by Mike Walsh | Dec 5, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce-Apps-AppExchange
Invoices scattered all across your Salesforce org? The more disorganized, the worse it can be to go back and search for the various invoices. Whether it’s to verify some data or to use an old invoice to a new one, you don’t want to spend time digging and searching. Invoices for Salesforce helps clean up, organize and generally streamline your invoices. Invoice documents can be customized to your billing requirements regardless of your product types, sale terms, and your unique Salesforce customization. It also gives you complete control of the design, layout, and content of your invoice templates!
Your invoices are already in Salesforce, however scattered across customers and sales records. So invoicing should simply involve automatically piecing these parts together, without re-keying a thing. This is what Invoices for Salesforce does.
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 | Mar 28, 2019 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Salesforce isn’t just an enterprise-level CRM, companies of all shapes and sizes can use and benefit from the powerful features and tools. Of course, to get the most from your CRM, strong internal Salesforce support can make a huge difference in the platform’s success!
When you start looking out for a CRM software for a small team, likely you are wanting most of these qualities:
- Quick to setup with an easy to use interface
- Automation, faster process and less screens and clicks to deal with.
- Essential data and details are easy to access
- Needs to be effective to get the Sales team to use it
Salesforce can do all of these things for you. In addition, and most powerfully, Salesforce is something that your company can grow with. Infinitely scalable, (as we said, extremely large, enterprise companies use it) you never have to worry about growing too big for the CRM. In addition, Salesforce is known for its reporting capabilities, which are extremely robust, and give you just about any detail or metric you would need to improve and grow your company.
So with all of that being said, here are a few tips for using Salesforce with a small team, and leading you to better business practices.
Tips for Small Companies Using Salesforce
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Create a Salesforce Roadmap… and use it!
A Salesforce Roadmap should be a big picture dive into all your business software systems, not just CRM, and not just Salesforce. This will help you identify all needs and goals, as well as potential roadblocks and pitfalls. By laying it out with a list of major initiatives with milestones and deployment dates, you will have a solid foundation to build on.
This way, when any new issue or potential development comes along, you can compare it against the roadmap to work off, and assess your team’s bandwidth and priorities.
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Use the Salesforce AppExchange
It’s no secret that there are a lot of powerful tools on the AppExchange and for good reason! Many of the apps provide essential features and automation that can dramatically improve your business. When you are in a small company, you need to be efficient – so take a peek, and find the apps that will unlock your team’s max effectiveness.
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Try the Salesforce Optimizer
Salesforce Optimizer is a free tool for Professional and Enterprise level accounts. It provides optimization tips and ideas, through a custom report that you request online. Built and maintained by Salesforce, this one is pretty much a no-brainer, as it will tell you what already included features of Salesforce you could use more of, or use better.
Click here to learn more.
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Utilize Salesforce Knowledge Resources
You can learn just about anything that is Salesforce Related on the knowledge base. From help articles to detailed walkthroughs to questions and answers from other users, it’s all there. The answers section is particularly helpful to get feedback from other users on real-world situations, with reasonable response times.
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Leverage “Cases” as an Internal Help Desk
Of course, if you need answers or assistance with the big stuff, there are always Cases. Cases are a standard object in Salesforce which you can leverage as an internal support system, and ask for guidance, or admin help on just about anything in the CRM. You can either contact cases through the Email to Case feature, or from your Partner Portal.
Just remember that Salesforce has thousands of cases being submitted each day, so if your issue isn’t urgent (affecting essential functionality) it might take days or even a couple weeks to get the issue resolved.
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Train Your Internal Users
Internal user training can be a real lifesaver, especially because in a small company, most people wear many hats. So, by giving all of your users a decent level of Salesforce expertise and knowledge, they should be able to begin solving their own issues and feel empowered to take care of business. This will avoid admin bottlenecks, and helps the team to be their own solution.
Trailhead can also serve as a training resource. Salesforce product experts provide instructional content for multiple user roles and experience levels. Users can customize their trails to learn the content that meets their needs, and learn at their own pace.
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Get Outside Help if Needed
At any point in a project, it can quickly become more cost effective to pay an expert, rather than taking the time (and opportunity cost) to figure it out yourself. If you ever get into this situation, you should consider either Premier Support; or enlist a consulting company to build a support package that meets your needs and budget.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Want to get started with Salesforce?
Need some custom consulting or development to enhance the Salesforce you already have?
Contact us
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 | Nov 21, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Are you constantly returning to a particular list in Salesforce to get your daily tasks done, such as an open pipeline, or a list of flagged opportunities? Whatever the list may be if it is something you pull up every day you definitely want it to be easy to access and to not spend a lot of time pulling it up. Although Salesforce is always touting the flexibility of their platform, this is one area that, despite the many requests for the feature, has yet to be explicitly built out.
