Salesforce

While the secret to understanding customers lies in your data, making sense of that data is a totally different ball game. Evolution in technology and concerns around user privacy have mushroomed new challenges for marketers to know their audience and deliver data-driven experiences. An AI-powered customer data platform (CDP) addresses these challenges and more. CDPs can connect with a single storehouse of data – one that is proprietary, trusted, and acquired with consent. Salesforce’s own CDP, Marketing Data Cloud, takes things up a notch. It puts marketers in control of the entire customer journey, allowing them to connect, unify, and act on data across all marketing touchpoints and enhance the customer experience across teams and departments – from sales, marketing, service, commerce, and more. Marketing Data Cloud from Salesforce accomplishes four primary functions: It connects. Connect all your customer data across apps, channels, and devices with out-of-the-box connectors, at scale. It harmonizes. Aggregate all your data into a single customer profile, autonomously. Data across multiple channels and teams all integrate seamlessly using configurable rules. It engages. Empower all departments with unified customer profiles and update them in real-time via AI-powered analytics. It delivers an experience. Data activated from Marketing Data Cloud drives real-time, tailored, timely customer experiences. In this article, we talk about eight use cases of how Marketing Data Cloud applies these aspects to resolve common challenges faced by marketers, along with their colleagues in sales, service, and commerce. From enhancing engagement to winning customer loyalty, these data-driven methodologies ensure a robust CDP can make every interaction count.  The Engagement Booster Engage your customers at the right moment with real-time data. Benefits: Better engagement with improved efficiency KPIs: Email Click-Through Rates, Conversions, Revenue Data Involved: Customer engagement data, web data, sales data, web and app visits, browsing history. CONNECT. CDP connects data from all sources within and outside of Salesforce. HARMONIZE. The customer's unified profile is created in the CDP. It includes all their engagement activity from across multiple channels and departments. And automatically updates the data in real time with every interaction. And if a customer opts in, CDP can automatically send personalized texts with tailored offers at the right time. ENGAGE. Geolocation data from a customer’s phone activates an engagement action. And when they walk into a physical store, a tailored offer is sent to their phone via the Salesforce messaging app to nudge them to make a purchase. EXPERIENCE. A customer is out shopping for a new smartphone that they have been eyeing for a while. To their surprise, they get a discount on the exact same product that they wanted to buy, right when they get to the aisle. The Smart Advertiser Make every dollar spent on ads count. Benefits: Higher Efficiency KPI: Return on Ad Spend Data Involved: Customer loyalty status, purchase history, case history, email interactions, browsing history, and geo-location history. CONNECT. CDP connects all customer data within as well as outside Salesforce – loyalty, purchases, case history, engagement data, demographics, and affinity data. HARMONIZE. CDP pulls out the customer’s unified profile and creates AI-powered segments.  Segment-level data insight from ad partners is incorporated to refine customer segments further for eg, customers looking for specific products and services. ENGAGE. CDP activates these segments on popular ad platforms to hyper-personalize ads for customers, all this while protecting the customer’s privacy. At the same time, CDP also suppresses ads to customers with unresolved service cases, customers who already purchased the item or returned it, and those unlikely to engage. EXPERIENCE. Customers view ads of products or upgrades, precisely what they had in mind and within their preferred price band. The Shopper Styler Drive Increase revenue with hyper-personalized e-commerce. Benefits: Higher Conversions KPIs: E-commerce Revenue Data Involved: Purchase history, browsing history, activity behavior, loyalty status, case history, and email interactions. CONNECT. CDP pulls data from all touchpoints between the customer and the brand such as purchase history, buying preferences, loyalty data, service engagement, website, and app engagement, and more. HARMONIZE. Leveraging the customer’s unified profile, CDP derives intelligent Insights on new metrics such as “propensity score” to predict the customer’s likelihood to buy a particular product. These insights enable marketers to make faster, data-driven, decisions. CDP can drive tailored shopping experiences and promote those products. ENGAGE. Commerce Cloud leverages insights from Data Cloud to provide tailored shopping experiences to the customer on their brand’s online store or app. And with the help of the customer’s propensity score, data points such as reward points, recent purchases, and recommended products are automatically served up. CDP can automatically activate relevant and timely actions in the customer’s journey. Actions like clicks and cart abandonment can initiate a background process that anticipates the customer’s needs and encourages action.   EXPERIENCE. When a customer visits their favorite mobile accessories brand’s website or app, they get personalized product recommendations. And if they abandon the cart before checkout (for whatever reason), CDP can automatically fire a reminder email with a discount incentive to nudge them to complete the order. The Website Winner Improve conversion with personalized experiences. Benefits: Increased engagement, higher conversions KPIs: Bounce rate, browsing history, average time spent on a product, session duration. Data Involved: Purchase history, engagement data, loyalty status. CONNECT. CDP draws together customer data across marketing, commerce, sales, and service interactions. HARMONIZE. After unifying all the customer data into a single customer profile, CDP identifies a customer’s past purchase behavior, including their recent purchases. CDP then places the customer in the post-sale segment focused on helping them to derive immediate value from their latest purchase.  