Salesforce is one of the world’s number one enterprise software companies. Whether it’s the extensive interactive modules and AI functionalities or third-party platform integration and data analytics, businesses love Salesforce. Altogether, it’s unsurprising that even with the current economic downturn, revenue grew 14% year over year from 2022 to 2023.
Unquestionably, Salesforce is a profitable company delivering business-to-business Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. Balanced against other products, Salesforce is a heritage Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that’s constantly evolving. For this reason, the platform is still the go-to choice for businesses seeking to:
Grow and scale strategically
Serve and retain their customers
Improve their sales
What’s more, the leading tactic for getting the most out of Salesforce and building a business is a custom development. In fact, a custom Salesforce development embeds the business value proposition in userflow, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). Consequently, every business activity run through Salesforce is meaningful, consistent, efficient, and effective. In short, this infrastructure maintains a 360-degree strategy for the value proposition in processes, operations, analytics, engagement, and interactions.
To begin with, we’ll review the core reasons business across all industries need and can benefit from using Salesforce. All in all, the Salesforce CRM and its modules offer businesses the opportunity to wow their customers while improving sales. When businesses use a custom Salesforce development, the platform performs even more effectively with every technical feature strategically chosen. As Nadia Reckmann writes for business.com, customized platforms take core features to new heights through integration and add-ons.
“Once implementation is complete, Salesforce offers users a beautifully designed product that’s speedy, powerful and perfectly tailored to a company’s specific processes.”
The platform incorporates all CRM tools in one place with outreach, communications, data management, sales and lead management, and analysis. Additionally the integration of Salesforce modules and third-party platforms improves workflow for the whole business.
All components work from anywhere so remote teams and field staff can access the platform at all times. Both allowing remote access and maintaining security can be competing priorities however the platform can securely meet all business needs.
After the pandemic, businesses everywhere had to adapt and redesign their operations overnight. Subsequently, all customers now expect high-level digital offerings and this is overtaking brick-and-mortar as a business standard.
Streamlining business operations relies on automation for accurate, consistent, and seamless technological solutions. Whereas automation in some businesses scales down the offering, Salesforce automation levels up services and operations. Furthermore, this offers customers more personalized services or user experiences, especially in web and applications.
The Salesforce parent company is constantly introducing new modules that help businesses stay up-to-date with trends and needs. Due to the speed of integration and the platform’s scalability, adopting new modules and features is highly agile.
In addition to new modules, is how Salesforce invests in and maintains the technology behind these features and components. At present, generative AI and other smart features are being added to Salesforce for businesses to use in their operations.
In the 21st century, the majority of internet users are on mobile and Salesforce offers a standalone Mobile Application module. As a result, businesses can deploy a range of customer and operational apps that meet stakeholder needs in dynamic ways. Additionally Salesforce mobile app platform products work online and offline for more satisfying and impressive stakeholder benefits in UX/UI.
Above all, the marketing strategy of a unique value proposition is a leading business tactic of the last four decades. Further to this, it’s essential for businesses to embed their value proposition in systems to consistently meet customer needs. Chiefly businesses largely fall into the dichotomy of offering either products or services, that is how we’ll discuss these below. For example, Alexandra Twin writes for Investopedia that value propositions substantiate the product or service to each business’ target market. Accordingly, Twin explains, “Therefore, it should always be displayed prominently on a company’s website and in other consumer touch points.”
The business operations model — Depending on if the business is entirely digital or a mix of in-person/traditional interfacing with digital administration only.
Their customer type — Precisely who the target customer market is. For example, it might be B2B rather than B2C
Understanding the value proposition itself — In particular if the platform will be the infrastructure for the product or service versus facilitating the product or service.
After businesses consider these three strategic questions, they can proceed with how they intend to leverage Salesforce. In order to use the platform’s features to successfully deliver the unique value proposition, businesses need to understand key benefits.
Following the explanation of a value proposition and how this is upheld in Salesforce, let’s review incorporating this during development. Although Salesforce is an innately intelligent software product, businesses still need to strategically plan customizing modules, features, and software integration. Accordingly, it’s important to plan these decisions against top-line business operations and frameworks. Both the review of business strategy, operations, and frameworks with what customers are being promised helps maximize the Salesforce investment.
1. Assessing the existing unique value proposition — If businesses don’t already have a value proposition, this is an urgent task. Even though businesses may have one, they should review this so they know exactly how they want Salesforce to work. After this they can prepare for area 2.
2. Working with a software development consultation team — Now that businesses are ready, they can meet with knowledgable Salesforce developers. Notwithstanding the developers’ experience, reviewing this with an expert Salesforce software development consultation team enables more tactical planning. Once that is undertaken, the development process can begin with extensive collaboration in order to get to area 3.
