salesforce implementation partner

In today’s business landscape, a successful enterprise must adopt a system that seamlessly integrates all departments and their respective business processes to enable them to interact and collaborate effortlessly. This is where Salesforce has established itself as the market leader in the CRM space.  Salesforce CRM sometimes popularly referred to as the Customer 360 platform, is a user-friendly solution with virtually limitless flexibility that connects teams across departments in an organization and drives growth. As a result, companies that use Salesforce see improvements in growth and efficiency. But to get the most out of what Salesforce CRM has to you need professional expertise. While most of the Salesforce products are centred around sales and customer service, Salesforce can be used for almost anything. And while the key Salesforce functions haven’t changed much – consultant, administrator, architect and developer, the specializations required based on the unique business needs of an organization have become quite apparent. One needs to have specialization on some of the key aspects of Salesforce to make the implementation count. Consultants don’t just bring in the necessary skills and experience for implementing the CRM platform. They also add significant value in being able to understand the customer. Not only in terms of business processes within the organization but also outside of that realm, such as the people who drive those processes. And they are an intrinsic part of the customer’s growth journey onwards of implementation. While businesses can provide the Salesforce implementation team with data and insight, certain things can only be understood by a specialist. This is where the Salesforce consultant role becomes important. They are trained with skills like attention to detail, analytical thinking and problem-solving along with hands on expertise on the platform. Why Is Salesforce so Popular? Salesforce upgrades its product offering three times a year. Which means every year they add new features and functionality to help existing and new business innovate rapidly. Salesforce is founded on a Customer-360 vision and promotes a collaborative work culture that brings people together and promotes productivity. The Salesforce online community provides help and support to the entire developer community to solve any business challenge The Salesforce platform has virtually limitless flexibility and businesses can create any number and kind of custom apps and integrations to support their business Salesforce allows you to automate routine business processes which frees up employee time to focus on core tasks. Salesforce is powered by an advanced AI engine which delivers qualified analytics on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of your business. Here's where Salesforce Consultants add value across various phases As Part of an Implementation Team CRM implementation is a time-consuming effort and requires coordinated team effort. It would be a wise decision for a business to hire a specialist with extensive experience in Salesforce implementation since the Salesforce platform is complex and offers virtually limitless customization possibilities. Consequently, Salesforce consultants are in high demand across businesses that need the Salesforce CRM implementation. Here are the phases that require the services of a Salesforce Consultant: The Pre-Implementation Phase Before preparing a draft of the Salesforce implementation plan, a Salesforce consultant needs valuable insight from within the company. Information on the type and number of employees, the working structure of the company, regular business processes and workflows, are all important to understand how the organization works and what are its vital parts. The consultant needs to work closely with the business leaders within the organization to understand goals and expectations and current challenges and workflow bottlenecks During the Implementation Consultants play a vital role during the implementation phase as well. They are the link between the technical team – architects, administrators and developers who install and configure the platform and build and deploy custom apps, and the company. Their role is to maintain good communication between the two groups and ensure everything is well captured. After the Implementation The implementation is not over until the customer starts seeing results. After all, the technical implementation is just side of it. Once the technical tasks are completed, the implementation team also needs to train the users on the platform. Typically, this is another key responsibility area of a Salesforce consultant. It requires good communication skills, teamwork and leadership skills. Businesses are evolving continuously. And the software that they use needs to keep pace with it. Businesses need to add and upgrade their apps and workflows on an ongoing basis to stay ahead of the curve. If you are already using Salesforce in your organization, the presence of a Salesforce Consultant will help you to upgrade rapidly by building and deploying apps in an agile framework. And do to that you need a strong team of specialists. Moreover, just like every other complex platform, Salesforce also requires maintenance time to time. This is another key responsibility area of a consultant. As part of the organization Salesforce consultants also work in organizations that don’t do implementation for others. They just have enough in house needs. These are regular businesses that use the Salesforce platform and a small team of consultants to oversee the implementation, upgrades and maintenance activities. In this context, a Salesforce Consultant’s function is to make sure system performs perfectly and the users are able to use it easily. On top of that, they also discover methods to further enhance the customer experience through the use of the platform and make sure teams continue to communicate with each other. Shortage of Salesforce Professionals Currently, there just aren’t enough people trained in Salesforce to meet growing demands of this ecosystem. One of the key reasons is that Salesforce isn’t your run-of-the-mill software. It’s a specialised and complex product and unless you're a service provider or you are a part of an organization that uses Salesforce, it’s unlikely that you know much about it. Many of the Fortune 100 companies use Salesforce. IDC published an article in October 2017 saying that over 3 million jobs are expected to be there in the Salesforce ecosystem by end of 2022 through its network of partners. Salesforce has been growing at a brisk pace year on year, and so are their customers, consequently driving up the demand for Salesforce professionals to support that growth. And the skills one acquires as a Salesforce professional are highly transferable in case one wants to switch over to another industry. Developing Salesforce Skills Irrespective of your available budget, there are multiple options available to help one get familiar with Salesforce and develop skills in a certain are: Developer organisations— Sign up immediately for a free developer licence and start practising Trailhead, which is a Salesforce powered only community where one can get hands-on exposure to Salesforce and learn the technical and business skills one needs to succeed from anywhere for free. Girikon is a dedicated Gold Certified Salesforce Partner. Our relentless focus on understanding the unique needs of our customers combined with our rich expertise and experience on the Salesforce platform allows us to deliver value driven solutions to our clients. Contact us today to know more.