ENGAGE. Based on the customer’s recent purchase data, CDP fires a personalized text via the Salesforce messaging app, with a link to the brand’s website to prompt them to learn more about the product and its usage. And as soon as the customer lands on the website, the page is dynamically populated with relevant how-to articles, care instructions, and other relevant and personalized content. EXPERIENCE When the customer clicks on the link to the website, they land on a webpage populated with relevant content based on their recent activity. This includes product-related articles, videos, images, and additional offers. The Cross-Seller Intelligent predictions for your customers’ next purchase. Benefits: More upsell and cross-sell opportunities, higher conversions KPIs: Sales, Product popularity, Average cart size Data Involved: Purchase history, browsing history, engagement data, loyalty status. CONNECT. CDP connects sales, loyalty, and service data to generate unified customer profiles and offers intelligent insights to reveal opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling based on the data. It can also suggest customer lifetime value (CLV), propensity scores, engagement scores, and more. HARMONIZE. CDP-powered insights create a new metric called affinity score which predicts a customer’s affinity towards other products. CDP then leverages this data to define new customer segments based on the insights. ENGAGE. CDP then activates this customer segmentation data across multiple customer engagement platforms. Customers get personalized emails, texts, tailored web and app experiences, and personalized ads on their preferred channels. EXPERIENCE. As customers browse an online store or app, personalized product recommendations are automatically served up. Customers can view these items and complete the purchase. The Insight Viewer Analyze marketing performance. Benefits: Optimized performance, Deeper Insights, Improved average time for ROI. KPIs: Product Views, Sales, ROI. Data Involved: Purchase history, cross-channel activity, Engagement, and Campaign performance. CONNECT. CDP connects data from all touchpoints across marketing, sales, service, and commerce, to create unified customer profiles. Analytics tools such as Tableau and Marketing Cloud Intelligence leverage this data to augment audience discovery and measurement. HARMONIZE. Marketing Cloud Intelligence helps marketers optimize campaigns and customer journey performance. Tableau provides deep customer insights to help teams discover new customer segments and behaviors that drive adoption and increase their lifetime value.  ENGAGE. CDP drives the wheel of optimization. Marketing Cloud Intelligence uses data from CDP to refine campaigns. Tableau serves up intelligent audience insights, identifying high engagement areas. These insights then flow back to CDP to drive hyper-personalization in every moment. EXPERIENCE. As customers enjoy their purchases, brands stay connected with personalized offers on their preferred channels. As data is being gathered and analyzed on the go, brands can measure and optimize campaign performance, discover new segments, and act on high-value actions. The Service Solver Convert service cases into happy customers. Benefits: Customer Satisfaction KPIs: Service Cases Created, Duration of open cases, CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) Data Involved: Purchase history, Sales data, Service Data, Engagement data, Browsing activity. CONNECT. CDP pulls in comprehensive service data like service cases, customer service feedback, lifetime value, loyalty data, and more.   HARMONIZE. Service data in CDP augments the customer segmentation process. This helps marketers refine their engagement strategy based on customer service interactions. ENGAGE. In a scenario where a customer has an open service case, CDP gets notified and pauses all marketing activities tailored for that customer until the case is closed.  Additionally, because CDP is receiving all service data, the customer service team has access to the customer’s profile enabling them to be aware of their problem as soon as they reach out to a service rep, and then quickly resolve the issue. EXPERIENCE. Customers get their order related issues resolved in a matter of minutes. When a new case is logged, the service team quickly reaches out to the customer, being aware of their order and having access to their unified profile. Not only does the customer get the issue resolved quickly, but they automatically get a personalized email or text with a 10% discount voucher for their next purchase to make up for the mistake. The Loyalty Earner  Reward customers at every stage.            CONNECT. CDP connects data from a brand’s loyalty system into a customer’s unified profile, along with marketing, sales, and service data. HARMONIZE. Based on interactions with customers in a particular segment, CDP automatically places them into the relevant loyalty tier giving them access to tiered marketing offers and deals automatically. ENGAGE. CDP activates this segment across multiple engagement platforms and customers in this segment automatically start receiving personalized content. The content (which includes product recommendations and offers) is linked to their loyalty status and encourages them to aspire to be in the next loyalty tier for further exclusive benefits such as rewards, discounts, preorders, and more. EXPERIENCE. A customer’s latest purchase of mobile accessories automatically moves them to the next tier of loyalty status. This gives them access to exclusive discounts and offers. It’s time to build your own customer data strategy, and if you have one, you can always refine it. Our extensive experience in Salesforce consulting services can help. With a robust CDP, marketing teams can connect every interaction throughout the customer journey with a unified source of actionable, real-time data. They can truly understand their audience and deliver personalized engagement that drives revenue and builds lasting relationships. And that’s not where the value of CDP ends. In fact, it is just the beginning. Every department and team across sales, service, and commerce can also benefit from the power of a CDP. Powered by Customer 360, Marketing Data Cloud unifies all customer data across all channels and departments to create a single, unified customer profile that is updated in real-time with every interaction. With a unified view of your customer, Marketing Data Cloud empowers marketing, sales, service, and commerce teams to make every moment count. With a robust Customer Data Platform, your business can interact with your customers not as disparate departments, but as one brand with one voice. A brand that understands and engages with confidence, relevance, and trust. Whether it is prompt Salesforce support, hyper-personalized product recommendations or hyper-segmented targeted advertising, with Marketing Data Cloud you can make every customer interaction count and unlock the true power of real-time customer data. Want to learn more? Connect with our Marketing Data Cloud specialist today.

