November 2024

AI is undergoing a significant transition, with the accuracy and dexterity of specially designed autonomous agents replacing the broad scope of massive, general-purpose AI. It's more than just evolution of technology. It's about conceiving how machines can complement the workforce. Purpose-built agents are specially designed digital agents that are focused on a single task and perform it almost perfectly, whether that task is assisting salespeople in nurturing leads, coming up with campaign concepts for marketing teams, or answering customer support queries. They have capabilities few GPT-based systems can match – the capacity to act and complete tasks. Autonomous agents will transform the workplace. You've likely been both amazed by AI's potential and frustrated by some of the practical constraints of GPT-based systems at work if you've utilized generative AI to help generate an email copy or conceive a campaign idea. Because they were trained on publicly available data and information, they are unable to produce outputs that accurately represent your everyday reality because they are unfamiliar with your company and its customers. For instance, they are unable to help you with analytics on the performance of past campaigns or insightful information on open leads. Innovative new data platforms that gather, integrate, and connect all of the data points are already helping future-thinking businesses start to fill that knowledge gap. However, a second prerequisite must be fulfilled for AI to be genuinely useful in an organizational context. AI agents should be able to perform actions on behalf of humans. Autonomous agents accomplish this by fusing large action models (LAMs) with the natural language processing capabilities of LLMs. Language models that can carry out operations in other programs and systems are known as LAMs. Because LAMs are trained on data that is handpicked for task execution, autonomous agents can initiate a variety of actions on their own. Large Language Models (LLMs) and Large Action Models (LAMs): The Pillars of Autonomous AI In what ways do LLMs and LAMs collaborate? Consider a scenario where you want an AI agent to send a tailored SMS or WhatsApp message with a discount code for subsequent purchases to the first 50 customers who buy a new product. An LLM would struggle to accomplish this on its own. Indeed, it could produce the material, but action is needed to segment 50 customers and deliver each one a tailored message by leveraging organizational CRM data. This is where the LAM comes in. The LAM would leverage its function-calling abilities to make requests to perform certain tasks, such as an API call to a third-party system or querying the CRM to retrieve customer and product data. In the field of healthcare, an agent could assist patients in finding the best physician by identifying their symptoms, preferences, and location. It streamlines what is frequently a tedious and long-drawn process by identifying a time that works for the patient and physician and scheduling the appointment. In retail, an agent can answer common questions like "Where's my shipment?". AI agents can also launch targeted marketing campaigns and offer customer service replies at the precise moment when the customer is most responsive. In financial services, agents can examine the client's spending patterns, analyze past investments, and financial objectives, and analyze market movements to recommend modifications in their existing portfolio enabling money managers to focus on what they do best – deliver exceptional service to their clients instead of spending time making sense out of their data. AI agents can significantly augment the abilities of an organization's workforce. Imagine a world with zero customer service wait times, apps that adapt to user activity, and AI sales coaches who are always assisting sales reps in closing deals. Autonomous agents collaborate with existing teams. A future in which workers collaborate with agents to provide better results for both customers and businesses is already here. These solutions increase productivity and free up the workforce to enable them to focus on strategy and creativity.  People can spend time solving complex problems and refining their strategies when AI handles the specifics, expanding the realm of what is feasible and igniting innovations across industries. This collaboration between AI and human creativity ushers in a new era of efficiency, productivity, and innovation. LAMs – Leading the Next Wave of Autonomous AI With the advent of AI agents that can act as skilfully as they can converse, generative AI has formally begun its second act. Through the use of external tools and access to knowledge beyond their training data, these autonomous AI agents are able to perform tasks that either augment their existing tasks or act on their behalf. We believe that AI assistants and AI agents will be the two main forms of autonomous AI. Both have two key characteristics in common. Agency is the capacity to take meaningful action, sometimes completely independently, to achieve a predetermined objective. The ability to learn and change over time, although in different ways, is the second. Artificial intelligence assistants will adjust in creative ways to better understand a specific user for whom they are meant to provide support. AI agents will learn shared processes, best practices, and much more to better complement a particular team. In other words, AI agents are designed to be shared at scale, whereas AI assistants are designed to provide a personal touch. Both hold the promise of opening up new opportunities for businesses. Creating a tangible impact With applications ranging from customer care to IT support to sales enablement, agents and assistants collectively