Hi,
My name is Nikhil Sharma and I'm a CRM consultant. I have over 6+ years of experience in the CRM domain and have done many implementations. As I understand you have already looked at Salesforce but would like a cheaper alternative with similar features. I would like to propose that we go with SugarCRM Community edition - it not only satisfies your initial requirements, but have additional benefits as well. Let me list some of the reasons as to why I prefer SugarCRM over others:
+ It is open-source. The code is with you and the data remains on your server.
+ You won't have to pay any recurring costs. Once the CRM is setup, you can use it indefinitely without paying anyone on a monthly/yearly basis.
+ It is highly customizable and the system can be customized to suit your exact needs. Every company is different and each of them have their own workflow. We can customize the system to the way you feel comfortable.
+ It is scalable. Suppose, right now you're starting with the basic functionality of "Leads, Contacts, Account and Opportunities". If later you feel that you need to add Invoicing to the system, you can do so without breaking a sweat.
+ It has a huge user community as well as developer community. It would always be easy to find good help in future.
+ You have a marketplace where you can find open-source plugins to extend the functionality of the CRM.
I have a lot more to add but have reached the character limit. PM me and we can discuss more.
Thank You.