folk CRM x Salesforce: Which CRM is the best for LinkedIn?

LinkedIn has evolved beyond a simple networking platform: It has become the largest B2B sales battlefield.

Selecting the right CRM can determine whether you excel in your pipeline or get lost in the crowd. When comparing folk CRM to Salesforce, the key issue extends beyond features; it’s about identifying which platform provides the best advantage for nurturing relationships, monitoring engagement, and transforming LinkedIn conversations into closed deals.

While both folk CRM and Salesforce offer valuable capabilities, if you seek a CRM specifically designed for LinkedIn workflows, folk CRM frequently establishes a new standard.

Why a CRM for LinkedIn Is Essential in 2025

LinkedIn has become the epicenter of B2B sales. By 2025, nearly all decision-makers you aim to reach will be active there, sharing insights, engaging with peers, and making real-time purchasing decisions. If your sales strategy isn’t tailored for LinkedIn, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities. A CRM designed for LinkedIn is no longer just an option; it’s the foundation for effective prospecting, relationship-building, and pipeline expansion.

The power of such a CRM lies in its ability to create a multi-touch sales journey. Sending a single cold email and hoping for a response is insufficient. With the right CRM, you can effortlessly track, manage, and engage prospects across multiple channels:

• Initiate conversations on LinkedIn. Connect, comment, and establish rapport where your buyers are already active.
• Follow up via email or calls. Your CRM maintains contextual continuity, ensuring each interaction feels personalized.
• Nurture relationships over time. By syncing LinkedIn activity, you’ll know the optimal moments to engage and when to close.

In 2025, the teams that succeed will be those that connect with prospects where they spend their time online. LinkedIn is where business transactions occur. Without a CRM designed to harness its complete potential, each outreach effort will become slower, less focused, and increasingly challenging to scale.

What is folk CRM?

folk CRM serves as the essential sales assistant your team has been missing, integrating one-click LinkedIn capture, enrichment, and messaging with automated workflows for email and WhatsApp. With folkX, you can engage with contacts directly on LinkedIn without leaving your browser, while built-in automations take care of data entry and follow-up reminders. Simple, proactive, and completely integrated, folk CRM allows you to concentrate on building genuine relationships.

What is Salesforce?

Salesforce stands as the leading enterprise CRM globally, renowned for its unparalleled customization and scalability. Its comprehensive platform includes sales, service, and marketing clouds, all supported by the AppExchange ecosystem. With powerful analytics and AI-driven capabilities through Einstein, Salesforce equips teams to provide personalized customer experiences at scale.

Feature comparison of folk CRM and Salesforce

AI Follow-ups

folk CRM simplifies capturing LinkedIn profiles with its Chrome extension, folkX. While browsing LinkedIn, a button appears on each profile, allowing you to instantly import the contact into your CRM, complete with their name, job title, company, and profile URL. This feature works flawlessly for both individual and bulk captures, eliminating the need for tedious copy-pasting and ensuring a smooth, efficient LinkedIn prospecting experience.

In contrast, Salesforce lacks a native option for capturing LinkedIn profiles directly. There is no one-click method to import a contact from LinkedIn into your CRM. Even with the Sales Navigator integration, you can only view LinkedIn data within Salesforce without the ability to extract it. To convert LinkedIn profiles into CRM leads, you'll have to manually copy the data or rely on third-party Chrome extensions like Surfe or Wiza, which significantly hinders the workflow for outbound teams.

Automated Contact Enrichment

folk CRM automatically enriches your LinkedIn leads as soon as they're added! This tool extracts public data such as job title, company name, LinkedIn profile link, and even company domain. Additionally, if you integrate enrichment tools or APIs, you can seamlessly add missing emails or phone numbers directly into the contact record. This built-in enrichment accelerates the lead qualification process without requiring manual labor or reliance on external tools.

In contrast, Salesforce does not enrich CRM records with LinkedIn data. While the Sales Navigator integration allows you to view job titles, company details, and shared connections within the contact view, none of this information syncs to your database. Consequently, you can't transfer that data into fields or automate the enrichment process. Teams that depend on LinkedIn for sourcing still face the need for separate tools or manual entry to adequately enrich records, creating additional friction in lead management at scale.

Smart Fields

Salesforce restricts the use of message templates in LinkedIn DMs. While you can create effective email templates and sales cadences using tools like Sales Engagement or Pardot, these features do not apply to LinkedIn. Even with Sales Navigator active, there is no option to prefill a DM with dynamic fields from Salesforce. Consequently, SDRs must manually write or copy-paste each message, creating a significant time drain for teams focused on high-volume outreach!

AI-Powered Message & Sequence Generation

Salesforce lacks the ability to automatically track LinkedIn conversations. When a representative sends a message or InMail, there is no automatic logging or activity capture unless they do it manually. While the integration provides visibility, it does not offer tracking; you can view profile data and send InMails, but none of this information syncs back into the CRM. This limitation creates a blind spot for sales managers who seek a comprehensive view of multichannel engagement.

Next Best Action

folkX, the Chrome extension for folk CRM, seamlessly integrates with LinkedIn, enabling you to capture leads, enrich contact information, view past interactions, and send messages—all without leaving the platform. Tailored for relationship-driven workflows, it transforms your browser into a prospecting powerhouse for anyone serious about LinkedIn outreach.

In contrast, Salesforce lacks a Chrome extension specifically for LinkedIn workflows. There’s no Salesforce overlay on LinkedIn profiles, no capture button, and no messaging support through the browser. Although the Sales Navigator integration functions within Salesforce, it doesn’t enhance your browsing experience. To achieve real productivity on LinkedIn in Chrome, you’ll need to rely on a collection of third-party plugins, which adds both cost and complexity.

Conclusion

When it comes to selecting a CRM for LinkedIn, Salesforce offers robust customization and scalability, making it a strong contender for expansive sales teams. However, folk CRM is tailored specifically for LinkedIn workflows, excelling in lead capture, automated enrichment, and seamless messaging. It revolutionizes the prospecting process with features like one-click LinkedIn integration and AI-powered tools, providing sales teams a significant advantage in building relationships and closing deals. For LinkedIn-centric strategies, folk CRM stands out as the superior alternative.

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