Zendesk

Zendesk vs Salesforce: Which is Best?

Zendesk vs Salesforce: Which is Best?
Databeys CRM Consultant in Dubai
Zendesk
Databeys CRM Consultant in Dubai
March 2, 2023
Databeys CRM Consultant in Dubai
10 min to read
Ahsaan Siddique

When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) software, the two most popular options on the market are Zendesk and Salesforce. Both platforms offer a range of features and capabilities designed to help businesses improve customer experience and increase sales. However, there are some key differences between the two platforms that may make one more suitable for your business than the other. Zendesk is a cloud-based customer service and support platform that provides various tools and features to manage customer interactions across multiple channels. Its primary focus is helping companies deliver great customer service by providing tools to track and manage customer interactions, automate support workflows, and deliver personalized support experiences. On the other hand, Salesforce is a comprehensive CRM platform that offers a variety of tools and features to manage all aspects of the customer journey. It provides businesses with a single platform to manage sales, marketing, customer service, and more and offers advanced analytics and reporting capabilities to help businesses make data-driven decisions. When it comes to choosing between Zendesk and Salesforce, there are several factors to consider. Some key considerations include the size and complexity of your business, your specific needs and goals, and your budget. Ultimately, the best option will depend on a variety of factors unique to your business, so it's important to carefully research and evaluate your options before making a decision.

Zendesk vs. Salesforce: Users type

Zendesk and Salesforce are two CRM platforms that cater to different types of users. Zendesk is primarily designed for small to medium businesses (SMBs) and startups. It offers a set of tools and features that are simple and easy to use. Zendesk is a good choice for businesses looking for an affordable, customizable, and quickly deployable CRM solution. On the other hand, Salesforce is designed for larger companies and organizations with complex business processes. Offers a range of advanced features and tools to suit the needs of large companies. Salesforce is a good choice for businesses that require extensive customization options, complex data management, and scalability. It's also a good choice for businesses looking for a highly secure CRM solution with robust compliance features.

Zendesk vs. Salesforce: Interface

Zendesk and Salesforce's interfaces are different from each other. Zendesk has a very user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate and understand, making it easy for even non-technical users to get started with the software. The Zendesk dashboard is customizable and users can customize it to their preferences. Zendesk's interface is also visually appealing, with a modern design that makes it easy to use. On the other hand, Salesforce has a more complex interface that requires some technical knowledge to use effectively. Although the interface is customizable, it can be overwhelming for new users. Salesforce's interface is also less visually appealing than Zendesk's, with an older design that can be difficult to navigate. However, Salesforce offers more advanced features and customization options than Zendesk, which makes it more attractive to companies with complex needs.

Zendesk vs. Salesforce: Features

Zendesk and Salesforce both offer a wide range of features to their users. Zendesk primarily focuses on providing customer support and service management tools, while Salesforce offers a more comprehensive toolkit that includes CRM, sales management, marketing automation, and customer support features. Zendesk features include a support ticket system, live chat, social media integration, knowledge base management, and customer feedback tools. The system also provides analytics and reporting features to help users understand and improve customer service processes. Salesforce, on the other hand, offers a range of features that go beyond customer support, including sales forecasting, opportunity management, lead tracking, marketing automation, and analytics. The system is designed to help companies manage their sales pipelines, automate marketing campaigns, and provide complete visibility into customer interactions. Zendesk and Salesforce also offer extensive app marketplaces, allowing users to add features and integrations to their systems. However, the Salesforce apps market is generally larger and includes a broader range of third-party integrations. Overall, while both platforms offer a wide variety of features, Salesforce's feature set is more comprehensive, making it better suited to larger organizations with complex sales and marketing processes. Zendesk is best suited for small businesses or those that focus primarily on customer support and service management.

  1. Ticket management

Ticketing is an essential feature of both Zendesk and Salesforce. Includes managing customer service tickets from creation to resolution. With ticket management, companies can track customer inquiries, manage responses, and escalate tickets as needed. Zendesk offers a simple and intuitive ticket management system that allows customer service agents to create, prioritize, and track support requests in real-time. The platform provides multiple ticket views such as queue, calendar, and custom views, making it easier to manage support tickets. Salesforce also provides a ticket management feature, which it calls case management. With Case Management, companies can manage customer support tickets from multiple channels, including email, phone, and social media. The platform provides a complete view of customer interactions and allows support agents to track cases, assign tasks, and escalate issues as needed.

  1. Live Chat

Zendesk and Salesforce both offer live chat functionality as part of their customer support solutions. Zendesk offers a standalone live chat product called Zendesk Chat, which can be integrated with your customer support ticket system. Live chat software allows businesses to interact with site visitors and customers in real-time, answer questions, and provide support. Salesforce offers live chat as part of its Service Cloud product, which integrates with its CRM platform. It also gives companies the ability to interact with customers in real-time and answer questions and issues via chat. Live chat can be automated with chatbots, and they also have features like co-browsing to help customers in real-time. Both platforms provide powerful live chat capabilities to help businesses interact with customers and provide real-time support.

