by Mike Walsh | Jan 18, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
We talk a lot in our blog about the in-depth nuances and details of using Salesforce and how you can get the most from it. However, this week we thought it would be nice to step back a bit, and look at why Salesforce and workflow automation is so beneficial, specifically for Sales Teams.
For those of you who have been using Salesforce for a long time, this might seem like a trip down memory lane. For those of you who have yet to make the switch, hopefully, you learn something new and of course, if you realize you have gone on for too long without the benefits of Salesforce automation, the team here at CloudMyBiz is ready to help.
Saves Time and helps Sales teams Focus
Sales teams should be allowed to do what they do best, which is sell – not get bogged down in administrative tasks. Using a centralized Salesforce database, lead and contact details can be automatically updated and accessed from anywhere by anyone. This means the sales team gets the info they need when they need it.
What about all of the time-consuming tasks revolving around the sale? Scheduling follow-up calls, sending emails, tracking down contracts and updating sale opportunities. This can be a big part of the day of a sales rep. However, with Salesforce automation, a majority of these tasks can be automated, making the entire sales process much faster, and not to mention more accurate. The end result of the automation and a centralized database where sales info is right at the reps fingertips? They can focus more on making sales, and less on everything else.
Close deals faster
With such significant improvements as listed above, another result is the lifespan of getting deals done gets quite a bit shorter. The Sales team has faster, easier access to their sales data, and with a host of productivity apps, such as e-signature, contract generation, and terms stipulation, the deal doesn’t get bogged down once it is time to get the paperwork out and signed. Everything can be done directly in the system and tracked each step of the way.
It’s easy to use
One of the best features of Salesforce is its intuitive and clean User Interface. Salesforce makes a special effort to keep their UI easy on the eyes. This means that even brand new users can figure out what they need to do without hunting through page after page (or in the old world, mountains of papers and forms). Smart filters and searches also make digging into the data a snap. Documents and links can be readily associated, so you can always find your way to what you need.
Customizable
Following up on the above point – while Salesforce is naturally intuitive and easy to use, it inevitably won’t be perfect for everyone. That is why the system features significant ability to customize the system. Just about any organization or industry can use the CRM for their specific needs. From simple workflow and page layout automation that any internal Admin can handle, to complex custom development that usually requires an outside consultant, Salesforce can be tweaked in just about any direction you can imagine.
Reporting and Analysis
This can be a real game changer. A Salesforce CRM gives management some powerful tools to get deep insights into the business. Just about anything that is in the system can be measured, tracked and reported on. Companies can monitor sales conversion ratios, past performances vs current, and volume trends. Of course, there is always that golden nugget of ROI analysis as well! All of this is done through automated reporting and dashboards that can be set to run at regular intervals and delivered right to your inbox if you desire.
These reporting tools give managers the data and insight they need to make better decisions and guide the company in the right direction. If a certain campaign isn’t working, change it. If a certain Sales rep has a great conversion rate in a particular territory, keep it going! And none of it is based solely upon gut feel or a few recent examples, but solid history of sales data within the system.
Sales Forecasting
Finally, on the heels of the reporting tools, a Salesforce CRM can help with forecasting. Managers can see the trends, look at the pipeline and make more accurate predictions about what they can expect in the future. Giving management the ability to look into the future can help avoid potential crises, or conversely, if the future is looking very bright, they can put more infrastructure in place to better take advantage of it!
We could go on all day about the benefits of Salesforce and CRM automation for Sales Teams and their managers. No matter how you slice it though, a properly implemented and customized CRM solution is pretty much essential for the modern day business, thanks to the host of automation possibilities and data insights that it enables.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Jan 18, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce-Apps-AppExchange
Want to get started with AI and machine learning but don’t know how? Well the Coveo AI search is a great entry point. You are your team run dozens or hundreds of searches a day. Keywords, phrases or just plain old questions. But the results you get aren’t always helpful. The Coveo AI goes beyond federated search to automatically recommend the most relevant content, in one unified results list, wherever it resides. And the best part, you can get started at no cost with the Free Edition.
Coveo AI search and Machine-Learning analyzes what helps your users self-serve, then optimizes the search experience based on successful outcomes so future users find what they need faster.
Check it out here!
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Jan 10, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Salesforce has long used the idea of “a 360-degree view on the customer” to describe just how the CRM works in relationship to clients and customers.
Of course, what this means is that the better the CRM, and the more data involved, the more complete a view you can get of who is buying your products or services. Not just a few data points, but as complete a picture as possible, taken from all sorts of angles.
Apart from this just being a catchy sounding phrase, a 360-degree view is something that Salesforce is actively looking to provide and enhance on a regular basis. Up until now, Salesforce has been great at helping companies get in-depth details on their customers, and then allowing it to be accessed in easy to use and understand apps and clouds. However, one issue that has always remained, is that this data, while easy to use and intuitive on each platform, is still siloed, and users have to navigate between the different platforms to see everything.
Well, that too is going to change. Back in September, Salesforce announced that they were creating a new cross-platform program called Salesforce Customer 360. The idea is to deliver a new way for companies to connect Salesforce apps and create a unified cross – channel customer experience. By placing the customer at the center of the business, Customer 360 will enable companies to usher in dynamic new customer engagement models that bring together service, marketing, commerce and more in entirely new ways.
What does that look like exactly? While it might seem hard to envision how Salesforce is going to connect marketing, sales, support and all the other apps and their data, it looks like they have a pretty clear plan going forward. As this article explains, Salesforce is looking to combine all relevant data points, from the various platforms into a highly customizable single UI.
Salesforce acquired Mulesoft last year as well, and it is becoming clearer as to why. One reason is to power this Salesforce Customer 360 with the Mulesoft API, which allows the various apps and platforms to connect seamlessly, and share data. It seems that the days of customer data being siloed multiple platforms, from marketing to service to commerce are numbered.
While Salesforce 360 is currently only a pilot program, look for it to be rolling out in the somewhat near future.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Nov 29, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce Tips, Salesforce-Apps-AppExchange
For most admins out there, encouraging and driving user adoption is a constant challenge. Especially when it comes to some of the more significant changes, such as switching from Salesforce Classic to Lightning. After all, some people just don’t want to take the time and energy to get used to new screens, new structures, and new functionality.
Well, Salesforce has made it easier for admins everywhere to encourage user adoption with their Lightning Usage App.
The Lightning Usage App, released in the Summer of 2018, gives admins a way to track the adoption and usage of Lightning Experience. You get many important metrics, like daily active users, most visited pages and the types of browsers used in Lightning. With all of these statistics easily findable, admins can make better and more informed decisions on how to further their adoption efforts.
What’s more, the app is totally free to use. Admins simply need to go to the App Launcher, type in Usage, and then click Lighting Usage. Getting insights on how your users are using Lighting is just as simple as that.
Learn more here!
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Nov 21, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Are you constantly returning to a particular list in Salesforce to get your daily tasks done, such as an open pipeline, or a list of flagged opportunities? Whatever the list may be if it is something you pull up every day you definitely want it to be easy to access and to not spend a lot of time pulling it up. Although Salesforce is always touting the flexibility of their platform, this is one area that, despite the many requests for the feature, has yet to be explicitly built out.
However, this certainly hasn’t stopped the community from figuring out a workaround! So, if you are like so many other users who would benefit from a default list view feature, you are in luck. With only a few quick steps you can add any list to your top nav bar and rename it to whatever suits your needs. For a quick how-to guide to this super handy trick, follow the link below to the blog at Salesforceben.com
Check it out here!
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