To sustain in today’s competitive business landscape, businesses require maintaining amiable relationships with their customers. Today, as customers grow more informed, they expect prompt and personalized responses to their queries. To keep up with customer expectations, organizations require adopting robust software like Salesforce. As one of the world's leading CRM platforms and a market share of approximately 20 percent, Salesforce is being utilized by enterprises of varying scales and across diverse sectors for streamlining business processes and smooth management of operations. However, to draw maximum value out of this platform, businesses must ensure its successful implementation. This is easier said than done and requires the expertise of one the most proficient Salesforce Consulting Partners. However, failing to choose the right partner for guiding an implementation can have a negative impact. Mentioned below are some fatal mistakes that organizations usually make when selecting a partner: Failure to Consider Business Goals: When selecting a partner, an organization must have a clear vision of their business goals, as well as their pain points. It’s very important to understand the requirement of implementing Salesforce for operational efficiency and the problems it could address. If they fail to evaluate all these, they are perhaps wasting their time and money upon engaging the services of a consultant. Engaging the Wrong Partner: Rushing into selecting a partner without thorough research isn't prudent. Rather than taking chances with an unfamiliar entity, organizations must invest their time in examining potential partners, comprehending their expertise, scrutinizing their previous projects, and gathering testimonials from former clients. The decision to appoint a certified and experienced Salesforce consulting partner can significantly impact the implementation process as engaging an inexperienced partner will result in wasting time, money, and effort, as they will be unable to offer optimal utilization of the Salesforce solution. Consequently, giving due diligence is crucial to selecting the right partner. No Support from the Internal Team: To fully harness the capabilities of Salesforce CRM, the internal team of an organization needs to collaborate closely with consultants. When enlisting Salesforce development services and consultants, organizations should ensure that their executive team is informed and actively participating. This involvement is crucial as the time, effort, and engagement of the operational team are crucial for successful implementation. This collaborative approach enables a comprehensive understanding of the implementation process, facilitating smooth integration of the Salesforce solution. Organizations should encourage their entire team to align with the Salesforce consultants and actively engage in utilizing their expertise. Once they grasp the workings of the Salesforce consulting partners, they can effectively maintain the momentum of the process. Partnering with Consultants for a Short-term: A common mistake frequently made by organizations is assuming that the role of Salesforce consultants concludes immediately after the deployment of the CRM solution. This assumption is wrong. Rather, after the deployment of the solution, the project transitions into a post-implementation analysis phase. During this phase, expert support is crucial for conducting a thorough analysis. This process ensures the seamless adaptation of the Salesforce solution and verifies that the platform has been appropriately configured. It's imperative to update the configuration after each Salesforce release to address any identified issues within the company's operational system. Engaging Salesforce consultants shouldn't be viewed as a short-term partnership, as their expertise will be indispensable for future customizations and enhancements within their CRM tool. Prioritizing Cost Over Quality: Organizations desire a reputed and experienced Salesforce consulting firm that fits within their budget and offers services at low costs. The temptation often lies in opting for cheaper alternatives. However, selecting a low-cost option can result in unexpected expenses, project delays, or even failure due to potential cost overruns. Hence, it is recommended to collaborate with certified developers to mitigate future complications. While this option may come at a higher cost compared to other alternatives, it significantly enhances the likelihood of achieving success. Ignoring the Marketing Expertise of Salesforce Consultants: When seeking top Salesforce consultants, organizations should focus on finding individuals capable of adeptly managing customer relationships within their organization. This approach not only empowers marketers to analyze campaigns, gauge ROI, and monitor leads for revenue generation but also ensures comprehensive proficiency in digital marketing—an aspect not mandatory for Salesforce consultants. To optimize their investment in CRM solutions, choosing consultants with digital marketing acumen is crucial. Besides facilitating CRM implementation, deployment, and customization, these consultants can effectively align CRM strategies with the digital marketing objectives of an organization. Thus, engaging an informed and skilled Salesforce consultant ensures efficient execution of tasks. Unwillingness to Invest in a Salesforce Admin: Salesforce consulting partners often recommend assigning a Salesforce Admin to oversee the utilization, upkeep, and enhancements of the Salesforce solution within companies. However, many companies aim to minimize investment costs and ignore the idea of hiring a Salesforce Admin. Consequently, consultants deploy the CRM solution and depart from the company. Effective utilization of Salesforce CRM demands knowledgeable oversight to unlock its full potential. Additionally, these solutions perform optimally with regular maintenance and functionality checks. Organizations and their team may lack the time to address CRM maintenance or functionality requirements. Ignoring AppExchange Reviews: Failure to explore the AppExchange during the research phase for potential partners indicates a lack of due diligence. AppExchange customer reviews serve as an excellent method to assess customer satisfaction levels. Reading reviews is crucial for understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of a product or software. Moreover, independent websites also provide evaluations of businesses and their products, offering valuable insights. The Bottom Line: Investing in Salesforce marks a significant step, requiring meticulous planning to fully leverage its suite of services. Engaging the services of one of the best Salesforce consultants, free from misconceptions and with a clear understanding, is crucial for maximizing the CRM solution's potential.

