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Elastic (YC W11) launches Close.io, sales software designed by salespeople

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Re: Elastic (YC W11) launches Close.io, sales software designed by salespeople

#32
On one hand I admire them for pricing it high but on the other I think it's going to make it much more difficult to acquire customers. Salesforce is better than its detractors claim but that doesn't matter as much as the fact that sales people now just expect to use it...it's the easy choice. And it's immensely customizable.

I think like the recent Amazon post noted, Salesforce.com's competition is going to come from someone who undercuts them. There's no reason for SaaS software to be priced at $100/head/month (other than the need to fund a sales force).

Re: Elastic (YC W11) launches Close.io, sales software designed by salespeople

#34
post #32

On one hand I admire them for pricing it high but on the other I think it's going to make it much more difficult to acquire customers. Salesforce is better than its detractors claim but that doesn't matter as much as the fact that sales people now just expect to use it...it's the easy choice. And it's immensely customizable. I think like the recent Amazon post noted, Salesforce.com's competition is going to come from…

Great point. The idea here is that (at least for now) we want to make sure we're adding a lot of value to the sales process, rather than just being another CRM that's a little nicer to use than Salesforce. There are plenty of decent CRMs (Pipedrive, Capsule, Highrise, etc.) that are already cheaper than Salesforce.

The difference with us is we're not trying to be another CRM but rather focusing on sales communication that's automatically logged. We care more about the salesperson workflow than just being a database for deals.

Also the $99/month plan includes a phone number with unlimited minutes, which has a real cost associated with it. If you don't need built in calling, we've got a less expensive plan.

Re: Elastic (YC W11) launches Close.io, sales software designed by salespeople

#35
post #32

On one hand I admire them for pricing it high but on the other I think it's going to make it much more difficult to acquire customers. Salesforce is better than its detractors claim but that doesn't matter as much as the fact that sales people now just expect to use it...it's the easy choice. And it's immensely customizable. I think like the recent Amazon post noted, Salesforce.com's competition is going to come from…

Great point. The idea here is that (at least for now) we want to make sure we're adding a lot of value to the sales process, rather than just being another CRM that's a little nicer to use than Salesforce. There are plenty of decent CRMs (Pipedrive, Capsule, Highrise, etc.) that are already cheaper than Salesforce. The difference with us is we're not trying to be another CRM but rather focusing on sales communication…

At $99/mo with unlimited minutes, this is pretty competitive in a market where it is typical to find:

a. per minute pricing b. per hour pricing($2-$5/hr) c. crappy VOIP implementations

I haven't tried close.io yet but I am extremely glad someone filled this obvious hole in the market. If you've spent any time looking for simple auto-dialing solutions that aren't a dump of useless features, you'll know these guys seem very promising.

Re: Elastic (YC W11) launches Close.io, sales software designed by salespeople

#37
post #11

I would love to have my sales guys using it but they don't have Macs =/. Going with ringdna+salesforce for now

Both Mac and Windows are supported natively. Once you signup, we'll detect the right OS and start the Windows or Mac download accordingly.

Well then! Please put this information on your site. Your site only shows a mac app. I am going to signup today.

Re: Elastic (YC W11) launches Close.io, sales software designed by salespeople

#40

The product looks great but the logo left me thinking, 'they ripped-off the Simple logo.' I guess it's just a series of rings in both cases but that's the impression I got, right off the bat. Congrats on the launch though!

Good eye. We also realized this at one point. The Elastic logo in its current form was done Jan. 25 2012.
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