Implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud – What You Need To Know

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a platform that magnifies the efficiency of the sales team of any business and helps in boosting the sales revenue. This product is customizable to the needs of every individual business organization with the goal of bringing client information on an integrated platform. This information includes the account information of the client and any information that is collected from numerous social media platforms relevant to the client. This helps in closing sales deals a lot faster as it makes it easier to judge the potential of any given lead. 

It increases the rate at which deals are closed by providing smart insights and amplifies touch points through every channel to help the business book revenue quicker than ever. 

Salesforce offers 5 Sales Cloud versions, which are:

• Group
• Professional
• Enterprise
• Unlimited
• Performance

The support contracts offered by this company come in 3 different plans:

• Standard Success Plan
• Premier Success Plan
• Premier+ Success Plan

Now, what are the prime goals that Sales Cloud aims at achieving? 

• Faster Decision Making– An intricate depiction of a business scenario is made available with the help of reports and dashboards. This improves the accuracy of sales prognosis and makes active business decision making possible. 
• Bringing in more deals– On the basis of market research and response, campaigns are optimized on a regular basis and this results in closure of deals with channel partners which helps in getting more deals. 
• Faster Closure of deals– Closing of deals is made much more efficient with the help of a visual blueprint of the mobile apps and workflows for getting approvals of business processes. 
• Closure of more deals– An increased number of leads is directed towards closure with the availability of product information and account information for client leads.

For smooth implementation of Salesforce Sales Cloud certain steps need to be followed:

Step 1: Learn the terminology of Sales Cloud

To ensure smooth and effective usage of the Salesforce Sales Cloud, understanding the various terms that are used by Salesforce for the multiple levels of the sales process. The crucial elements of Salesforce can be elaborated as the following categories:

• Leads: Leads are businesses or organizations that you want to start a business relationship with. Out of all the data sets, these are the smallest as no further connection to your Salesforce data is established through them.
• Opportunities: Opportunities are organizations or individuals that serve as potential clients or revenue resources once the initial interaction or pitch is made.
• Accounts: Accounts can be individuals or organizations or both, with whom an ongoing business relationship is established. For Sales Cloud to be able to manage accounts efficiently, recent invoices are to be reported.
• Contacts: Contacts are those people whose details and data are already present in your company database. These are associated with all of the above elements. For follow-up invoicing, sales pitches, etc, contacts are the ones to reach out to.

Step 2: Enter Data into Sales Cloud

After the first step, next is to import and load the data on the platform. With the use of a ‘.csv’ file it can be made possible for Salesforce to upload and read data extracted from any program. Data Import Wizard is a relevant tool option that is perfect when it comes to small businesses since it can handle approximately 50,000 records at one time. Moreover it can also catch replicated records swiftly. When implementing Sales Cloud without the expertise of an IT professional, all these qualities prove useful. 

On the other hand, for larger companies or firms, Data Loader is used. It can import up to 5 million records at one time and it can also export files. Data Loader also proves to be a useful tool while sharing files across different branches. 

When extracting data from external sources such as social media profiles, Salesforce allows you to follow up with pitches, leads and contracts with way more ease. It is important to make sure that the records are correct or else updates from the wrong social media profile could end up being used. Similarly, you need to ensure that the formatting is steady throughout the data set and data is loaded on a ratio of 1:1 so that it is designated to its right place. 

Step 3: Boost Sales Processes 

After the data has been loaded on the cloud, the Sales Cloud needs to be guided as to what is to be done with the uploaded data. The existing sales funnels could be mapped onto the Sales Cloud using its distinct features. This platform has everything that can possibly be needed to perform any crucial tasks that the sales team might need. 

But even though Sales Cloud provides the most customizable options for any sales teams, the need to devote some time into tailoring the processes to discover new sources of productivity and revenue is paramount.

Step 4: Forecasting

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Feedbacks are the backbone of any business strategy, this makes awareness and knowledge about the forecasting and performance Dashboard of Salesforce Sales Cloud an important aspect. 

You can even predict staffing resources and product inventory with much more accuracy, using the forecasting feature that is provided by Sales Cloud. This decreases your overheads and in turn increases your profits. When you customize staffing levels to meet the demands of busier times, clients will not have to worry about when their queries will get resolved. This provides any business a better chance at re-engagement from customers and therefore more growth in business.

Step 5: Innovation 

It is crucial that sales teams dedicate ample time to their clients. Therefore the last stage in the implementation process of Salesforce Sales Cloud, is that automated tools be set up to decrease the burden on the team. It helps them to focus on the more important tasks at hand. By interconnecting Marketing Cloud with Sales Cloud, the way new leads are created can be restructured which means a new course of revenue will be created. The marketing campaigns that your clients have worked with previously come to light and you can use this to your advantage by modifying your messaging accordingly to expand your reach.

When you engage Service Cloud with Sales Cloud, you are able to easily access the previous purchases of your clients, which enables you to attend to the issues more effectively with the help of any information that you find relevant. The quote to-cash feature (QTC) of the Sales Cloud allows you to enhance your forecasting and invoicing further by updating financial records automatically. Salesforce provides a customizable and comprehensive view of the sales process for your clients, the offers for clients can also be customized on the basis of that. Quote-to-cash also allows employees to keep themselves updated with the customer queries so that different employees are able to answer different queries and final adjustments can be made accordingly.

Another useful feature is the Einstein AI. It offers insights that are purely driven by data on a variety of topics. For example, Einstein AI allows lead prioritization using machine learning algorithms and provides recommendations if any other pathways are possible to target revenue. AI technology can also come in handy to analyze how your business is performing so that you can keep a track and improve the accuracy of your estimates.

Conclusion:

The most efficient platform for businesses that are looking for ways to expand their revenue streams and construct a robust future for their company. It provides a remarkable perception towards your sales process, which allows you to bring in new opportunities and customers with better insights and precision. By implementing Sales Cloud to your business, you allow your sales team to make use of innovative tools to engage clients and avail new occasions to upgrade the business revenue.

About the Author:

The author of this blog is Nandini Pathak with an area of expertise in technology. Uniquely blending her legal background to create engaging content. An avid dog lover, her warmth and empathy enrich her writing style. Nandini’s passion for learning and her SEO proficiency ensure her work stays relevant and visible, making her an impactful content creator who seamlessly integrates personal passions with professional expertise in the technology domain.