Salesforce Energy and Utilities Cloud gives energy and Utilities providers a digital interaction platform to personalise customer engagements. Utilities can meet new customer expectations by delivering great experiences like easily guiding customers through enrolment, transfer and activation of services through a self-service website. And using out of the box drag and drop tools, to configure complex processes. With data integration with existing back-end CIS and MDM systems, to ensure a streamlines service experience. A utility has a comprehensive profile view of each customer to deliver a highly personalised and predictive experience. Like sharing special offers for programs or new rates for products. Digital tools are available to tailor customer experiences and help customers make informed decisions. With chatbots for the first level of customer support, accessible at anytime from anywhere. So service agents can pick up the case for the right level of assistance when needed. Agents have a thorough view of each customer account and can navigate between multiple residential or commercial accounts. With all the information they need like full chronological history, account and billing information, usage and more. And al data can be consolidated from back end systems so agents always have access to a single source of truth. Agents can also see into process and actions initiated on other channels and can use that information to better serve customers from finalising a purchase to liaise scheduling field service appointments. Utilities now have insight through interactive dash board to real time data to keep customers at the core of their business. And can provide developers a library with hundreds of pre built business processes and integrations to accelerate time to value and digital transformation. Chart a new course for the future of energy by streamlining your business. Meet the needs of all energy eco-system stakeholders -customers, suppliers, partners and employees with a platform that fosters agile innovation across your entire business lifecycle. Adapt and cater to rising customer expectations. Adopt a digital first approach and scale fast with easy integration with your existing systems. Deliver customer first service to your customer community. Streamline your Oil and Gas business and prepare for the future of energy. Connect stakeholders and assets across the service journey and collaborate in real-time. Drive on field decision-making with on-th-go access to vital data and information. ENERGY AND UTILITIES CLOUD Drive customer service and engagement on a single, connected flexible and scalable platform. Be the trendsetter for transition to energy transformation with centralized customer data, and on-time, personalized, pro-active service from anywhere, from any device. Energy and Utilities Cloud delivers a scalable, digital and secure energy solution that adapts and scales for future energy needs. Get access to a process repository of more than 100 preconfigured and extendable best practices Easily connect to back office utility Billing and Customer Information Systems (CIS) with easy, drag and drop integrations Utilise a data model with access to more than 350 extended objects specifically designed for the utility industry With Energy and Utilities Cloud, you can take advantage of purpose-built innovations designed for an dynamic and evolving energy landscape. Transform agents into advisors and deliver a whole new way of customer engagement. Empower service agents with the resources they need – tools, analytics, and AI based insights, to deliver personalized customer service anytime, anywhere, from any device. Deliver personalized customer service on a digital-first platform. Support the entire spectrum of customers, ranging from residential customers to large commercial customers. Get a single, scalable and secure solution that delivers connected journeys and promotes self-service. Turn customer freedom into a competitive advantage. Offer quotes and tariffs faster than ever, by quickly processing current market pricing and customer information with a 360-view of the customer and data-driven tools. Improve acquisition and trim churn. Easily generate complex, multi-locational and multi-product quotes to acquire customers faster. Retain customers longer with personalized offerings. POWER AND UTILITIES Adapt and thrive in a dynamically evolving Power & Utilities industry. Easily navigate the intricate utility landscape with seamless and powerful digital transformation. Revolutionise the Utility customer experience. Embrace digitalization and drive into future of energy transformation with a customer first approach. Make advisors out of agents by giving them the tools that deliver a customer-360 view. Encourage self-service and engage customers across the journey with AI, and offer multi-channel personalized service Deliver next generation service operations and customer experience by going beyond the contact center. Service customer needs faster in the Retail sector. Deliver a more connected experience for customers by bringing existing systems on a single platform. Deliver quotes and tariffs faster than competitors with data-driven tools and easily navigate multi-locational, multi-account structures. Evolve offerings, accelerate customer acquisition, and improve customer retention by designing competitive products and services with just a few clicks. Boost customer experience with personalised engagements and streamlined field service operations. Become the trendsetter in sustainability. Get ahead of your competition with innovative digital transformation that drives your business during the energy transition. Drive energy efficiency program adoption and help customers reach their energy goals. Educate customers and partner with them to adopt sustainable offerings and services that foster new revenue streams