For those interested in the salesforce automation market affecting primarily the smaller to mid-size companies, notice that salesforce.com has signed up 2500 customers already. Siebel Systems owns part of a direct competitor called sales.com. (Sales.com was originally owned entirely by Siebel Systems before it was recently spun off to private investors.) The CEO of salesforce.com was one of Siebel's first private investors and continues to own shares in that company.
--Mike Buckley
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SAN FRANCISCO, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce.com, the online sales force automation service that makes software obsolete, announced today that over 2,500 companies of all sizes and various industries have signed on to the business-to-business Internet service. Newly announced customers are Jones Lang Lasalle (NYSE: JLL), a leading provider of comprehensive real estate and investment management services, Productivity Point International, a market leader in customized IT training, and W. R. Hambrecht, an online investment banking firm. Salesforce.com recently announced the company had signed on 1,000 customers in its first month of availability including LookSmart, Julie-Ann Apparel, and W. L. Gore.
"Just two months ago, if a company wanted an comprehensive sales force automation solution it was a year-long process of evaluating various software programs and drawn out implementation periods," said John Dillon, president and CEO of salesforce.com. "This explosive growth in our customer base supports the fact that salesforce.com is revolutionizing the company business model. Our simple 'sign-on' policy is putting whole sales teams online in a matter of minutes and making them more informed, more efficient and more successful."
Salesforce.com allows companies from the smallest businesses to divisions of Fortune 500 companies to have all the power of sales force automation software that was previously available only to those willing to pay huge license fees and annual maintenance charges. Salesforce.com costs just $50 per month per user with the first five users free.
"Salesforce.com is a technological innovator that provides an Internet business service that artfully shares sales force knowledge and delivers that service so it is immediately useable by businesses of any size," said Vernon Keenan, an Internet analyst at Keenan Vision. "Companies choose to use Internet business services like salesforce.com instead of traditional enterprise software packages because they save time, save money, and eliminate the need to hire expensive information technology professionals."
"We needed an intuitive solution that could be accessed anywhere, anytime," said Robert Best, Senior Vice President, at Jones Lang LaSalle. "Salesforce.com helped to consolidate information about our existing and prospective clients, while allowing us to coordinate our team's efforts much more effectively."
Salesforce.com provides companies of any size with immediate, affordable, and reliable online sales force automation. As an Internet business service, salesforce.com eliminates the need to buy, install or maintain hardware, software or networks and can be implemented in hours at a significantly lower cost than traditional enterprise software. Salesforce.com can be accessed any time, anywhere from a Web browser and requires little or no training or IT support. The service also synchronizes with Outlook(TM) and handheld computers such as the Palm Pilot(TM), so users can enter data whether on a plane or without an Internet connection for a brief period of time. Comprehensive reports, which can be customized, are easily generated with the click of a button so managers and sales people can immediately measure performance, deals in the pipeline or forecasts. Data entered by one user can be immediately shared with other members of the sales team, allowing organizations to work more effectively.
"Productivity Point International's goal is to build a company's human capital through IT training and education," said Mike Segobiano, Director of Sales at Productivity Point International. "We wanted a contact management application that we could leverage across our entire organization. Salesforce.com provides us with a no hassle, easily accessible Internet-based solution that enables our sales team to share customer information across the organization."
Salesforce.com also leverages the power of the Internet by providing valuable business information that helps sales people be more productive and efficient. Salesforce.com seamlessly incorporates online content such as news, stock and financial updates, and services including gift giving, directions and restaurant listings, within a single Web destination so sales people have up-to-date account information and relevant business services to help close deals.
About salesforce.com
Founded in March 1999, salesforce.com (http://www.salesforce.com) is the online sales force automation service that makes software obsolete. Designed for companies of any size, salesforce.com exploits the power of the Internet to allow businesses to safely and securely manage, share and leverage their critical sales information anytime, anywhere. The company plans to expand its offering to include a full suite of Customer Relationship Management applications. Salesforce.com is funded by industry-leading investors, including Larry Ellison, chairman, Oracle Corporation; Halsey Minor, chairman, CNET; Magdalena Yesil, venture partner, U.S. Venture Partners; William Hambrecht, chairman and founder, Hambrecht & Co., H&Q; and Patrick McGovern, chairman, IDG. Salesforce.com is based in San Francisco. For more information about the company, visit salesforce.com or call 1-800-No-Software.
salesforce.com and the salesforce.com logo are marks of salesforce.com. All other company and/or product names are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