represent a revolutionary way of working. Consider, for instance, a jam-packed schedule of sales meetings, including video calls to in-person trips around the world. Sales professionals in almost every business live in a hectic reality. And that reality is made even more complex by the need to carefully go through vast amounts of CRM data that is created across every interaction. Now imagine an AI assistant, that accompanies you to every call and meeting, keeps track of all relevant information automatically organizes it perfectly, and responds to questions about it anytime anywhere. Wouldn't scheduling be a lot simpler? Knowing that their only goal and task was to focus on building stronger customer relationships, how much more productive would a sales professional be? It's fascinating to imagine how all of this would operate. With a focus on privacy, of course, your AI assistant would be there at every meeting, following the discussion from one point to the next and gaining a greater grasp of your needs, behavior, and how you work. Your AI assistant will either assign higher-level subtasks to an AI agent or invoke an action for a specific subtask, such as querying a knowledge article, as it recognizes the need to complete specific tasks, such as retrieving organizational information or summarizing meeting notes. The challenges ahead There will be technological, sociological, and even ethical obstacles as we step into the future of autonomous AI. The issue of memory and perseverance is the most important of these. AI assistants can get to know us well, including our daily routines, peculiarities, and long-term goals, if we so want. Like our relationships with friends and coworkers, every new engagement should be built upon a foundation of prior experiences. However, it's not easy to accomplish this using the AI models available today. Initiatives to create autonomous AI systems with rich, reliable memory and attention to detail are hampered by variables like computation and storage costs, latency issues, and even algorithmic constraints. Humans are exceptionally skilled at distilling minutes or even hours of material into a few main points, whether in a meeting, lecture or even a discussion with someone. Similar skills will be required of AI assistants. Trusting the results of an AI is even more crucial than how well it remembers things. Despite its incredible potential, generative AI is still frequently constrained by issues like hallucinations and toxicity concerns. Autonomous AI's inclination for continuous learning will help alleviate this issue because hallucinations often result from knowledge gaps, but more work needs to be done along the way. The ethical issues will be just as complicated. Will the development of autonomous AI systems, for example, necessitate the creation of whole new standards and protocols? How should teams and AI agents communicate with one another? How should they establish confidence in a particular course of action, settle disagreements and ambiguities, and foster consensus? How can we assess their risk tolerance or how they handle competing objectives, such as time against money? Regardless of their values, how can we make sure that their choices are open and simple to examine if the results don't suit us? In short, where is the locus of accountability in an era of such advanced automation? One thing is certain: humans should always be at the helm of affairs. They should decide when and why digital AI agents are deployed. Autonomous AI can be a powerful addition to almost any team, but only if humans are fully aware of its presence and have complete authority. Furthermore, interactions with all types of AI should be clearly designated as such, with no attempt to muddy the distinction between humans and machines. Conclusion We are still at an early stage as far as enterprise AI is concerned. There's a lot to be done, both in terms of tech innovation and establishing guidelines to ensure AI’s AI has a positive and fair influence on everyone. However, with so many obvious advantages now becoming apparent, it's important to take a moment to understand how significant this present phase of AI is turning out to be. Want to know more about Salesforce AI services for your business? Talk to global Salesforce implementation partner today.

No arguments to deny the fact that Salesforce is the world’s most trusted CRM platform. Because it really is! Trusted by over 15000 companies worldwide, Salesforce tops the list against all competitors. Although the platform offers unmatched flexibility, adopting and optimizing it is no small feat. You always need the right expertise to utilize its full potential. That’s where Salesforce implementation partners appear and make all the difference. Read on to learn why and how to meet the right consultant. What is Salesforce Implementation? Before understanding Salesforce implementation partners, we must first understand what Salesforce implementation is. Salesforce implementation is a multi-phase process that includes design, development, and configuration. Beyond the technical aspects, it also involves employee training, app integrations, data cleansing, etc. When we say, “a well-executed Salesforce implementation,” it indicates that the platform is seamlessly integrated with existing systems and tailored to specific business needs. However, Salesforce's complexity and resource demands can make it challenging to implement the platform. What is a Salesforce Implementation Partner? Salesforce implementation partner is a certified expert who focuses on all phases to ensure a smooth Salesforce implementation. From system designing to data cleansing, these partners ensure everything to let businesses capitalize on Salesforce. As each partner is Salesforce-accredited, you