Go beyond commoditization and stay current with new offerings OIL AND GAS Connect stakeholders and assets across every touchpoint throughout the Oil & Gas value chain. Optimize your organization for the new era of energy transformation. Drive digital optimization across the upstream ecosystem. Optimise communication and engagement with stakeholders across the value chain. Seamlessly connect landowners, suppliers, customers, shareholders, and the relevant compliance organizations. Augment staff safety with tools that empower you to attract, retain, upgrade, and engage the dynamic workforce. Reduce costs with analytics and AI to drive smarter connections across the energy lifecycle. Boost on-site efficiency and safety. Optimise commercial processes and deliver better service Empower teams with digital tools that drive safety Streamline operations and optimise asset digitization Transform downstream enterprises. Increase customer retention with a platform that drives personalization and growth Optimise stakeholder relationships across all distribution channels Lower maintenance costs, boost plant efficiency and reduce less downtimes Remodel and enhance oilfield equipment and services. Personalize contracts, quotes and bids and win high-margin deals Operationalize existing investments in IoT with analytics and AI to drive business intelligence and reduce costs Deliver value to customers with simplicity and transparency by investing in digital transformation strategies. Develop and execute an actionable sustainability strategy. Scale Social, Environmental, and Governance excellence to boost stakeholder engagement Fast track progress towards achieving your sustainability goals with optimized greenhouse gas emission tracking and accounting across all your assets and locations. Get ready for a sustainable future with a unified agile platform that allows you to pivot quickly, fast track business models, and adapts to new processes, workflows and integrations. Common questions that we get asked often. Here are the answers. Who can use Energy & Utilities Cloud? Energy & Utilities Cloud is for any energy and utilities provider who wish to revolutionise the customer experience and connect the customer journey across every touchpoint. Irrespective of what type of business model you have, whether a regulated energy company or a retail energy provider, Energy & Utilities Cloud can help you deliver connected engaging, personalized digital-first experiences across the customer lifecycle. How do I use Energy & Utilities Cloud with my current Customer Information and billing systems? Energy & Utilities Cloud is not a replacement for billing or CIS systems.  However, you can easily integrate your existing utility enterprise systems with Energy & Utilities Cloud using out-of-the-box integration solutions driven by utility-specific data models and a repository of pre-built processes to fast track your digital transformation. How is Energy & Utilities Cloud different from competing products? Energy & Utilities Cloud is founded on the design methodology that built the world’s #1 CRM platform. It has been developed specifically for the energy industry.  Now you get faster time to value with data models, custom industry specific apps, and out-of-the-box integrations. Build on the experience of our industry leaders for click based implementation and guidance throughout your digital transformation journey. How so other Salesforce products work with Energy & Utilities Cloud? Energy & Utilities Cloud plugs in easily with Marketing Cloud Experience Cloud, Service Cloud, and more. Now you can innovate faster than ever, with the full power of the Native Salesforce Customer 360 platform. Girikon is a Gold Certified Salesforce Implementation Partner that can help you deliver an engaging digital transformation journey to your customers. Contact us today! Questions? Our reps have answers. CONTACT AN EXPERT

Companies of all sizes are transforming the way they do business digitally with innovation in technology, in an attempt to engage customers in a new way. Enterprises are adopting a go-digital first approach with best in class out of the box software. Salesforce CRM happens to be one of them. Educating yourself about Salesforce is one thing. Understanding which products, applications best suit your unique business needs is another matter. Which is why almost most Salesforce customers turn to Salesforce experts to seamlessly enter the Salesforce eco-system. These experts are called Salesforce Implementation Partners. Over the last decade, Salesforce has nurtured a vast network of it’s implementation partners across the globe that help businesses achieve their business goals. Here's a look at some of the typical questions early adopters have about working with a Salesforce implementation partner. What is an implementation partner? To put it simply, an implementation partner is an firm that has been vetted and approved by Salesforce to implement their solutions for businesses on their behalf. Every implementation partner specialises in certain areas of technology, industry, or application. Which means, there are Salesforce implementation partners to address every need, business, industry and product. Why engage an implementation partner? Salesforce CRM solutions cover the complete spectrum of business operations. These include but are not limited to sales, marketing, service etc. Each product can be further expanded by third party add-on applications and cross-platform integrations. To put it in a nutshell, the Salesforce ecosystem has endless capabilities. The challenge is of aplenty – to select the right product with the features and functionality that best suit your needs. A larger organization may already work with multiple technology-based solutions because of larger budgets and diversity in lines of business. They may need guidance in understanding