Salesforce

Businesses across the globe have realized the significance of maintaining effective customer relationship that contributes to their sales and profits. They are indeed trying to connect with their customers across multiple channels and touchpoints. While there is no dearth of internet messaging apps, texting or SMS (Short messaging service) continues to be a ubiquitous means of connecting with customers and promoting brands due to its’ tremendous penetration power and high response rates.  Today, as digital ecosystems are driving digital transformations, organizations are trying to integrate their communication system within their business ecosystem to enjoy better customer reach and service. Organizations leveraging Salesforce as a customer relationship management system can look forward to make the most of this amazing platform by using it to send SMS to clients.  One such Salesforce SMS app is the Smart SMS app by Girikon that offers all the essential features required to gain trust among the customers. Built natively on the Salesforce platform, this robust App empowers users to connect with prospects, customers, and partners effectively through individual/ Bulk SMS/ MMS. The text messaging solution works equally well in Salesforce classic, as well as Salesforce Lightning without the need for additional configuration.  This one-stop texting solution can be leveraged by organizations across different industry verticals such as education, hospitality, and more. Endowed with all the relevant features, this texting solution can be a blessing in disguise when it comes to mass texting. Here are some of the features that set apart this messaging app from its counterparts: Home Page Displays Incoming Messages: With a Smart SMS app in place, sales reps can view a list of incoming messages on their Salesforce CRM home page. This feature allows sales reps to have a quick look at the client’s responses without missing out on any one of them.  SMS Scheduler: The mundane routine of a sales rep is quite hectic. The SMS scheduler feature allows them to set aside their worries of sending promotional messages or other kinds of messages to different customers staying across different time zones. This feature helps sales reps to schedule the sending of SMS es automatically by entering the date, time, recipient number, and the SMS template in the Salesforce org and then saving it. The SMS es are automatically sent to the intended recipients at the scheduled time and date.  Auto Responses: When promotional messages or texts related to contests and surveys are sent to customers, a response is expected from the customers. With an auto-responder in place, businesses can reply to their customers, which will win them the trust of their customers. By leveraging the Smart SMS app, Auto Responses can be set-up so that an auto-response can be sent to the customer depending on the response received from them.  SMS from Report: Depending on the data that wished to be viewed by the user, custom and standard reports can be created in Salesforce. Organizations usually prepare reports of the unreciprocated calls and emails that were sent to customers by sales reps. These reports are used by the management to create solutions that will help in maximizing customer responses.   SMS Template: Being a time-saving app, the Smart SMS app allows users to develop SMS templates that can be used to send SMS from Salesforce. To create a new template, the template name should be entered; a report or object should be entered before finally entering the text message. Apart from text, emojis can be added to make it more interesting. With this feature, Sales reps can send custom messages to their customers or save their time by selecting the template, entering the number, and sending the messages rather than spending time entering the same message again and again.  Send Mass SMS from Object View: Sales reps can now send SMS in bulk from object list view by leveraging the smart SMS app.  SMS History: Sales reps can view a list of outgoing SMS or received SMS, whether delivered or undelivered, the name of the object, and the number to which the SMS was sent.  Quick Wrap-up: These are some of the multiple features offered by this robust app. However, by leveraging this app, businesses can win the trust of their customers and empower sales reps to close more sales. In a nutshell, the Smart SMS app can take your business to new heights. 

