In our most recent Salesforce adoption webinar, I interviewed Paul Catchpole, Alliance Director at Introhive, about the power of AI in driving technology adoption. We talked about how this lets people concentrate on using Salesforce as a system of intelligence, instead of a simple system of record.
Adoption challenges = data challenges
Useful business insights rely on good data. We talked in a previous webinar of our Salesforce adoption series about the need to obtain buy-in from the top. What business leader doesn’t want the data to help them make important business decisions faster? Viewed through this lens, the benefits of Salesforce adoption become clear. Above all, the benefits rely upon the quantity and quality of data.
Our customers tell us that Salesforce data is often incomplete. It might be because people feel they are too busy for administrative tasks, or they may be unfamiliar with Salesforce. Incomplete data leads to a lack of trust in the CRM and the data itself. This, therefore, means we cannot trust it to run marketing campaigns or to make strategic decisions. If you have ever wasted time analysing incomplete or incorrect data, you will likely understand how frustrating it feels.
If data is not visible right across the organisation, it will reduce your organisation’s efficiency. Furthermore, as COVID forces more people to work from home, the challenges of data capture come to the fore. Salespeople who prefer “black book selling” can no longer informally catch up in the office. Sales managers need to see where relationships sit. They need to understand the strength of relationships and where people are in the sales cycle. Finally, the handover after sales needs data to be transferred from the salesperson to account management or customer success.
A system of intelligence
Introhive solves the problem of incomplete data by automating the data capture process. All you need is a business email address. Introhive’s AI (developed in-house) adds company name, phone number and any other relevant information back into the Salesforce record. It scans multiple instances of Salesforce, email providers across the business and external sources. In addition, it connects people with the Salesforce record so that business leaders can see who is interacting with customers from across the organisation.
By bringing all of the data together in this way, AI enables Salesforce to become the single source of truth and a system of intelligence. Where customer data is held by separate departments from across the business, it is no longer hidden away. Employees from across the business will know who to talk to internally about their customers, which is even more valuable when working remotely.
The benefits of Salesforce adoption
As we’ve spoken about in our previous webinars on this topic, the benefits of adopting Salesforce throughout the business are endless!
Decision-making is faster and business leaders can be sure that their data is correct. Similarly, accurate data enables marketing and sales teams to run campaigns that are more specific to their customer. Data can be transferred to systems such as Pardot or Tableau for ongoing customer insights to inform future revenue streams.
Turning a system of record into a system of intelligence
CRM adoption in general has always been challenging because of the lack of adoption. In fact, a third of CRM projects fail because of this. According to Introhive, 91% of CRM is incomplete and 70% of data decays annually.
BrightGen works with customers to help them form the teams necessary to increase Salesforce adoption over time. Hear Mount Anvil’s example. If AI tools like Introhive can reduce administrative tasks, we know that it will:
- Free up more time for salespeople to sell
- Grow the quantity of reliable data
- Increase trust in the CRM
Making jobs easier
Technology stacks are increasing year on year (look at marketing technology alone). Additional tools need to be simple and integrate smoothly with what you already have. Our customers tell us that Salesforce integration is a crucial decision when purchasing business software. BrightGen collaborates with software vendors cautiously, as they must integrate well with Salesforce and its products in order to achieve the customer’s goals. After all, Salesforce should support your job, not become your job!
If you’re interested in simultaneously driving greater insight into your customer relationships and making your job easier, then a collaboration between BrightGen and Introhive is probably a good place to start. Get in touch to book a free consultation!