how a particular Salesforce product, say, Sales Cloud, can seamlessly integrate with their existing systems without causing any conflict. A smaller company on the other hand may be scaling up rapidly and will quickly realise that continuing to work with spreadsheets will not support their growth objectives. They would soon realize that they would need to automate some of their processes, and/or develop more personalised and engaging customer experiences. Implementing a CRM solution for the first time can feel intimidating. It is almost impossible for your internal teams or staff with no prior experience with Salesforce to consider all the variables involved in an implementation and also be able to implement a new instance of a highly configurable CRM platform. Hiring full-time resources to embark on the implementation process can also prove be an expensive option. These are some of the operational reasons that most of the Salesforce customers depend on Salesforce Implementation experts. Bringing in a partner late in the game may prove to be detrimental to your growth plans. For you to derive maximum benefit of such a powerful and configurable platform requires close collaboration not just internally, but also with your implementation partner.  The best way to do the implementation is when the journey begins together. When is the right time to hire an implementation partner? As early as possible. As is true with any big investment, first you need to do your due diligence. Understand what needs should be met, gaps to close, or issues that need to be addressed. Establish a vision of what you want to achieve with the Salesforce implementation. Next, determine how would you execute your vision with Salesforce, which is where the partner comes in. As soon as you estabish your goals, it’s time to bring in a partner. The right Salesforce implementation partner won’t just expedite the how, but they will also help you to sharpen your vision. They’ll help you get a clearer understanding of success metrics, establish realistic goals, and provide guidance on appropriate products. Finally, they’ll chalk out a sound project timeline for your entire implementation journey. Meet with multiple prospective partners. Assess them on key parameters like industry experience, certified consultants, years in business, reviews, number of successful implementations, their post-implementation training and support strategy. Get a sense of who they are and how they work. This is a crucial relationship for your business, so don’t compromise. How do I know which is the right partner for me? Some Salesforce Implementation Partners have generalised Salesforce capabilities. And some would specialise in particular areas or functions of the Salesforce platform. Some might specialise in Sales Cloud and Financial Services Cloud. Others might have expertise in harnessing the combined powers of Marketing Cloud and Einstein. Here are some pointers to guide you on what to look for in a Salesforce Implementation Partner: Industry expertise Does the Salesforce partner have experience working in the same industry as yours for other customers? Can they offer customer testimonials or case studies from similar projects? Salesforce expertise Does the partner have enough experience with the specific Salesforce solution that you wish to implement? Technical expertise Does the partner have the necessary technical capabilities to implement your Salesforce solution through customization, third party app integration or integration with other business systems within your organization? Proven Methodology Does the partner have a proven process methodology for Salesforce implementation and training? Do they implement using an Agile framework evolving with every iteration using a collaborative approach? Ongoing support What level and type of support are they providing to their existing customers? Do they provide 24/7 support? Pricing and Budgets What is their pricing model? What is the average size of the projects they have executed? Do they fit into your long-term budget? What a Salesforce Implementation Partner Does? Here are some of the things your Salesforce Implementation Partner will do as a part of their overall implementation: Work with you closely to establish your long-term and short-term goals for your implementation Document your existing business practices and make a detailed note of your specific requirements Assess your existing systems and business operations and recommend any changes that may help you to achieve your goals and improve the efficiency of your workflows Work closely with key stakeholders, adopting a collaborative approach to integrate Salesforce with your existing systems Train your teams on the new platform Salesforce implementation partners have extensive experience on the Salesforce platform across industries solving unique challenges in varied business environments. They know what it takes to execute and deliver a successful Salesforce implementation. A qualified partner can help you to avoid common pitfalls and get you up and running quickly. What challenges might I encounter during implementation? Salesforce has been around for decades now and it’s a known fact that bringing in a partner early in the game mitigates may of the implementation risks and challenges that may emerge along the way. What is also important is to be clear on what you want to achieve over time and how you measure success over that journey. Most often, confusion or dissatisfaction arises from a lack of understanding on part of the customer on clear goals and measurable metrics. If both you and your partner are not on the same page, its opens doors for unnecessary assumptions, and confusion and misunderstandings on timelines and system features can arise. This only complicates the process of achieving objectives and reaching success benchmarks that your set out