can trust their potential and critical skills. Additionally, you can swiftly transform your entire Salesforce ecosystem with their specialization in multiple areas like: Broad Salesforce Implementation Salesforce OmniStudio Salesforce Sales & Service Cloud Agentforce/Einstein/Salesforce Consulting Salesforce AI Data Cloud Salesforce Marketing Cloud Lightning Services MuleSoft Consulting Salesforce Development Salesforce Integration Salesforce Support Imagine joining hands with a company that provides all these services under one roof. Now, picture bringing the full capabilities of Salesforce to your business—enhanced customer satisfaction and improved ROI, managed by a single trusted partner. Partnering with Girikon enables you to achieve your goals 5x faster. Schedule a meeting today to learn how the experts help you get results aligned with your business objectives. What are the Specific Roles of a Salesforce Implementation Partner? Here are some roles and responsibilities performed by Salesforce implementation companies Giving guidance on choosing the right Salesforce product that matches specific business requirements. Providing a brief understanding of Salesforce pricing to cut down on unnecessary features. Assessing that the current system can handle multiple operations and mitigate challenges like data modelling, over-customization, and security. Guiding, supporting, and addressing all kinds of changes when there are any requirements. Decreasing the risk associated with implementation budget, timeline, and scope. Factors to Consider Before Taking Salesforce Support Business Requirements Before engaging with any Salesforce consultants, it’s essential to understand your business objectives. With this, you can define the goals for the Salesforce implementation. Besides, you can align the set-up with your specific business needs. For instance, you can prioritize metrics like customer behavior and loyalty if your goal is to improve customer relationship management. This way, you will get a clear insight into how the solution delivers the desired outcomes. 2.Timeline Salesforce implementation is a complex process that can take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year, depending on the complexities. This makes it important to create a well-defined timeline that sets expectations for consultants regarding deliverables, milestones, and resource allocation. Consider these milestones for an effective timeline: Requirement gathering and analysis Configuration and customization Data migration and integration Testing and quality assurance Training and deployment Give sufficient time for testing and training to minimize disruption at go-live. Also, ensure alignment with your partner on timeline expectations without compromising quality. 3.Budget Without a realistic budget, your Salesforce implementation could become a costly surprise. The most powerful features could end up being overspent and underutilized. Moreover, you may not allocate resources efficiently for Salesforce success. That’s why establishing a clear budget within financial constraints is essential. Here are various ways in which you can allocate your budget. Initial implementation costs (setup, licenses, customization) Ongoing costs (training, maintenance, support) Future enhancements or other scalability requirements Also, you can choose the best among the fixed-price contracts, milestone-based pricing, and time and material hourly rates. 4.Internal Resources Assessing the capabilities of your internal team is another key consideration to make before hiring Salesforce consultants. This will let you know their training needs, i.e., whether they are familiar with Salesforce’s UI, features, and functionalities. Also, learn if the team has additional time to work on the Salesforce project without compromising their regular duties. Ensure that the need for support in areas like customization, integration, and ongoing support is identified. Lastly, just promote an effective collaboration between the internal team and the consulting partner to facilitate skill development. Tips to Identify the Right Salesforce Implementation Partner A reliable Salesforce consulting partner is essential for the optimal performance of Salesforce software. To ensure you’re partnering with the best, look for these key qualities in a consultant. 1.Salesforce Certification and Expertise Always check for certified Salesforce consultants who have relevant experience and expertise. By providing their skills on one of the hottest CRM platforms, they ensure to kick start your business growth. Their niche knowledge and skills help businesses expand from all corners.   Here are some Salesforce certifications you should look for while searching for roles like Administrator, Architect, Consultant, Designer, Developer, and Marketer. Certifications for Salesforce Administrator Salesforce Administrator Salesforce Advanced Administrator Salesforce CPQ Specialist Certifications for Salesforce Architect Salesforce System Architect Salesforce Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer Salesforce Identity and Access Management Designer Certifications for Salesforce Consultant Salesforce Business Analyst Salesforce Education Cloud Consultant Experience Cloud Consultant Salesforce Field Service Consultant OmniStudio Salesforce Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant Certifications for Salesforce Marketing Consultant Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Salesforce Pardot Specialist Certifications for Salesforce Designer Consultant Salesforce User Experience Designer Salesforce Strategy Designer Certifications for Salesforce Developer Salesforce B2B Commerce Developer Salesforce JavaScript Developer Salesforce Platform Application Builder. 