In the ever-evolving landscape of business technology, adapting to change is no longer a choice — it’s a necessity. And when it comes to managing those changes seamlessly, Salesforce stands tall as a powerhouse. However, navigating the intricate realm of Salesforce Change Management can often leave even the most seasoned professionals scratching their heads.
We unveil six invaluable tips that promise to unravel the complexities, making the process not just manageable, but downright straightforward. Whether you’re a salesforce novice or a seasoned pro, these insights will empower you to wield change as a tool for growth, without breaking a sweat.
Clear Change Identification and Prioritization
Before embarking on any salesforce changes, it’s essential to meticulously define the scope and objectives of the proposed modifications. This involves a detailed analysis of the current system, identifying pain points, and recognizing opportunities for enhancement. Once potential changes are identified, a rigorous prioritization process should be employed.
This prioritization should be based on factors such as the anticipated business impact, alignment with strategic goals, and feasibility of implementation. The impacts of any change should be thoroughly evaluated, considering both short-term and long-term consequences. This includes assessing potential disruptions to existing processes, workflows, and user experiences, as well as estimating the financial, resource, and time investments required for successful implementation.
ALSO READ: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR SALESFORCE INVESTMENT
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Successful salesforce change management thrives on collaborative efforts across diverse departments. Forming a dedicated change management team comprising representatives from different functional areas fosters a holistic approach. Involving stakeholders early in the process ensures that all perspectives are considered, mitigating resistance and enhancing buy-in.
Open communication channels must be established to facilitate idea sharing, status updates, and issue resolution. This collaborative synergy not only promotes comprehensive change planning but also empowers a sense of ownership among stakeholders. By uniting expertise and insights from various disciplines, organizations can navigate change with collective strength and drive more successful implementations.
Comprehensive Change Documentation
Thorough documentation is the backbone of effective salesforce change management. Detailed records of change requests, requirements, and implementation plans ensure a clear roadmap for all involved. A well-maintained repository of version-controlled documentation facilitates transparency, aiding in tracing the evolution of changes and reducing confusion. This meticulous documentation also supports knowledge transfer, enabling seamless onboarding and continuity.
By meticulously capturing every step and decision, organizations establish a reliable foundation for change, ensuring that stakeholders remain informed and aligned throughout the process. Robust documentation safeguards against uncertainties and serves as a valuable resource for future enhancements.
Thorough Testing and Quality Assurance
Rigorous testing and quality assurance are cornerstones of successful Salesforce change management. Crafting comprehensive test plans and scenarios allows for the meticulous examination of new configurations and functionalities. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) involving end-users validates the changes from a practical standpoint, ensuring they meet user needs and expectations.
Addressing any detected bugs, performance issues, or discrepancies during testing guarantees a smoother transition. A robust testing phase minimizes post-implementation disruptions and fosters user confidence. By prioritizing quality assurance, organizations fortify their change management process, delivering dependable solutions that align seamlessly with business objectives.
User Training and Support
Empowering users through effective training and ongoing support is pivotal in salesforce change management. Developing comprehensive training materials, including guides and tutorials, equips users with the knowledge to navigate new features and processes. Conducting engaging training sessions and workshops enhances user proficiency and fosters a positive transition experience.
Providing accessible avenues for user support, such as help desks or forums, ensures timely issue resolution and knowledge sharing. Prioritizing user training and support cultivates user confidence, reduces frustration, and promotes efficient utilization of the salesforce platform, ultimately contributing to the success of change initiatives.
Effective Change Rollout and Monitoring
A well-executed change rollout and vigilant monitoring are pivotal to salesforce change management success. Careful planning of controlled rollouts or pilot launches ensures gradual adoption and minimizes disruption. Monitoring user adoption, feedback, and system performance provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of implemented changes. Iterative improvements based on real-time data help fine-tune configurations and address evolving needs.
This proactive approach guarantees that the change’s impact aligns with expectations, promoting sustained user satisfaction. By maintaining a watchful eye on the ongoing change process, organizations can swiftly adapt, optimize, and enhance the Salesforce environment, driving long-term success and continuous improvement.
Simplifying Salesforce change management is a multi-faceted endeavor that demands strategic planning, collaboration, documentation, testing, training, and vigilant monitoring. By adhering to these key principles, organizations can navigate transitions with clarity, engage stakeholders effectively, and ensure seamless system enhancements. Embracing change as an iterative process allows for agility and continuous improvement, leading to a Salesforce environment that not only meets current needs but also lays a solid foundation for future innovation and success.
