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Winter 20′ Release Notes

Salesforce

Winter 20' Release Notes

Today is the day that the Winter 20’ release goes global. We’ve scratched the surface with this article highlighting some new and improved features that enhance the way you use Salesforce. We dug through the Winter release notes and unearthed some pretty cool adds. Features like recycling bin access, mobile app launcher and enhanced Einstein Technology just scratches the surface of what Salesforce is doing to work for YOU. Check out some of the Winter 20’ release notes highlights below. If you want the in-depth overview check it out here.

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Sales

Account Teams and Opportunity Contact Role Enhancements

Customization is the best. With the Winter 20’ release you can now customize account teams and opportunity contact roles. Add custom fields, triggers and business processes that reflect a certain member of your team and what role they play in your company. Improving collaboration across the board.

Sales Cadence Branching

Customize your Sales Cadences to branch to steps based on different call scenarios. Every call is different and should be treated as such. Depending on the result of the call your Cadence moves to the next best step. This feature buckets your prospects in order of relevance, this allows managers to report on which cadence produced the best results.

Einstein Forecasting: Support for Quarterly Forecasting

The power of Einstein in combination with the quarterly forecasting schedule improves forecasting accuracy, predicts results and tracks how your sales team is doing. Einstein Forecasting is available to sales managers with the Sales Cloud Einstein license.

Einstein Case Routing

Einstein case routing automatically classifies and routes support cases. This allows Sales Reps to see cases faster and spend more time with customers rather than manually going through cases. Based on your preferred accuracy threshold. Once the case is classified it is automatically routed to the correct sales rep.

Lightning Knowledge Enhancements

Customer service is working in real time with Salesforce. Deliver the right answers over any channel to your customers quickly and easily. With one-click your service agents are able to preview knowledge articles and contribute to the conversation in real-time.

Commerce & Communities

Transactional SMS Messaging

Empower your customers with real time SMS messaging. Customers can send and track transactional text messages, such as purchase confirmations, delivery updates, password resets and receipts

Journey Builder: In-App Messaging for Mobile Apps

Create and send Rich Communication Services (RCS) to your customers mobile app through Journey Builder. Your marketers can can directly interact with their mobile audience to increase engagement and drive conversation.

Journey Builder: Einstein Send Time Optimization

Select the best time to send emails to your subscriber list based on engagement. Simple as that.

What's New?

Salesforce B2C Commerce: Page Designer

Page Designer allows you to build with clicks not code. With the drag-and-drop component your vision can be executed in minutes not days.

B2C Commerce: On-Demand Sandboxes

On-demand sandboxes allows you to copy your site and fine tune it without impacting your production site. 

Create and intelligently manage content. Build content and extend it to any channel not built on Salesforce. Your content developers can write, design and curate content in one convenient location.

Community Cloud for Financial Services

Create a feature-rich portal for your independent insurance agents in the Insurance Agent Portal Lightning Template. Get a comprehensive overview of Clients, Policies, Claims and so much more right on your dashboard.

Platform, Productivity, & Integration

Real-Time Event Monitoring

Keep a close eye on what is happening in your org. Build transaction security policies that alert you when unwanted actions or suspicious activities occur.

New Salesforce Mobile App

Customize the look, feel and functionality of your data. Build custom apps with ready-made or custom components. Unify your desktop and mobile experience.

In-App Guidance

On-board and engage with your user in lighting. Create prompts with your own written content and action buttons guiding users to the URL of your choice.

Salesforce Data Integration Enhancements

Discussing data has never been easier. With embedded Salesforce reports in Quip users can add salesforce list views and log calls directly within quip. Making it easy for teams to discuss and collaborate on Salesforce data they use every day.

Anypoint API Community Manager

Build a developer community around your APIS. This transforms your portal into a digitalized experience. Your technology and business teams can collaborate and promote products with API documentation.

Industries

Mortgage Innovation for Financial Services Cloud

Capture borrower information with data model enhancements for mortgage, so that data can be shared across all lines of business.

Provider Relationship Management

Easily track important healthcare provider information. Ensure your patients are getting all the care they need. Get a full view of your provider network.

Sales Agreements

By using Sales Agreements your business is able to negotiate long-term purchases and sales of products over time. Get a full overview of how your accounts are performing. 

Retail Execution for Consumer Goods Cloud

In all circumstances of retain marketing the 4 P’s are ALWAYS important to follow. Help your business make the right choices by tracking inventory, place orders at the right time and ensure that your business is tracking visit details to spend less time on operational activities and more time on building and nurturing relationships with your customers.