with. Salesforce implementation is an expensive roll out and it’s a two-way street. Both you and your partner need to be transparent and work in close collaboration to make it a success. Never hesitate to ask the same questions. The Salesforce implementation process can be highly technical and it is only natural to seek precise clarification. Just as you place your customers at the center of your business, partners place you at the center of theirs. They measure their success by your satisfaction levels. Customer success translates to partner success. As it true with any successful relationship in life, this implementation partnership too thrives on open, honest communication from day one. Girikon is a Gold Certified Salesforce Consulting Partner that provides expert guidance and support throughout the client’s growth journey. Get in touch with one of our experts today to know more about how we can help you. Questions? Our reps have answers. CONTACT AN EXPERT

Salesforce can be transformational. Provided you implement it right.  It has the power to change the way your organization functions, helping you transition to a smarter, efficient, data-driven, and impactful business.Salesforce can be transformational. Provided you implement it right.  It has the power to change the way your organization functions, helping you transition to a smarter, efficient, data-driven, and impactful business. But it‘s common that the same set of hurdles keep popping up repetitively.  Technology based perfection is relatively easier to achieve. An expert team of Salesforce Consultants may execute challenging implementations on time and within budget. But it can become transformational only if it meets the business objectives of the organization.  Assessing the success of a Salesforce powered organization necessitates a holistic approach. The implementation team needs to have a clear understanding of the various forces at play, and prepare themselves for long-term, sustainable success. Here are 6 key Salesforce implementation challenges with tips on how to resolve them for post-implementation success.  Implementation and Adoption Roadmap Lack of clarity of purpose and want of understanding of its impact can lead to a failed implementation of Salesforce. Without expectations being set, organizations tend to implement and adopt Salesforce with inadequate resources and expertise, and often without the buy-in of the right people.  The result is a half-baked system that does not compliment organizational goals and staff needs.   When stakeholders do not agree on the requirements or scope, for lack of time or prioritization, the implementation team eds up confused with a blurred vision of the organization’s goals. Frequent scope changes lead to a faulty implementation with declined productivity. Detailed and meticulous planning will drive 80% of your success. Spend time to freeze requirements before commencing implementation. Get buy in from stakeholders and management. Make a clear implementation roadmap upfront. Align it with the company’s strategic goals. Establish a clear roll-out strategy. Data Migration and Validation Data powers Salesforce. Without the right data, Salesforce cannot deliver what it is designed to. As it is, It’s a challenge for staff to learn a new system and adopt it as part of their regular work routine.  And when data is incomplete or inaccurate couple of things happen.  First, the trust is broken in the system.  Second, when you feed your systems with faulty data, it’s even more challenging to get any valuable data out of it.  And if users aren’t getting valuable information from the system, chances are slim they will be keen to enter it in the first place. A definitive approach is required to work out the data migration strategy with the Salesforce implementation team. User mapping, data security and cleaning up data is a time intensive activity and requires an experienced team. To overcome this data challenge, double-check the integrity of data that you wish to migrate. Clean it up before importing into Salesforce. Use relevant tools wherever possible. Look at data mapping closely to map relevant fields, Engage the team members who know your data well to assist with data migration validation. One of the keys to maintain healthy data is to have smart detection systems, regular clean ups and training. Customization With Salesforce’s endless capabilities, there is a tendency to overdo customization to get maximum features on board. In a manner of speaking, tendency to bite more than you can chew. This only complicates the implementation. Customization without a thorough understanding of your business needs leads to a faulty implementation. To overcome this, adopt an incremental approach. Split the features into basic, essential, and so on, in order of necessity. A phased approach saves costs and ensures the system retains its integrity after each stage of customization and mitigates implementation challenges to a large extent. Use the Lightning App Builder from Salesforce and Apps from the AppExchange to build custom applications, fast. The Salesforce1 platform and Salesforce SDKs facilitate development of mobile apps quickly. Salesforce Canvas allows easy integration of other systems with Salesforce screens. Use Lightning Process Builder to create complex business processes without any need for coding. User Acceptance Testing No implementation is perfect. And despite the best of efforts of implementation teams, errors do creep in. Gaps in communication, bugs, unsuitable tools, and other issues often result in the system not being up to expectations. Testing is the best way to ensure any IT implementation meets its pre-defined goals. Catching bugs early makes it that much easier to fix them. Empower subject matter experts with expertise in your line of business. Encourage them to take up leadership roles in the implementation, and become champions for its smooth roll-out and organization-wide adoption. Document test cases and test plans and execute. Fix the bugs, and retest as and when needed. Simulate use cases and do thorough testing to ensure the code meets the objectives. Conduct sandbox testing to work out the kinks before go-live, mitigating the deployment risks.  