ALSO READ: SALESFORCE GENIE CAN TRANSFORM YOUR SALES STRATEGY
Salesforce Editor’s Score: 9.5/10
|
Pricing/value |
9.2 |
|---|---|
|
Features |
9.7 |
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Customization, add-ons and integrations |
9.8 |
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Ease of use |
9.1 |
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Customer service |
9.5 |
Why We Chose Salesforce as the Best CRM for Customization
Salesforce is arguably the best-known CRM provider on the market. It has an established community and a well-earned reputation for being a leader in the customer relationship management field. While it was created to meet the needs of enterprises and large businesses, Salesforce has expanded its scope and now actively targets businesses of all sizes.
Unlike more rigid competitors, Salesforce CRM provides countless personalization and customization options, giving businesses a high level of control over how the system looks and acts. We were particularly impressed by how Salesforce handles workflow automation and by its pioneering integration of AI in CRM customization.
Notably, Salesforce was one of the first CRM platforms to open itself up to third-party developers, giving it more apps and customization options than any other provider. If Salesforce doesn’t have a built-in function you need, there’s almost certainly an app to compensate. If not, a developer can create and deploy a specific solution.
Salesforce CRM’s initial setup requires time and IT skills. Its learning curve is far steeper than those of many other CRM providers we reviewed. However, you’ll enjoy flexible CRM software guaranteed to accommodate all custom processes and meet the changing needs of your business. For all these reasons and more, Salesforce is our top CRM choice for customization.
Salesforce CRM’s pipeline management feature gives an overview of your sales opportunities. Source: Salesforce
Salesforce may not be the best choice for businesses with less complex operational needs. If your SMB’s CRM needs are straightforward, check out our review of monday.com CRM to learn about a well-executed system designed for SMBs.
What We Like About Salesforce CRM
- The Salesforce CRM is highly customizable; with time, you can modify almost every element to fit your specific business needs.
- The lowest-priced plan includes advanced features such as mass emails, marketing campaign management, a drag-and-drop app builder, and lead auto-assignment.
- Salesforce has an immense selection of support materials, videos and tutorials, as well as a helpful online community.
What We Don’t Like About Salesforce CRM
- Due to the sheer volume of customization and automation options, setting up the Salesforce CRM to match your business’s specific processes and needs can be time-consuming. It may require training for your in-house marketing team and administrators.
- You must know CSS, HTML and other coding languages to customize specific elements within Salesforce.
- Salesforce’s pricing model can be confusing; there’s a lack of clarity around add-ons, which can drive up costs.
Ease of Use
Despite its complexities, Salesforce is surprisingly easy to implement and use. Here are some notable ease-of-use factors we discovered.
- Salesforce’s navigation process is straightforward. We like that Salesforce keeps the navigation process simple. The upper tab-style layout is typical across business and personal software, making it easy to grasp; categories like “Home,” “Contacts,” “Accounts,” “Leads,” “Tasks,” “Reports” and “Opportunities” need no explanation. You can get instant help from the question mark icon in one of the corners of the screen – a handy feature we’ve seen on many other CRM packages.
- You can use Salesforce at a limited level out of the box. Because of its numerous features and customizations, setting up the Salesforce CRM takes more time and expertise than other solutions we reviewed. However, we appreciate that Salesforce’s smart default setup options help businesses use the CRM out of the box. You can gradually modify contact, opportunity, account, task and workflow elements as you explore the software’s full scope over time.
- Salesforce doesn’t provide practice data. Note that you’ll need data to practice on during onboarding; Salesforce doesn’t supply this. To get practice data, you can duplicate and isolate existing data or use a service like Mockaroo to create dummy data.
- Salesforce’s onboarding and support resources are robust. We were pleased to see that Salesforce offers a wealth of support materials, webinars and guides to facilitate the CRM implementation process and resolve usability issues. Its global Trailblazer community is also an excellent resource. Additionally, the vendor promises a two-day query response time.
- Onboarding users and updating permissions is straightforward. While in-house administrators may need specific training, we appreciate that Salesforce provides excellent admin controls. Setting up various permissions based on groups or individual users is simple. This is notable because some CRMs allow only admin settings by group. Creating different displays and workflows for various departments and employees is also straightforward. If you have even moderate technical expertise and admin experience, you should have no trouble onboarding users, updating permissions or managing this CRM daily.
Salesforce’s visual dashboards help your team pinpoint problems and work on solutions. Source: Salesforce
Salesforce’s upper-tier plans supply business owners access to live support, coaching sessions and adoption guidance for an additional fee. This may be useful if you’re considering switching CRM systems to Salesforce.
Salesforce Features
The Salesforce product boasts an impressive array of CRM features that make it one of the best on the market. Here are some of the most notable features that provide excellent CRM software benefits.