Essentials

Essentials Collection on AppExchange

Integration has never been easier. Connect all of your tools that help run your business efficiently on one platform.

Essentials In-App Help

Get the support you need without leaving Essentials. In the first 90-days of purchase chat with an Essentials team member and get your questions answered.

Einstein Analytics

Einstein Discovery: Automated Story Creation

Create a story by selecting a dataset and Einstein does the rest

Einstein Discovery: Live Model Monitoring

Keep an eye on predictive models throughout your business. Einstein Discovery alerts you if one of your models is under performing so you never miss a beat.

Einstein Analytics in the New Salesforce Mobile App

Einstein Analytics Dashboard is now on mobile! Access all the data you know and love right from the palm of your hand.

Success Cloud & Enablement

Help Portal Enhancements

Get your questions answered quickly and efficiently. With better Live Chat UI, improvements to case management and new case scheduler rest easy knowing that when you ask you shall receive. 

New and Refreshed Accelerators

Get 1-on-1 assistance with Salesforce specialists. Including refreshed accelerators for Service Cloud, Pardot and Marketing Cloud.

Trailhead Simulator

Marketing Cloud finally has a simulator. Create practice email templates, sending emails and more with Marketing Cloud simulation.

If your business is still in Classic, don’t fret. Users are still able to use Classic; this is not a forced transition. It should be known that Salesforce is not actively updating Classic. So the longer you put off switching to Lighting, the further behind your team will be with the fantastic updates that Salesforce has made, especially for the Lightning Experience. If you are still wondering which features will work best for your business, contact us today!

CRMD Solutions
In CRMD Blog

Inclusivity in Advertising

Inclusive paper hands, colorful

Over the past few years, there has been a shift in marketing practices to convey socially driven stories. Brands are getting better at listening to feedback from consumers and aligning with their values.

Making The Change

Reality, Relatability, and Diversity.

It might come as no surprise that you see certain demographics collectively embracing brands that stand for something, focus on inclusivity, and try to make the world a better place. Previously the trend was to create brands and products that felt exclusive. Consumers responded to unrealistic fantasies that contrasted with their reality and would change the way they lived or saw themselves. That narrative has changed significantly and consumers now want reality, relatability, and diversity.

Exclusivity still is incredibly enticing to consumers, especially when it comes to luxury brands. Some people want to be sold an unrealistic dream from tall, thin, attractive models or an expensive product that promises to change their life in some way. In addition to that, the ideas of small-batch products, waitlists, memberships, rewards, etc. are also highly coveted by consumers.

70% of Millennials are more likely to choose one brand over another if that brand demonstrates inclusion and diversity in terms of it promotions and offers
54% of younger Millennials surveyed believe that retailers have a responsibility and duty toward addressing wider social and political issues with regards to diversity.
The Shift to Diversity

Improving Our Society

While the appeal of exclusivity still exists among a particular demographic, our society is becoming more and more diverse and interconnected as time goes on, so why shouldn’t our marketing reflect that? The stakes are at an all-time high and it’s important for companies to be thoughtful about the messages, images, endorsements, and values that are being used to represent and promote their brands. According to Salesforce’s new research, 90% of consumers believe that businesses have a responsibility to look beyond profit and improve the state of the world.

The Goal

Power of Promotion

Advertisements that are inclusive and diverse are becoming increasingly common in today’s consumer market. Countless brands are getting involved in the manufacturing of products that can be marketed to different demographics as well as employing models that consumers might see as being relatable. The responsibility of marketers is to make sure the brand’s message is received in a way that resonates with people from all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, ability, sexual orientation, or otherwise. Now is a time to give a platform to the people that have been typically and historically marginalized or underrepresented. The goal of true inclusivity is to deepen customer relationships and encourage positive change. While acknowledging the great strides that have been made thus far, it is also important to recognize that there is still a lot of room for growth and improvement when it comes to inclusive marketing opportunities.

51% of younger millennials are more likely to shop at a retailer that demonstrates awareness of such issues.
CRMD Solutions
In CRMD Blog

Why is customer service more important than ever?

THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Have you ever purchased goods or services from a business? Have you ever worked for a business or company that provides goods or services to consumers? If you answered yes to either of those questions, congratulations! You’re already pretty familiar with customer service, whether your experiences were good, bad, or ugly. Knowing the ins and outs of business-customer relationships is our livelihood here at CRMD, and it’s our mission to help those relationships thrive.