2.Industry Experience and Knowledge Salesforce consultants with industry-specific experience avoid creating solutions that do not address your unique needs. They customize the platform by understanding your unique needs, challenges, and workflows. Moreover, they are more familiar with common pain points. This lets them anticipate roadblocks and seamlessly run the implementation process. Besides, these consultants understand the legal and compliance landscape, enabling you to avoid costly compliance issues later. 3.Past Projects and Records No business wants to hand over their dynamic projects to newbies or unsupervised developers. Because implementing Salesforce is not just about writing code—it’s about adapting to unique business needs. Experts are always familiar with the complexities, letting them optimize code for better performance. However, an unexperienced developer may struggle to implement clean code and take longer to resolve problems. This potentially derails the timeline and brings complications in making the project live. That’s why having consultants with dynamic past projects delivery is necessary. These seasoned professionals not just ensure successful projects but also manage complexities and risks. 4.Clear Communication and Collaboration Salesforce implementation partners must ensure clear communication and collaboration, letting businesses learn about each stage. It is an essential aspect, especially when businesses want to achieve specific goals and enhance workforce efficiency. By getting real-time updates on project development, teams can stay aligned and adjust priorities as required. Moreover, they can prevent delays by identifying any roadblocks and issuing quick resolutions for the same. Ensure your partner follows a clear communication strategy to improve the quality of implementation. 5.Strong Post-implementation Support Salesforce success depends on the post-implementation activities supported by a group of consultants. Organizations that lack this support may struggle to drive value from their CRM systems. Moreover, they may not be able to keep track of new features that may enhance the established processes. Upon choosing a trusted partner, you can get support on various activities: Report design, generation, and analysis Ongoing process assessment Data quality and integrity New feature release testing and training 6.Data Security and Compliance Salesforce stores a wealth of information – ranging from financial data to customer details and other confidential information. Upon taking the right Salesforce integration services, you can protect this information from accidental loss or unauthorized access. Salesforce consultants ensure the best practices, which is crucial for safeguarding valuable information. They implement a regular data backup schedule for the restoration of lost data. Additionally, they enforce strong password policies and multi-factor authentication to add various layers of security. Beyond these basic protections, consultants ensure compliance with industry standards like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR, etc. Thus, confirming that your sensitive information is secure within the system. 7.Transparent Pricing Transparent pricing means providing clear information about all costs, including products, services, taxes, fees, and extra charges. With such information upfront, you can compare prices, avoid unexpected fees, and make informed decisions. It’s essential to ensure that there are not any hidden costs. This not only builds trust but also prevents surprises down the line. Thus, helping you better manage your budget for the desired implementation. What else? You can prioritize spending based on business needs and avoid adding unnecessary features. 8.Scalability and Future Growth You can get a future-proofed Salesforce only when the platform is adaptable to handle increased workloads and user demands. However, to make it this capable, you must need the support of high-graded Salesforce implementation partners. They embrace a modular architecture, design your data model, and optimize the codebase. While a modular setup ensures these changes are implemented successfully without disrupting other parts, data models make it easier to handle growing datasets. Besides, code optimization lets you deal with high transaction volumes, complex logic, and integration with third-party applications. With all these, you can create a scalability roadmap that aligns well with the organization’s strategy. 9.Training and Knowledge Transfer For successful Salesforce implementation, it’s not enough to simply configure the platform to meet organization’s needs. Your team must also be equipped with the training and knowledge to use it effectively. Salesforce consultants play a major role in designing and delivering tailored training programs. Whether it’s for administrators, developers, or end-users, they provide hands-on workshops, letting different users utilize the system properly. This way, they not only help your team become proficient in Salesforce but also foster a culture of empowerment. Thus, bringing confidence to your users in utilizing the software for business success. Upscale Your Digital Journey with Girikon Girikon, a certified Salesforce implementation partner, offers dynamic consulting services that go beyond customization. The team handles everything from design and implementation to integration, while keeping your platform updated with the latest standards. With their ongoing support, you can relax while they monitor and optimize Salesforce performance. Girikon’s consultants also assess your current business problems and address these concerns by building a solution. To learn more about how their services can prove game changer for your business, book a meeting with the experts.