Comprehensive Business Ecosystem
We like that Salesforce’s business products seamlessly integrate. Businesses can grow with the Salesforce CRM and gradually adopt new features as needed. Additional Salesforce product categories include:
- Sales Cloud
- Service Cloud
- Marketing Cloud
- Commerce Cloud
- Safety Cloud
- Heroku (Heroku is an app development platform; read our Heroku review to learn more.)
- Quip (a collaboration tool)
- Salesforce Platform (with high-level development, customization, analytics and built-in AI)
You can use Salesforce’s impressive range of third-party apps to run many aspects of your company, from marketing to fulfillment. HR, data analytics, workforce collaboration and finance apps plug directly into Salesforce CRM. You can even add ERP apps to Salesforce to build a system close in function to the ERP platform described in our review of Oracle NetSuite CRM.
We also like how Salesforce’s AppExchange breaks down apps by industry. There are 12 sector-specific areas on AppExchange, including communications, financial services, manufacturing and professional services.
Salesforce is a capable solution for companies that want to Boost customer service performance. Read our review of Salesforce Service Cloud to discover how it helps supervisors and teams manage ongoing customer relationships.
Customization
We were impressed by Salesforce CRM’s vast customization capabilities – an area where it truly stands out among the competition. While many CRMs we reviewed offer options for customizing deal and contact fields, email templates, and dashboards, Salesforce lets you do much more.
Here are some of our favorite customization options:
- Change how pages look and function. You can change how pages look and function to suit your specific needs. Use the CSS settings to adjust the spacing between page elements, colors and fonts. You can modify customer records to show just the lists, sections and fields you want particular co-workers to see, improving employee collaboration.
- Use object control to customize the system. The Salesforce CRM’s object control is superior to that of other CRMs we tested. Objects are “fields” within databases (like name, address, email, etc.). Salesforce makes it easy to add objects so you can record exactly the information you want on accounts, contacts and leads. You can set permissions on records and fields to determine who else can view and edit fields. You can even make objects actionable by adding buttons, actions, triggers and links to create processes for adding a new customer, supplier or co-worker to the database.
- Use the developer console to create custom apps. We really liked Salesforce’s developer console. Many businesses, particularly SMBs, won’t have in-house programmers but may use freelance developers to develop specific functions within Salesforce. Salesforce gives these developers a dev console where they can write, test and debug code for your custom applications. We found the inclusion of Apex triggers within the dev environment particularly helpful because it will shorten the development cycle in most instances. A developer sandbox and an app builder are included with every plan.
Sales managers can customize their dashboards with specific objects. Source: Salesforce
Integrations and Add-ons
We like that CRM users can build customizable systems and integrate their favorite business apps via the Salesforce AppExchange store. Other CRM software companies we reviewed have similar online stores for add-ons, but Salesforce’s is far more comprehensive, with thousands of available integrations.
The company makes it easy to search for add-ons based on the product name and view industry-specific product bundles. Because Salesforce is such a huge company, its industry-specific add-ons are expansive. There’s even a separate section for small business-specific add-ons, many of which are free.
On the AppExchange, you’ll find five different solution categories:
- Apps: Similar to mobile apps on Apple’s App Store or Google Play, AppExchange apps are direct, preprogrammed plug-ins that interact with Salesforce. You can customize most apps via their settings. Apps add new functions or Boost and augment existing functions on your platform.
- Lightning Bolts: Lightning Bolts are prebuilt templates providing extra features to employees, partners, suppliers and anyone accessing your Salesforce CRM. Hundreds of Lightning Bolts have various use cases. For example, there are supply chain management bolts for suppliers, project management tools for employees and tools to access client account information.
- Flow solutions: Salesforce incorporates Flow Builder, a tool that simplifies workflow automation via a simple drag-and-drop approach. Flow solutions are prebuilt workflows or processes you can import directly into the Salesforce Flow development tool.
- Lightning data: These are customer tracking tools that can enrich customer and prospect data and keep them updated regularly. We saw four such tools during our review process.
- Components: Components are reusable features you can deploy to build your own apps within Salesforce. There are nearly 300 free components and around 30 paid ones.
Salesforce is embracing the “low code” and “no code” trends with its Lightning App Builder and Salesforce Flow drag-and-drop tools. Read our HubSpot review to learn about another CRM with drag-and-drop functionality.
New apps are added to the AppExchange daily, further enhancing its appeal. Source: Salesforce
Intuitive Productivity Tools
We were pleased to see Salesforce’s intuitive productivity-boosting tools, particularly its built-in project management features. (Freshworks has similar tools; read our Freshworks CRM review to learn more.) Once implemented, sales and marketing departments – as well as managers – will find it easy to manage and build workflows, assign and follow tasks, and check off permissions.