To sustain in today’s digital era, organizations need to indulge in the development of robust and indigenous applications that can help them in making their business super productive while serving their customers in the best possible way. However, redressing business-critical issues expeditiously using normal CRM applications isn’t possible and thus requires the development of cloud-based CRM applications. Since, software development isn’t a simple task; it becomes all the more challenging to develop, test and deploy a cloud-based system such as Salesforce on a cloud environment. To understand a typical Salesforce development lifecycle, it’s important to seek Salesforce support and know about the various actors involved in the process. Some of the most common ones include the following:   Product Manager: One who is responsible for coordinating and finalizing the business requirements.  Release Manager: One who coordinates the release schedule with the client and the development team. Developer:One who does the main coding, and produces deliverables. Quality Analyst: One who tests and confirms various features. Trainer:One who provides training. Listed below are steps that are involved in the Salesforce Development Lifecycle:  Discovery Phase: It is the first and fundamental phase that contributes to the successful execution of Salesforce implementation. During this phase, the groundwork for the Salesforce Implementation is done and all the crucial information required for the implementation is gathered, reviewed, and deliberated. During the discovery phase the following factors are examined: The goal and objectives of the business and the project at hand is analyzed Gaps, risks, and critical requirements are identified. Analysing the existing systems that require CRM integration Get a detailed overview of the scope of the deployment Understand the reporting requirements etc. Source Control Set-up: In this step, the release manager sets up the source control repository. It’s always beneficial to have a separate Git repository for each project while the default branch can act as the master branch where production metadata can be stored. Post this; different branches are created for different features by the release manager, which will be used by different developers. The release manager also creates the package.xml manifest and uses the same to populate the master branch with metadata and uses Force.com for data migration. Development Phase: Developers create their sandboxes that usually have a copy of the main production app and all the related Salesforce configuration information. The developers start developing within their sandboxes and use Force.com to connect with their sandboxes and recover metadata from the sandbox to the IDE. After doing necessary coding and initial unit testing, developers obligate the code to the Git repository.  For the next steps of development, the freshly committed code can be migrated to the Sandboxes while they carry on with further development. The latest development should be committed to the repository. However, if more people are working on the same code then they should check for conflicts before committing the code to the repository.  Testing:  Once the development is completed, it is followed by testing. Just like the developers, QA’s or testers migrate the code from the repository to their sandbox environment for testing. Testers use partial copy sandboxes when they are assigned the task of testing a specific feature. QA’s require sharing their sandbox environment if they are required to do more thorough testing of crucial features, which largely depends on the workflow pattern of the organization. However, changes recommended at this stage will take it back to the initial development phase.   Acceptance Testing: After the aforementioned level of testing is accomplished, another level of testing i.e. user acceptance testing is conducted wherein apart from testers and QA’s product managers, developers, and other users perform the final testing. Partial sandboxes are being created by the release managers for testing, which are then used by the product managers for carrying out ad-hoc testing followed by preparing a final presentation for the clients or the end-users. However, any changes suggested during this stage can take the entire process to the initial development phase to integrate the changes.  Product Release: The app that has undergone all the testing processes is tested for performance in an intermediate sandbox environment, which has all the data and configurations of the production environment. Since, this sandbox isn’t partial; it has all the features of the app. After the final performance and regression testing is performed by the QA team, the app has to pass all service level agreements. Post this; the app is ready to be deployed in the production environment. Patch Releases: Even after the deployment of the app, some of the other requirements for bug fixes, tweaking of a feature, or a minute change may pop up and are taken care of during the patch releases. The patch release cycle has a cycle of its own but has faster processes as compared to the app development lifecycle.  Quick Wrap-up: So, if you are looking for robust apps that can help you streamline your business processes and increase business productivity then it’s important for you to partner with a certified Salesforce partner for Salesforce app development.  

The current Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way organizations conduct their business and interact with their customers. While the digital boom has paved way for new technologies that have helped in streamlining processes by automating them, yet something tends to get lost while attaining business efficiency. Have you ever thought what is that something? It is the need for real human interactions, which customers, employees, and leaders alike crave for. In other words, it is the need for communities to thrive, which will impact business growth significantly especially during uncertain times. While organizations are aware of the significance of community and collaboration for driving business growth, yet most of them struggle to find out effectual ways to build communities that foster collaboration. Salesforce community cloud offers a comprehensive solution for businesses aiming for greater customer outreach, boost internal morale, and improve the bottom line. What are Salesforce Communities? Salesforce communities are branded spaces that facilitate collaboration and association for customers, employees, and partners. Salesforce communities provide an efficient way of collaborating and sharing insights and information with the people present within the community i.e. customers, partners, and employees. Apart from this, the robust platform allows organizations to create multiple communities, each of which is tailored to meet the needs of the specific community members. If you are still unsure regarding the benefits of Salesforce communities, here are some of the powerful ways of how Salesforce communities can drive business growth:   Customer Support: One of the most important uses of Salesforce communities is that it helps in building a support community in form of a branded site that offers a perfect setting for customer support. The platform allows for an in-built social media app i.e. Chatter that can be leveraged to begin support tickets or receive help from support agents. Apart from this, the platform also offers some documentation features that act as a knowledge repository, along with forum capabilities for community building and peer-to-peer problem resolution. With such excellent customer support, organizations can build a loyal customer base. Social Media Management: Salesforce communities can be a blessing for companies looking to build a strong social media presence or don’t have the right tool to manage everything from a single place. This amazing platform allows organizations to pull in brand ambassadors, plan content, and manage their workflows from a single dashboard. Build a Thriving Community: Salesforce Communities can help businesses turn into a trusted authority in their domain by helping build a community of customers, partners, and admirers of their business and enjoy humongous results. Salesforce community allows businesses to customize their community pages as per their branding and specific need and interest of users. Customers or members of the community can seek information from the community to solve their queries and recommend other members for their valuable contributions during various discussions as a way of thanking them.   Supply Chain Management: Salesforce community can be a savior for manufacturers who otherwise face issues managing their supply chain due to the absence of proper technology infrastructure. This robust platform can help manufacturers manage distribution by keeping an eye on placements and promotions. They can manage risks and connect with other members directly. Furthermore, dashboards can be created that streamlines the process of tracking and monitoring. Improved Communication: Collaboration and communication are two powerful weapons that businesses require to sustain in an increasingly competitive business landscape. Salesforce community helps in achieving better communication across various departments, which further helps in increasing productivity. The robust platform allows employees to connect with the community, seek information they need to work efficiently all through the day. Managers and leadership teams on the other hand can monitor performance, share company updates, and more. Quick Wrap-up: In a nutshell, it can be inferred that the Salesforce community cloud has opened new avenues for businesses of all sizes. To reap the benefits of this amazing platform, it’s important to get in touch with an experienced Salesforce partner who will not just help you successfully implement this platform but will provide the necessary support throughout your Salesforce journey.