Most business leaders across the world recognize the value of Salesforce. They are aware of how the world's leading cloud-based CRM platform can help them cultivate rewarding customer relationships, address gaps in customer service, and enable them to adopt a more holistic approach to managing day-to-day operations. What many of them are not aware of, however, is the role of a Salesforce consultant to help them navigate the challenges involved in transitioning to Salesforce. And that's not the full picture. Salesforce consultants can also help to optimize and automate business processes to enable a seamless transition. What is a Salesforce Consultant? Salesforce consultants help customers achieve their long-term business goals by ensuring the smooth implementation of Salesforce tailored to their unique business needs.  They also assess the dynamic market landscape and adapt the customer's operations to be future-ready. Salesforce consultants also manage customer relationships, and project plans, do market research, understand user needs and sentiment, gather requirements, research organizational data, and train employees to get the most out of Salesforce. The best Salesforce consultants have deep knowledge of Salesforce technology, rich experience in similar prior implementations, and awareness of the best business practices. Challenges that Salesforce Consultants face and how they can solve them As a business leader, if you really want to unlock the true power of Salesforce, we recommend that you choose the best Salesforce Implementation Partner. Apart from implementing the CRM, they can also help you solve various key business challenges. Here’s a look at some of them. 1)   Handling sensitive information One of the key challenges organizations must deal with while transitioning to Salesforce is ensuring their customer data is safe. Any data breach can result in drastic consequences for the business. A Salesforce consultant will follow industry best practices to ensure that there are adequate safeguards in place to secure the data exchange between your existing systems and Salesforce. Additionally, they also ensure that once your data is in Salesforce, it can be accessed easily by users. This allows them to get a comprehensive view of their customers including contact details and interaction history in the least number of clicks. This helps them to make data-driven decisions leading to greater customer satisfaction. 2)   Providing personalized assistance All businesses are unique. This is true even for businesses offering similar products or services with a similar customer base. Each business has its unique vision, goals, and strategies that set them apart from each other. Consequently, they may have completely different reasons to implement Salesforce and completely different expectations from the implementation based on their unique business objectives.  A vastly experienced Salesforce is well aware of the nuances of customer goals and expectations and works closely with customer and implementation teams to ensure the CRM implementation is fully tailored to the customer’s unique needs. 3)   Offering valuable insights Salesforce has been purpose-built to provide a 360-degree view of your customers. It includes everything from your contact information, purchase history, service interactions, interests and preferences, and social media interactions. As a business owner, you want to have deeper insights into customer behavior along with intelligent recommendations in a single place. A good Salesforce consultant makes that possible. They can help aggregate siloed data and give you a unified, single-window view to help you better understand customer preferences and behavior patterns, regardless of which channel they interact with you on.  This enables you to provide seamless interaction experiences to your customers across sales, marketing, and customer service across multiple channels. 4)   Providing instant support When customers interact with a business's customer support, they want instant resolution to their problem. And businesses are no different. When you invest in a platform like Salesforce, which includes licensing and implementation costs, you want your users to be up and running quickly so that they can close deals faster and resolve customers' concerns quickly. While a library of documents, manuals, and videos may be helpful for your users, they may not be able to help in resolving a critical issue that may be disrupting operations. What businesses need is the support of an expert who has been there and done that.  That expert is your Salesforce consultant. A Salesforce consultant understands the nuances of the platform and knows where to make tweaks to resolve common issues. 5)   Configuring user permissions Would you allow complete access to your financial data to all your employees? Would you allow access to customer information to your HR department? Sounds absurd, right? Assigning the right access privileges to users is a critical part of any Salesforce implementation. Creating the right user-profiles and customizing permissions in Salesforce requires a certain level of expertise that your existing IT team may not be equipped to handle.  This is where the roles of Salesforce consultants become important.  They can ensure that your users have access to only that functionality of Salesforce that allows them to do their job effectively.  Not less and certainly not more. A Salesforce consultant can help you navigate the complex domain of user management to get the most out of your users. 6)   Discovering business-specific solutions The goals and needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are different from their larger counterparts. Consequently, their CRM platform needs are also different. How do you go about designing a solution that is tailored to your unique requirements? Purchasing a Salesforce license is just the starting step. Salesforce has virtually limitless capabilities and you may not have the requisite expertise in-house to choose the best-fit features of the platform to achieve your vision. A good Salesforce consultant leverages their prior experience and deep knowledge of the domain to establish clear goals and business requirements. They then use this information to recommend solutions that are aligned with your goals and needs. 7)   Boosting user adoption Poor user adoption is one of the primary reasons why many Salesforce implementations fail to achieve their true potential. In fact, industry research indicates that the problem is so acute that in the absence of adequate guidance and training, teams are likely to stop using the platform altogether. And this should be a matter of concern for you. When users don't use the platform, each of them relies on personal, non-standardized methods to manage customers and their data. Without a unified view of customers based on gold-standard industry practices, your executives are unable to make critical strategic decisions. Which is why you need a Salesforce consultant. With adequate guidance and training programs tailored to each user group based on their job functions, they can ensure that your employees feel empowered when they look at customer data, giving their productivity a shot in the arm. 8)   Other challenges Quick setup Setting up and managing Salesforce can be complex unless done by an expert. A Salesforce consultant knows the nitty-gritty of configuration, where to tweak the platform and configure the right security settings to ensure a robust and secure CRM that works for your business. Enhance customer experience Organizations that have achieved success with Salesforce will be able to tell you the value a Salesforce consultant brings to the table to improve productivity and provide enhanced customer experiences. With deep insights on customer behavior, and automation of customer service, they can help you close service cases faster translating to greater customer satisfaction. Easier and faster Salesforce adoption A good Salesforce consultant can help you go live quickly with minimal disruption in your day-to-day operations. They draw upon their extensive experience and deep business domain knowledge to come up with a comprehensive roadmap that includes implementation, training, and strategy to drive user adoption. Risk reduction A certified Salesforce consultant has the right experience and technical know-how to help organizations manage uncertainties associated with Salesforce implementation such as data migration and security, process automation, and migration to ensure a seamless holistic transition. Salesforce Consulting Services from Girikon, a Gold Salesforce Partner, can help you unlock the true power of Salesforce. With customized solutions aligned with your unique business needs, we have helped many businesses improve productivity, boost efficiency, and increase revenues. Get in touch with an expert to learn more.

Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM platform empowers businesses with tools and services to manage customer data, automate processes, streamline operations, and drive customer satisfaction. Salesforce consultants aren’t just experts at handling the software; they recognize that Salesforce is a great tool to improve business productivity and align themselves with customer goals, wants, and needs to unlock the true power of the platform.  In short, they empower teams to do what was earlier not thought to be possible. As a Salesforce Consulting Partner for over a decade, our experts have compiled a list of tips to guide the next crop of Salesforce consultants on their path to success. These tips are a result of over a 100-man years of Salesforce experience, countless hours spent with customer teams, and millions of lines of coding. Let’s dive right in. 1. Understand the ‘Why’ While there are certain skills that can be acquired such as data management, data analytics, and process automation, critical thinking is one area that can only be awakened from within. Critical thinking entails having a larger-than-life view of the business while having an in-depth view of the everyday activities of the organization. Many Salesforce consultants have a great technical background and are adept at turning requirements into recommendations and ideas. But what is truly required to be understood is the "Why". Why do they need it? What are their business goals and what is stopping them from achieving them? What are their people like? What are their pain points? What do they want in terms of work satisfaction? Finding answers to these fundamental questions will go a long way to advance your career in Salesforce consulting. You need to evolve from being a manager or business analyst to being a problem solver, and for that, you need to identify and understand the problem and all its constituents and dependencies to the last detail. 2. Adapt your communication strategy Salesforce consultants have to work closely with engineering teams, customer user groups, and senior leadership which may sometimes be spread across the globe. For you to be successful as a global Salesforce consultant, you need to adapt your communication depending on who you are interacting with. Understanding the audience, their vision, and the way they see the business and its horizon (both short-term and long-term) plays a vital role in the success of the projects you are working on. As an example, if you are interacting with engineering teams, you may want to interact in a way that they understand via a common language. As a representative of your organization (like a front office), you need to be aware of your unique communication style and how your interactions are received by others. As a thumb rule, communication strategy varies from who you are interacting with to the size of the group you are addressing. 3. Know Your Audience Whether you are presenting to a CXO at a Fortune 500 company or interacting with individual project members, knowing your audience is one of the key skills all Salesforce consultants need to have. When you are involved in multiple projects and have to interact with different audiences, whether it is for project updates or course corrections, an instinct is to use the same template for interaction. This approach rarely works as each individual user group has its own perspective and level of understanding. Recognize the value each stakeholder is seeking and develop a mindset to tailor your presentations to align with the audience. 4. Develop a self-help attitude One of the job responsibilities of a successful Salesforce consultant is to hire new consultants. And you can only attract talent as good as yourself. When recruiting new consultants, veterans of the game often look for leadership traits such as taking self-motivated initiatives. What homework did they do before they sought help from seniors? Demonstrating a self-help attitude would go a long way in cultivating strong leadership and problem-solving skills. 5. Always be willing to learn   Salesforce consultants, especially ones who are still young in their consulting journey, need to constantly upgrade themselves on products, processes, and frameworks, but more often than not they get no guidance or direction. Well, if you want to grow, you are on your own. It’s your mindset to self-direct your learning and find solutions to challenges that will take you on the path to growth. Having a keen learner’s mindset goes a long way in building a keenness to take on new challenges and learn to grow. 6. Pick an Area of Expertise While it’s great to be a jack of multiple trades (skills), it’s important to be very good at something. Whether it’s a certification in Sales Cloud or your early experience as a Salesforce administrator, it's important that you pick one area in which you are an expert. Expertise in a certain area builds client trust and establishes credibility. And once you pick an area you want to build further on, make sure you are up to date with the latest product innovations in that area and establish how you can help businesses leverage your expertise in these new innovations. 7. Know When to Say No Customers want the moon. Literally. If it was left to them, they would want to implement their entire roadmap for the next 10 years as of yesterday. Many times, consultants agree to customer requests while working on a project even when they know it is not in their best long-term interest, or it just cannot be done at this stage. While customer satisfaction is extremely important in your line of work, you also need aware of what is in the best interest of the customer and the project. Make your point politely yet firmly, with an irrefutable basis. You were hired because you are an expert in your field, and this is time to say it emphatically. While it's always tempting to say yes to every customer request, learn to say no when you have a reasonable basis for it. Draw on your past experience working with multiple customers on a variety of Salesforce projects. Offer alternative suggestions and help the customer see the larger picture. Your job as a Salesforce consultant is to be a partner with your customer, working towards a common goal and that job includes knowing when to say no. Conclusion Hiring a Salesforce consultant is an investment you make to achieve the heights that you envision for your business. Ready to unlock the true power of Salesforce? Team up with a Salesforce Implementation Partner who can guide you on the right path. 