Salesforce’s visual dashboards allow sales reps to check KPIs and track their progress toward quotas, facilitating productivity and accountability. We like that you can add meetings straight from the calendar tab and see an instant overview of your schedule.
Additional add-on productivity tools are available through the AppExchange.
Artificial Intelligence
Salesforce’s artificial intelligence (AI) strides impressed us with capabilities beyond those of the competitors we reviewed. Salesforce was a CRM-AI pioneer, launching its high-profile AI tool, Einstein, in 2016. Today, the company has picked up the pace amid breakthroughs in the generative large language model AIs (like ChatGPT and Bard) that power tools like Einstein. Einstein is available on Salesforce’s upper-tier plans or as a paid add-on.
Einstein can do the following after gathering data from system use and user input:
- Help salespeople with call prompts
- Handle web chats via the Service Bot chatbot
- Recommend products to clients to facilitate upselling and cross-selling
- Create excellent product presentations
- Generate workflows to make companies more efficient
- Predict with a high degree of accuracy which deals will close
- Deep dive into social media and present you with sentiment analysis about your brand
- Help CEO decision-making with decision support systems that supply advice based on live analytics
Einstein, in its current form, is amazing, and we look forward to seeing its next iterations. We expect AI (and the solutions other CRM providers develop) to be integral to corporate life and CRM adoption in the coming years. We’re not awarding best use of AI in this round of CRM reviews; however, if we were, Salesforce would win.
Einstein can flag emails in which leads express critical concerns that could prevent a deal from moving forward, allowing a sales rep to prioritize those messages and act fast to grow and sustain customer relationships.
Salesforce’s Einstein tool can help with sentiment analysis so you understand how your brand is perceived. Source: Salesforce
Trailblazer Community
Nearly every CRM vendor we reviewed has some form of an online community. However, Salesforce’s Trailblazer community is particularly impressive, replete with documentation invaluable for admins. You can find step-by-step guides on everything from creating custom CRM reports to turning on user notifications.
There’s also an extensive user-only forum for direct communication with other admins and CRM users and a comprehensive Trailhead learning platform with various product-related courses, upskilling opportunities and official certifications.
Salesforce Pricing
You can purchase Salesforce’s Sales Cloud CRM via one of four subscription tiers:
- Essentials
- Professional
- Enterprise
- Unlimited
Unlike Salesforce competitors monday and HubSpot, there’s no free plan.
Only Essentials is available on a month-to-month basis; all other plans require an annual contract. Bear in mind that annual contracts often require you to pay for the whole year upfront, which may not be ideal for some businesses.
All costs below are applied when billed annually. All plans allow you to send 5,000 email marketing messages daily from the platform, which is much more generous than many other providers we reviewed.
Essentials
Price: $25 per user per month; available for up to 10 users
Features: Account, contact, lead, task and opportunity management; lead auto-assignment; prevention of duplicates; automatic capture of a lead’s available web information; mass email; marketing campaigns; customizable reports and dashboards; email integration with Gmail and Outlook; and Salesforce mobile app
Professional
Price: $75 per user per month
Features: Everything in the Essentials plan, plus pipeline management, lead registration, rules-based lead scoring, collaborative forecasting, a forecasting mobile app, quote and order management, roles and permissions, and a developer sandbox
Enterprise
Price: $150 per user per month
Features: Everything in the Professional plan, plus workflow and approval automation, sales teams and territories, opportunity scoring, and advanced reporting
Unlimited
Price: $300 per user per month
Features: Everything in the Enterprise plan, plus a sales engagement hub, AI-powered sales insights with Einstein, sales cadences and 24/7 support
Other Charges
Salesforce is pricey compared to other CRM solutions we reviewed. It’s a massive product with many add-ons and customizations; the subscription costs listed here should be considered jumping-off points.
You can spend considerably more on Salesforce. For example, CPQ & Billing, which allows you to quickly configure, price and quote complex solutions, costs $75 per user per month. Other add-ons include Pardot, Quip, Einstein AI and Sales Dialer – all sold separately. There are additional costs if you opt for training or help with implementation.
Many other SaaS products offer free versions and low-cost, entry-level subscriptions that can be used indefinitely. While $25 per user per month isn’t exorbitant, it’s not a realistic long-term option for most small businesses because only 10 users are supported at that level. The next plan jumps to $75 per user per month – significantly more expensive than the competition.
We recommend taking advantage of Salesforce’s 14-day free trial to ensure this CRM is worth the investment.
Onboarding and Implementation
Implementing CRM software always takes care and patience. But due to its breadth of customization options, Salesforce CRM’s implementation process can vary drastically, taking anywhere from a few days to several weeks. While that may seem alarming, users will quickly see that this CRM is worth the effort once it is set up.
