To further penetrate the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market, Salesforce is launching a ‘Pro Suite’ as an affordable alternative to its more comprehensive packages. According to Salesforce, the package offers more features than the starter package released last year, but maintains the same low barrier to entry.
The Pro Suite will be available in Europe soon. At the time of writing, the package is not yet available through Salesforce’s website. In the USA, the Suite costs $100 per year per user (By comparison, the Starter Suite costs $25 per user at launch).
The package also gives access to additional functionality such as AI, reports VentureBeat. This means basic predictive functions. More extensive GenAI capabilities like Einstein Copilot are reserved for more comprehensive packages like Salesforce Sales and Service Cloud. For now at least.
Tip: Salesforce Einstein 1 Studio allows organizations to easily apply genAI
Additional features
The Pro Suite offers additional features in marketing, sales and services. It provides access to the AppExchange marketplace, which allows customers to add additional functionality from Salesforce partners to their package.
They can also automate work processes with Flow functionality, and the package provides forecasting, quote generation, and direct payment links. Furthermore, messaging services can be integrated into apps or via websites.
Of course, the Salesforce Pro Suite provides lead and customer service tracking, allows users to send (automated) emails, and handles payments, all of which were already possible in the Starter version.
See a complete overview of the differences between the Start and Pro Suite.
Competition in the SME segment
There is increasing competition in the SME segment. Alternatives such as ZoHo, Freshworks and Hubspot are (partly) targeting this customer group. Salesforce is eager to get a bigger piece of this pie.
Customers who started with the Starter Suite but for whom the step to more complete packages such as Customer 360 or Sales Cloud is still too big -and expensive- are served with this Suite and do not need to look for alternatives, as the idea behind the new product appears to be.
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