Salesforce Automation System makes the ultimate use of software in order to automate the business tasks of sales along with different other related activities like CRM, contact managing, checking of the performances of employees, etc. Sales force automation is the approach for creating efficiencies in sales development.
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What is Automation in Salesforce?
Automation in Salesforce can simply be described as sales automation. It is the automation of key components or sales processes, such as managing leads, team performances, sales forecasts, etc., to make the entire sales management smoother and streamlined. All repetitive and redundant tasks and processes are automated using software tools that are often Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products. The biggest advantage of implementing Salesforce Automation is that it stores all customer-related data; everything is stored in one place, which will help in tracking leads, setting up reminders and notifications, tracking the performance of the sales team members, predicting the revenue for a period, and much more.
This idea of automating repetitive sales processes arises out of research that shows that two-thirds of a sales representative’s time is spent on non-revenue-generating tasks. If these tasks are automated, then the sales representatives can spend their time on productive, revenue-generating tasks.
Salesforce Automation
There are different tools in Salesforce Automation that perform different tasks. Some tools even allow users to set up their own inputs and outputs to decide the tasks that are to be automated. Let us take a look at some of the components of Salesforce Automation:
Task Management
Task management in Salesforce Automation helps sales reps in creating tasks or reminders in the customers’ accounts, which directly integrates with the sales reps’ calendars. Once a sales rep opens a task, all data about the customer and their past communications is displayed. Once a task is finished, it is automatically added to the account record, which shows the complete history of customer interactions.
Team Collaboration
Salesforce Automation is possible only because of cloud technology. Accessing the CRM system through just an internet browser means that anyone can access the data from anywhere around the world. Any data uploaded onto the CRM can be accessed by multiple users who can view, access, or edit it. The members of the sales team need not worry as all the data is synchronized in real-time. This increases team collaboration, which enhances the efficiency and productivity of the entire team.
Cloud App Integration
Cloud technology has really benefited small businesses in a number of ways. Cloud technology has allowed small businesses to connect separate systems and streamline their businesses in a cost-effective way, which enhances efficiency and productivity. Cloud app integration helps in automating data flow between different systems.
SFA Customization
Salesforce Automation can be customized to tailor-fit the processes and requirements of an individual organization. SFA customization can run on a laptop and even a smartphone. This component of Salesforce Automation introduces flexibility to the sales processes.
Major Components of Salesforce Automation
Various Salesforce Automation tools perform different tasks. Let us take a look at the major components of Salesforce Automation:
Activity Tracking and Alerts
Activity tracking allows the sales team to keep a track of where they are with the customers. This will help them to ensure that they are taking appropriate steps in building sales. Linking CRM to email clients and calendars helps in tracking clients and their position in the sales process. Certain Salesforce Automation software reminds the sales reps of the next steps that they need to take. It helps in ensuring that correct steps are taken, which increases the chances of sales success.
Automate the Sales Process
Automating several parts of the sales process helps in reducing manual work. Setting up automation to streamline tasks helps in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales team. The other noticeable benefit of Salesforce Automation is that it creates an action map or plan, which outlines the ways to deal with upcoming stages of sales, thereby helping the sales managers to keep a track of the sales reps at every stage of the sales process.
Sales Pipeline Management
Businesses will benefit greatly if they introduce Salesforce Automation System to their sales pipelines. A pipeline can be customized and set up in a way to notify sales reps about the prospect of moving to the next stage in the sales process. A dynamic sales pipeline shows metrics such as opportunity close rates and projected revenue, which will automatically update whenever a client moves up or down the pipeline. This means that sales managers do not have to prepare Salesforce reports manually.
Appointment Scheduling
Scheduling greatly helps in streamlining the sales process. By using Salesforce Automation, sales reps can send links of the scheduling software to the prospects where the clients can choose the best available time slot. Since the software is already integrated with the sales reps’ schedule, the chances of a slot being double-booked are eliminated.
Lead Assignment
With this component of Salesforce Automation, managers can now set up CRM that will automatically assign leads to appropriate sales reps based on several criteria such as industry, size of the company, location, schedule, etc. These features help in eliminating the guesswork and reduce the managers’ workload.
Sales Reporting
It helps in automatically creating reports based on real-time metrics. Salesforce Automation helps managers to save a lot of time while analyzing. Sales reporting helps in making accurate predictions of company performance, revenue, sales, sales rep performance, etc.
Lead Prioritization
Focus on bankable leads is crucial to increase sales and productivity. If businesses know which is a bankable lead and which is not, then they can set up their automation software within Salesforce Automation to analyze a lead and decide its quality based on the many metrics or criteria such as number of employees, revenue of company, industry, etc. This helps in prioritizing good leads, which leads to a fruitful sales process and effective revenue generation.