Salesforce and third-party agencies can manage your initial implementation and launch for you. Still, this help comes at a cost, depending on your company size, number of employees, data volume and complexity, third-party integrations, and customization level.
Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to create a complex solution immediately. You can use the software out of the box and modify it as your business needs evolve. Thanks to the Salesforce CRM’s intuitive design and overall sophistication, the learning curve isn’t steep for non-admin users after implementation.
In addition to a vast library of training materials, Salesforce offers adoption guidance and coaching services for an extra cost. That may be worth it for business owners concerned about setting up the CRM and onboarding users.
Use the Data Import Wizard from the Setup menu to import up to 50,000 standard objects – like contact, lead and account information – from a CSV file.
Customer Service
While Salesforce is a market leader in CRM technology, integrations and capabilities, we found that it falls short in the customer service department. When we reached out for information about the company’s services, the response was delayed.
When we did communicate with customer support reps, they were very helpful and used real-life situations to explain the product’s features and answer questions about the program. They were very clear and offered several solutions to help further our understanding. However, compared to other providers we called, their answers could have been more detailed.
Unfortunately, Salesforce has a C-minus rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and isn’t an accredited BBB business. It earned 1 out of 5 stars and closed 55 complaints within the last three years. That’s disappointing and surprising for a company that’s so well regarded in the industry.
On the plus side, Salesforce provides an extensive selection of self-guided resources, access to the Trailblazer community and basic technical support. Additionally, its Unlimited package comes with 24/7 assistance.
For an additional fee of 30 percent of your total monthly service fees, users can access 24/7 phone support, expert coaching and a dedicated account manager.
Limitations
Salesforce CRM is an excellent solution; however, we did identify some limitations:
- Customizations can be complex. Salesforce’s biggest strength – its customization capabilities – is also a potential downside. Setting up a fully customized CRM tailored to your business’s specific sales funnel, structure and workflows requires time and, ideally, a dedicated IT team. Entrepreneurs and smaller companies might be better off with an easy-to-use yet still customizable solution like Zoho. (Learn more in our detailed Zoho CRM review.)
- Salesforce requires technical knowledge. Most of the Salesforce CRM’s customizable elements require some basic technical knowledge of CSS and HTML. This is slowly improving since the introduction of the Lightning App Builder and Salesforce Flow tools. For example, the Lightning Email Templates use a more interactive drag-and-drop functionality, similar to some rival CRMs we reviewed. Salesforce is getting simpler and more intuitive over time. However, it’s not there yet.
- Pricing can be challenging to understand. Due to the number of available add-ons and platforms, it can be difficult to estimate the final price of your desired CRM solution. However, Salesforce’s sales and support teams are happy to provide a unique quote for your business.
Methodology
When evaluating the best CRM software, we conducted extensive comparative research of dozens of software solutions in the category. Our product review process was designed to help you find the right CRM for your business. It included customer support team communication, trials to evaluate product functionality, and an evaluation of each provider’s tutorials, webinars and support materials. We also took pricing into consideration. When looking for the best CRM for customizability specifically, we examined customization options, available integrations, reporting and analytics, and sales automation.
Salesforce FAQ
Is Salesforce easy to learn?
Though the Salesforce system has an extensive collection of CRM features and add-ons, its intuitive design and standard CRM lingo make it easy to learn. The vendor also provides various training materials and courses on Trailhead, the company’s free online learning platform, to get you started.
Can I use Salesforce for free?
Salesforce doesn’t have a free plan; its pricing starts at $25 per user per month. However, the company offers a 14-day free trial so you can assess whether it’s a good fit for your business.
Bottom Line
We recommend Salesforce CRM for …
- Businesses that need a flexible and highly customizable CRM solution.
- Companies that want access to a large collection of integrations and add-ons to suit their processes and industries.
- Businesses looking for a CRM that can expand with their evolving needs.
We don’t recommend Salesforce CRM for …
- Businesses that want a free CRM solution or advanced CRM functionality at an affordable price.
- Entrepreneurs and small businesses with limited IT resources.
- Companies that need a straightforward CRM system that works right out of the box and is easy to customize with no technical skills required.
Nadia Reckmann contributed to this article.
COVID hospitalizations up 60% in last month
COVID-19 hospitalizations rose about 60% in the first week of August compared to just a month ago, according to CDC data. With the new COVID booster likely to be rolled out as early as mid-September, medical experts are advising the public to get both their flu and COVID booster shots. Errol Barnett has more.
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Zoom, the company that powered the remote work revolution during the pandemic, is telling its employees to come back to the office.
In a statement, Zoom said it's now enforcing a "structured hybrid approach," meaning that employees who live near an office "need to be onsite two days a week" because it's "most effective" for the video-conferencing service.
