Do you remember the thrill of “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, where every decision shaped your journey? How fun were they? Now, imagine applying that same spirit to finding the perfect customer relationship management (CRM) for your small or medium-sized business (SMB). With countless options and endless paths to success, choosing the right CRM can feel like navigating a story where you’re both the author and the protagonist.
In this blog, we’ll guide you through the twists and turns of selecting a CRM that fits your unique business needs, helping you craft your own path to success. Bonus: you’ll get a free customer journey datasheet to guide you and your team when it comes to the Salesforce Suites. Let’s dig in.
What we’ll cover:
- What are the Salesforce products?
- Path #1: The start of it all (Salesforce Starter Suite)
- Path #2: Scaling fast (Salesforce Pro Suite)
- Path #3: Charting enterprise territory (Salesforce Enterprise Edition + Foundations)
- Side-by-side comparison for SMBs
- How to choose your own CRM (adventure) with Salesforce
- The journey is yours
What are the Salesforce products?
Salesforce offers various products designed to cater to different business needs, making it a versatile CRM solution for small businesses. These suites bundle together specific Salesforce products, providing a comprehensive platform to manage customer relationships, simplify sales processes, enhance marketing efforts, and improve customer service. Salesforce offers Starter Suite, a CRM built for small teams, and Pro Suite, for advanced features as you grow. And, Enterprise Edition is designed for established businesses needing maximum power and customization.
By choosing the right Salesforce Suite, small and growing businesses can use powerful tools to optimize their operations and foster growth. Let’s take a look at the paths to take with Salesforce.
Start with SMB Basics
Path #1: The start of it all (Starter Suite)
The first path on your CRM adventure is Salesforce Starter Suite. Let’s take a good look at what this CRM can do for you as you start your business (and scale fast!).
- Who is this for? The solopreneur, the startup, or the small team that needs to get up and running fast with a simple, starter solution for business management.
- When do you need it? This is your starting point on your adventure (AKA business). It has everything you need to begin your quest:a sword (sales), a shield (service), inventory (commerce), community (Slack), and a map (marketing) — all in one easy-to-carry pack (CRM).
- What does it do? Track leads and opportunities, manage customer interactions, and gain insights into your sales pipeline with Starter Suite. Send targeted email campaigns and nurture leads with automated journeys. Manage customer cases, provide support through various channels, and track customer satisfaction. Create a basic online store and manage products and orders. Collaborate with your team, share files, and manage tasks within a unified platform.
Just get started.
No matter where you are on your journey as a small business owner, you can get started with Starter Suite — the all-in-one AI CRM your SMB needs.
Path #2: Scaling fast (Pro Suite)
The second path on your CRM adventure is Salesforce Pro Suite. Let’s look at what this advanced CRM can do for your business as you grow, grow, grow.
- Who is this for? The business that is scaling fast, has established processes and now needs more customization, automation, and deeper insights.
- When do you need it? You’ve left the starting path and need to build bridges and forge new roads. You need more powerful tools (advanced features) to manage a growing team and more complex challenges (automation).
What does it do? Pro Suite includes every feature of Starter Suite and optimizes sales with lead scoring and opportunity management, automates multichannel marketing, enhances ecommerce, and provides exceptional customer service. It fosters team collaboration with Slack and offers AppExchange access for integrations and advanced features.
Ready to go Pro?
Level up your CRM with the top-rated Pro Suite — the customer platform that scales with you.
Path #3: Charting enterprise territory (Salesforce Enterprise Edition + Foundations)
- Who is this for? The established, complex business that needs maximum power, unlimited customization, and integration capabilities with artificial intelligence (AI) and AI agents.
- When do you need it? You’re no longer following a map; you’re drawing it yourself. You need the power to build custom tools (other Salesforce products), integrate with powerful allies (AI), and command large armies (teams).
- What does it do? Salesforce Enterprise Edition is the most powerful tool on your adventure — and the only one you’ll need for the duration of your journey. This AI CRM offers an all-in-one solution that provides a powerful, pre-packaged set of best-practice configurations, dashboards, and automation. Built on the Enterprise Edition, it offers Agentforce, AI agents for all business automations, and all access to the advanced features of an AI CRM.
Get ready for Salesforce Enterprise Edition + Foundations?
Your business’s story deserves the best tools. With Salesforce Enterprise Edition + Foundations, you gain the power to customize, integrate, and automate like never before, ensuring your success no matter how vast your ambitions.
Side-by-side comparison: Your CRM map at a glance
Let’s see how they stack up together. This guide will help you understand the key differences between Starter Suite, Pro Suite, and Enterprise Edition + Foundations to find the perfect fit for your journey.
How to choose your CRM path: Questions to ask
What should you ask yourself when looking for the right CRM? Here are a few questions to get started.
How complex are my sales and service processes?
Simple and direct? -> Start with Starter Suite.
Need specific stages, approvals, or automated follow-ups? -> You need Pro Suite.
Do you have multiple, complex processes for different teams or product lines? -> Look at Enterprise.
Do I need to integrate with other major software?
Just email and basic apps? -> Starter Suite will work.
Access to integrate more? -> Pro Suite will do.
Need to connect to an ERP, data warehouse, or custom-built software? -> You need the API access of Enterprise.
How much do I need to customize the user experience?
Is standard layout fine? -> Starter Suite.
Need different page layouts for different users or record types? -> Pro Suite.
Need to build completely custom applications inside Salesforce? -> Enterprise is your only choice.
Kickstart your SMB with Starter Suite
Get started with CRM and see results from day one with Starter Suite — the all-in-one suite with the marketing, sales, service, and commerce tools you need to succeed.?
The journey to the right business path is yours
We’ve explored three distinct paths for your CRM adventure: Starter Suite for speed, Pro Suite for process, and Enterprise for ultimate power. By choosing the right suite, you can simplify operations, optimize customer interactions, and boost sales, building a foundation for future success. Now that’s the adventure of a lifetime.
Ready to embark on your Salesforce adventure? Start your journey with a free trial of Starter Suite today. Looking for more customization? Explore Pro Suite for free. Already a Salesforce customer? Activate Foundations today to try Agentforce.
AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.