The business landscape has become extremely cut-throat in today’s era, and to sustain themselves businesses need to build strategies that would help them maximize their reach among the targeted audience. While there is no dearth of methods and techniques that are being leveraged by organizations to boost their sales and revenue, SMS (Short Message Service) continues to be one of the safest and sure-shot ways to promote products, services and brands in today’s era of internet messaging. In fact, SMS can be used to send promotional messages irrespective of whether internet is being used or not as sending SMS requires network coverage to get the work done. Besides being utilized as an independent business management tool, it can be operated in a new Salesforce CRM (Customer Relationship Management) for sending SMS to the clients. One such component that allows SMS sending services is the Smart SMS App. What is Smart SMS App? Built on the Salesforce platform, the Smart SMS App allows users to send single or bulk SMS, and MMS to the leads, accounts, contacts, etc. from the Salesforce Panel. The app allows admin to create and assign the task to multiple users for sending bulk and individual messages. Those leveraging Salesforce can make the most of the excellent features of this amazing app as it empowers teams to quickly reach out to customers through features like automation, a consolidated repository of SMS, customizable SMS templates, Pardot Integration, etc. Endowed with the most advanced texting features, Smart SMS App is gaining popularity as it is easy to access, simple to use, and is versatile. The robust app is capable of efficiently marketing the products and services of a business while enabling greater penetration. Now it is easy to reach your customers with short and informative messages rather than long and detailed emailers. Benefits of Using Smart SMS App for Your Business: This one-stop text messaging Salesforce SMS app is an integration of outbound, as well as inbound text messaging proficiencies within Salesforce. The smart SMS app works equally well in Salesforce classic, as well as Salesforce Lightning without the need for coding or configuration. The app could be installed into a Sandbox or the production environment from Salesforce AppExchange by following simple instructions. With amazing features and greater efficiency, customers are bound to respond quickly, as compared to lengthy emails. Some of the excellent features offered by this app include the following: Home Page Displays Incoming SMS: Sales reps can now view incoming messages on the home page of the CRM. This allows them to have a glance at customer responses as they would rarely miss out on their messages. SMS scheduler: This feature helps sales reps to schedule the sending of SMS at a desired time and date by entering the date and setting up the time in the Salesforce org and save it. The SMS gets disbursed automatically to the concerned recipients at the scheduled date and time without any manual intervention by the Sales reps. Auto Responders: The smart SMS app allows setting-up of autoresponders that provides prompt response to customer queries whenever SMS related to surveys, promotions, or contest is sent to them. Reply to Email: This feature allows the sales rep to reply directly to the incoming messages without logging into the Salesforce Org.SMS Using Report: This feature helps organizations to strategize and create solutions to the calls and emails that go unanswered. The feature allows Sales reps to select the report, choose the numbers to and from which they wish to send SMS along with the SMS template. Workflow Configuration: Smart SMS App gives an ability to setup workflow configuration based on which SMS will be sent to the customers. Apart from this, new rules need to be created if SMS needs to be sent automatically. SMS History: This feature allows sales reps to view a list of the SMS that is being sent or received, and their status i.e. whether delivered or not. Quick wrap-up: The smart SMS app is one of the best SMS apps for Salesforce and has abundant features apart from the aforementioned ones. This robust text-messaging app is being leveraged by organizations to empower their sales reps to close more sales deals and win the trust of the customers by providing them with superior customer service.

The growing scope and complexity of businesses have forced organizations lookout for a robust solution that can empower sales reps to close more deals quickly and effectively. Salesforce CPQ is one such software that has the potential to streamline processes, speed up quoting, while generate quick return on investment. However, for effective Salesforce implementation of this software, organizations have to leverage innovative technologies like AI and ML.