"As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers. We'll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently," the company said.
Putting aside the irony, Zoom isn't excluded from the return to office trend that's sweeping tech companies. In accurate months, Google, Amazon and Salesforce have enacted similar policies, ending a Covid-era approach that gave employees more freedom to work from home. However, businesses have faced some pushback from employees after workers grew accustomed to greater flexibility.
Even the White House is cracking down on remote work. Last week, it asked Cabinet agencies to bring federal workers back into the office more frequently in the coming months, according to an internal email obtained by CNN.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients directive, which cites the administration's in-person posture for the last two years, is the strongest indicator yet that it believes in-office attendance is critical for agencies to carry out its agenda, with a critical election around the corner.
Zoom (ZM) has had its own difficulties as demand wanes following a pandemic-fueled surge. In February, Zoom (ZM) cut approximately 15% of its staff, amounting to about 1,300 employees, after growing too quickly. Members of the executive leadership team also reduced their base salaries by 20% for the coming fiscal year and forfeited their fiscal year 2023 bonuses.
More than most companies, the videoconferencing service came to define the early days of the pandemic, as many turned to its platform to video chat with friends and colleagues during lockdowns. By mid-2020, Zoom reported skyrocketing revenue fueled by a spike in business customers from the many companies forced to turn to remote work.
Shares of the company are up about 4% for the year.
The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
The dilemma of what's next - how to allocate resources, adjust pricing, invest in product - is going to get easier with real-time insights from employees who are closest to customers.
SEATTLE, July 27, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Groopit, the enterprise SaaS platform that makes it easy to crowdsource insights from employees, today launches new Salesforce capabilities that help leaders determine what's next using insights from frontline sellers.
Business leaders are constantly determining what's next - how to allocate resources, adjust pricing, Boost customer experience, and invest in products. But by the time you have data to support your plans, it's too late. Decisions have already been made, opportunities have been missed, deals have been lost, customers are frustrated, and competitors have moved ahead.
The future of "what's next" starts by adding Groopit to Salesforce. Groopit delivers the critical business insights needed to inform decisions from Salesforce, directly to your department and to you. For the first time, you can harness the collective wisdom of your frontline employees within Salesforce, guaranteeing that these invaluable insights reach you and the key decision-makers across your organization. Simply install Groopit from AppExchange into your instance of Salesforce and you'll have the quantitative data you need from employees who are closest to customers. Insights at your fingertips, in real-time, making it easy to determine and articulate what's next.
Groopit provides business leaders with extreme agility, speed, and scale. As business needs change and evolve, you'll redefine the insights you need and get them fast - without waiting for Salesforce configuration. The enterprise system is built on top of a Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, so it will power hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of your employees at a time, updating data in real-time. Today, enterprises like Home Depot, Siemens, and Guidant Financial, rely on Groopit to inform their most strategic initiatives with real-time insights from the frontline.
Key features and capabilities include:
- Groopit Insight Feeds. Groopit delivers precisely the right insights, from frontline employees working in Salesforce, directly to you and the appropriate decision-makers across corporate disciplines. Receive insights from Salesforce and easily consume them in Slack, Teams, email, or wherever you work.
- Groopit Templates. New and updated templates for the most common use cases provide precisely the right data surrounding each insight. Templates include competitive pricing intelligence, customer experience breakages, field site visit learnings, new product reactions, operational issues, positive customer quotes, wins, losses, and more.
- Groopit Integrations. 94% of sales organizations plan to consolidate their tech stack in the next 12 months.* Groopit makes that possible by establishing an underlying insight sharing engine that works across disciplines, consolidating and eliminating data silos that exist in discipline specific systems.
- Groopit Quick Start. Eliminate Salesforce configuration wait time. With Groopit, business leaders define the insights needed from frontline sellers without waiting on Salesforce configuration or support. You'll get the precise data needed, fast, and everyone, including Salesforce Administrators, saves time.
- Groopit Sharing. According to Salesforce Research, 69% of sales professionals agree their job is harder and reducing administrative work is key. Groopit radically simplifies how reps contribute insights with a few quick taps, in less than a minute, and from wherever they work - Salesforce, Teams, Slack, web, and mobile.
"Groopit transforms business problem solving, just like smartphones transformed photography – both delivering high-quality, rapid views and outcomes that were previously out of reach", says Tammy Savage, CEO & Co-founder of Groopit. "With Groopit, leaders decide the vantage point from which they approach a problem, immediately receive data from employees to form a high-fidelity image of that problem, and can pivot immediately to explore new angles. It transforms how leaders are understanding competitors and improving customer experiences, products, and operations."
The new Groopit App for Salesforce is available beginning today. For more information on the solution, please visit https://groopit.co/products/groopit-salesforce-app/.
