If you manage a construction company and are considering CRM options, you’re in luck. Today, we’re comparing two heavyweights: Pipedrive vs. Salesforce. We’re taking a closer look at two of the most popular CRM products on the market.
We’ll compare details like features, offerings, pricing, and support. By the end of this post, you should clearly understand what you’re getting into.
What is Pipedrive CRM?
Pipedrive is a sales CRM focused on revenue teams (e.g., sales, marketing, and customer service). It’s a well-established and highly-rated tool. Although it’s not their primary focus, Pipedrive works well for those looking for a project management or collaboration CRM. If you’re looking for a CRM that you can use for internal communication, this tool is effective.
Pipedrive is specifically designed for small teams.
Founded in 2012, Pipedrive is a stable company based in Estonia. This company has 1,000 employees, eight offices worldwide, and serves over 100,000 customers.
Pipedrive’s Best Features
- Generate More Leads with Lead Booster: Lead Booster is an add-on for your Pipedrive CRM plan for an additional $32.50 per mo. It helps you to source leads from a database of 400 million profiles, includes a chatbot and live chat, and comes with embeddable web forms you can place on various web pages.
- Customize Your Deal Stages: add deals, calculate their value, win probability, and expected close date. Organize and track them by your pipeline stages. Adjust these stages to suit your sales cycle, create team pipelines, and filter results by team member or stage.
- Qualify and Score Leads with Email and Communication Tracking: get live notifications whenever prospects open and click on your emails. With internal chat integration, you can accept and route live chat requests on your website to the right sales rep.
- Customize Pipedrive for Your Construction Company: create customizable pipelines, fields, and stages—support multiple products, currencies, and languages (e.g., Hmong, Español).
- Switch Off Features for Efficiency: make Pipedrive your own by removing unnecessary features from your CRM platform. This minimizes clutter, keeping your team focused on the feature set that improves performance.
- Send trackable quotes, proposals, and contracts from within Pipedrive with Smart Docs and get notified when your prospect opens them. This way, you’ll know when to request eSignatures to close deals faster. This add-on is available for an additional $32.50 per mo. If you upgrade to an eligible plan, SmartDocs are included at no charge.
Pipedrive: Pros and Cons
Pipedrive is a mature and reliable CRM. Their platform has existed for 14 years, and their product is known for its effectiveness. Pipedrive has all the standard CRM features you’d expect, but they also lean heavily into AI and automations. Their workflow automation tools are ahead of many of their competitors, and they offer a significant degree of control over the customization that’s available to users.
The good news is that their platform is designed to help you sell more. However, the downside is that this focus on sales comes with a significant cost, and many of their plans have limitations.
They don’t offer a free plan, but they do provide a free trial, which is relatively standard. However, you might find that many of the features you want or need are either available only as add-ons (requiring an upgrade or additional spending) or are simply unavailable.
With their entry-level plans, customer service is limited, as are product features and reporting capabilities. There’s no phone support, so for these basic plans, you must upgrade to access anything beyond a chatbot and its knowledge base. Setting up integrations can be challenging, and there is a steep learning curve for new users, which may be problematic if your employees are not technically inclined. If you want to create and send customizable email campaigns with pre-made templates, that’s an extra $13.33 per company per mo. To upload and store your documents in your CRM account, you can use their Smart Docs as an add-on for an additional $32.50 per month.
Pipedrive Support
Pipedrive offers tiered support. You’ll need a more expensive plan to speak to someone on the phone or via live chat. If you’re running a small company or have an office full of tech-savvy do-it-yourselfers, this match is made in heaven.
If your employees and subcontractors struggle with technology, their support plans could be problematic. If live or one-on-one support is a must-have for your business, you’ll need to upgrade to a higher tier. Here’s what a user had to say about Pipedrive support in their review.
“Signed up for a trial as I was interested in switching away from Hubspot. However when I signed up for a trial I was hoping to speak with someone over live chat to answer a few questions. They promote the live chat throughout their site, however their live chat is completely fake. It’s just a looping answer tree with an AI bot that does not allow you to speak to a real person. Spent 20 minutes trying different answers to see if I could actually speak with someone to answer my questions and had no luck.”
If you look at their pricing page, you can see that their Advanced plan offers live chat, and their Power plan offers 24/7 live chat support.
Pipedrive Pricing Plans
Essential: $24 per user/mo.
Advanced: $44 per user/mo.
Professional: $64 per user/mo.
Power: $79 per user/mo.
Enterprise: $129 per user/mo.