3. Planning a deployment plan — The final area for consideration is what stakeholders — both staff and customers — need to launch the platform. In summary, businesses need to work with developers to:
Evaluate existing issues
Review how this can be targeted in a Salesforce development
Assess how to incorporate this into the platform offering
Design a deployment plan
Given these points, businesses will be considering their value proposition at all times. In effect this will inform their staff training, marketing, sales processes, IT resource planning, and all other operations. To that end, this establishes a project management framework for their Salesforce investment that can be followed under developers’ guidance. Explicitly, this is how Salesforce evolves from effective business tool to high-level custom development delivering a unique value proposition.
Overall Salesforce requires strategic implementation from development consultation to preparing deployment and maintenance. After all, the objective is to incorporate the value proposition into the platform from the outset.
With this purpose in mind, we’ll now explain how a custom development differs to ready deploying the platform. Although businesses can deploy Salesforce without the input of professional developers, it is a specialist platform with developers offering businesses:
Firstly, software developers will oversee all parts of development. In other words, this covers everything from the initial consultation process to ideation, testing, revisions, deployment, and maintenance. Although there is a cost to this, it applies professional resources and a tried-and-tested methodology. Moreover, after deployment, the developers will assist with maintenance and monitoring the platform to resolve issues. On the other hand, though businesses can select their own features, their customizations are largely limited to their IT team. Even if they have experience or knowledge, the platform is an enterprise-level software that might compromise their workload. Equally, their skills may not allow for properly benefitting from the monthly Salesforce investment including consistent staff training and support.
Secondly, preparing to integrate Salesforce means bringing together the various platform modules and third-party software integration. For that reason, experts will oversee all steps to integration and their responsibility is ensuring the entire platform is working. Likewise to development itself, they will be able to apply experience to successfully achieving this and keeping businesses on-track. Because Salesforce integrates with leading software like Google G Suite along with accounting and HR systems, this needs specialist management. Though businesses may have internal team members who can do this, it’s still an involved process that benefits from expertise. Notwithstanding integration, data migration is another key aspect of deployment that requires developer insights to mitigate risks.
Thirdly, Salesforce developers will be on-hand to advise businesses for any and all scaling they undertake. For instance, they can prepare the initial software customization to prepare for scaling and strategically plan this business evolution. Unfortunately, this may be harder for internal team members to offer and effectively deliver when desired. In fact, it should be a priority to outsource swift, profitable scaling that uses current Salesforce features to professional developers.
Now that we’ve explained how developers are key to delivering custom Salesforce platforms, we’ll review the software’s value proposition components. Due to how extensively the Salesforce CRM is customizable in its features and functionalities, businesses need to understand specific benefits. Thereafter, customization choices can help businesses decide how they might approach their custom development with the option to scale later.
Combined solution for all sales elements so that businesses can better manage sales, generate leads, and close deals. What’s more they can forecast sales, analyze opportunities, and fortify team collaboration to drive profits.
Develop business apps for customer and business use. Overall, these are agile, fast, user-friendly, and work both online and offline with automatic data backup and secure backend. Not only does this tap the mobile user market but also this allows staff to work remotely on mobile/tablets.
All user services exist within this module in order to deliver gold-standard customer care. In summary, this incorporates case management and supports channels including phone, email, social media, and chat interfaces. Above all, customer service is a core way businesses uphold their value proposition to retain customers and maintain branding.
Another key facet of digitization is e-commerce. With this Salesforce ‘Cloud’, businesses can launch and manage e-commerce offerings inclusive of web stores, websites, and online stores. Additionally, businesses can create e-commerce mobile offerings to connect with customers this way and create a seamless shopping UX.
This module advances businesses’ operations so they can manage all their marketing activities in one place. For instance, businesses can personalize their marketing campaigns within this Salesforce ‘Cloud’ including outreach for social media, email, and mobile. As a result this helps with managing marketing for more streamlined, impactful, and efficient campaigns with analytics readily reviewable.
The automation features in all Salesforce module ‘Clouds’ help businesses work smarter and harder where it really matters. Rather than sacrifice quality operations, businesses can base their resource allocation on in-demand areas and automate where it works. Comparatively, the revision to processes happens within the UI so team members can collaborate and address problems or opportunities quickly.
As has been noted, Salesforce incorporates the newest technology and is consistently adding AI and algorithmic functionalities. Correspondingly, this continually builds out the software’s power and intelligence to deliver a better, more accurate UI. Both customer service and data analytics are two areas with improved UX with this technology in the Salesforce backend.
A major acquisition from the recent years is Slack. Consequently the workflow and collaboration platform technology is integrated across Salesforce modules as a tool for businesses to improve operations. What’s more, in 2023 Slack is now AI-enhanced as Slack GPT, a generative AI UX that boosts business accuracy.
Across all Salesforce modules is the baseline CRM that enables all-in-one case management for exceptional customer care. Balanced against the accuracy, power, analytics, and UX of the entire platform, this positions businesses to deliver flawless customer experiences. With reliable follow-up, audit trails, and inter-departmental collaboration (see more below), this ensures customer service is always happening on every module.