What’s the deal with customer service?

Customer service is the assistance provided by a company to the people who buy or use its products and/or services. Customer service directly correlates with customer satisfaction. In the sphere of running a business, customer service often takes a back seat to the daily demands of the operation. While it’s easy to prioritize things like accounting, networking, and delegating tasks over customer service, it is just as important to acknowledge that without the customer, none of those other aspects of your business would matter. Without the customer, you wouldn’t have a successful business. Exceptional customer service is what keeps the business of existing customers and piques the interest of potential customers. Developing and maintaining relationships with your customers should be a top priority among employees. 

 

Why is customer service so important now?

We’ve got the answer to that question! We are currently in the midst of what is being called the “4th Industrial Revolution.” This promises to bring positive changes to the way we live, work, and relate to one another through the advancements being made in technology and cyber systems. These advancements are bringing changes to the business, government, and household spheres, all of which will eventually lead to a societal transformation similar to the previous industrial revolutions. 

 

It’s no surprise that more and more people are taking advantage of the convenience that online platforms provide. Whether it be online shopping, bill paying, or consulting, all of these can now be done from the comfort of a home without even talking to a representative on the phone, in most cases. As these services becoming increasingly accessible to consumers, it is important to keep up with the changing technology and be there for your customers. 

 

The saying “The customer is always right” might make you roll your eyes at first, but it’s not just an empty adage. Think about it: what do customers do? They purchase products or services, interact with employees, tell friends about their experience, and provide feedback. The success of any business lies in the hands of the people that support them. In order to keep up with the advancements within this revolution, it is our job as business owners, employees, and consultants to make sure we improve and maintain our customer service standards and protocol.  

 

Where does Salesforce belong in this conversation?

Since Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform with the main purpose of improving business relationships, it can exist as the overarching topic of this conversation. Salesforce gives users the ability to create individual profiles of customers that can be accessed by all departments, such as marketing, sales, finance, etc. This effectively puts the customer in the middle of everything. Marketing is a great example of how to perfect the customer service experience. 

Salesforce products like Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud, for example, can provide you with invaluable tools that can help distinguish your company from the rest of the competition. Marketing Cloud features marketing solutions like Journey Builder, Social Studio, Datorama, and Interaction Studio. Each solution provides a different insight into each individual customer’s journey within the departments of your company. They also give you the best opportunities to engage with current and potential customers across social media channels in real-time. Service Cloud provides the engine that powers how productively agents handle actual tickets and customer conversations. Through Service Cloud, service processes, workflows and searches for relevant resources can become streamlined and automated. Other features like Service for Apps provides in-app mobile support, including live agent video chat, screen sharing, and on-screen guided assistance. Service Cloud provides even more ways to communicate with customers, with integrated social “listening” features and with easy integration with Salesforce’s Community Cloud. These are just some of the many ways a clear strategy for customer service and effective use of what technology and tools to leverage can help you maximize time and efficiency while achieving customer satisfaction. 

CRMD Solutions
In CRMD Blog

How Salesforce is Spicing Up Its CRM Game with CMS

How Salesforce is Spicing Up

Its CRM Game with CMS

You may have heard that Salesforce just recently announced its own Content Management System. At their core, Content Management Solutions are able to create and manage digital content. Now, Salesforce CMS is proposing using Salesforce’s capabilities as a leading customer information powerhouse to transform how content management is done.

 

 

What’s new?

Contemporary Content Management Solutions promise sophistication and customization even for users who have little to no exposure to coding or development. As simple as drag and drop, advanced user interfaces are giving users control over their webpages that would normally require the lift of both developers and designers.

The official page for Salesforce CMS already promises all the features you would expect from a modern CMS: collaboration across teams; responsive design; distribution to multiple communications channels; edit views of live pages; and easy to use interface. At a quick glance, you can already observe that the interface is as simple and customizable as current leading website builders. 

Salesforce CMS, which considers itself a “hybrid content management system,” distinguishes itself by being built natively on, of course, a CRM. CRM data is baked into the Content Management Solutions from the get-go, reducing the hassle and maintenance of setting up CMS-CRM connections. For businesses invested in digital transformation, the ability to visualize CRM data straight to content pages in ways that are easy, beautiful, on brand, and timely will be a significant difference than what other Content Management Solutions can provide. Further, users of Salesforce CRM solutions can now potentially be active content creators without having to lean on developers.

