Andru & Salesforce: When to Use Each
Foundation Layer vs Pipeline Management
What They Do Differently
Salesforce: Pipeline Management
- •Tracks deals through sales pipeline
- •Manages customer relationships
- •Automates sales workflows
- •Reports on sales performance
- ⚠️Assumes you already know your ICP
Andru: Sales Foundation
- •Identifies ideal customers (ICP)
- •Generates buyer personas
- •Defines qualification criteria
- •Builds business cases for ROI
- ✓Provides the foundation Salesforce needs
The Reality: You Need BOTH (In Order)
❌ Wrong Order
- Buy Salesforce ($25-150K/year)
- Start adding leads to pipeline
- Realize: "Wait, who are we even targeting?"
- Waste 6 months chasing wrong prospects
- Cancel Salesforce (part of $21M waste)
✓ Right Order
- Use Andru to define ICP ($149-297/mo)
- Identify ideal buyer personas
- Set clear qualification criteria
- THEN buy Salesforce with clear targets
- Salesforce delivers ROI (right prospects)
Who Should Use Which?
Use Andru First When:
- ✓You're a technical founder without sales background
- ✓You're not sure who your ideal customer is
- ✓Your Salesforce is full of random leads with no clear criteria
- ✓You need to justify why a prospect is "qualified"
Add Salesforce After When:
- ✓You have clear ICP definition (thanks to Andru)
- ✓You need to manage growing pipeline of qualified leads
- ✓You want to automate workflows for known buyer personas
- ✓You need team collaboration on deal progression
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | Andru | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $149-297/mo | $25-150K/year |
| Purpose | Foundation | Execution |
| When to Buy | FIRST (before sales tools) | AFTER (when scaling) |
| Best For | Technical founders | Sales teams |
| Setup Time | Minutes (AI-powered) | Weeks (complex setup) |
The Research Is Clear
71%
of companies exceeding revenue goals have documented personas vs. 26% who miss them
Source: Forrester Research
50%
less likely to survive 5 years if less than 10% of customers match ICP
Source: McKinsey & Company
"I didn't think about ICPs whatsoever. Looking back, that's part of the reason PMF took so much time."
— Boris Jabes, CEO of Census (via Lenny's Newsletter)
Bottom Line
These tools don't compete. They complement.
Andru = Foundation (who to sell to)
Salesforce = Execution (how to track deals)
You can't execute effectively without a foundation.
Start with the Foundation
Define your ICP with Andru. Then use Salesforce to track the right deals.
Try Andru Free →Beta launching December 1, 2025