What is Salesforce CRM? A CRM Best for Enterprise Construction Companies
Salesforce started as a CRM company.
Today, they offer CRM software and apps for analytics, AI, application development, automation, customer service, ecommerce, marketing, and sales. Their SaaS platform has become an ecosystem companies can use over the long term. If you’re looking for a platform that will grow with you and you need enterprise-level power and support behind you, Salesforce is where it’s at.
Founded in 1999, Salesforce is a publicly traded company and the world’s largest enterprise software company.
Salesforce offers more than 4,500 apps via its AppExchange. Its software ecosystem integrates with a wide variety of tools and resources across all major industries, including construction.
The Salesforce Ecosystem
Source: ascendix.com
Salesforce’s Best Features
- Create Quotes and Estimates Automatically: create, customize, track, update, and report on leads automatically. Automatically account for key aspects—discounts, pricing, terms, etc.
- Salesforce Einstein Helps you Make Better Decisions Faster: Salesforce Einstein is an integrated set of AI tools and resources that makes their platform smarter. Einstein uses data to amplify your predictive power, enabling you to make accurate decisions in less time.
- Automated Lead Qualification and Routing: prospect data is collected and forwarded to Salesforce CRM using web capture forms. From there, each lead is scored and qualified based on the predefined criteria you set. Leads routed to your team are Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) and ready to go.
- Salesforce’s App Ecosystem Helps Enterprises Grow Quickly: the Salesforce platform offers A to Z support for revenue teams. It’s extensive and expensive, but they’re the market leader for a reason.
- Omni-channel Support: Salesforce offers customer support across its app ecosystem, ensuring consistent communication. If you take advantage of their apps and services, the product and support fit seamlessly together.
- Field service management: This feature uses AI to optimize scheduling and dispatch management. Manage teams and assets in the field efficiently and provide them with the answers they need with On-site Knowledge Search.
Salesforce: Pros and Cons
Salesforce is the market leader for a reason.
Its scalable platform offers significant customization and provides teams with everything they need to manage projects and collaborate. It also comes with all the workflow automation and AI tools you expect from a market leader.
Salesforce Einstein is their AI product. With Einstein, your Construction Company can make incredibly accurate predictions based on prospect behavior.
Using Einstein, you can make smarter predictions about:
- The prospects you pursue
- How you approach them
- The resources you use to close a deal.
Instead of wasting time on deals that are unlikely to close, Einstein helps you focus on prospects eager to spend.
The obvious downside with Salesforce is cost.
Their CRM platform and the apps in their ecosystem are all (much) more expensive than their competitors. Their implementation costs are high, which is troubling because it takes a while to see results from using Salesforce. Their platform is excellent, but the high price means you won’t see a return on investment for a long time.
If you’re in it for the long haul, you’re okay with that, and you have the budget, Salesforce could be a good fit for your construction company. Like Pipedrive, many advanced features require an upgrade or additional purchase.
Support
Salesforce makes support easy for users and customers. You can contact them using the channel that works best for you—live chat, email, phone, or social media. You can request callbacks, peruse their knowledge base, and work through Salesforce University and Trailhead.
But there’s a limit.
If you need extensive support, Salesforce offers support plans that start at $25 per user per month for basic support. Pricing can vary significantly depending on your company’s needs and the features you’re looking for. If you’re looking for expedited support, escalating levels of access, and access to specialized teams, expect to pay significantly more for the help you need.
It’s not uncommon for premium support plans to cost hundreds of dollars per user per month.
Salesforce Pricing Plans
- Starter Suite: $25 per user/mo.
- Pro Suite: $100 per user/mo.
- Enterprise Suite: $165 per user/mo.
- Unlimited suite: $330 per user/mo.
- Einstein 1 Sales: $500 per user/mo.
Pipedrive CRM vs. Salesforce CRM: Sales CRM Features
Here’s our head-to-head sales CRM comparison of Pipedrive and Salesforce.