Agents are assistive and autonomous software systems. Based on user input or environmental conditions, they reason, plan, and take action to achieve given tasks or goals. They are like intelligent digital assistants, equipped with the aggregated knowledge and experience of human experts, and access to all relevant data. Agents are set to become ubiquitous across every area of our lives and to profoundly transform how businesses operate and interact with customers. For example, a service agent can act as your company's most knowledgeable technical support representative, available 24/7 to handle every request. A marketing agent, much like a self-driving car, can use "sensors" (real-time data) to detect changing business conditions and respond proactively (adjust pricing, launch a campaign, and so on). Agentforce, an AI initiative from Salesforce, was announced on August 28, 2024. Described as part of “the Third Wave of AI,” it moves beyond copilots to introduce intelligent agents designed for greater accuracy and reliability, aiming to enhance customer success. This launch marks a practical step toward integrating artificial intelligence into enterprise workflows. Created to support employees and simplify operations, Agentforce helps businesses manage customer interactions and internal processes more efficiently. By automating routine tasks and offering useful insights, Agentforce aims to boost productivity, improve customer service, and support business growth. Agentforce Agents use a multilayered approach to enforce guardrails: Einstein Trust Layer: The Einstein Trust Layer enables agents to use LLMs in a trusted way, without compromising company data. It uses a secure gateway, data masking, toxicity detection, audit trails, and more to control LLM interactions. Instructions: When defining an Agentforce Agent, you can use natural language to provide clear instructions, including what to do and what to avoid, effectively setting the guardrails for its behavior. Shared metadata: Salesforce metadata defines overarching rules that are enforced regardless of whether the data is accessed from traditional applications or agents. This includes permissions, sharing models, validation rules, and workflow automation to guarantee data security and adherence to business practices. Agent Analytics: This observability tool provides insights into agent and action performance, usability, and reliability, enabling you to identify areas for improvement. AI Test Center: A unified testing framework, the AI Test Center supports batch testing for agents, prompt templates, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and model use cases. With just a few clicks, companies can scale their workforce on demand using the robust capabilities of Agentforce’s AI agents.  These digital agents can analyze data, make informed decisions, and handle tasks such as responding to customer inquiries, qualifying sales leads, and optimizing marketing campaigns. Here’s what distinguishes Agentforce Agents: Trustworthy: With the Einstein Trust Layer, your data remains secure, utilizing the same metadata, permissions, and sharing models you are accustomed to in traditional Salesforce applications. Powerful: Agentforce Agents leverage industry-leading Salesforce apps to create transformative experiences across sales, service, commerce, marketing, and various other sectors. Data-Driven: By tapping into all relevant data through Data Cloud, Agentforce Agents deliver more accurate and meaningful outcomes. Customizable: Utilizing a suite of low-code tools—such as Agent Builder, Prompt Builder, Model Builder, and Flow Builder—you can easily build, customize, test, and manage these agents. Key features and benefits of Agentforce: 1. Autonomous AI Agents: Agentforce is comprised of self-contained AI agents that can perform tasks independently, without constant human intervention. These agents are trained on large datasets and leverage machine learning to learn and adapt over time. 2. Task Automation: Agentforce can automate a wide range of tasks across various departments, including customer service, sales, marketing, and commerce. This frees up employees to focus on more strategic and complex work. 3. Intelligent Insights: It provides valuable insights and recommendations based on data analysis. This enables businesses to make data-driven decisions and identify opportunities for improvement. 4. Natural Language Processing (NLP): It can understand and respond to natural language queries, making it easier for employees and customers to interact with the system. 5. Integration with Salesforce Ecosystem: Agentforce seamlessly integrates with other Salesforce products, such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Marketing Cloud. This allows for a unified and cohesive experience. 6. Scalability: Agentforce can scale to meet the growing needs of businesses, ensuring that it remains effective as the organization expands. 7. Customization: Agentforce can be customized to fit the specific requirements of different industries and use cases. This flexibility allows businesses to tailor the solution to their unique needs. 8. Security and Privacy: Agentforce is built with robust security measures to protect sensitive data. Salesforce also adheres to strict privacy regulations to ensure that customer information is handled responsibly. Pre-built Agentforce Agents Here are some pre-built Agentforce Agents for your business needs: Service Agent The Service Agent efficiently handles customer inquiries around the clock, using reliable data to provide accurate and personalized support. It can be quickly set up with templates or customized with minimal coding, ensuring a smooth implementation process. In cases where human intervention is required, the agent seamlessly escalates the issue while maintaining high standards of data security. Sales Development Representative (SDR) Agent The SDR Agent engages potential customers 24/7, answering product questions, managing tasks, and scheduling meetings for sales representatives. It offers accurate, data-driven responses and is versatile, interacting across various communication channels and languages, ensuring comprehensive customer engagement. Sales Coach Agent The Sales Coach Agent provides sales representatives with personalized role-playing scenarios to practice pitching, handling objections, and negotiating. It gives feedback on performance and suggests areas for improvement, helping to refine sales techniques. By analyzing deal outcomes, this agent can measure the effectiveness of training and provide insights for continued growth. Personal Shopper Agent The Personal Shopper Agent enhances the customer shopping experience by offering tailored product recommendations. It interacts with customers on your website or through messaging apps, assisting them in finding products and making purchases by suggesting relevant items, increasing customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Campaign Agent The Campaign Agent simplifies marketing efforts by generating campaign briefs, identifying target audiences, developing content, and creating customer journeys. It continuously monitors campaign performance and provides actionable insights to optimize results, ensuring your marketing strategy remains effective and data-driven. Which Agentforce will you build?  