Salesforce is the Tesla of SaaS. Here’s why

What is Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud-based software company that initially only provided customer relationship management (CRM) tools but has over the years expanded into sales, analytics, customer service, and marketing automation. It is now the most popular and most successful software-as-a-service platform in the world.

It was founded in 1999, but like most online companies at that time, it was severely affected by the bursting of the dot-com bubble. It suffered crippling financial losses and had to lay off about 20% of its staff. But the company, under its founder, former Oracle executive Mark Benioff persevered and Salesforce put up impressive financial numbers passing 1 billion dollars in annual revenue by 2009.

In 2022 the company’s revenue hit 26.49 billion dollars which is a 26% increase from 2021. It also boasts a market cap of 150.25 billion dollars. Not too shabby for a company that almost went under in the first three years of operations.

In many ways, especially in the last decade, Salesforce has revolutionized how companies conduct business online. It is probably the single most important tool for small and medium-sized businesses worldwide. Today’s business climate has evolved from simply buying and selling or demand and supply. There are many other metrics and derivatives that affect the success of businesses. Business owners (or heads) have to, in real time, analyze and process information from hundreds of data points to make or adjust business strategies for success.

Let’s say you run a small business in your city – a vehicle dealership for example. You have to set up a human resource platform (or office) to manage staff and salaries. You have to establish accounting and finance. Customers need a preferred channel of communication. Aftersales platforms are required. Inventory and procurement are essential, not forgetting marketing and analysis. To top it all off, you need an efficient internal communication platform. In the old days – and sadly even today, the obvious to do was to hire experts who would perform and manage all these tasks and you’d have to wait for a report at the end of the week or month. In a world where data and information flow from one corner of the globe to another almost instantly, this seems a little redundant.

Salesforce review

Now imagine that there is a platform that can manage, analyze and present data about all these business functions. No additional hardware, software, or staff. Just a subscription fee and you are literally set. Information about your business is real-time, accurate, and can be accessed from any corner of the globe by any authorized person. The Salesforce platform provides online tools (essentially software) that help businesses achieve efficiency in their daily running. This is what we refer to as software-as-a-service.

Global business and its integration have just woken up to SaaS tools in the last few years but its concept is not new. Salesforce is also not the first company to offer SaaS despite the online misconception. Tech giants Google and Microsoft have been providing SaaS tools but mostly as complementary services to their businesses. Have you used Microsoft Office before? Yes, that is a type of SaaS and Microsoft debuted it in the fall of 1988, about a decade before Salesforce was conceived.

Tesla was not the first car company to introduce the electric car, but it revolutionized the automotive industry with the practicality of the Tesla Roadster. Salesforce has also reshaped how companies do business by utilizing SaaS. Today both companies are market leaders in their fields and are the most innovative. Not to downplay the significance of other companies, but Tesla is regularly imitated by competitors when it comes to its long-range, fast-charging battery technology and its self-driving AI systems. Almost all the SaaS platforms that have been created in the past decade are modeled after Salesforce. The philosophy that the internet can only be used as a marketing and entertainment tool has now evolved. Currently, Salesforce is used by over 150,000 businesses globally and has 19.8% of the CRM market. 

So, what really makes Salesforce a popular tool with businesses?

1. The Platform is easy to use. Salesforce has a manageable learning curve. It is intuitive with a great user interface that makes interaction with the tools almost seamless.
2. Customization. Users can add modules, and fields, create sales processes,
   or change workflows to suit their businesses and operations. When it comes to SaaS, users have said that customizing the tools they use is one of the most important factors they consider when choosing a SaaS platform.
3. Powerful reporting tools. Salesforce has best-in-class reporting tools. They are easy to set up and customize. This saves a lot of valuable time when doing data analysis.
4. Multitenant platform. Users share the same platform and infrastructure. This means that system updates are easy and simultaneous.
5. Integration options. Virtual integration on the platform is literally limitless. Salesforce has a well-documented open API. The installation procedure for plugins is also easy and intuitive.

Final thoughts

Salesforce was conceived with the primary aim of helping businesses succeed. It has never strayed away from this principle. Its innovation is sharply focused on the satisfaction of its users. This has made the company a market leader. In the same way, you might say Tesla became the market leader by focusing on eliminating range anxiety and improving the safety of electric vehicles. Interested? Head over to www.salesforce.com for a free trial. Thank me later.

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