The elimination of silos in business teams results in dedicated, consistent, and transparent resolutions and insights. Compared to disconnected and poorly organized workplaces, this helps resolve issues quickly and shows customers they’re in professional hands. Being that these cohesive systems are easily integrated across all Salesforce ‘Cloud’ modules so data is secure and accessible.
Finally, all Salesforce platforms — from standalone modules to general UI — are designed to uphold compliance, data protection, and privacy policies. Hence this allows businesses confidence in how their investment will work in tandem with cybersecurity and data management best practice. Emphatically, all businesses need this right now and a value proposition that promises data security is best in class. If businesses are using software, like Salesforce, with platform features and modules that uphold a value proposition inclusive of security then they are more likely to succeed in the current market.
Presently, Salesforce is the number one enterprise CRM software in the world. Whether it’s automotive companies or financial institutions, the full range of Salesforce products enable businesses to grow and operate effectively. Due to how multifaceted a value proposition is, it’s unsurprising these industry leaders use custom Salesforce developments in creative ways.
At present, the global beauty monolith uses Marketing Cloud for a suite of customer-oriented outreach and engagement. Not only does the skincare, make-up, and haircare giant use Salesforce to personalize customer UX but for creative offerings. For example, L’Oréal applies existing customer data to make product recommendations and to send specialized shopping offers across different UI. Furthermore, the company also runs its sales team activities through Consumer Goods Cloud to manage product offering and distribution. Both the simplification of on-the-ground logistics and even offering staff training on the platform help with business efficiency. All in all these various examples show how L’Oréal uses Salesforce to innovatively deliver global activities in operations and UX.
For over 16 decades of business, American Express has made their customers the centre of their value proposition design. With Salesforce, they take this to the next level and partner their offering with Salesforce Cloud. In detail, this enables secure, consistent, and collaborative customer service offerings so their global operations are managed digitally. On account of the Salesforce Customer Success Platform, American Express have levelled up employee activities to improve and transform workflow. Overall they have integrated their team operations into app and desktop-based systems that engage to deliver outcomes across timezones. Additionally, they use these systems for a better understanding of customers for a 360-degree stakeholder view in real time. Basically Salesforce equips American Express to maintain their market position and smoothly manage all internal operations for unparalleled customer service.
Neither Salesforce nor 3M could have predicted how crucial the CRM platform would become in 2020-2023 during the pandemic. Since then, their logistics business model has evolved as market demand surged for crucial health and safety equipment. At the same time, much of 3M’s workforce shifted to remote work and they needed to adapt to maintain productivity. Both the overnight market shift and the operational shift led to an organizatyion-wide pivot in value proposition application. Whether for integrity and consistency or customer service and remote collaboration, 3M turned to Salesforce Service Cloud to sustain outputs. At the same time, they used Sales Force to handle digital operations, dispatch, and product delivery. Afterwards, the integration of all these modules demonstrated how successfully 3M could operate with the right software tools. Furthermore, 3M considered Salesforce’s productivity and agility as fundamental to delivering their value proposition during a time of crisis.
In conclusion the merits of investing in a custom Salesforce development no matter the industry or business model are undeniable. Both to maximize in Salesforce as a business tool and to strategically plan for growing in all operational areas. Unquestionably this is a robust, enterprise-standard product and businesses need to adequately prepare for their investment ahead of development. Nevertheless, working with specialist developers to ideate a platform solution is a proven approach to navigating the platform for returns. In the same way, businesses can view Salesforce as a key step towards delivering their value proposition to customers. In the long run, the platform itself and custom development can incorporate this business outlook to holistically achieve measurable outcomes.
For any development process, the number one step is to properly plan through a consultation meeting. Although there is no commitment to this, it’s imperative to meet with experienced developers for a preliminary evaluation of needs. Start the process with an A3logics Salesforce development consultation and they can answer relevant questions about developing custom software solutions.
All phases in a custom Salesforce development are designed to successfully evaluate business needs, research, ideate, engineer, test, revise, and deploy. All in all, this ensures that Salesforce developers are collaborating with the business and all needs are comprehensively addressed. Equally, these phases are an end-to-end development process that will identify module integrations, prepare staff, and plan deployment.
Once Salesforce is deployed, businesses can always work with a development team to review their platform and tweak the software. At the same time, they can opt for new features and integrate additional Salesforce modules. In the long run, this is particularly beneficial as businesses can scale their software as they grow. Likewise they can opt to integrate new technology — such as generative AI — to maintain a powerful platform with robust features.
Professional Salesforce development teams will help businesses maintain their software investment. Additionally, they monitor the platform and flag any issues, with availability to advise on changes or respond to any problems. Due to the developers building the platform, their role is to manage the software end-to-end and ensure usability.