  1. Knowledge base

Zendesk and Salesforce both offer a knowledge base feature that allows companies to create a centralized database of information for their customers. With Zendesk, users can create and publish articles, organize content with tags and categories, and use analytics to track the effectiveness of their knowledge base. On the other hand, the Salesforce Knowledge Base allows users to create and categorize articles, but it also provides advanced features such as article translation, and version control, and allows the creation of private articles that are only accessible to certain users. Plus, the Salesforce Knowledge Base is tightly integrated with your CRM, enabling seamless customer support workflows.

  1. Team collaboration

Zendesk and Salesforce both offer team collaboration features, but they differ in their approaches. Zendesk allows users to collaborate with team members and external partners through its ticket management system. For example, team members can assign tickets to each other, add notes to tickets, and use @ mentions to get the attention of selected team members. Third-party partners can also access certain tickets, allowing them to view and add information as needed. On the other hand, Salesforce offers collaboration features through its chat tool. Chatter allows team members to communicate with each other in real time through a social network-style interface. Users can follow records, join groups, and post updates, enabling seamless collaboration across departments and teams. Chatter also integrates with other Salesforce tools like CRM and marketing automation tools, making it a powerful collaboration tool for teams.

  1. Reports and analytics

Zendesk and Salesforce provide robust reporting and analytics capabilities to help companies track key performance indicators (KPIs) and make data-driven decisions. The Zendesk Reports dashboard allows users to track metrics such as ticket size, resolution time, customer satisfaction, and agent performance. Users can create custom reports and set up automatic delivery of reports to stakeholders. Zendesk also offers advanced analytics features through the Explore add-on, including customizable dashboards and deeper insights into customer behavior and trends. Salesforce provides a powerful reporting engine that allows users to generate reports on any item within the system, including leads, accounts, opportunities, and cases. Users can customize reports with filters, aggregates, and summary data, and can even create dashboards to visualize their data in real-time. Salesforce also offers Einstein Analytics, an analytics tool powered by machine learning that provides predictive insights and recommendations based on user data.

Pricing

Zendesk and Salesforce have different pricing models and plans for their products. Zendesk offers a range of pricing plans, starting at $5 per agent per month for the Basic plan, which includes basic tickets, a knowledge base, and email and social media support. The Team plan starts at $19 per agent per month and adds features like live chat, customer surveys, and basic reporting. The Professional plan starts at $49 per agent per month and includes more advanced reporting, dashboards, and automation features. The Enterprise plan starts at $99 per agent per month and includes more advanced features like custom roles and permissions, skill-based routing, and sandbox testing. Finally, the Elite plan is priced on demand and includes priority support and a dedicated account manager. Salesforce offers a range of pricing plans, too, starting at $25 per user, per month for the Essentials plan, which includes basic sales features and customer support. The Professional plan starts at $75 per user, per month and adds more advanced features like key scoring, advanced reporting, and integration with Microsoft Outlook. The Enterprise plan starts at $150 per user, per month and includes more advanced sales and marketing features, as well as unlimited customizations. The Unlimited plan is priced on demand and includes additional services such as 24/7 support and access to premium features. Overall, Salesforce pricing is generally higher than Zendesk's, but Salesforce offers more advanced features and greater customization options.

Customer Support

Zendesk and Salesforce are both known for their customer support capabilities, but there are some differences in their approaches. Zendesk offers support through a variety of channels, including email, phone, live chat, and social media. They also have an extensive knowledge base that users can access for self-help. In addition, Zendesk provides a community forum where users can connect to share best practices and solve problems. Salesforce also offers multiple support channels, including email, phone, and chat. They have a vast online community where users can collaborate with other users and find solutions to their problems. Salesforce also offers a comprehensive Help Center, including user guides, tutorials, and FAQs. The main difference between the two is that Zendesk offers 24/7 phone support to all users, regardless of their plan level. On the other hand, Salesforce only offers phone support to customers who sign up for the Premier Success Plan. In general, Zendesk and Salesforce are both known for their strong customer support capabilities, but Zendesk may have an edge in terms of accessibility and availability of support.

What's best?

Choosing between Zendesk and Salesforce ultimately depends on your company's needs and budget. If you are a customer-focused small or medium-sized business, Zendesk might be the best choice due to its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing plans. However, if you need a more powerful CRM solution that includes advanced sales and marketing features, Salesforce is probably the best choice. Additionally, if you're already using Salesforce for your CRM needs and want to streamline customer service and ticket management, you can benefit from using Salesforce's Service Cloud. On the other hand, if you're looking for a standalone customer support solution that integrates with your existing CRM system, Zendesk might be the way to go. Ultimately, it is important to assess your business needs and priorities before making a decision. Zendesk and Salesforce both offer powerful tools and capabilities to help you streamline customer service and support processes, so it's a matter of choosing the one that best fits your needs and budget.

Read:How Does CRM Help To Boost Your Sales?

Start from scratch, or grow your team?
The choice is yours

Get Started
AED 0.00
From 200+ CRM Projects Delivered
TRY OUR FREE CONSULTATION
Databeys CRM Consultant in Dubai
2 hours of research
Databeys CRM Consultant in Dubai
Implementation steps
Databeys CRM Consultant in Dubai
Get free proposal and quote