More than the Robot Revolution
Even as we approach 2019, AI still feels like a foreign, futuristic ideal to many. We think of robots and reference movies like The Terminator, Blade Runner, or Ex Machina.
But AI is here. You can use it right now. It’s accessible, and it’s powerful.
Businesses, specifically, have unique opportunities to use their existing technologies with AI capabilities to make smarter decisions. They can leverage the information at their fingertips through the power of data science and smart algorithms ready to do the work for them.
While many existing technology platforms have dipped their toes into this space, few have aggressively pursued it to put it in the hands of the masses like Salesforce.
What is Salesforce Einstein?
In 2016, Salesforce unveiled Einstein, a suite of tools that allow the platform’s users to put their data to work and automate workflows for them.
The tools capitalize your information already within Salesforce, saving you time while making you more productive and efficient on the platform.
For example, Einstein used in Sales Cloud empowers sales reps to focus on their highest-quality leads through automated lead prioritization. The tool analyzes each lead on a regular basis and reranks them accordingly, ensuring each sales professional is always making the best use of his or her day.
No Data Science Experience Necessary
Most AI requires data scientists to build these models – tell machines how to look at data. Salesforce is cutting out the middleman and tedious process of building a model. It leverages the data you already have in the platform.
Salesforce utilizes machine learning to make this work. It learns from your behavior, creates data rankings itself, and then sorts and prioritizes your data accordingly, adapting to your needs. As a result, the more data you put into the system, the better Einstein’s models and insights get.
Available Across the Platform
Expanding far beyond just the Sales Cloud, Einstein features are available in Service Cloud, App Cloud, Community Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Analytics Cloud too.
Many features are baked right into existing functionality and require no additional investment into the platform. You can just log in and get data insights.
Leveraging Einstein
Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the data you have available to mine, it’s time to feel empowered by it. Einstein can dig through all of it for you (at a much faster pace) and provide feedback on how to move forward. AI makes data useful and can shed light on areas you haven’t yet had time to explore – customer journeys, personas, and more.
- In Sales Cloud, Einstein tracks sales activities and prospect responses to prioritize contacts and opportunities. You can automate your follow-up activities to reach more leads more often. Einstein even delivers news about top accounts, empowering you to know more about critical shifts in their business.
- In Service Cloud, Einstein provides insights on the best way to manage customer service issues, from case management to scheduling responses. The AI also connects the dots on common problems, getting to the root of a bigger issue and enabling your team to build a solution faster.
- In Community Cloud, Einstein monitors your users to determine the ideal experience and then helps you scale that experience for all other users. In most cases, personalization plays a huge part in this, and with a huge database of users, this is impossible without AI. Using machine learning, you can deliver customized experiences to every member of your community.
- In Marketing Cloud, Einstein makes personalized messaging possible across all channels for each target audience. You can deliver a strategic and highly-customized customer experience through customer journeys made possible with AI. Personalized marketing is difficult to scale, but machine learning makes it easy.
Einstein Lightning Integrations
For those of you have made the switch from Salesforce Classic to Lightning, I have good news – Einstein works even better with Lightning features. The new UI unlocks a variety of features, further emphasizing Salesforce’s hints at a future required migration to Lightning.
Customizing Einstein
Need to leverage additional data outside of Salesforce within Einstein’s capabilities? The platform plugs into other APIs to not just connect your data but also your strategy and insights. This makes you smarter and streamlines your paths to success. You can even use the capabilities of Einstein outside of Salesforce by plugging it into external apps and leveraging the functionality within other systems. Einstein’s REST APIs do the heavy lifting for you.
The Caveats of Einstein
There’s one thing I’ve got to stress – any AI, Einstein included, is only as good as its data. In other words, good data management is everything. “Garbage In, Garbage Out,” as they say.
It’s also important to remember that you can only manage what you can measure. Einstein can’t evaluate information that you haven’t quantified. You can often assign a ranking or number system to your data, and I recommend you do so where you’ll need insights before you launch Einstein.
Launch Einstein Today. Get Insights Tomorrow.
Our team of business analysts and Salesforce architects can take a look at your implementation to uncover new ways to leverage Einstein. Contact us to speak with an experienced team member today.