Some Salesforce Consultants are successful in building a stable client base that they nurture and grow over time while others find it a rocky road and eventually hit a wall. Have you ever wondered what the difference is? Client relationships. Strong client relationships are the foundation for a successful Salesforce Consulting practice. Loyal customers are not only a joy to work with, but they also stay longer with you and are happy to refer new clients. How to build lasting client relationships? Below we have compiled a list of actionable ways to nurture and grow client relationships that will not only improve client satisfaction but also grow your business. Pay attention to detail and gather all information The foundation of a strong consultant-client relationship is laid before the client even signs up. Good consultants are aware they need as much information as possible about the prospect to come up with a proposal that stands out from the competition. And the key component of that proposal is how it aligns with the business’s goals and values and the personalities of the people you’ll be working with. This means collecting “objective” information like: Their products and services. The end-users and their profile. Top 3-4 competitors. Prioritized goals and associated challenges. Strategies that have not yielded desired results in the past. Tools, apps, and systems currently being used. Budget – long term and short term. Expectations from a new consultant It also includes “subjective” information such as: What is their definition of success? Future business plans such as new products or services. Mission and values they stand for. What is unique about them and how are they different from their competitors? Skills, experience, interests, and preferences of the team you’ll be working with. What are their pain points and wants from a new consultant? Absorb the information The intel you collected will be utilized not only in your bid document but will also be leveraged throughout the entire project execution lifecycle. Take the time to absorb and understand every point in depth so that it is made evident in everything you do. Go above and beyond with your proposal From the point of view of a project, your bid illustrates how you will go about achieving your client’s goals. From the point of view of a relationship, it’s an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have a deep understanding of your client’s business and its people. To be successful, you need to seamlessly link what and why. What refers to activities included as a part of the project and why should link one of the "whats" to one of the business goals? Once you identify the why, establish the expected measurable outcome once the why is addressed. Include in your proposal how you will measure this outcome. This approach demonstrates your commitment to the client’s business and its people and shows that you care about the people impacted by your proposed offering. Have an onboarding process Once the client has signed up with you, there are bound to be regular interactions across the user group. A smooth onboarding process sets the benchmark for free and open communication and ensures smooth execution which is necessary for a long-term client relationship. Start with a kick-off meeting to ensure everyone is on the same page and well-versed with the goals and expectations of the project. Treat clients as partners Treating your clients as partners in success lays the foundation for a purposeful and fruitful engagement, where both your and your client’s points of view are respected, and each does their best to ensure success. At the end of the day, it’s a transactional relationship and a well-defined partnership ensures that each party delivers its end of the bargain. ​Be proactive Share fresh ideas and propose new strategies. Inform the concerned teams in advance about any disruptions that may be caused due to system changes or changes in requirements. Educate the teams and empower them to be proactive. A proactive approach based on transparent communication lays the foundation for a seamless execution and ensures success for all concerned. Be a good listener Clients can at times get reactive about results. While you may be doing a great job with your project, the results are not going through the roof. Instead of stone-walling the client’s perspective, use a more empathetic approach such as: “I see what you’re talking about. It’s a valid point. “ “We’re glad you brought this up.  Let us review this and allow us a week to report back to you.” Position yourself as a partner in the journey. Value everyone's point of view, evaluate objectively, and present your findings to build a long, trusting relationship. Establish a framework for communication Conduct scheduled meetings with relevant stakeholders and end them with clearly defined action items Set up weekly or fortnightly meetings to review progress and answer questions. Make the meetings more about listening than talking. This illustrates your intent to be accountable and helps build trust with the client. Leverage text messaging to build rapport and personal connections with team members and foster a more informal way of working. Share your concerns early This is particularly relevant when the business landscape is changing rapidly. Avoid saying yes to everything they want. Clients may have big plans and as a consultant, it's your job to double-check on everything they want for its viability, its efficacy, and impact on the overall project. Understand the challenges – both short-term and long-term, and communicate your concerns clearly. Establish quarterly business reviews Quarterly reviews with the senior leadership are a great way to build on relationships. Make these reviews focussed on high-level strategy, allowing the client to reflect on long-term goals. Review past strategies, what's worked and what hasn't, and pivot if need be. Quarterly reviews are also the apt time for a client to provide insight into the changing business landscape, and the shift in goals (if any), and to establish how these changes impact the scope and budget of the ongoing project. Strong client relationships are the backbone of a successful Salesforce Consulting practice. It lays the foundation for increased loyalty and referrals and makes the journey a joyful one.

