Are you looking for the best CRM software for your business in 2024? Well, then you don’t need to look any further!

In today’s day and age, managing a business is a hectic task. You don’t only need to constantly improve as per customer demands, but also expand your business altogether.

And, it’s definitely not at all that simple!

This is the reason why there are many tools and software available for you to use in today’s tech savvy times. These tools and software are designed to help you perform multiple business-related tasks seamlessly. One such tool is – CRM which stands for Customer Relationship Management.

What Is A CRM?

It is a software designed to manage your company’s relationship and interaction with your customers and potential clients. Pretty convenient, isn’t it?

Moreover, CRM software has been booming ever since it first came into existence as they not only reduce physical labor and overall cost, but it is efficient in maintaining and tracking connections with clients.

We know what you’re thinking; “There are hundreds and thousands of CRM systems available in the market, so how can I choose?”

Well, the most logical answer is – You should choose a CRM software that suits your business needs. 

Yes, you read that right! The CRM you choose for your business mainly depends on the requirements of your business. There are obviously other factors to take into consideration, such as features and the functionality provided by the CRM software, but fulfilling the needs of your business should be the priority when choosing the right CRM.

A recent study shows that between now and 2028, the number of businesses utilizing a CRM system will increase by 12%

Now, keeping the market structure and popularity in mind, let’s talk about two of the most leading CRM software.

Now there are many CRM software in the market, and it can be confusing to choose one out of so many options.

Let us help you with that. Among all of the CRM software, Salesforce and ServiceNow have become the topic of a major debate – Which one of the two is better and why?

 On one hand, Salesforce has experience while ServiceNow has advancement.

While experience matters, it does not make something better than the rest. So, what makes something better? It is the continuous advancement that makes anything better.

The truth is, when ideas are outdated, they start to hold us back. Similarly, using outdated technology can immensely impact your business by holding it back. And in today’s competitive world, you cannot let outdated technology hold you back from success.

Hold on a minute! Before discussing the comparison, let’s give you a brief about Salesforce and ServiceNow:

Salesforce

Salesforce is a powerful CRM that is revolutionizing businesses and their client interaction. It is a cloud-based CRM with a world-wide clientele. They focus on sales, customer services and marketing automation.

Other than that, they also provide various services like analytics and application development. Regardless of the size of the company, Salesforce offers user-friendly CRM services to everyone.

ServiceNow

ServiceNow is also a cloud-based platform that helps businesses and organizations manage various aspects of a business such as help desk functionality and IT services. They improved upon the idea of CRM to provide much better services to businesses worldwide.

How did they improve it, you ask? They brought forthCustomer Service Management (CSM) in the industry. It is not an alternative to existing CRM software but rather an improvement on it.

In other words, when you opt for ServiceNow’s Customer Service Management, you get benefits of both; Additional benefits and services of CSM along with CRM.

Now you must be thinking; What additional benefits does it include?

Well, for starters, CSM integrates back, front and middle offices together. This makes the customer service process easier for the customers as the business can actively solve their customer’s queries and problems without any issue in communication between the departments.

This also helps different departments to focus on work all the while providing fast resolutions to customer queries.

They took the idea of “Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success” and implemented it.

Problem with Salesforce and how ServiceNow improves on it:

Salesforce is without any doubt a powerful tool but it comes with its own shortcomings.

Let’s talk about these shortcomings and how ServiceNow’s Customer Service Management improved upon these shortcomings greatly.

A bit expensive

The first problem that comes to mind while talking about Salesforce is high pricing. Even though it is common for better things to cost more in life, it is not a law. If the same services and products can be provided at a lower price then there is no reason for people to throw away their hard-earned money.

ServiceNow values your hard work that you put into your business to earn a living. Therefore, their services are comparatively cheaper while maintaining their high quality.

Not easy to customize

A lot of users and businesses have minimum to none experience in coding, this is the reason why software and other tools to help businesses and people are often user friendly and easy to use. But one of the shortcomings of Salesforce is the difficulty clients face while customizing.

For a software that is supposed to mold according to your business, this is a big problem. This CRM software is supposed to help you by meeting your business needs, they are not supposed to be a hassle for you.

How does ServiceNow tackle that? Easy. Yes, the answer to that is – Easy. ServiceNow developed their CSM software to be user-friendly and easy to use so that people and businesses with no coding knowledge can easily customize their system to meet their business needs.

Finding the right Developer

When you hire a plumber for some fixes you want to find a person who can understand the drainage system and plumbing properly. Then only they can work on fixing it.

Same logic applies to searching for a developer that understands your business and its intricacies. It is a challenge in itself to find the right developer for you.