In today’s competitive business era, data is the pivot on which the business world balances. With the human race generating humongous data of around 2.5 exabytes every day, forward-looking businesses are investing in processing, cleaning, and analyzing these vast stores of data to draw meaningful insights, which they can leverage to make informed decisions and better understand their customers. In fact, companies that adopt data-driven strategies enjoy higher productivity and profits than their counterparts. According to a report shared by IDC, revenue generated from big data and business analytics is expected to increase from $130.1 billion in 2016 to $203 billion through 2020. Since, sales continue to be one of the most important functions of any business entity, sales reps should be empowered to connect with their customers in a better way. Salesforce Einstein Analytics – an AI-powered tool can be leveraged by organizations to automate their time-consuming admin activities to make time for other important activities. With AI-informed insights and automation, the Sales team can streamline every aspect of their sales cycle. Here’s how Salesforce Einstein can be leveraged by organizations to improve sales performance: Prioritize Leads: By introducing AI-powered Einstein analytics to your sales team, organizations can empower their sales team to sort and prioritize incoming leads. The AI-powered sales tool helps in analyzing historical data to disclose the best kind of leads for their business, which further helps sales reps to focus on leads that are most likely to convert. The patterns identified by this sophisticated tool are more focused than the traditional criteria that are based on intuition. Consequently, sales productivity increases as more leads are converted in less time. Recognize Opportunity Health: Sales reps are bogged down with the pressure to handle multiple opportunities concurrently. With a robust AI-powered tool i.e Salesforce Einstein in place, sales reps can distinguish between opportunities that require attention and those that are doing well and moving towards a successful conclusion. This leads to high sales productivity within a short time frame. Search for Strategic Contacts: Sales reps understand the significance of a sincere and heartfelt introduction to key contacts and its significance in building a rewarding and long-term relationship. The robust Einstein tool can help find contacts that have a prior relationship with key contacts and provides sales reps the benefit of knowing the contact before the formal introduction is made.   Accurate Forecasting: The forecasting ability of this AI-powered data analysis tool help decodes the trends existing in the sales cycle right down to every sales rep. The predictive capabilities of the tool help organizations to plan accordingly for the approaching sales quarter and prioritize sales deals to maximize winning chances.  In a Nutshell: These are some of the many ways how Salesforce Einstein analytics can help organizations build a high-performing sales team and empowering sales reps to excel at their work. Adopting Salesforce Einstein analytics can help organizations to boost customer loyalty while building a long-term relationship with them. Organizations should consider partnering with one of the most reputed Salesforce consultants to avail outstanding consultation and implementation services.   

The current Covid-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm. The pandemic has severely impacted the global economy with small businesses being the worst hit. To sustain themselves during such volatile times, businesses should consider adopting SaaS-based products and services that don’t require buyers to make any additional payment or indulge in installation as these are hosted inside the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere and from any device. One such software that helps organizations to accept payments, manage income and expenses, pay bills, manage payroll, and track inventory is the QuickBooks accounting software. Developed by Intuit, the functions of the accounting software can be enhanced by integrating with other third-party tools. When integrated with Salesforce CRM, the solution can be leveraged to manage day-to-day business activities. The accounting software and the cloud-based CRM work hand in hand with each other to share information related to accounting and sales, client data, costs, invoicing, etc. which does away with the duplication of data, augments productivity, unified info on ROI, and accurate forecasting about marketing expenses. In fact, the integration of this two software will help users to access information about both accounting and customer details in a single place. Let’s explore some of the benefits of Salesforce and Quickbook integration: Automate sales order, invoices, payments, inventory management, and more processes Better execution of a wide array of accounting metrics for the reason for quick and simple data sharing between sales and accounting.   No more errors caused as a result of manual and duplicate data entry Readily available data that will help the sales team to improve sales processes by tracking expenses, creating reports, and drawing actionable insights.  How to Integrate Salesforce and QuickBooks? Integration can turn out to be extremely complex if you try to do it on your own. To ensure seamless integration of Salesforce and Quickbooks, it’s important to use an API or a third-party application that could be availed from Salesforce AppExchange. However, it’s important to do ample research regarding the features and capabilities before selecting the right application that could aid in integrating data between both the software. Quick Wrap-up: Salesforce and Quickbooks are the undisputed leaders in their respective domains. Integrating these two robust tools will not just enhance the efficiency of both the platforms but will also augment business productivity and growth. However, to receive a positive outcome out of the integration, it’s prudent to get in touch with a reliable Salesforce consulting partner who has experience providing integrations for Salesforce and Quickbook online.