Adoption Most often, much of the focus and effort in a Salesforce implementation goes to the technical side of things.  While this is necessary, it might come as a surprise that even after a really good implementation, it can still be a challenge to get your staff to actually use the system!  More often than not, adoption is one of the biggest challenges across all types of businesses. Adopting a new system with the power and flexibility of Salesforce requires a significant level of organizational change.  And it requires some well thought out “change management” planning. It is crucial to have an organizational adoption plan as much as it is to have a technical one.  This includes getting staff and leadership buy-in, communicating clearly about the vision and value of the project, and having a thorough plan for training staff and supporting them as they get trained.   Training Training of staff to use Salesforce is one of the biggest challenges post implementation. What’s the point of investing time, resources and money in implementing a powerful software like Salesforce, if your staff can’t use it to its fullest potential? To master features in salesforce, users should undergo thorough training with your Salesforce Implementation Partner. Focus your training on custom built features or functionalities in your implementation. Without proper training and support even the most trivial issue can become a stumbling block in organization-wide adoption. To overcome this difficulty, the implementation team should distribute documentation about the new features developed and provide hands on classroom training, department wise. The true power of Salesforce is not just about entering or populating data into it.  Equally important is how you pull data out of it.   A Certified Salesforce Consulting Partner will approach your Salesforce implementation with 3 key elements — accurate assessment of expectations, detailed attention to data, and a thorough adoption/training plan, putting you 3 big steps ahead. Questions? Our reps have answers. CONTACT AN EXPERT

Every customer is unique. And they are demanding too! In general, customers like to know if the experience they are going to have is personalized for them or not. In fact, in a survey conducted by Salesforce across customers, it was found that 86% of them admitted that personalization played a role in their purchasing decisions. But customers aren’t the only ones who prefer customization. Businesses around the world are equally uninterested in consuming products and services that are designed for mass consumption.  They want something that fits seamlessly with their unique processes and is flexible, intuitive, and effective. Salesforce does all this and more. The World’s No1 CRM Platform was designed specifically for configuration and customization. It comes with a plethora of unique features, tools, and resources enabling businesses to create custom apps that are aligned with their business goals and objectives. However, unlocking its true power requires a deep understanding of its customizable nature across different industries. And this is exactly where a competent Salesforce Implementation Partner comes in. With the right Salesforce Consultant and a methodically executed implementation plan, you can send the productivity of your teams into overdrive and unlock the real value of your business. If you can’t trust a CRM platform to meet your unique business needs, then it’s likely you won’t get much use out of it. Salesforce features a totally open eco-system, which means you can extend Salesforce to accomplish any task, with apps for every business need. CRM + UX: The ultimate customer experience Customers aren’t just demanding vanilla products and services anymore; they are seeking an enriching experience. They are demanding convenience and deeper engagement throughout the business lifecycle. With exponential growth in technology-related products, tools, and services, coupled with today’s dynamic and unpredictable context, it is imperative for businesses to live up to these demands and offer their customers the ultimate experience. How your business delivers products and services to your customers is as important as what you deliver.  Salesforce provides you with that elusive combination of power, flexibility, and tools at your fingertips to effortlessly execute code-less customization to suit your needs. So how does one go about customizing Salesforce to align with your business goals? Identify opportunities and bridge gaps An important step before the Salesforce implementation begins is to conduct a thorough assessment of current business processes and identify inadequacies and redundancies. Focus on processes that are a drain on your resources. Identifying gaps and shortcomings early is critical to a successful implementation. This is where the role of a Salesforce Consultant becomes so important. Discuss with your Salesforce Implementation Partner and answer some key questions like -How do you customize Salesforce to enhance adoption? How do you maximize your ROI? How do you reduce the learning curve? Discuss with your Salesforce Implementation Partner to understand which features are most helpful to address these gaps. Add additional functionality into your implementation by using custom codes or extended features, that is more end-user-focused and aligned with your overall goals and objectives. Look beyond standard Salesforce functionality. Customize! It’s a certain way to drive adoption. Businesses must understand that