Businesses today are generating mountains of data and forward-looking business leaders recognize that there are critical insights hidden inside their data. With AI, businesses can unlock these insights to identify trends, opportunities, and challenges. Building a strong enterprise-wide data culture along with robust and trusted AI holds the key to unlocking these hidden insights. While business leaders recognize the value of data for decision-making, a recent global survey conducted by Salesforce amongst 10,000 of them reveals some interesting facts. 67% of them are not using data for making critical decisions like product or service pricing Less than 33% use data to drive strategies for new markets 79% don’t leverage data for diversity and inclusion While the above numbers revealed something unexpected, here is what the survey summarized. Companies that make data-driven decisions are more likely to beat sales targets than those that don't Companies that combine AI with their data showed an average increase of 30% in revenue Companies that embrace this approach are able to reassign human and financial capital quickly and can create personalized customer experiences much faster What can you do now? Here are some suggestions for creating a strong data culture. We will take these items up later in this article. Put together the right team Provide them with the right tools and training Test your theories on a pilot scale and iterate Prioritize the human aspect of your data culture Identify areas where AI can derive more value from your data Data-driven V/s data-informed In a data-driven company, most of the organization’s employees can access and analyze data, draw inferences about what it means, create a dashboard, visualize data, and use all of these to determine the next steps. Employees in a data-driven organization don't depend on data analysts to do this. Being data-informed enables organizations to make decisions based on a mix of data, research, experience, and insights. Data-informed organizations may or may not have the skills that data-driven organizations have. Why is it critical to build a strong data culture Business leaders have to deal with countless challenges before embarking on building a data culture. Avoid over-analysis by starting with a single use case that validates the value of your new data culture approach. McKinsey research has shown that data-driven organizations achieve their goals faster and their data culture initiatives contribute at least 20% to earnings. Here’s why this works: Data analysis identifies actionable trends Data analysis identifies patterns that unlock value and enable organizations to utilize opportunities faster. Adding AI to the mix can accelerate the process by doing a deeper dive into data analysis at scale and serving up recommendations. Combining data and AI drives growth, promotes innovation, fosters collaboration, and creates uniqueness. AI and machine learning increase success by 30% Organizations that still rely on legacy knowledge and instinct to guide decision-making are missing out on opportunities. With AI and machine learning, organizations can make quick and accurate decisions. According to Salesforce research, adding AI to organizational data and business functions eliminates the guesswork from the decision-making process and increases success by an average of 30% across important metrics like operational efficiency, employee productivity, and topline growth. Strategic work keeps employees engaged When decision-making is guided by data analysis, employees spend less time on mundane tasks that add little or no value and can focus on strategic or creative tasks. This keeps them engaged and improves their productivity. Salesforce research shows that 84% of organizations that have adopted a data culture observed higher employee retention. Empower the right team The best way to create a team of data champions is by showing not telling. Illustrate with real numbers how data-driven decision-making increases revenue and customer satisfaction and streamlines operations. Instead of choosing any random use case to illustrate your point, capture their attention by selecting a project that scores a financial win and one that you can scale for greater impact. Here’s how you can start: Step 1: Put together the right team Create a working group of employees from across the organization with diverse backgrounds and functions. These team members should have a collaborative mindset, unique skills and abilities, and individual organizational perspectives. Ensure that you include employees across the corporate strata such as senior executives, managers, engineers, consultants, and machine learning scientists. Step 2: Provide them with the right tools and training Salesforce research stats on data literacy don’t paint a pretty picture.  Only 35% of the surveyed workforce has received training on data visualization tools and 29% on statistical tools. 27% percent workers say they can interpret data outputs relevant to their job function, and only 26% say they can use that data to make decisions. With proper access to training on technology-driven data analytics, organizations can empower their entire workforce to unlock the power of data to drive decision-making. Step 3: Test your theories on a small scale and iterate Start small, analyze results, refine your theories and iterate. Eventually, a winner will reveal itself when your employees can measure the impact of your project on their bottom line. Step 4: Prioritize the human aspect of your data culture Encourage involvement of all team members in the entire process from setup, testing, fine tuning, to data analytics and its application for decision making. This will ensure that you avoid bias and guesswork which can have a negative long-term impact. Take data at face value to avoid bias by proxy. Let’s consider ZIP codes as an example. At face value, they are just a location indicator. But sometimes ZIP codes can be a proxy for an area’s racial makeup and financial services companies consider ZIP codes in loan applications. Decisions based on this data point must be free of bias. Step 5: Identify areas where AI can derive more value from your data You can start your AI journey at many places, in any department, for any function, or extend it further if you’ve already started. Start small, demonstrate results, and bring everyone on board. Establish guidelines and standards for consistency, security, accountability, and ethics from day one. Ensure completeness and accuracy of your data to make the best use of AI. Incorporating an AI-driven data culture can be a daunting task.  It takes time and effort to bring people on board, retain their interest, and demonstrate results. For most business leaders, this transformation may be a whole new experience. This is where working with a Salesforce Consulting Partner could prove to be very useful. At Girikon, our certified consultants can guide you on this transformational journey of embracing AI with a strong data culture. Contact us today.  Take the next step to build your AI-powered data culture.

