A common scenario with organizations using Salesforce is having a scenario where employees from different departments, are not able to access the same accurate, real-time data about a customer or prospect.

This is because as businesses grow, the tendency is to introduce new systems in order to meet the various needs of the business.  This means they may have Salesforce as a CRM system, NetSuite as a financial system and Shopify as their e-commerce platform.

Each part of your organization will have their own use for the data you capture.  The finance team will need the data to process invoices and manage the accounts whereas the sales and marketing team will need it as a basis for their campaigns and targeting.

The issue is these systems do not automatically talk to each other.  A customer record in Shopify may not be the same as that same customer’s record in Salesforce.  This means one team may be working from one set of data, while another team is working off a different set, even if it is related to the same customer.

Not only does this cause difficulty within your organization, but it is also a system that is highly prone to human error.  In order to update the various systems, manual data transfer is required which can lead to errors as well as being extremely time-consuming.

Picture a scenario where an online clothing retailer is selling online using Shopify and using Salesforce as their CRM system.  A customer who regularly buys from them has just been online and purchased a dress.  That order information is instantly held in Shopify, but only there.  For the sales and marketing team, they do not yet have this information.  This means they may be about to send a marketing email out to that customer advertising the very product they have just bought.

By integrating Salesforce with their other business systems like Shopify, they can access this data instantly.  This means that rather than spamming that customer’s inbox with the information they do not need, they could exclude them from the email advertising the dress, and instead target them with a personalized communication for another product, for example, shoes to go with the dress.

By making connections between Salesforce and your other systems, data will become more accessible, more accurate and more effective.

All departments need access to the same, up to date data.

Cloud Data Exchange enables you to connect Salesforce to your other systems by transferring the information from the various systems into the same ‘language’.

In doing so, you will benefit from increased consistency of your data while also seeing an increase in your organization’s efficiency capabilities.

By synchronizing your data from various places, you will be able to ensure that your data is consistent and accurate in Salesforce, and in all of your other business systems.  This will help your sales and marketing team with their actions by allowing them to have a real-time view of customers and prospects.

Salesforce on its own is an effective CRM system that allows you to manage your data, however, it often relies on manual data input to stay up to date.  By integrating your systems, you will automate this manual process, saving you valuable time and money while also ensuring you have a 360-degree view of your customers and how they interact with your organization.