a successful Salesforce implementation is a result of team effort as well as collaboration across departments and stakeholders. The implementation plan needs to be communicated to all concerned teams and all stakeholders need to buy into this new process of doing business. Focus on usability Salesforce has countless features and options, and this can be a deterrent to early adopters. Work with your Salesforce Consultant to configure the software in a way so as to present relevant data and components to optimize your business workflows. Salesforce Lightning (discussed later) can be used for enhancing productivity and drive adoption rates. Automate Automate repetitive tasks. By customizing templates, standardizing workflows, and automating repetitive tasks, you can significantly improve adoption rates. Businesses can now automate faster using something called Flows. You can download configurable prebuilt processes with flow templates and use the flow builder to integrate stand-alone building blocks. Leverage AppExchange Salesforce AppExchange is a great place to find relevant tools and plugins to get you off the blocks quickly. AppExchange is a unified ecosystem that is used for creating and running all of the personalized applications that an organization might need. Whether you are a new user or an existing one, you can discover free, customizable, customer-recommended solutions built by Salesforce developers to help you address common business issues.  Whether it is tracking employee progress, oversight of projects, streamlining repetitive tasks, fast-tracking automation, or kick-starting app building, chances are that you will find a solution to your problem on AppExchange. You can effortlessly customize these tools with an intuitive drag and drop interface and get going. Although it is possible for businesses to build and run their own apps without the Salesforce platform, AppExchange has certain inherent advantages over other potential options: Intuitive interface. You may have a clear understanding of what you want apps to deliver for you. However, on most occasions, knowledge transfer of your goals and vision can create gaps in understanding between your developers and you. Leading to ineffective creation of apps. AppExchange features an intuitive and easy-to-master interface, so that your teams can build and deploy precise apps. This means more effective systems, and as a result, more productivity Short development times. AppExchange provides users with effortless, drag-and-drop elements empowering users to quickly create custom, business-centric apps, potentially in a matter of hours. Multiple development tools. Organizations are no more restricted to a limited choice of development tools. Salesforce brings together three powerful development tools — Force.com, Heroku Enterprise, and Lightning — empowering app developers with the flexibility to choose what they want in order to get the job done. Prebuilt apps. Why re-invent the wheel? It’s likely that what you are seeking to deploy is already there on the AppExchange. You can discover thousands of existing third-party apps in the world’s largest enterprise app marketplace. Customize as you want and deploy in an agile framework. Limitless possibilities. AppExchange is the solution across departmental needs – Marketing, HR, IT, finance, operations, and more. Businesses can build and deploy apps that can scale across a limitless number of devices and users. Scalable Meta Data Driven Platform As your business grows, your CRM needs to adapt right along with it. By using a single code base, Salesforce makes it possible for customers to customize and scale their CRM solutions with tools that work on the meta data layer. Whatever the need, Salesforce provides customizable, configurable solutions, and does so effectively, quickly, and with minimum effort. Conclusion Salesforce is committed to providing businesses of all sizes with the tools they need to empower themselves. Of the many advantages offered by the World’s No 1 CRM platform, perhaps the most valuable are comprehensive solutions, high security standards, customizability, innovation-centric design, and specifically designed apps that allow usability with limitless possibilities. With an ROI on par with the best in the industry, there’s no reason not to give it a try. Looking for Pricing? Contact our reps to discuss your needs today. CONTACT AN EXPERT

Compared to yesteryears, customers today are more aware and informed and thus expect a personalized experience besides quality services and products. Since customers are the lifeblood of every business, retaining them, especially the existing ones, is crucial as they spend 31 percent more than the new ones. This calls for a robust customer retention strategy that will not just ensure an increase in revenue but also a decrease in overall cost. It is possible to acquire a higher level of customer retention by implementing a robust CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform like Salesforce.  According to a survey conducted by Salesforce, it has been revealed that acquiring new customers or clients is more expensive than retaining the existing one.     How to Boost Customer Retention Using Salesforce? Tracking Customer Interaction: It is possible to keep track of your customers with Salesforce integration. From where your customers are, when they made the last purchase to what they are looking for on your website, Salesforce helps you know everything about your customers and prospects. This will help you understand customer behavior and preferences while helping you respond to their needs appropriately. Moreover, you will be able to engage with your customers by sending them personalized messages/emails while introducing them to your products and services. Unify the Database of Your Customers: Since Salesforce helps gather, organize, and analyze all your customer data in a single location, which helps in customer retention. Your sales team will access all the data easily while staying informed. With this, data accuracy is increased, and data duplicity is reduced. Moreover, client satisfaction is ensured as transparent communication is ensured between business and customers. By partnering with a Salesforce consulting company, you will be able to make the most of this fantastic platform.  