However, this certainly hasn’t stopped the community from figuring out a workaround! So, if you are like so many other users who would benefit from a default list view feature, you are in luck. With only a few quick steps you can add any list to your top nav bar and rename it to whatever suits your needs. For a quick how-to guide to this super handy trick, follow the link below to the blog at Salesforceben.com
Check it out here!
-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 | Aug 15, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or expert admin, or have recently inherited an org, there are a number of things just about any admin can do to make their org more user-friendly. With some of these simple tricks and processes, you can not only give your users a better environment to work in, but you can also reduce the administrative challenges on your end too!
So what does it mean to have a user-friendly org? We all get that it means to tailor the system towards your users’ specific needs, but a truly user-friendly system will have most if not all of the characteristics below:
- Easy to use and understand, leading to higher adoptions
- Enforced business processes – a properly designed user experience will naturally enforce business process, and not allow gaps or loopholes for improper practices
- Increased user buy-in and confidence in their processes
- Significantly increased efficiency from a well setup system
- Increased data integrity & accuracy – making it easier for users to create records, and ensure they are accurate
So without further ado, here is our list of tips that in even small amounts, will be able to make your org more user-friendly:
1.) Reduce data entry and duplicates
This might seem like a no-brainer, but that’s why we put it at number one. Why spend hours entering data, or dealing with duplicate records if you don’t have to? One of the big advantages of Salesforce is that you have so many options for automation. And you should automate just about as much as you can. Lack of automation can lead to:
- Inefficient processes – manual data entry wastes time, plain and simple
- Turns off users – a user who has to repeat multiple steps throughout the day will likely be a disengaged user
- Data quality issues – the time users spend manually inputting tedious amounts of data, the more likely they are to make mistakes
- Reporting issues – if you have data quality issues, you certainly can’t use that data for reporting. Now your decision makers can’t have reliable metrics to track performance and understand where the company stands.
If you have some significant processes that need automation, feel free to talk to one of our Salesforce Specialists and see how we can streamline your data entry process.
2.) Use visuals and a smart UI layout
Spending a bit of time thinking about the visual layout and design of your org will make a big difference to people who work with it every day. A page full of small lines of text immediately looks overwhelming. Spice it up with as many visual indicators as you can.
For example, consider using custom icons (via custom fields) on account pages to indicate what type of account it is, or on a related case list!
Also, consider laying out your important pages in a way that people will naturally be led through the page. The Gutenberg Diagram has been a proven as one of the smartest ways to approach UI.
The tldr: People generally look at the top left first and visually scroll diagonally to the bottom right. Use this to your advantage for placing the most important elements on your page.
3.) Embed reports and dashboards
Keeping with our theme of making things as visual as possible, a good admin tip is to embed relevant reports onto different pages, such as accounts and opportunities. This will make it easy for your users to see all sorts of important details, without needed to scroll through lines of data.
Make sure you spend some time, talking to your users and execs to find out exactly what reports they would like and what would help them the most.
4.) Streamline what users see
There are a lot of fields in most Salesforce orgs. Too many fields some would argue. Make it easier on your users by keeping layouts clean, organized and focused with only the fields that are really necessary. present fields when relevant, focus user attention.
In addition, you can customize search layouts, so that when users are searching for records, only the most relevant fields will be displayed.
5.) Add help text
For those fields that you do keep on each page, adding help text will make everything a bit easier. You will be hard pressed to add too many helpful tips. Define just about anything for your users with these simple hover tools, such as what type of data is required, or how to understand the input.
6.) Enable quick actions
Salesforce Quick Actions are a great way for users to focus on the most important workflows and information that they need every day. This integration works from any computer or device that connects to Chatter. Through the Chatter feed, users can log cases, add notes to records and more! native in chatter feed. Can quickly do it when mobile, traveling etc. Because Quick Actions can be easily accessed from Salesforce1, they are pretty much an essential addition for any user who is regularly on the road.
That wraps it up for our quick 6 Admin Tips for a more user-friendly org. Feel free to comment below with any thoughts or other user-friendly org tips that you find particularly helpful.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz team
Ready to upgrade to the world’s #1 CRM? Already have Salesforce but need some improvements?
Whatever your needs, we have you covered. Contact one of our Salesforce experts and we will find you a better business solution.
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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 | Jul 11, 2018 | Blog, Salesforce Tips
Configure. Price. Quote. CPQ can revolutionize a sales cycle, and though CPQ is not unique to Salesforce, (there are many different options for CPQ out there) but the powerful Salesforce version is one of the better options on the market.
What is CPQ?