Businesses across industries are leveraging emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to power sales, marketing, customer service, HR, and operations. In fact, banking is one of the top industries to embrace Chatbots in recent years to streamline operations and enhance the customer experience. Banking chatbots are AI-powered virtual assistants that can understand customer requests, resolve their queries, and execute transactions. Chatbots are software programs that have in-built machine learning algorithms and can process natural language prompts to automate the relationship between a customer and a bank. GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbot developed by Girikon Inc, a Salesforce Development Partner, help banking institutions streamline operations, scale customer service, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. In this article, we will explain what GirikSMS can do for banks and their customers and how bot-driven automation can benefit banking institutions in several ways. Chatbots are cost-efficient. Bots allow you to scale operations quickly without the associated costs of additional manpower. The era of mobile banking. Customers today prefer digital first and the need for on-demand mobile banking is increasing across all age groups. GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots are available 24/7 and can be easily integrated into mobile banking apps to offer immediate resolution of customer queries. Customers prefer text. Most smartphone users are well versed with popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Slack, and SMS, using these channels for daily interaction with friends, family, and even businesses. Text conversations over these apps are now the preferred choice for most users. GirikSMS ChatGpt Empowered Salesforce Chatbot uses the power of conversational AI to interact with customers over these popular messaging apps and channels ushering in a new era of digital services. Here’s a look at some of the use cases where GirikSMS APP can help banking institutions automate their day-to-day operations to enhance the customer experience. 1. Onboarding new customers New customers can rely on GirikSMSChatbot for onboarding activities such as: Uploading all required documents and validating them. Sending agreements for review and sending reminders to complete the documentation. Setting up a new account and providing a guided tour of available products and services Downloading and exploring the banking app on users’ mobile phones. GirikSMS ChatGPT Empowered Chatbot can also be used to collect feedback from new customers about the onboarding process for detailed analysis and ongoing improvement. 2. Provide 24/7 customer service GirikSMS Chatbot can be extremely useful in customer service operations. They can resolve routine customer queries quickly and enable banks to scale 24/7 support to customers. They can answer commonly asked questions and provide accurate answers to customer queries quickly without any wait times. Not just that, customers can also modify account information such as an address, all within the chat conversation. 3. Transactions GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots can help customers perform banking transactions such as fund transfers or opening a deposit account. GirikSMS is native to Salesforce. So, if a user types the name of a beneficiary to do a fund transfer, the bot can look up the receiver’s account in the CRM and execute the transaction. Some of the other transactions that GirikSMS Salesforce SMS App can help customers with are: Report a missing/damaged card. Report an unauthorized transaction. Change account passwords. Modify account limits or apply for higher limits. Apply for account upgrades like more privileges. Apply for a loan. 4. Providing financial advice GirikSMS  Chatbot can be virtual financial assistants. Based on the customers’ income and spending habits they can recommend saving plans, tax tips, and recommend best-fit banking products. 5. Cross-selling Banks offer a range of products and services such as insurance, loans, mortgages, wealth management, etc. GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots leverage CRM data and analyze past customer interactions across multiple channels to make intelligent recommendations about new products that may be relevant to them. 6. Preventing fraud GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots record all interactions with users in the CRM and can use natural language understanding capabilities to detect suspicious behavior to alert agents to take prompt and appropriate action. Data from chatbot conversations can be used to identify patterns and train the chatbot. 7. Onboarding new recruits GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots can be used to assist new employees by: Answering their queries about the company’s policies. Providing access via interactive menus to onboarding material such as documents, presentations, charts, photos, or videos. Setting up IT accounts and assisting them with system walkthroughs and privileges. GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots can also train employees on several aspects of customer communication and engagement. 8. Assisting in internal operations GirikSMS Salesforce Chatbots can also act as virtual assistants for banking personnel by providing them with quick answers when dealing with customers. They can answer questions related to Policies and regulations. Products and services offered. Intelligent forecasts on customers based on their account status. GirikSMS Chatbots for Salesforce can also help streamline internal operations by sharing documents across team members and facilitating reporting and evaluation processes. 9. Omnichannel availability Customers today prefer digital first. And they engage with brands on multiple channels such as websites, mobile apps, social media, and messenger apps. GirikSMS Chatbot for Salesforce can be easily integrated across all popular channels ensuring that you are available to them 24/7 regardless of where they are. While the above use cases can be a game-changer for banks, it is also important to follow certain best practices to make the most of this disruptive technology offering. Here is our list of 5 best practices for implementing Chatbots. 1. Understand the limitations and challenges of Chatbots Work with your Salesforce partner to have a thorough assessment of the capabilities and limitations of AI Chatbots to set the right expectations. 2. Protect user data Banking institutions must secure and protect the data and information gathered by Chatbots.  Giving confidence to customers that their data is secure with you builds trust and loyalty. 3. Secure transactions Chatbots, especially customer support ones open up opportunities for hackers and fraudsters. You must ensure that all transactions and interactions over bot conversations are encrypted and secure. 4. Create specialized chatbots Banking offers many use cases for deploying Chatbots such as lead generation, sales, and customer service. Start with a simple use case and deploy chatbots in phases. 5. Test extensively An erroneous chatbot can lead to frustrated customers. Test and train your chatbot extensively before going live. As Salesforce expands its boundaries to integrate the disruptive technology of conversational AI and adds more functionality into its platform, you need the support of a Gold Salesforce Consulting Partner like Girikon to unlock its true power. Connect with one of our experts today to learn more about how you can harness the power of GirikSMS Chatbots for Salesforce.