Power of Personalization: For every business, customer data is a mine of gold. By centralizing this wealth of data to be personalized later, it is easy to resonate with your customers. By leveraging Salesforce integration services, you will be empowered to take control of your customer relationship by using tools such as Pardot dynamic content that allows you to personalize emails, subject lines, and more. By personalizing communication, you show your customers that you care for them.   Engaging Inactive Customers: Salesforce enables you to interact with inactive customers by keeping track of their customers by consolidating emails, calls, etc., by checking their purchase history and buying preferences, keeping them engaged via personalized messages, and more. This way, you will save money and acquire new customers. Integration of Customer Service Tool: Several customer service applications such as service cloud, desk.com, etc., offered by Salesforce can be leveraged to eliminate silos ensure collaboration between teams, especially the account management and customer service departments. By leveraging these tools, overall customer experience can be improved. Quick Wrap-up: Businesses should consider harnessing the power of Salesforce to grow their revenue and profit. So, make sure you get in touch with a certified and reputed Salesforce implementation partner to ensure the successful implementation of this platform, which will ultimately help you retain your customers and build a strong relationship with them.

As a business entity, your priority lies in improving the bottom line of your business by generating greater ROI. To ensure consistent growth of your business, you need to chart out an appropriate customer satisfaction strategy as customers tend to be the life and blood of every business undertaking. The most important aspect of this strategy should be to have in place a robust system that can provide a single view of all the customer-related data. Salesforce with its rich features, functionalities and ever-evolving ecosystem has become an obvious choice for business owners looking to streamline their otherwise scattered business processes to ensure increased efficiency and productivity. While this cloud-based platform is pretty flexible, easy to use and above all widely accepted across the globe, the real challenge lies in implementing it. This is because the process of Salesforce implementation requires 100 percent focus, dedication, and technical know-how, which practically wouldn’t be possible for you to dedicate while handling other essential business activities. To make the most of your Salesforce investment, you must have by your side a reliable Salesforce Implementation Partner who can help you with successful implementation, conformation, and deployment. Why Should You Hire the Services of a Salesforce Partner? Rather than taking the less expensive route of doing the Salesforce implementation on your own, or hiring a less qualified Salesforce partner, it’s in your best interest to engage the services of a knowledgeable and experienced Salesforce partner. Doing so will help you realize the following benefits: Ensures Business Process Efficiency: To enjoy a better return on your Salesforce investment, proper knowledge of accurately relating Salesforce’s features to your business processes is important. A knowledgeable partner with experience of working in your industry and knowledge of best practices will be able to dive into your processes and connect technology to your business goals. Provide the Right fit: It is to be noted that when it comes to Salesforce implementation one-size-fits-all approach, doesn’t seem to work. A reliable Salesforce partner will ensure you get the most out of your Salesforce investment. Rather than using the common implementation technique, an experienced Salesforce Consulting partner will make the necessary adjustments to provide your organization with the right implementation. Provide Training and Support to Your Team: Getting your team to use a new system can be challenging. However, with a knowledgeable and skilled implementation partner by your side, your team will have an easy go-to resource if and when they have queries while handling the new system. Your Salesforce partner will provide your team with the necessary training for operating the new CRM solution in the best possible way. Help You Capitalize on Opportunities: Reviewing your business systems and developing them regularly will ensure that they align with your business objectives. A skilled Salesforce partner can help you frame up your objectives and the way they connect with your CRM. This will help you develop a roadmap for the future while helping you realize a better return on your investment for the times to come.  Help You Save Money: If you take into account the internal overhead necessary to manage a project, you will realize that a reliable Salesforce partner will not just outperform an internal team but will also be more cost-effective. Quick Wrap-up: Whether you are thinking about implementing a new Salesforce CRM or already have one that requires a bit of customization and configuration, it makes sense to have a skilled Salesforce implementation partner by your side. By leveraging their expertise and experience, you will not just be relieved of the stress involved in doing it yourself but will also reap in the benefits of better process efficiency and ROI.