For any company that faces the challenge of quickly and efficiently producing error-free sales quotes, CPQ is the answer. CPQ is essentially a software that helps your Sales reps create accurate, up to date and effortless quotes for clients. This software is especially effective if your company offers a large number of pricing and combination options.
CPQ takes what used to be a complex, time-consuming process and makes it quick, simple and eliminates errors.
CPQ functions like a pricing wizard. It tracks and stores all of your products, prices, and options, and allows your Sales reps to click through the process to create the quote. Let’s take a look at each function.
Configure
Creating an accurate quote can often be quite a challenge. Every business has their share of bundles, combinations and product options, and each of these can, in turn, have their own associated requirements. Maybe a certain product can only be sold in a bundle or perhaps a product requires a number of customizations. You don’t want to send out a quote that doesn’t include these essential details.
In the end, memorizing all of your business’ pricing rules, dependencies and exceptions can be tricky if not impossible. And pricing spreadsheets and charts aren’t always effective either. This is why having all of your business’s rules loaded into a smart guide is a must for many companies. CPQ does the hard part and makes sure every quote is configured according to your specific rules.
Price
Just like product configuration, there are very often pricing exemptions and discounts that need to be considered for every quote. Few businesses sell their products at full list price to all customers. From discounts for nonprofits to special incentive promotions to credits for current customers, you probably have more than a few considerations for every price quote.
Mispricing a quote can not only be embarrassing but can potentially jeopardize the deal. With CPQ, you can create advanced pricing rules and take into account discounts, pre-negotiated pricing, subscriptions and more. The more complex your pricing options, the more your Sales team needs CPQ to streamline the entire process.
Quote
Following the configuration and pricing automation, CPQ provides a professional and efficient method of creating the quote. Salesforce CPQ allows reps to create the quote and send it via email (complete with e-signature options) all with just a few clicks. This is all done from a WYSIWYG editor, making template creation a breeze.
The Benefits of CPQ
More Sales – Turning out fast quotes leads to higher conversion rates and also gives your reps more time to work on additional deals. Complex, in-efficient processes leading to long quote creation times are a huge problem for many companies. Getting an accurate quote out the door quickly is pretty essential in the fast-paced world of 2018. Adding in the automation of CPQ to the process dramatically speeds up the process, giving your company a decided advantage over your competition.
Better Accuracy – Automating your company’s workflow rules not only makes the process faster, but it means significantly increase accuracy. Validation rules ensure that every quote that goes out is properly priced and configured, and will take into account all of your business rules that could easily be forgotten or inaccurately applied through human error. With CPQ, you can rest assured that outgoing quotes have the correcting pricing, product combinations, description and are within discounting limits.
Efficient Invoicing – With an easy quoting process, that is stored directly into your CRM, you also get full tracking and reporting on your invoicing. Not only does this save you time, but it also leads to improved customer service.
Subscription Management – Subscription-based services require quite a bit of administration, but CPQ can help. The software streamlines many of the processes, such as discounts, refunds, renewal and contracting to make subscriptions easier.
Usage-based billing – Salesforce Billing and CPQ allow your company to handle complex usage and subscription-based monetization needs out of the box.
Better Reporting – An integrated solution, connected to your CRM, provides deeper insights into your business. You can track and report on buying patterns, projected cash flows and more. Create custom dashboards so you can keep an eye on your most important metrics with a quick glance.
Reduced Administration – With streamlined automation for invoices and quotes, CPQ takes a lot of the legwork out of administration. You can reduce administrative overhead, and have them spend more time on other projects.
Salesforce Quote-To-Cash
Salesforce doesn’t do just a basic CPQ, but offers what they refer to as a full “quote-to-cash” platform. Quote-to-cash is the combination of both Salesforce CPQ and Salesforce Billing that brings together the best features of both. You get everything from the chart below:
Not only do you get all of these fantastic features, but you can keep your CPQ on the same platform as your CRM, making for a better and more powerful integration. With Salesforce CPQ, you can access customer credentials, past purchase history and many other great integration features.
Do You Need Salesforce CPQ?
Like most customer configuration and development projects, adding a software like Salesforce CPQ to your org will be based on a number of individual factors. If one or more of the below apply to your company, you may need CPQ:
- You have a large Sales Team. Think 100+ employees.
- If your salespeople spend around 25% of their day creating quotes
- Your products have many different custom configuration options
These are just a few simple guidelines, and by no means are hard and fast rules. If you think Salesforce CPQ is something that would help your company and would like more information, Contact one of our Consulting Specialists.
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Want to discuss adding Salesforce CPQ to your implementation? Need to boost your ROI and maximize your investment?
Whatever your needs, we have you covered. Contact one of our Salesforce experts and we will find you a better business solution.
Contact Us
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.
