by Mike Walsh | Apr 4, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Quality business partnerships between yourself and another company aren’t always easy to come by. However, when you get one that is thriving, you certainly want to keep that ball rolling.
Communication, sharing and transparency are some of the essential ingredients. So how do you enable all of these when you and your partner are looking to roll out a new product, or even a set of products? What do you do when you are diving into a new market or a new vertical, and need to lean on each other to make the venture fly? How do you manage your leads, sales, onboarding, and customer service, when these roles and responsibilities are shared?
Well if you are using Salesforce, the answer to all of this is simple…
Salesforce Partner Communities!
The Salesforce Partner Communities are the best way to handle all of the above concerns and do so in a fully branded and streamlined online environment.
For those of you who have been with Salesforce for a while now, you may have been familiar with Partner portals. These portals (discontinued in new orgs as of 2013) were essentially a stripped down version of the Partner Community, where one partner would essentially be the “host” and the other business would get login credentials to the portal.
Once there, they would have access to a curated version of the host’s Salesforce org. Including, leads, contacts, accounts, etc. The host would be able to choose exactly what the other partner would have access to – to ensure compliance and security. However, all of this is still a little lacking, so Salesforce went a step further and introduced the Partner Community.
The Partner Community is a fully shared environment – which is one of the things that makes it so great. Any number of partners can connect, and specify which of their data sets are connected. Thus, all partners get a total sharing and collaborative experience. This enables powerful lead gen and sales opportunities.
The increased transparency also ensures that no deals or opportunities fall through the cracks because of miscommunication on assignment and ownership.
The next level of partnership
Aside from the partner community being a great place to drive sales, it can also be your number one resource for knowledge and help, both internal and external.
When any partner logs in – the can access curated notifications on the home page, keeping them up to date on and new developments. If you have the time and patience to build a knowledge base, you can upload everything, so that all of your team, from marketing to sales to customer enablement can have the information they need, right at their fingertips.
The same goes for customers and customer support. If you want to have a customer facing knowledge base – boom – there you go. This can also take a real burden off of your support staff. Finally, the portal can be used as a direct way for customers to connect with your support team, ensuring a smooth and centralized process for all aspects of the partnership.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
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CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Apr 4, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce-Apps-AppExchange
Let’s be honest, Salespeople aren’t always the most tech savvy. So when they need to manage video, data sheets, presentations, and all of your other resources in an effective manner, it can be a challenge. Mediafly knows this and makes it easy for salespeople to do what they do best. Through a centralized repository of documents and materials, your sales team can pull up exactly what they need, when they need it. As an added bonus, the app tracks and measures which materials have been rated the most effective, allowing reps to access the stuff that has been proven to work.
Beyond accessing content using sales enablement software, Mediafly gives sales, marketers & managers tools to sell & present more effectively, plus measure impact throughout the sales cycle.
Check it out here!
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Jan 18, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
We talk a lot in our blog about the in-depth nuances and details of using Salesforce and how you can get the most from it. However, this week we thought it would be nice to step back a bit, and look at why Salesforce and workflow automation is so beneficial, specifically for Sales Teams.
For those of you who have been using Salesforce for a long time, this might seem like a trip down memory lane. For those of you who have yet to make the switch, hopefully, you learn something new and of course, if you realize you have gone on for too long without the benefits of Salesforce automation, the team here at CloudMyBiz is ready to help.
Saves Time and helps Sales teams Focus
Sales teams should be allowed to do what they do best, which is sell – not get bogged down in administrative tasks. Using a centralized Salesforce database, lead and contact details can be automatically updated and accessed from anywhere by anyone. This means the sales team gets the info they need when they need it.
What about all of the time-consuming tasks revolving around the sale? Scheduling follow-up calls, sending emails, tracking down contracts and updating sale opportunities. This can be a big part of the day of a sales rep. However, with Salesforce automation, a majority of these tasks can be automated, making the entire sales process much faster, and not to mention more accurate. The end result of the automation and a centralized database where sales info is right at the reps fingertips? They can focus more on making sales, and less on everything else.
Close deals faster
With such significant improvements as listed above, another result is the lifespan of getting deals done gets quite a bit shorter. The Sales team has faster, easier access to their sales data, and with a host of productivity apps, such as e-signature, contract generation, and terms stipulation, the deal doesn’t get bogged down once it is time to get the paperwork out and signed. Everything can be done directly in the system and tracked each step of the way.
It’s easy to use
One of the best features of Salesforce is its intuitive and clean User Interface. Salesforce makes a special effort to keep their UI easy on the eyes. This means that even brand new users can figure out what they need to do without hunting through page after page (or in the old world, mountains of papers and forms). Smart filters and searches also make digging into the data a snap. Documents and links can be readily associated, so you can always find your way to what you need.
Customizable
Following up on the above point – while Salesforce is naturally intuitive and easy to use, it inevitably won’t be perfect for everyone. That is why the system features significant ability to customize the system. Just about any organization or industry can use the CRM for their specific needs. From simple workflow and page layout automation that any internal Admin can handle, to complex custom development that usually requires an outside consultant, Salesforce can be tweaked in just about any direction you can imagine.
Reporting and Analysis
This can be a real game changer. A Salesforce CRM gives management some powerful tools to get deep insights into the business. Just about anything that is in the system can be measured, tracked and reported on. Companies can monitor sales conversion ratios, past performances vs current, and volume trends. Of course, there is always that golden nugget of ROI analysis as well! All of this is done through automated reporting and dashboards that can be set to run at regular intervals and delivered right to your inbox if you desire.