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Difference between Salesforce Automation and CRM
| CRM |
Salesforce Automation |
| Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is built to nurture customer relations. |
Salesforce Automation’s sole purpose is to make the sales process more efficient. |
| CRM offers integrated features that help in increasing customer satisfaction, customer retention, etc. |
Salesforce Automation offers several tools: pipeline management, sales management, etc. |
| CRM collects data from customers and businesses to help predict needs to enhance customer experience. |
Salesforce Automation offers a clear insight into past, present and future prospects along with sales performances. |
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CRM systems are all-in-one solutions that can be integrated with features such as Salesforce Automation and other marketing automations. While Salesforce Automation can be summarized as a client acquisition software.
Let us discuss some of the widely used Sales or Salesforce Automation tools:
Sales, Marketing, and Services
There are many integrated platforms that combine sales, marketing, and service systems. Some of the famous tools in this space are LeadSquared, HubSpot Sales, Outreach, etc.
HubSpot Sales: It is a great tool from HubSpot with features such as email templates, email tracking, conversation intelligence, call tracking, document management and tracking, sales automation, etc.
Lead Generation
The best options in this space are Salesforce Hub and Pega Sales Automation.
Salesforce Hub
With years of expertise and knowledge in CRM, SFA, and ROI, Salesforce offers this great tool for lead generation that helps to gain the necessary knowledge required in sales.
Email Marketing
Check out MailChimp, Prospect.io, etc., to get started in this space.
MailChimp
It is a popular marketing automation platform and email marketing service. It creates email marketing campaigns to send to customers.
Importance of Salesforce Automation
Salesforce Automation helps in reducing the time taken to complete administrative tasks by up to 14 percent. According to Instapage, Salesforce Automation helps in increasing sales productivity by 14.5 percent and also increases deal closures by 30 percent. In short, deploying Salesforce Automation tools in automating various redundant sales tasks helps in increasing revenue.
Examples of Salesforce Automation
Now, let us discuss some of the best examples of Salesforce Automation:
Targeting New People at Interesting Companies
It is probably the best use case of Salesforce Automation. If you are targeting a professional who has been hired recently at an organization, then Salesforce Automation will help you send automated emails congratulating them. After a specific period, these automated emails will contain marketing surveys. Finally, the sales rep will get notifications from the automated systems to call the professional and schedule a meeting at the best available time.
Notifications About New Developments
Following a company’s updates becomes easier with Salesforce Automation, as it notifies the sales reps about new developments, such as a product launch, happening in that company. This helps in contacting relevant people, or have the system contact them automatically, whenever it is suitable.
Keeping Track of Customer Behavior on the Website
Without even enabling cookies or leaving digital footprints on a website, some platforms help in customer conversion. This is possible only by keeping a track of customer behavior on websites. Through this data, the sales team of a company will know whom to contact from a particular company.
Case Studies on Salesforce Automation
Salesforce Automation for an Indian Eye Hospital Group
A renowned Indian eye hospital chain was looking for an integrated solution to bring all of its teams—marketing, corporate sales, medical tourism and recovery—under one roof. This is a very big hospital chain having hospitals across many states. Different teams were responsible for meeting varied clients such as doctors, chemists, opticians, patients, corporates, etc. Additionally, these clients worked significantly differently from each other. The requirement was to automate all activities through Salesforce Automation so that the top management has an eagle-eye view of all the employees and their activities. The solution was the efficient usage of Salesforce Automation, which helped in meeting the demand of the top management and also reported an average increase of 25 percent in activity per employee throughout the hospital chain. Automation of many repeated tasks enabled various teams to increase the customer interaction, resulting in business growth. Visibility of meeting details in advance helped in planning follow-up steps. Having an overall view helped the top management and other stakeholders in making important decisions.
Salesforce Automation for an Indian Mobile Accessories Brand
A budding Indian mobile accessories brand had to efficiently manage their sales operation within the country to improve their performance and market share. They had an excellent product portfolio that included 100+ SKUs across 10 categories and gradual expansion in Tier Two cities. The brand wanted a Salesforce Automation solution that manages and streamlines field sales operations. After consulting a firm for designing the best possible Salesforce Automation solution, the brand was able to achieve many positive outcomes. Some of them are:
- Significant rise in discipline and hygiene of the sales teams
- Distributors got order details without delay, which helped them improve the fulfillment timeline
- Automation of a lot of repetitive tasks, which helped in freeing up more time for sales
- Quick replenishment of out-of-stock products or critical stock
- Managers started focusing more on course correction and forming strategic decisions rather than collecting data
- Significant increase in retailer database as the sales teams were able to add new outlets easily via the mobile app
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Conclusion
In this blog, we have discussed what exactly is Salesforce Automation, its components, the difference between Salesforce Automation and CRM, and several other topics. This blog gives detailed information on Salesforce Automation and the positive impacts it has on companies if you want to learn check out the intellipaat Salesforce Certification Course.