The Force is with You: Salesforce Lightning, Thunder and IQ

The Future of Salesforce is Thunder, Lightning and IQ

Not too long ago, in September, Dreamforce ’15 released two products that are going to serve as figureheads for the future of the Salesforce user experience.  This news was in the wake of the Lightning and Trailhead releases, although the significance of the news should not pale in comparison to the reception of those products, either.

Thunder is going to be a game changer.  It is a search engine, being built in collaboration with Microsoft.  Described as an "Internet of Things," this release is destined to take some time, though when it is out in full force, it will no doubt be strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark – so to speak.

Gear up for thunder

The following scenario illustrates what an automated entry can do for your business:  Imagine you’re a solar company. You have an array on a rooftop that can communicate with your Service Cloud automatically. Let’s say power output in some cells drops unexpectedly or some other malfunction occurs. The array itself can create a case and assign it a priority based on the severity of the incident.

Next, imagine that your field service agents can broadcast their location back to Service Cloud. Now you can assign the case to the field service agent who is closest to the malfunctioning array. She can notify the customer while en route and troubleshoot a small problem before it gets big.

Thunder makes lightning possible

Here’s another scenario: Perhaps your business offers users a free trial version on your website.  A prospect downloads that trial, creating an event in Thunder.  Once the prospect installs the trial, it creates another event.  The installation would create another event, and when the prospect first opens the application, another pops up.  Once the prospect saves a file in the trial, it would also create another event.  Suppose you were to send your prospect an email regarding their recent download, Thunder would also create an event for that.  If the prospect opens your email, there is another event recorded. All of these events are recorded in order to create a profile of the prospect.  That profile is used to predict the likelihood of the prospect becoming a customer.  And once it is a customer, there are a whole new set of predictions that can be aided by the gloriousness of the Automated Thunder.

Thunder records every interaction your customers have with your products, services, and marketing offerings, to create a complete profile. Why would you want a complete profile of your customer or prospect?  If you know what types of patterns are likely to result in a transaction, you will be more capable of identifying where your time is well spent. Then, based on the profile, your Sales and Marketing Cloud can automatically offer that customer exactly what he or she wants to have a positive experience with your company.

IQ mobile integration

Any user of Sales Cloud, small and big businesses alike, is destined to benefit from the Salesforce IQ.

Salesforce IQ is more than just another inbox app for your mobile phone.  It leverages your existing Gmail or Exchange email by integrating into your Salesforce.org. It serves to build on the recorded interactions with each customer by prompting with the option to record before sending an email to a prospect or customer from your mobile device.  Without having to spend time figuring out when was the last time you sent an email, your team will be presented with an up-to-the-moment full picture of what interactions have transpired for every opportunity.

IQ syncs your Salesforce contacts in with the rest of your contacts.

IQ also syncs with Google or Exchange calendar, so you can propose a meeting time and, if it is accepted, the meeting will automatically integrate with your personal and Salesforce calendars.

All of these integrations mean a full knowledge of your customers and prospects spans the universe from the sales floor desktop to the convenience of your mobile phone.
Salesforce on mobile seamlessly integrates your email into CRM so your systems are always in sync with your salespeople.

Get Updates on All the Developments from Dreamforce

Watch this space over the coming weeks as we unpack everything we learned at #DF15! We’re always glad to share our knowledge. And remember, if you have questions about how to get the most out of your Salesforce solution, our DSG Optimize service can help.

Let DSG match you up with the right solution for your business, and we will help you evaluate how the cloud might make sense for you.  Call us at 866.486.4064 or fill out our contact us form.

About DSG:

DSG delivers cloud accelerated business solutions based on leading ERP, CRM, and CPM applications NetSuite, Salesforce™, and Adaptive Insights. With our deep business and technology expertise and the experience gained from hundreds of successful projects, DSG is acknowledged as one of the leading cloud business solutions providers by our major business partner, NetSuite, and by cloud media and analysts such as IDC and CRN.

Since 2005, hundreds of companies—from startups to the Fortune 500—have worked with DSG and benefited from our proven Realize, Optimize and Revitalize methodologies.
The DSG experts are proud to implement tailored NetSuite, Salesforce™, and Adaptive Insights solutions that deliver value, insight and business acceleration, starting on day one.

Another version of this was posted by the DSG Team on October 1, 2015 at http://www.demandsolutionsgroup.com/highlights-from-the-dreamforce-keynote-thunder-rolls/

Photo courtesy of Salvatore Vuono from freedigitalphotos.net