Pros
It's a very complex and versatile piece of software, there's a lot to like about it:
- it can be used for Sales and Service
- it is cloud-based and can be used by teams scattered around the whole world
- it can be customised to suit all business types, from selling companies to clinics etc.
- it has a very rich marketplace, if you did not find what you were after baked in, you will probably find it in the AppExchange
- it has a lot of integrations, e.g. email, CTI
- it is cross-platform, you can use it on phones, tablets, MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows, Linux
- it is very secure and has a very granular security options
- you have access to all your data, you can export raw data anytime you need it for security and migration purposes
- it has an insane deal of automation, you can apply a lot of automatic jobs, workflows, processes that will automate your daily tasks, allowing you to focus on the most important tasks for your business cutting down on the admin for the regular users
Cons
- first of all, it is quite expensive, on the other hand, building and using an in-house CRM can be even more expensive, before purchasing, however, make sure if you need all the bells and whistles, as you might just as well get a competitor's CRM that will suit your needs and will be cheaper
- complexity has its price, to configure all of this, you will need a bunch of well trained certified and experienced admins, employing incompetent admins will expose your business to unnecessary downtimes
- competent and experienced admins, on the other hand, are also very expensive and not necessarily easy to find
- Salesforce can be very fragile to changes, making a small change can sometimes cause a chain reaction immobilizing your business, every change has to be thoroughly tested in Sandboxes
Before deciding to use Salesforce I recommend doing a research to make sure your business will benefit from Salesforce's features. It is a great tool and can really help your business provided there is a good justification. Otherwise, you might be better off with something simpler.