About Groopit
Groopit is the leading provider of crowdsolving software, a new category of enterprise SaaS software that transforms how people come together to solve problems. With Groopit, front-line employees share real-time data to illuminate a problem, and everyone involved is empowered to make better, faster decisions. To learn more about Groopit, visit https://groopit.co/.
Pull Quote
"Groopit transforms business problem solving, just like smartphones transformed photography – both delivering high-quality, rapid views and outcomes that were previously out of reach", says Tammy Savage, CEO & Co-founder of Groopit.
Media Contact
Media Relations, Groopit, Inc, 1 (564) 212-6962, press@groopit.co, https://groopit.co
SOURCE Groopit, Inc
Zoom, the company that powered the remote work revolution during the pandemic, is telling its employees to come back to the office.
In a statement, Zoom said it’s now enforcing a “structured hybrid approach,” meaning that employees who live near an office “need to be onsite two days a week” because it’s “most effective” for the video-conferencing service.
“As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers. We’ll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently,” the company said.
Putting aside the irony, Zoom isn’t excluded from the return to office trend that’s sweeping tech companies. In accurate months, Google, Amazon and Salesforce have enacted similar policies, ending a Covid-era approach that gave employees more freedom to work from home. However, businesses have faced some pushback from employees after workers grew accustomed to greater flexibility.
Even the White House is cracking down on remote work. Last week, it asked Cabinet agencies to bring federal workers back into the office more frequently in the coming months, according to an internal email obtained by CNN.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients directive, which cites the administration’s in-person posture for the last two years, is the strongest indicator yet that it believes in-office attendance is critical for agencies to carry out its agenda, with a critical election around the corner.
Read also: Employees’ request for remote work surges on fuel price hike
Zoom (ZM) has had its own difficulties as demand wanes following a pandemic-fueled surge. In February, Zoom (ZM) cut approximately 15% of its staff, amounting to about 1,300 employees, after growing too quickly.
Members of the executive leadership team also reduced their base salaries by 20% for the coming fiscal year and forfeited their fiscal year 2023 bonuses.
More than most companies, the videoconferencing service came to define the early days of the pandemic, as many turned to its platform to video chat with friends and colleagues during lockdowns.
By mid-2020, Zoom reported skyrocketing revenue fueled by a spike in business customers from the many companies forced to turn to remote work.
Shares of the company are up about 4% for the year.
Deloitte, in collaboration with AT&T and Salesforce, has unveiled a connectivity-based approach to address the challenges of ESG reporting.
By combining AT&T’s asset connectivity platforms with Deloitte Digital’s Sustainability 360 powered by Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, this collaboration aims to provide businesses with an efficient method to better pursue sustainability initiatives forward.
The Challenge of Measuring Environmental Impact
According to Deloitte’s 2023 CxO Sustainability Report, nearly a quarter of business executives identified the difficulty of measuring their organizations’ environmental impact as a major barrier to successful sustainability efforts. The complexity of collecting data from diverse sources across extended value chains often results in data discrepancies, making it challenging to comply with regulations and face accusations of greenwashing.
This hindrance not only affects the credibility of sustainability reporting but also impacts the ability to identify improvement opportunities and manage emerging risks effectively.
The Connectivity-Based Approach to ESG Data Collection
Deloitte, AT&T, and Salesforce’s approach uses advanced technologies to streamline ESG data collection, enhance data integrity, and accelerate the identification of sustainability improvement opportunities.
AT&T’s sensor technology plays a critical role in providing direct connectivity with an organization’s emissions sources, including stationary and mobile assets. This connectivity enables organizations to track emissions more accurately, bolstering the granularity of Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting.
Moreover, AT&T’s technology supports expanded sustainability use cases, such as environmental management for water, waste, and raw materials, and facilitates faster data sharing through 5G network connectivity. As a result of the partnership between these companies, Deloitte Digital’s Sustainability 360 offers an audit-ready platform for ESG data management.
The integrated technologies deliver increased efficiency through automated data collection from stationary and mobile assets, which can subsequently provide real-time updates. The platform aims to offer enhanced data security, and even more, the system is expected to accelerate insights, allowing organizations to proactively identify improvement opportunities and address emerging risks.
The AT&T Connected Climate Initiative
Deloitte’s collaboration with AT&T and Salesforce is part of the AT&T Connected Climate Initiative, a consortium of leading technology companies, AT&T Business customers, universities, and nonprofits. The initiative aims to collectively reduce one gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. AT&T’s connectivity systems have helped users reduce 149.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions between 2018 and 2022, the company said.
Through Deloitte, AT&T, and Salesforce’s connectivity-based approach, the companies are hopeful in enabling businesses with their sustainability tracking and assessment.