Agentforce is a flexible platform that allows you to create custom agents using existing Salesforce tools. This enables you to adapt agents to fit various business needs. Here are a few: Healthcare Agent: Interacts with patients, healthcare providers, and payers to answer questions, provide information, and take action. Banking Agent: Analyzes data, assists customers, and offers personalized service in retail, commercial, and investment banking. Retail Agent: Shares campaign information, reaches out to customers and resolves issues for fashion, grocery, and convenience stores. Operations Agent: Helps operations teams manage plans, resources, and progress. CX Agent: Analyzes customer feedback, suggests ways to improve customer satisfaction, and manages omnichannel experiences. Analytics Agent: Provides data insights, creates visualizations, and recommends data-driven actions. IT Agent: Monitors security threats, shares network information, and resolves customer and employee support issues. Finance Agent: Shares insights on financial reporting and risk assessments, detects fraud, and addresses compliance-related inquiries. Agentforce’s availability and price  Agentforce for Service and Sales will be generally available on October 25, 2024, with select components of the Atlas Reasoning Engine launching in February 2025. Pricing for Agentforce starts at $2 per conversation, with volume discounts available. At $2 per conversation, Salesforce anticipates a significant ROI for customers. Agentforce agents offer a more cost-effective solution by handling routine tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex inquiries. Summary: How Agentforce Agents are transforming business and application development Agents are set to become ubiquitous in every area of our lives. They can reason, orchestrate tasks, and take action, delivering personalized experiences at scale. By combining the language and reasoning capabilities of LLMs with software building blocks, they are transforming how businesses operate and how software is built. Agentforce Agents are leading this transformation with key differentiating characteristics, including: Trusted. Agentforce protects your data using the Einstein Trust Layer and the same metadata, permissions, and sharing models as traditional Salesforce applications. Powerful. Agentforce Agents make use of industry-leading Salesforce applications to deliver transformative experiences across sales, service, commerce, marketing, and industries. Grounded in unified data. Agentforce Agents deliver more accurate and relevant outcomes by grounding AI in all the relevant data made available and unified by Data Cloud. Low-code tools. Agentforce Agents can be built, customized, tested, and managed using a set of low-code tools including Agent Builder, Prompt Builder, Model Builder, Flow Builder, and more. In conclusion, Agentforce is the powerful integration of Humans + AI + Data + Actions, transforming how businesses operate. By combining assistive and autonomous AI agents, employees are empowered to focus on high-value tasks, while AI handles routine work and escalates when necessary. Access to the right data through Data Cloud ensures that agents are intelligent, secure, and scalable, making them capable of delivering dynamic customer and employee experiences.  Finally, Agentforce agents aren’t just passive bots—they take meaningful action across systems, driving efficiency and completing tasks like drafting emails, creating close plans, and initiating customer nurture cadences. This blend of human expertise, AI capabilities, data access, and actionable insights ensures businesses can work smarter and faster.

By leveraging automated SMS from Salesforce, businesses can streamline sales, marketing, and customer support activities. And by doing so, businesses can boost revenue, enhance customer service, and drive customer engagement over multiple channels.  Businesses can leverage the many benefits that automated Salesforce SMS messaging offers by integrating a 100% native Salesforce SMS app directly with their Salesforce CRM workflow. The Effectiveness of Text Messaging in Customer Communication Text messages are an effective way of capturing your customer's attention quickly. Text message open rates range from 95 to 99% on average. Not only that, 90% of messages received are read within three minutes. Other avenues of communication find it difficult to match the personal touch that this text messaging offers. SMS messages establish a direct and personal communication channel with your contact, cutting through the clutter. Automated SMS messaging from Salesforce The ideal way to integrate automated SMS messaging into Salesforce is to use a native Salesforce messaging app like GirikSMS. With GirikSMS, companies can send bulk SMS message campaigns to their contacts, have two-way text interactions, send SMS appointment reminders, send event updates, send booking confirmations, and much more, all directly from Salesforce. You can also automate routine sales tasks, automate responses to commonly asked customer support questions, and solicit feedback from customers. Why Should Businesses Use Salesforce SMS Messaging? SMS messaging from Salesforce transforms customer engagement. By connecting Salesforce with an enterprise SMS messaging app, you can leverage your all your organizational data. By utilizing your CRM data, you can launch automated SMS campaigns that are triggered on specific events. For e.g. when a contact performs a certain action like a sign up on your website. There are virtually innumerable use cases where your business can use Salesforce SMS messaging to enhance engagement with customers. Text Messages Are Very Visible Text messages are always in your face, unlike emails that can get lost in a cluttered inbox. Your messages have a higher chance of being read as a result. Text messages are difficult to ignore. People have a propensity to texts as soon as it is received, unlike emails that are easily ignored. Text messaging is perfect for urgent updates or information that must be communicated at scale. Furthermore, messages are perfect for people who are always on the go because they are concise and to the point. The convenience, flexibility, and reach of text messaging make it a powerful tool for reaching people. Text Messaging is Personal and Happens in Real Time  It can be challenging to get people to listen to your message in today's "always on the move" world. Text messages, on the other hand, are