| Pipedrive | Salesforce | |
| Multiple Pipelines | Yes | No (workaround available) |
| Custom Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced Data Safeguards | Yes (policy) | Yes (defense in depth) |
| Lead Scoring | Built-in | Requires upgrade |
| Sales Automation | Included | Included |
| Team Activity Reporting | Included | Included |
| Email Drip Campaigns | Requires upgrade | Included |
| Mass Emails | Requires upgrade | Included |
| Email Tracking | Requires upgrade | Included (learn more) |
| Calling and SMS | Requires integrations | Limited/Requires integrations |
| Mobile CRM App | Included | Included |
| Quotes and Invoices | Upgrade required, Pipedrive adds watermarks to your docs. | Included |
| Popular Integration Options | Quickbooks, DocuSign, Google Apps, Slack, Zapier, Outlook, Twilio | 9,000+ via AppExchange |
Our Features Verdict:
Salesforce is the clear winner in this matchup. If you’re managing a medium-to-large enterprise and you have the budget, team, and processes needed to operate a complex ecosystem like Salesforce, it’s probably a better fit. However, if you’re a small-to-medium company with a flexible budget, Pipedrive is a better fit. Pipedrive allows you to remove the features you don’t need and add the extras you want. You have a significant degree of control over the way your CRM operates. Just be aware that this degree of customization comes at a steep price.
Pipedrive CRM vs. Salesforce CRM: Which is the Better Choice?
If you’re a small-to-medium company looking for a reliable CRM from a market leader, Pipedrive is the better fit. Their pricing isn’t out of reach for established companies, but you should still expect to pay extra for advanced features, services, and support.
If you’re an enterprise or medium-sized construction company working with large amounts of data, Salesforce is the better option. Larger companies can dedicate more resources to implementation. Bigger construction companies have developers, support teams, IT, and various other specialists at their disposal. They can hire the team they need to create, migrate, and manage their data.
Pipeline CRM: The Best CRM for Construction Sales Pipeline Management
Pipeline CRM is created by, built for, and run by salespeople.
You understand the challenges the construction industry is facing right now, and you’re under a significant amount of pressure.
You need to generate leads and sales in a soft market and convince clients who are also feeling the pinch financially that working with your company is the right move. On top of that, you’re doing your best to find, attract, and keep the right people in your company.
If your business is going to survive our current economic climate, it needs cash flow, the right people, and systems and procedures that help your company grow.
Pipeline CRM is optimized around one thing. Closing sales.
Pipeline CRM is the best construction CRM for contractors and builders. It is an easy-to-use, customizable lead management and construction sales CRM. The customer relationship management tool helps you organize and manage all job-specific data from one place—increasing your chances of winning more deals. Whether you’re in the office, on the road, or at a job site, you can take your business up a notch wherever you are.
Pipeline CRM is perfect for construction companies for a few simple reasons.
- Our Features Generate Revenue for You: we automate your lead, pipeline, and opportunity management. Our AI and automation handle repetitive tasks for you. You get third-party integrations and customizations that connect with the software and tools you’re already using. Create custom reports to track your team’s performance and make cash flow projections.
- Help When You Need It: At Pipeline CRM, earning your business is a big deal for us. Unlimited support comes standard.
- Our Success Depends on Yours: as a small company, we recognize that if our software doesn’t meet your needs and we can’t provide the support you require, it will reflect on us. We are dedicated to ensuring that you achieve your goals with our solutions.
- Your Feedback Improves Pipeline CRM: we’re hungry for your feedback, and our size means we can incorporate it into the product much faster than other CRM systems for construction companies.
If your construction company needs to close deals, manage follow-up, and win clients, Pipeline is a great fit. Need a precise way to manage your bids, projects, client details, and client follow-up in a centralized dashboard? Pipeline CRM is a great CRM alternative.
Pipeline’s Best Features
- Make It Easy to Close Deals: manage leads and bids through proposals and beyond. Track all prospect and customer interactions, as well as project documents like estimates, building permits, contractor reports, contracts, and more, all in one place.
- Customize Your Pipeline and Deal Flow: make Pipeline yours; customize your deal stages to track multiple revenue streams, like residential versus commercial deals. Create up to 25 custom fields automatically appearing on every deal page, such as primary contact, job site, or post-bid follow-up date.
- Automate Your Sales Process: Pipeline CRM will alert you when a prospect has viewed an estimate so you can follow up with them immediately. Automations instantly notify sales managers and other team members when deals are closed and milestones are reached.
- Get Automated Alerts for Important Events: close more deals by creating automated alerts. These alerts notify you of critical tasks, important communications, and completed milestones, requirements, and more.
- Get to the Job Site Fast with Quick Maps: if your team is always on the go, our geolocator can help. With one-click mapping, you can plan your route quicker and smarter, especially if multiple teams work at separate job sites.
- Project-Specific Notes and Document Storage: add notes to a bid while out on a job. Plus, signed contracts and invoices, contact details, pictures of the property, and anything you need to remember next time you’re at this job site for quick reference.
