of the potential issues or benefits.
Microsoft Dynamics is not included in their own right on the customer review sites and the only reviews available are under Microsoft which could affect the reviews as this will cover a broad range of Microsoft products and not just their Dynamics range. They appear on Trustpilot and Reviews.co.uk. On Reviews.co.uk there are only 14 reviews, and they are positively rated at 4.21 but the reviews were for unrelated products. Trustpilot reviewers rated Microsoft as bad with 73% of reviewers giving them this rating and only 14% scoring them as excellent. Again, the most recent reviews are for unrelated products.
Salesforce only featured on two of the leading customer review sites at the time of writing this comparison piece. The two review sites were Trustpilot and Reviews.co.uk, and there were only two reviews on Reviews.co.uk which were positive. Trustpilot reviews were more negative with 251 reviews and 79% of those reviews rating them as bad. The reviewers’ comments were predominantly negative and mainly related to the difficulties businesses had implementing the software, developing it or resolving issues and that they had to either get support from an external consultant or buy in additional support from Salesforce at extra cost.
Try before you buy
Microsoft Dynamics doesn’t offer a free trial of their plans, but they provide a guided tour on their website.
Salesforce offers a 30-day free trial of their software to allow customers to get a feel for their software before committing to buying it. Their free trial is provided with no obligation, no payment or credit card details are required and it is longer than most providers offer.
Pros
Microsoft Dynamic’s key advantages are:
- Offers functionality modules that cater for specific functions
- Can combine the plans
- Incorporates Teams which many people are familiar with
- Their plans cater for different business sizes and budgets
Salesforce’s key advantages are:
- Offers software that is tailored to specific functions
- Provides a combined plan
- Offers a 30-day free trial
- They cater for a range of needs and budgets with their plans
Cons
Microsoft Dynamic’s key disadvantages are:
- Customer reviews are not appropriate to the product
- No pricing details on combining plans
- No details about support are provided
Salesforce’s key disadvantages are:
- Poorly rated in customer reviews
- Customers raised concerns over the software being hard to deploy and technical issues being hard to overcome without employing consultants or paying high support fees