an excellent approach to reaching out to your contact base because they are personalized and are delivered instantly. This implies that there is a greater chance that your recipients will reply to your communication. Text messages can also be coupled with other channels like social media and popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp to form a comprehensive communication strategy. SMS allows you to ensure that your communication stands out. Track and Measure Performance With an enterprise Salesforce messaging solution like GirikSMS, you get access to comprehensive analytics and reporting to enable you to optimize your text messaging campaigns and boost your text messaging RoI. Overall, there are numerous reasons to consider adopting automated Salesforce text messaging for your business. SMS, with its high visibility and customization ability, can add real value to your sales, marketing, and customer support operations. How To Use Automated Salesforce Text Messaging Effectively Keep your texts concise and to the point. Because SMS messages can only be 160 characters long, they must be brief and to the point. Communicate your message without any ambiguity. Embed compelling calls-to-action (CTA). You want recipients to take some action after reading your message. Isn’t that the purpose of sending it in the first place? So, make sure your CTA is a powerful one. Use compelling language, and state clearly what you want them to do, and what they get in return. For instance, use a CTA such as "Click on the link below to receive 10% off your booking" to nudge them to complete a booking. Segment Your Contacts The ability to segment your contacts so that you deliver tailored messages to the right people at the right time is one of the wonderful aspects of automated text messaging.  You can segment your CRM contacts by multiple parameters such as age, gender, geography, interests, past purchases, etc. SMS Messaging for Events and Appointments Reminding participants of forthcoming Salesforce Calendar events is one of the most useful use cases for sending texts from Salesforce. Although text reminders can also be useful for keeping internal employees updated about meetings, this usually entails alerting current or potential customers about scheduled appointments with you. Text messaging from Salesforce has been shown to significantly reduce appointment no-shows. Similarly, customers feel assured when they know that they will be reminded on time for upcoming appointments. This translates to convenience and higher satisfaction. GirikSMS leverages CRM data and can include key elements of that data within the text message itself to personalize every text. By unitizing dynamic fields and placeholders in pre-built text message templates, businesses can remind, reschedule, confirm, or follow up with contacts regarding their upcoming appointment. Businesses can send reminder texts at scale using the built-in library of templates and sequences in GirikSMS by leveraging dynamic fields, which automatically pull the relevant data from the CRM and embed them into the text message. Bulk Text Message Campaigns Sending bulk SMS to your contacts is a very effective use of SMS messaging to reach out to a large database of subscribers. Bulk texting campaigns have been shown to increase reservations, drive sales with deals and discounts, re-activate old leads or churned customers, and improve overall customer satisfaction. Similar to personalized messaging for event reminders, bulk text message campaigns can deliver relevant messaging to your subscriber base and increase the chances that they will respond and take action. Using text messaging to assist in converting leads in your Salesforce org into prospects or even customers is a fantastic example. For instance, a week after a lead has signed up on your website but has not yet taken any further action, you can nudge them to make a reservation with you and offer a link with a discount in your automated text message. Business Text Messaging in Two Ways Text messaging from Salesforce is a great tool for businesses to engage in 2-way conversational messaging with contacts. This enables businesses to establish an interactive, real-time line of communication with their contacts. Recipients can instantly reply to appointment reminder texts, re-schedule appointments, ask questions, or offer suggestions by leveraging 2-way text messaging with a business. With automated text messaging from Salesforce, customers are kept engaged and feel valued because they see that the company is responding quickly to their questions or concerns. This fosters stronger customer relationships founded on convenience and trust. Reminders for Payments Reminding people to make payments for appointments can also be done effectively with text messaging. To make it easier for customers to pay, these messages can include important information like the payment amount, pay-by date, and a link to complete the transaction. This simplifies the booking journey of customers and companies alike. Also, it eliminates the need for annoying collection calls at odd hours by sending courteous reminders, which helps to deliver pleasant experiences. How Can I Activate Salesforce Text messaging? Depending on the text messaging platform you use, there are many ways to integrate text messaging with Salesforce. Determine the text messaging requirements and budget of your company, to begin with, then identify a reliable 100% native Salesforce text messaging platform such as GirikSMS. Integrating both your CRM and your messaging solution is the next logical step. Next, you'll configure your templates, scheduling, and text message rules. Now you’re good to go. GirikSMS: Your Salesforce Text Messaging Platform GirikSMS automates customer communication with its no-code drag-and-drop interface.  GirikSMS allows you to: Configure your Salesforce Calendar to automatically send out text reminders for appointments. Leverage your CRM data to personalize every outbound text that resonates with your brand. Increase engagement by personalizing every follow-up and appointment reminder message. Monitor the performance of your text messaging by tracking the delivery and response to every text and refine your texting strategy. Allow contacts the convenience and flexibility to schedule and re-schedule appointments online by directly integrating with your Salesforce calendar. Send text messages to thousands instantly, collect payments, answer questions, and gather feedback. All automated over 2-way text messaging.  GirikSMS is a 100% Salesforce text messaging solution. This means you can embed automated text messaging with virtually zero code right into your workflows. This frees up time for your employees so that they can spend their time and energy on what matters most – building stronger customer relationships. Try GirikSMS free for 30 days to see how easy and efficient it is.