These reporting tools give managers the data and insight they need to make better decisions and guide the company in the right direction. If a certain campaign isn’t working, change it. If a certain Sales rep has a great conversion rate in a particular territory, keep it going! And none of it is based solely upon gut feel or a few recent examples, but solid history of sales data within the system.
Sales Forecasting
Finally, on the heels of the reporting tools, a Salesforce CRM can help with forecasting. Managers can see the trends, look at the pipeline and make more accurate predictions about what they can expect in the future. Giving management the ability to look into the future can help avoid potential crises, or conversely, if the future is looking very bright, they can put more infrastructure in place to better take advantage of it!
We could go on all day about the benefits of Salesforce and CRM automation for Sales Teams and their managers. No matter how you slice it though, a properly implemented and customized CRM solution is pretty much essential for the modern day business, thanks to the host of automation possibilities and data insights that it enables.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Dec 19, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Proper lead management often requires more planning and detail work than most people realize. Doing it the right way is much more than a “set it and forget it” type of mentality. However, when done properly, a few simple best practices can really boost your company and help you keep a pipeline full of qualified, and worthwhile leads.
So below, we have a short list of some of these best practices. Some are specific to using Pardot, and some are just generally good ideas when it comes to lead management in general.
1. Make sure Sales and Marketing are aligned.
For any lead management plan to work, marketing and sales need to be on the same page. When a lead enters the system, many times they are not yet “sales-ready”.
The job of marketing is to nurture these prospects through education, value, and promotion, so they get to the point where there are legitimately interested and knowledgeable enough to be ready to talk to an account executive, but also to find out more about them to determine if they are a good fit. If all goes well, you can weed out the prospects who aren’t a good fit, and begin sending sales a steady stream of qualified prospects.
This means mapping out a clear sales process in addition to the marketing process, and defining where and how leads are handed off to Sales.
2. Track anonymous visitors and use their history once they opt-in
This is one of the staple items of using Pardot. When you setup Pardot, you add a little bit of tracking code to all of your essential web pages, forms, and links. When a prospect converts by filling out a form or gives you their email, all of that data will be automatically added to their profile.
This gives you a detailed history of how they went about looking at your company, the path they took to get to conversion, data on how successful your campaigns are and hopefully specific info on the prospect themselves. All of this happens passively, but in the end allows you to improve your campaigns, and understand how best to connect with your target audience.
3. Score leads properly
Essential to know when to turn over your leads to Sales, is scoring your leads. Each and every action a prospect takes, from visitng your web pages to clicking on your links carries with it some level of interest. But don’t confuse casual interest with intent to buy. Take some time and consider exactly what actions are good indicators (such as looking at a pricing page), and score them appropriately.
In the end, it is the action-oriented items, like signing up for a demonstration, that usually indicates the really interested parties, and should be marked as your hotter leads. Understand the difference is essential so that you don’t assign un-interested prospects to Sales.
Pardot makes this extremely easy, through the lead scoring customization page. Users can alter each and every standard scoring item, as well as create all sorts of custom score objects to fit each company’s unique cycle.
4. Keep the whole sales cycle in mind
Properly nurturing a lead means working with them throughout the sales cycle. The job of marketing is to nurture these prospects through education, value, and promotion, so they get to the point where there are legitimately interested and knowledgeable enough to be ready to talk to an account executive, but also to find out more about them to determine if they are a good fit. If all goes well, you can weed out the prospects who aren’t a good fit, and begin sending sales a steady stream of qualified prospects.
You can and should use every channel at your disposal, from email to social media to partner media channels. Content offers should include thought leadership pieces, guides, tips, industry research, and other pieces of content that help them solve their daily pains and addresses the particular problem you’re targeting with your product. Just remember, that this nurturing should continue throughout the entire duration of the sales cycle, and (to a lesser degree) beyond the sale as well.
Again, Pardot makes all of this easy. With connectors to most social media channels, as well as integrated email and link tracking, you can easily stay in touch with all of your prospects and deliver content anytime, anywhere
5. Create a target buyer profile
It’s pretty straightforward, how can you find and manage leads properly, if you don’t have a target in mind? Are you selling to B2B or B2C? Small companies or enterprise? Are you looking at a particular location or vertical? Are you selling to a CEO, marketing director, or another decision maker?
Setting up one or multiple profiles that both marketing and sales can use is just another trick to make sure your lead management efforts are giving you the best results.
Pardot offers a sophisticated profile creation tool. Users can create multiple profiles using characteristic traits such as location, industry, job title, company size and more. Then, each of these characteristics can be given a grade value, resulting in each prospect being assigned an overall grade for how closely they fit your ideal buyer.
So there you have it. Some simple but powerful tactics to better manage your leads.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Interested in getting started with Pardot B2B marketing? Already have Pardot, but need help getting the most from your investment?
The Salesforce Experts at CloudMyBiz are here to help.
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CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
by Mike Walsh | Dec 19, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce-Apps-AppExchange
Sales and service calls come with their share of built-in challenges and stresses. From calling leads to dealing with current customers, it can be challenging enough to properly solve the issues at hand. So why would you use a dailer and call service that only makes it more challenging? With the InGenius app, you get all sorts of features to make your calls smoother and integrates a number of the most common phone systems directly to Salesforce.
InGenius CTI helps contact centers increase productivity and provide a better customer experience with features like click-to-dial, screen pop, call logging and Omni-Channel integration.
Check it out here!
CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.