ServiceNow will help you overcome this by providing you with developers who will understand the intricacies of your system and your needs.

Upgrades and Updates

The biggest problem right now that businesses are facing with Salesforce is the “no update problem”.

In life we need to continuously evolve with time. Same is true for software. With time user needs can change in any way, and it is up to the companies to provide their clients and customers with those changes.

ServiceNow caters the needs of their clients and the customers of those clients. They understand the need to evolve with time and to them customer satisfaction is of utmost priority.

Now, let’s talk about ServiceNow and its advancements in the field:

ServiceNow

We have talked a little bit about Customer Service Management before, so let’s understand it completely now.

The big question here is – what does CRM lack?

While CRM solutions provide effective customer relationship management, they tend to leave middle and back-office facilitation out of the picture. This decreases the efficiency in customer interactions.

How does CSM solve this problem? Well, they integrate front, middle and back offices of a business so that their customer can get faster resolution. This, however does not in any way impact the working of a business, only facilitates customer interactions better.

• Customer Service Management is a boon to not only the customers of a business but also its employees. CSM combines service management and operation technology with automated workflow and case management, so the organization can work together.
• This allows multiple departments to work side by side to resolve customer issues and queries without disturbing any work.
• Unlike the traditional CRM, ServiceNow’s CSM provides task-based routing and service levels along with integration hub, service catalog and service automation.
• They also provide a service aware install base to help your business flourish.

So that many benefits must come with hefty price tags, right? Absolutely not! Yes, that’s true.

ServiceNow’s CSM is cost-effective and has flexible prices. It can cost you anywhere around $200 per user per year to $400 per user per year, depending on your business requirements.

So, not only are you getting CRM solutions at a good rate, you are also getting the added benefits of CSM in the same price range. Since, the services provided by ServiceNow’s Customer Service Management are second to none, this is an investment for both short term and long term.

Key Advantages of ServiceNow’s CSM

• In a survey it was found that 86% of consumers of traditional CRM were ready to pay more for better, more efficient services.

CSM’s customer centric approach to this issue has managed to help many organizations. This resulted in better income for the business due to the superior customer services.

After all, “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten”

• CSM not only improves customer experiences for businesses but also improves experiences of their employees. The inter-departmental coordination helps employees navigate customers better and work more efficiently. At the same time customer experience is improved as they get personalized and fast solutions.
• When your employees don’t have to tackle tasks that can be managed by a module or a machine, they can be innovative. We believe in, “innovation is change that unlocks new value”.
• Agility is one of the best features of CSM. It helps you prepare for the future as it continuously adapts with changes in your line of business.

Choose the best option for your business!

After taking all that information, let’s breathe a little. Now then, before making any big decision regarding anything in life one should always think heavily on it (But don’t overthink it though!).

We understand that you have worked really hard for creating your business and still work hard to run it and maintain it properly. This is the reason why we don’t want you to make a decision without any information. An informed decision about CRM solutions can help your business greatly.

Any suggestions from us? We suggest you do thorough research first to see what CRM solution fits your requirement the best. Then you can take trials from those CRM software’s to check if they work for your business as you thought they would.

This will give you a better insight into what works for your business the best. This trial-and-error process might not give you an instant solution, but it will give you the right solution.

Only after careful considerations, choose the perfect solution for your business. Traditional CRM or Advanced CSM, whichever one you choose, they are both powerful tools and they both will help you in prospering your business. So, make educated and informed decisions for your business.

Choose what works for your business and customers the best and watch your business flourish.

FAQs on the difference between Salesforce and ServiceNow

1. What is CRM software?

Customer Relationship Management software are revolutionary tools for businesses and organizations to improve their customer relationships and services. They help businesses improve their interactions and their relationship with their customers. They provide improved management of customers and user services to businesses.

2.How is CSM different from CRM?

CSM – Customer Service Management is an improvement made by ServiceNow on the current CRM software. The only difference is CSM gives you beneficial services in addition to all CRM software services.

3. Is ServiceNow better than Salesforce?

Even though Salesforce revolutionized businesses through CRM, ServiceNow seems to be a more preferred choice in 2024 and beyond. This is because they improved upon the idea of CRM and advanced their services and software to fit the needs of businesses better.

4.What are the key features of ServiceNow?

The key features of ServiceNow are:

• Delivering better business outcomes than any traditional CRM solutions
• Improving experiences of both customers and employees.
• Prepare for the future by adapting to the changes of your industry.

5.How does integration of departments with ServiceNow help a business?

Integrating all the departments of a business, not only facilitates your customers better in resolving their issues with more efficiency, it also helps your employees work more with ease by eliminating the lack of communication between the departments.