One of the scariest things I ever encountered in my work life was a salesperson when asked how he remembered potential leads. He answered, “Up here,” and pointed to his head. Perhaps he had a savant memory, but considering most of us don’t, we need something more to go on.
Equally alarming was meeting with a company whose multiple departments used different systems to keep track of their business prospects and/or current accounts. The sales department used Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, each salesperson having his or her own “style.” Marketing used a Microsoft Access database. Account management used some sort of homegrown hybrid of may different documents, calendars, and software. Each department had no idea what was going on elsewhere in the company, and this caused loss of potential new customers and of possible repeat business from existing customers.
Organizing Data for Curated Insights
These problems are not irreversible; investing in Salesforce can organize this chaos. The platform can also give you more insight into your pipeline and revenue than ever before. Departments can talk with each other, understand one another’s efforts to capture new leads and determine the efforts’ success. They can then massage those leads through to an actual sale and provide account managers all of the customer information they need to keep a customer happy, satisfied and loyal. Happy customers = Repeat Business and Referrals.
A Central Database
How does Salesforce accomplish this? Salesforce takes all of those spreadsheets, databases, documents, sticky notes, and brain waves and puts them into one central place. People in different departments have access to the information that they need to do their jobs. The platform organizations their information in a customizable, efficient, and reportable way.
Marketing departments can track their efforts to drum up business and leads closed due to their efforts. Sales departments have visibility into those marketing efforts. They can work leads, track activities such as phone calls and emails with these leads, and report on their place in the sales pipeline. Account management can use Salesforce to track and resolve client issues. Management sees all of these efforts, using dashboards and on-demand reports showcasing updated data. No more waiting for weekly spreadsheets consolidated by someone to get visibility into the pipeline.
Preparing to Scale
Taking the leap from spreadsheets to Salesforce can seem like a huge undertaking. But think of it this way: you want your business to grow, and the more it grows, the more data you have to manage. If the informational chaos isn’t already out of hand, as you grow, the potential for chaos exponentially increases. You can launch Salesforce to organize your company now. Even better, you can customize the platform to reflect and support your business needs. With thoughtful planning, users within your company will see immediate value.
Considering an Adoption of Salesforce?
Are you researching an adoption of Salesforce? My team and I can help you determine if the platform makes sense for your business, help you launch its capabilities in an efficient way, and customize its functionality. Contact our team of architects and developers today to learn more about investing in Salesforce.
