What is SalesForce Sales Cloud & How it can help your business in 2023?
5 min readPosted on July 06, 2023
UNDERSTANDING THE CLOUD PLATFORM
Sales Cloud is one of the most sought-after platforms by Salesforce that specializes in streamlining the sales processes and offers a range of editions with the facility to be connected with other Salesforce platforms, like Salesforce Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, etc. for a smooth flow of data and operations.
It provides a comprehensive suite of features and benefits catering to different types of users and presents a distinct advantage over other Sales management software because it serves an overall view and data about the customers, along with enabling monitoring of performances.
Salesforce 360o platform underpins the Sales Cloud and leverages data and information from backend systems within the organization, enhancing efficiency.
This blog will delve into the various features of Salesforce, its primary user groups, the benefits it offers, implementation guidance, etc.
FEATURES OF THE SALES CLOUD THAT MAKE IT STAND OUT
Lead Management
Leads refer to the initial impact on a customer through either website, clickable ads or any other action he performed that indicates he is interested in your business’s products or services.
Account Management
Salesforce enables account management for customers who already share a past deal with the business and it includes comprehensive details such as their name and contact.
Contact Management
Contact Management stores and organizes all the information of a customer, like their name, address, phone numbers, location, etc.
Opportunity Management
Opportunity refers to the events that you want to track as the lead progresses further toward the sales pipeline and indicates increased interest in the products and services.
Activity Management
Activity Management, as suggested by the name, tracks the journey of the customer with the organization so far, such as interactions, calls, follow-ups, etc.
Reports and Dashboards
You can build and display customized reports based on analytics and insights of the business as well as the real-time view with Customer 360. With this data and AI, you will be able to make critical data-driven decisions.
Pipeline Management
Salesforce Sales Cloud allows you to effectively manage the pipeline for Sales, i.e., the process or journey a customer follows from being a lead, to an opportunity, to landing a closed deal.
WHAT ARE ITS BENEFITS?
Salesforce offers unlimited benefits to businesses of all sizes and types, some of the main benefits are listed below-
SALES FORECASTING
Forecasting is one of the most talked about and useful benefits of the Salesforce Sales Cloud. With the help of Salesforce Einstein, an AI model offered by Salesforce, which analyzes data collected, and studies recent trends and changes in the market, a user can receive updated reports about future changes which help him make accurate strategic decisions.
AUTOMATION
Salesforce Sales Cloud streamlines business processes by automating repetitive tasks so that the sales reps can focus on achieving their goals hence increasing their overall productivity.
MOBILITY
Salesforce is highly responsive across all screens which makes it convenient for the users to perform the same functions on the mobile version regardless of where they are and at what time.
SALESFORCE EDITIONS
Salesforce offers four editions of Salesforce Sales Cloud to choose from depending on the needs of a business- Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited.
ESSENTIALS
The Essentials edition enables lead and opportunity management, reporting, mobile access, and automation. However, with its limited automation facilities, it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses with less than or equal to 10 users.
PROFESSIONAL
The professional edition includes the same features as Essentials plus contract management, quote and order management, sales forecasting, etc. which makes it suitable for mid-sized to large businesses. However, integrating the professional edition of Salesforce Cloud with other systems requires an additional fee which makes it rather costly for mid-sized businesses.
ENTERPRISE
Enterprise offers all features of the Professional version plus a handful of other features like Opportunity teams and splits, advanced reporting features, unlimited user profiles, roles and permissions, a lightning platform to build and manage applications, etc. It limits its offering in some ways making it difficult for enterprises leaving them wanting more and hence making the Unlimited edition a good choice.
UNLIMITED
The unlimited edition offers everything the other three editions provide including 24/7 support, access to premium success resources, etc. but it also has limitations in terms of custom objects and fields, report types, and validation rules.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR BUSINESS?
Implementing a Salesforce platform in business is a complex task and we will recommend either getting yourself trained from Trailblazer by Salesforce or reaching out and deciding upon a Salesforce Consultation expert for successful implementation of Salesforce Sales Cloud. An expert, along with deciding the process to be followed suggests custom or ready-made tools and objects that would be best suited for your business type.
CONCLUSION: SHOULD YOU USE IT?
Salesforce Sales Cloud is known to be the ultimate solution for your sales needs, and will definitely emerge as an added value to your business, however it may seem pricier for small businesses and that is why it is recommended to use the Essentials edition. It contains enough resources to smoothly improve the sales processes for a company. You may choose according to your budget regardless of the size of your business.
