Salesforce vs. Actionstep for Law Firms: Solving Your Biggest Case Management Software Pains

Does your law firm feel trapped by endless Salesforce customizations, hidden fees, and sluggish deployment? You're not alone. Actionstep, built explicitly for law firms, turns these frustrations into seamless workflows, clear budgets, and tangible efficiency gains.

It’s easy to talk theoretically about frustrations with software. But real-world experiences speak louder. Before we expound on the minutia of Actionstep vs. Salesforce for law firms, let’s dive into our client’s story. It’s the story of a mid-sized law firm so perplexed and stressed with their firsthand experience of the hidden complexities of Salesforce, they switched to Actionstep and transformed their operations practically overnight.

Salesforce vs. Actionstep implementation: A case study

Our client spent over 18 months working on a Salesforce implementation. They’d invested substantial time, resources, and energy into the project yet the end still wasn't in sight. Frustrated and stalled, the team began seeking alternatives and found us. 

In just one month, we transitioned their firm to Actionstep, achieving full deployment, simplifying processes, and quickly getting them back on track. For this law firm, Actionstep provided 90% of Salesforce's capabilities at 40% of the cost.

This real-life scenario highlights the stark difference in implementation experiences between these two solutions, demonstrating how choosing the right technology partner can directly impact your firm's efficiency, budget, and peace of mind.

Salesforce: Robust but complex

As a globally recognized CRM, Salesforce provides AI-driven client management, sophisticated analytics, and extensive customization possibilities. However, this strength comes with challenges that can burden law firms. 

While Salesforce is well-known for its case management pre-built options, even these robust features aren’t enough to defray the costs and complexities inherent in the CRM. Litify, a part of Salesforce with added features to make it a better fit for law firms, has the same issues. 

Additionally:

  • Critical billable hours evaporate in the face of Salesforce’s complexity and steep learning curve, affecting client satisfaction.

  • Unpredictable customization and implementation costs cause financial friction and struggles with budgeting.

  • Prolonged integration and security compliance complexities can stress IT teams.

Actionstep: Built for law firms

Actionstep is the agile, powerful challenger to Salesforce, combining integrated practice management, workflow automation, and legal-specific accounting solutions into a straightforward package.

Here’s why Actionstep is ideal for mid-sized law firms:

Operational efficiency

Your attorneys and paralegals shouldn't waste hours entering data into disconnected systems, risking errors and upsetting clients. Actionstep addresses this:

  • Automates repetitive tasks and centralizes data, boosting productivity and accuracy.

  • Frees attorneys to concentrate on strategic, revenue-generating activities rather than administrative burdens.

Flexible cost management & lower ongoing costs

Smaller law firms often experience painful surprises with enterprise software like Salesforce: hidden implementation fees, escalating maintenance charges, and ongoing customization costs. Actionstep provides more flexible pricing options, and it costs much less to customize or maintain going forward. 

For example, a runaway cost in an Actionstep implementation might mean an extra $10,000. But with Salesforce, it could be upwards of $50,000. Actionstep is also ideal for managing ongoing costs to maintain and optimize the platform. 

With our Actionstep implementations, we offer training for your team to maintain the platform internally. Actionstep also makes it relatively straightforward to learn even for those without a background in lawtech integrations. With Salesforce, you’d need to have at least a part-time Salesforce expert on staff. 

Comparative analysis

That minutia we mentioned earlier? Let's get into those particulars between Salesforce and Actionstep:

Cost & TCO:

  • Salesforce involves higher initial and recurring expenses. Actionstep offers flexible, more affordable pricing, significantly reducing total cost of ownership.

Features & capabilities:

  • Salesforce offers broad enterprise functionality but at the cost of complexity.

  • Actionstep provides tailored practice management tools explicitly built for legal firms, simplifying tasks like accounting and document management.

Implementation speed:

  • Salesforce deployments typically stretch over a year even if you want to go fast, often creating disruption.

  • Actionstep is up and running within months (or weeks in an emergency), minimizing downtime and operational friction.

Customizability & flexibility:

  • Salesforce’s extensive customization can overwhelm teams, requiring significant internal or external expertise, but you can customize nearly anything.

  • Actionstep offers streamlined, accessible customization, enabling quick integration of tailored solutions that match your firm's specific workflow needs, while allowing for significantly more customization than most other case management specific solutions.

Scalability:

  • Salesforce is ideal for large enterprises with extensive IT resources. Changes could be major projects on their own.

  • Actionstep scales efficiently with mid-sized law firms, accommodating growth without burdening your team or budget. Actionstep can easily grow with your firm adding new functionality as you need it with minimal disruption.

Security & compliance:

  • Salesforce provides comprehensive but complex security systems - again with almost anything possible.

  • Actionstep’s security and compliance features are purpose-built, making it easier for your IT team to manage.

User adoption & ongoing support

Transitioning to new software isn’t an easy process. Actionstep eases this transition through user-friendly interfaces and ongoing training and support, helping your team adopt new workflows quickly and easily:

  • Easy-to-follow training modules and dedicated support

  • Rapid user adoption, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity from day one

Recommendations & best-fit scenarios

Salesforce and Actionstep both offer compelling solutions, but each excels in different contexts:

When Salesforce makes sense:

  • Your firm is large, complex, and operates at a scale that requires extensive, specialized customizations that have to be exactly right.

  • You have a dedicated, skilled IT department with Salesforce experience or access to experienced Salesforce specialists.

  • Your workflow demands sophisticated analytics, predictive insights, and AI-driven client management.

  • Your budget and staffing structure can comfortably accommodate higher initial and ongoing costs.

  • Big sales organization that needs Salesforce to succeed.

  • You want pixel perfect customization and prefer to make changes and improvements in leaps.

  • Someone on your team knows how to customize all of Salesforce or plans to learn

When Actionstep makes sense:

  • Your firm is mid-sized, with limited IT resources, and seeks practical, efficient software.

  • You need a rapid, smooth implementation that won't disrupt daily operations.

  • Lower costs for implementation are crucial to your firm.

  • Your operations benefit from tailored practice management solutions designed for legal workflows.

  • Your customization goals pivot around your ultimate needs, not specific layouts and precise placement. You prefer iterative improvement with frequent little changes.

  • You want to learn some customization internally but don’t want to have to learn everything.

In short, larger firms with robust IT support and sophisticated demands might find Salesforce advantageous, while mid-market firms seeking simplicity, affordability, and quick implementation typically thrive with Actionstep.

A Better Use of Your Budget

While Actionstep is a more affordable option, if your firm has the budget for a pricier Salesforce solution, you’ll be much better served spending it on Actionstep plus custom API and programming work. 

For example, let’s say the base cost for Salesforce is $100,000 versus $20,000 for Actionstep. Although it’s a massive cost-savings, Actionstep would make it harder to prepare certain reports. But if you were to add $10,000 to the Actionstep budget, you could get a completely custom version of the report as a standalone tool that would work more efficiently and be easier to maintain for a fraction of the cost. 

Let’s say you had two, or even three more standalone custom tools you’d want to add to Actionstep. It would still be less expensive than a Salesforce integration, and Actionstep plus custom APIs would be completely tailored to your firm’s specific needs and use-cases. 

Next Steps

Tired of tech solutions that drain your resources and patience? There's a better way. Our Actionstep consultants understand the frustrations you're facing and have helped numerous law firms transition smoothly to Actionstep. 

Schedule your consultation with us today. 

In our consultation, we'll review your firm’s needs, outline how Actionstep can resolve them, and map out a straightforward path to rapid deployment and adoption.