As a prominent name in the cloud CRM space, Salesforce is being leveraged by organizations to manage customer relationships, as well as their business processes. Today, several forward-looking businesses including small and medium sized businesses are considering implementing this robust platform within their business ecosystem. By associating with an experienced Salesforce Consulting Partner, businesses are making the most of this platform to drive business growth and efficiency by automating processes, streamlining customer data and fortifying networks.  What is Salesforce Lightning? Salesforce Lightning includes a set of applications, designed to help organizations manage their operations efficiently. Ever since the launch of this powerful and intuitive UI (user interface) framework i.e. Salesforce Lightning – businesses have enjoyed improved user experience, streamlined workflows, and augmented productivity. This component-based framework has helped businesses maintain their digital presence by helping them build applications on the Salesforce platform without any coding or development knowledge. This powerful, and enhanced version of CRM has the potential to maximize sales productivity, offer meaningful data insights, and transform the way people make a purchase. What Should Businesses Consider Migrating from Salesforce Classic to Lightning? While many organizations have already upgrade from Salesforce classic to Lightning, there are several others that are still hesitant to make a move. The reason might be ignorance about benefits of Salesforce Lightning, apprehension about missing features, and the fear of disrupting their business operations. While the Lightning platform had certain limitations, it has evolved significantly over the years. By providing a more visually pleasing, receptive, and adaptable user interface, Lightning offers a suite of powerful tools and features that enable businesses to streamline their businesses processes. Augmented User Experience: Salesforce Lightning is known to have an intuitive interface, which is a noteworthy improvement over the classic version. While the changes might not seem obvious, the overall experience is strikingly smoother and faster. In fact, the interface is fully responsive, providing users with an optimum experience across different devices. The drag-and-drop functionality of the Lightning App builder allows users to tailor the platform as per their unique business needs. Mobile-first: Salesforce Lightning can be easily accessed on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. In fact, users can easily access its functions even without the need for an internet connection. This advantage enables team members to work remotely or on the go. This not just boosts their output but also the overall performance of the organization. Advanced Reporting and Analytics: With Salesforce Lightning, organizations can utilize the reporting and analytics capabilities of this platform, including Salesforce Einstein. Salesforce Einstein offers intelligent insights into their data. Lightning enables the creation of dynamic reports by conducting data analysis, and envisaging data through graphs and charts, which leads to more informed decision-making. Improved Sales Productivity: Lightning equips sales teams with user-friendly features like customizable dashboards, automation tools and more. These functionalities help sales reps manage opportunities, leads and workflows thereby driving augmented productivity and better sales results. Seamless Integration: Salesforce Lightning can easily integrate with a wide range of third-party system, applications, and services, enabling businesses to centralize their data and streamline operations. Recognizing evolving business needs, the platform offers Salesforce integration services to boost efficiency and provide a single view of customer related information. Personalization: Salesforce Lightning allows businesses to tailor the platform to meet their unique needs. Users can create custom fields, dashboards, and pages to providing a personalized experience that supports their exclusive business processes. What are Benefits of Utilizing Salesforce Lightning? Customer satisfaction is at the heart of business success. Listed below are the business benefit of implementing this platform. Time Efficiency: Salesforce Lightning offers several features for optimizing time usage, which enhances business efficiency through efficient time management. Effective Sales Pipeline: Disorganized data is a major obstacle to an effectual pipeline. Salesforce Lightning offers an ingenious solution to this issue through its visual representation of the pipeline. Better Collaboration: Salesforce Lightning offers features such as chatter that foster team collaboration through real-time information and document sharing. The Bottom Line Salesforce Lightning marks a major dive in the CRM landscape, transforming the way organizations handle customer relationships. Its user-friendly interface, wide range of features, and continual evolution make it a robust solution for all the teams. If you are still on the fence whether your business should migrate to Salesforce Lightning, make sure to get in touch with one of the best Salesforce Consultants.