Hey, I think I’ve seen these features before…

Yes, sort of. In the beta release of its Content Management Solution, Salesforce refers to Salesforce CMS as an upgrade to CMS for Community Cloud in its Summer ’19 Release Notes. Users of CMS for Community Cloud had their content automatically moved to the new Salesforce CMS, which included new functionality.

The release of Salesforce CMS marks that it is “now generally available” with more features, according to Salesforce’s Winter ’20 Release Notes. Content can also now also be shared to the B2B Commerce managed package and communities created using Salesforce Tabs + Visualforce. Lightning Communities can build customized pages, which are no longer limited to the preset layouts and navigation structure or menu components. Through Salesforce CMS, role-based access can now be assigned to team members for authoring content authoring and selecting setting. 

As of mid-November 2019, commerce and marketing cloud features are listed as “Coming Soon.” 

Why Salesforce CMS now?

In the current landscape of CMS solutions, we are definitely not short options. We dare you to scroll through this list of available CMS technology. According to BuiltWith’s web technology usage trends, WordPress continues to be a clear world frontrunner with 27+ million live websites, consistently capturing greater than 50% of the CMS technology market share. Despite the many open source options available, Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify have captured a strong user base with 3.9+ million 1.7+ million and 1 million live websites, respectively, who are drawn to its convenience and affordability. This new guard of relatively out-of-the-box, developer-not-needed solutions, however, may be better suited for small- to medium-sized businesses.

From security to conformity, the difficulties for managing a CMS for larger enterprises can certainly get massive and complex. Setting up connectivity between CMS and a CRM can especially be a challenge for those organizations actively tracking their customers’ activities across many digital campaigns. There certainly is a growing market need for a new type of Content Management Solution for large organizations.

Thus, the Salesforce Content Management Solution poses an intriguing proposition to its loyal base of heavy-hitting enterprise CRM users. It further positions itself to be the Content Management Solution of choice for any new organization looking to get started on other Salesforce solutions.

Salesforce has demonstrated how they can grow fast and clearly dominate. Among CRM providers, Salesforce’s comprises nearly one fifth of the market, which is double the CRM sales of the runner-up, SAP, and three times as much as Oracle in third. The question remains whether adoption of Salesforce CMS will be just as significant.

CRMD Solutions
In CRMD Blog

Closed Lost Opportunity In Salesforce

A common request from our clients is tracking Closed Lost opportunities. What is Closed Lost? Closed Lost is an opportunity that didn’t get approved by the company. From a Sales Management POV the most critical Salesforce report is the Closed Lost reason. This gives management important insight on why an opportunity did not Closed Won and become a successful deal for your team. The way that we track this information is through a Validation Rule. The Validation Rule verifies that certain data is entered into an object (opportunity) before a record can be saved.  Follow along with John as he walks you step-by-step on how to create a Closed Lost Reason.

Let's get started!

  1. In your Lightning Home Screen, click Setup. 

  2. Type ‘Object’ in your Quick Find box and select Object Manager. 

  3. Scroll down and click Opportunity. 

  4. From the details panel select Fields & Relationships. 

  5. Click New.

Writing in Journal

Step One: Create Your Lost Reason Field

  1. Choose Picklist from the options and click Next. (Check out this Tutorial for instructions on how to create a picklist.)

  2. Name your Field ‘Lost Reason.‘

  3. Click Through.

  4. Hit Save.

Step Two: Validation Rules

  1. From the details panel, Select Validation Rules.

  2. Enter Rule Name.

  3. Type in your Error Condition Formula.

  4. Enter the following:  ISPICKVAL ( STAGENAME,”CLOSED LOST”) && ISPICKVAL (LOST_REASON_c,””)

  5. Enter the reason: NEED LOST REASON.

Step Three: Check Your Rule

  1.  Go to an  Opportunity. (We recommend creating an example to test this out)
  2. Click on Closed.
  3. Click Select Closed Stage.
  4. Select Closed Lost.
  5. After hitting Enter you will notice the dialogue box pop-up with an error message. 

Now that you’ve completed this Validation Rule you will not be able to close a Closed Lost Opportunity without selecting a reason. This is a great way to organize your Closed Lost Opportunities. This gives your sales team a high level overview of trends surrounding Lost Opportunities and changes that need to be made in the future. 

Having trouble with this tutorial? No worries, this is what our business is about. Contact us today and we can help you with Validations rules and much more.

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