Pipeline: Pros and Cons
As far as CRMs go, Pipeline is scalable yet very affordable. Our CRM grows with you, providing you with the sales management automation, tools, reports, and resources you need to run your construction business efficiently. Pipeline CRM is ideal for sales-driven companies of all sizes—small, medium, or large—as it can effectively manage the workload.
On the other hand, that may be why it’s not the right fit for you. Since Pipeline CRM is sales-driven, it may not be the best choice if you require a different type of CRM:
- Analytical CRMs focus on inspecting and analyzing key areas of your construction business.
- Collaborative CRMs focus on internal and external communication.
- Strategic CRMs give managers and executives a high-level view of their company.
If you’re looking for a CRM that shines with agile project management and internal team collaboration, Pipeline isn’t for you. We have those features (most CRMs do), but our primary focus is helping your construction business close deals and generate revenue.
Pipeline Support
We offer best-in-class customer support, as all of our plans include Unlimited Chat and Email Support for everyone. You don’t have to upgrade your plan to get help from a real person. There are no special support packages or add-ons you have to purchase and no extended Service License Agreements (SLAs) forcing you to spend more money to get help with the program you’re already paying for.
When you need our help, we’re ready to help you, as it should be.
Pipeline CRM Pricing Plans
- Start plan: $25 per user per month
- Develop plan: $33 per user per month
- Grow plan: $49 per user per month
- Enterprise plan: Custom
Pipeline CRM offers four paid plans, including a custom option for enterprise-level businesses. Pricing starts at $25, $33, and $49 per seat per month when billed annually. You can explore its powerful and simple features with a 14-day free trial before committing.
This means you get the same powerful features offered by Pipedrive and Salesforce at a fraction of the price.
Pipeline CRM: The Best Sales CRM Alternative to Pipedrive CRM and Salesforce CRM
What’s the best part about Pipeline CRM for construction companies?
We help you close deals.
You get all of the powerful features and add-ons Pipedrive and Salesforce offer, including Generative AI, workflow automation, advanced customization, lead and opportunity management, pipeline management, custom and ad hoc reporting, as well as all the core CRM features your construction company needs to thrive.
We’re offering nearly all the same services at a flat, low rate. We’re not adding hidden fees to increase our profits. You’ll have unlimited support from real people and unlimited file and document storage.
Why are we doing this?
We aim to earn your business by providing you with value. The more successful deals we help you close, the more likely you are to continue working with us. When you win, we win.
Pipedrive CRM vs. Salesforce CRM – FAQs
Here are some answers to common questions about Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Pipeline CRM.
What Should I Consider When Shopping for a CRM for Small to Medium Businesses?
Here are several factors you’ll want to consider. Use this list as a helpful starting point.
- The Type of CRM You Need: analytical CRMs are used for reporting and inspection. Collaborative CRMs are used for internal and external communication. Operational CRMs increase revenue. Strategic CRMs give executives a high-level view of performance.
- Total Cost of Ownership: you’ll need to research and identify the total cost of your CRM project. With SaaS platforms like Pipeline CRM, there are no hidden costs; what you see is what you get. When factoring in the total cost of ownership, you’ll want to assess factors such as monthly software costs, implementation, maintenance, training and support.
- Identify Training and Support Needs: will your employees need onboarding and training? Do you have the necessary policies, procedures, and people in place? Are you okay with spending more money on support and training? Pipedrive and Salesforce offer support for a price. Are you comfortable with help at a price?
What’s the Best Alternative to Pipedrive?
Pipeline CRM is the best construction CRM for small to medium-sized businesses. In a head-to-head sales CRM comparison, Pipeline CRM offers everything you get with Pipedrive (and more) for less. There are no forced upgrades and no add-on avalanche. Unlimited support and all of the same features and tools you want.
Looking for a Sales CRM for Construction?
Pipedrive and Salesforce are market leaders for a reason. They’re mature tools that are used by thousands of customers.
If you own or manage a construction company and are evaluating your CRM options, each of these options could be an excellent choice, depending on your needs.
Pipedrive is perfect for small to medium-sized businesses, and Salesforce is perfect for enterprises—large construction companies with the resources, training, team, procedures, and time needed to generate a return on investment.
Pipeline CRM is best for small to medium-sized companies that need a construction CRM and unlimited support; it’s the perfect platform for companies that need to close deals and generate revenue today. It’s a comprehensive and affordable solution that combines powerful features without compromising quality.
Explore Pipeline CRM’s full range of features, or book a demo with us today.