As a holistic technology solution, Deloitte Digital's Sustainability 360™ is designed to help organizations move from sustainability ambition to action
NEW YORK, July 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte announced today a new connectivity-based approach to ESG data collection and sustainability management that brings together technology from AT&T and Salesforce to help organizations streamline their processes, enhance data integrity and accelerate the identification of sustainability improvement opportunities across their operations and extended enterprise.
This readily available approach integrates AT&T's asset connectivity solutions with Deloitte Digital's Sustainability 360TM offering — a sustainability management solution powered by Salesforce Net Zero Cloud. In addition to supporting organizations in collecting and reporting on ESG data, this collaboration builds on Deloitte and Salesforce's commitment to the AT&Ts Connected Climate Initiative, which focuses on helping businesses collectively reduce one gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2035.
"Across the world, organizations are finding it difficult to efficiently collect ESG data from across their extended value chain in an agile manner, which helps them maintain alignment with evolving regulatory requirements and provide granular insights into progress against their sustainability commitments," said Luis Galito, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Sustainability 360 offering leader. "We believe that organizations can resolve this challenge by taking advantage of the unique blend of sustainability expertise, deep industry knowledge, and innovative technologies that Deloitte, AT&T and Salesforce collectively provide. With a holistic understanding of specific varying regulations, we can help our clients establish a purpose-driven, outcomes-focused approach and enable transparency to their stakeholders on progress against their sustainability-focused goals."
According to Deloitte's "2023 CxO Sustainability Report," nearly a quarter of CxOs said the difficulty of measuring their organizations' environmental impact was a top barrier to successful sustainability efforts. For many organizations, this problem impacts their ability to avoid data discrepancies that lead to regulatory compliance issues and greenwashing accusations.
Deloitte's collaboration with AT&T and Salesforce is focused on tackling this challenge. AT&T's suite of asset management solutions provides direct connectivity with an organization's emissions sources (i.e., stationary and mobile assets), and Deloitte Digital's Sustainability 360 offering, powered by Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, provides an audit-ready platform for ESG data management. Through this combination of innovative technologies, organizations can:
- Increase efficiency: Reduce manual data collection by collecting critical data from stationary and mobile assets and manage data through a comprehensive single source.
- Improve data integrity: Enhance integrity of ESG data presented in sustainability reports and disclosures with investor-grade data collected directly from their source of origin.
- Accelerate insights: Monitor ESG performance and generate asset-level insights around improvement opportunities and emerging risks.
"To change our current climate trajectory, organizations need to collaborate to deliver new climate solutions. That's why we are excited to join with AT&T and Deloitte to simplify how organizations collect ESG data from across their operations," said Suzanne DiBianca, EVP and chief impact officer at Salesforce. "The blend of technologies, including AI, from AT&T, Deloitte, and Salesforce Net Zero Cloud is a good example of the innovation required to create near-term lasting change for our planet."
AT&T's Internet of Things (IoT) sensor technology offers organizations the capacity to better track emissions and bolster the granularity of scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions reporting, in addition to assisting in environmental management, including water, waste and raw materials. AT&T's IoT technology is also built to support expanded sustainability use cases that help Boost business operations, as well as enhance data sharing speed through 5G network connectivity.
"The integration of IoT connectivity with emissions tracking gives businesses tremendous new insights and capabilities for making meaningful emissions reductions," said Charlene Lake, chief sustainability officer and senior vice president of corporate responsibility and ESG at AT&T. "It's exactly the type of collaborative innovation the AT&T Connected Climate Initiative aspires to deliver as we help our business customers reduce 1 gigaton of GHG emissions by 2035. We look forward to continuing our work with Deloitte and Salesforce to accelerate the adoption of smart climate solutions across industries and sectors."
The AT&T Connected Climate Initiative is a consortium of leading technology companies, AT&T Business customers, universities and nonprofits working together to identify best practices, develop new, broadband-enabled climate solutions and drive impact at scale through innovations that help reduce emissions and mitigate climate change. Between 2018 and 2022, AT&T connectivity solutions have enabled customers to reduce 149.2 million metric tons of CO2.
For additional information about Deloitte Digital's Sustainability 360, and how organizations can better measure and Boost their sustainability performance across their extended enterprise, visit us here.
About Salesforce
Salesforce empowers companies of every size and industry to connect with their customers in a whole new way through the power of AI + data + CRM. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.
Any unreleased services or features referenced here are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available
About AT&T
We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses, connect to greater possibility. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate to Boost lives. For more information about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn more at investors.att.com.
About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace — delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's approximately 415,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by ensure ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
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SOURCE Deloitte Consulting LLP
