It is without a doubt that consumer decisions play a significant role in the product offering, marketing, and design of your product.
A new trend emerges every year... Factors such as high inflation, which eat away at wage gains and savings, low employment and layoffs, high home prices, and high-interest rates in 2022-2023 mean purse strings are being tightened.
As we enter the year 2023, we will attempt to determine what consumer behaviour will be like and how using Salesforce could help adapt business and promote efficiency and success in uncertain times.
First, the undeniable facts...
The process of selling has become increasingly difficult!
Consumers want more control over spending due to concerns about inflation and rising prices
More e-commerce and social spending is taking place than ever
Companies need to up their game to stay competitive.
Salesforce implementation is a MUST..
How buyer behaviour works: Consumer behaviour patterns are the driving force behind any marketing process. Several factors can influence a consumer's purchasing behaviour, including needs, mentality, mood, and the availability of the product. You can make more sales, market more effectively, and provide better service to your customers by understanding buying behaviour. What matters is what the customer 'thinks' is happening and how it will affect their individual purchasing decisions.
During the current uncertain economic climate, buyers are changing and sales confidence is at an all-time low, with Salesforce recently reporting that 69% of salespeople are having difficulty 'selling'. Fewer than a third of companies believe they will meet their annual sales quotas, and 70% of companies are avoiding riskier tactics... Globally, salespeople acknowledge that selling is becoming increasingly challenging, and they have been forced to adapt quickly.
The following are some ways we have observed consumer purchasing behavior trends and expect to continue to drive this year.
Everything is ONLINE! Mobile applications, social media, and advanced technology are changing the way we discover and purchase products and services. The old ways of buying are dissipating more and more as we gain a deeper understanding of the digital world. Companies and organizations need to opt for an effective omnichannel strategy. More so, focused on customer service.
Here's How.. Salesforce Omni-Channel. An Omni-Channel solution, as the name implies, provides a consistent customer service experience across all channels. In order to provide a seamless customer experience across multiple channels, omni-channel customer service integrates these channels into a single platform. By doing this, customer service agents will have a comprehensive view of a customer's interactions, allowing them to answer queries in a more effective and efficient manner.
Still, In-store shopping remains a preference for many consumers. Despite the significant growth in e-commerce in recent years, many consumers prefer to shop in person for large purchases. This can be augmented in your business in a very simple way.. a positive in-store experience.
Try:
Exclusive in-store deals
Fun experiences
Provide top-notch customer service
Increase in demand for sustainable products and services Research shows that Generation Z consumers are driving the conversation regarding sustainable products, as they become more conscientious consumers. Furthermore, two-thirds of consumers of all generations are willing to pay more for sustainable products, 44% of consumers place product sustainability above brand name, and three-quarters of consumers consider sustainability to be somewhat or very important. Moreover, as the younger members of Generation Z become adults, their influence will only increase.
It is primarily for environmental reasons that consumers purchase sustainable products and brands. So our advice.. To capture future market share, you need to align with Gen Z's values. Let your customers know that your product or service is compatible with their ideals in your advertising.
Personalization Increasingly popular, personalization has led to higher customer satisfaction and conversation rates. In short, personalization refers to the use of unique consumer data. The sales team can personalize buyer experience based on their demographics, browsing history, past purchases, and devices. Due to the increasing omnichannel nature of online shopping, retailers are adapting their marketing strategies to address this trend.
Salesforce defines personalization as 'the act of tailoring an experience or communication based on information a company has learned about an individual.'
What types of experiences can be tailored? Most channels through which customers interact with Salesforce can be personalized. Websites, mobile applications, and social media are some of the most popular.
With Salesforce Marketing Cloud Personalization, you can provide more personalized customer experiences through real-time interaction management. Conclusion: Times are changing!
A large part of consumer behaviour can be attributed to their level of confidence - both in the present and in the future. There will always be one thing that will never change: the customer is always right. Customers value a personalized, straightforward, quick and efficient purchasing process.
There's a reason why mortgage companies, banks, and credit unions 'like' Salesforce. We're not surprised that it's the go-to CRM platform. Are you?
Whether you have been involved in the mortgage application process or not, it is undeniable that Borrowers find initially applying for a mortgage to be the one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks they encounter.
Did you know it takes an average of 46 days to close a mortgage, mainly due to fragmented information and archaic processes?????
In the current market, this type of experience is unsettling to anyone, let alone to younger digital-first consumers who represent 37% of the home buyer market (and growing). As fintech disruptors and independent brokers propel onto the market, mortgage companies are under great pressure to provide seamless and streamlined loan experiences. That’s why more and more companies are implementing SALESFORCE..
Salesforce claims to help 'Deliver End-to-End Mortgage Transformation' and here's how..
Here are some ways that different products can assist with mortgage transactions: · Innovations in the Financial Services Cloud streamline the mortgage experience for borrowers, lenders, and partners. The mortgage process can be simplified and expedited with guided loan applications, streamlined document tracking and approvals, and a new mortgage data model for lenders to develop deeper, more complete relationships with borrowers. · Mortgage and lending teams will be able to create high-quality marketing materials for potential and ongoing borrowers with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Using this Salesforce product, you can customize the borrower's experience regardless of where they are in the lending process. · Using Salesforce Experience Cloud, mortgage and lending companies can quickly launch data-powered sites, portals, and apps to enhance customer service.
More about Salesforce Financial Services Cloud
The Salesforce Financial Services Cloud is just one component of the Salesforce Platform for the mortgage industry, which transforms the mortgage process from pre-application to post-closing through marketing, sales, servicing, integration, and application development.
By using Salesforce, lenders are able to engage borrowers earlier in the home buying process through intelligent marketing, and the best leads can be identified automatically. During the application process, lenders, borrowers, and partners can collaborate via digital portals that support the collection of documents, embedded business processes, and a knowledge base for assistance.
Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC) is the ideal Salesforce product for mortgage and lending companies. By implementing this solution, mortgage loan officers, processors, underwriters, and brokers will be able to provide transparency to borrowers from the beginning of the loan process to the end.
It's a win-win for both home buyers, lenders and mortgage companies.
UK’s Data-Driven force - Transformative engagement.
A greater emphasis is being placed on the performance of policing than ever before. With recent events, a rise in online crime and changes being made across the board. Here's how the UK's police force is utilizing Salesforce to leverage its performance.
Recent reports indicate that policing continues to be perceived as underperforming within the force. At this point, it's worth noting that Steadman Brown holds the highest regard for the police force and the work they do, but let's be honest, there is always room for improvement.
Police work is driven by integration and data, ensuring that information can be accessed by the right people at the right time. Through the use of this data, officers can engage with the public more effectively, prevent crimes from occurring, solve crimes more quickly, and provide better support to victims. It's a win-win.
In the UK, the part you don't see when the police are out 'fighting crime' is the vast number of contact centers, victim care organizations, general practice reviews, protocol reviews, and the ability to deal with the underlying challenge of trust and confidence in how policing prevents and detects crime.
With Salesforce's single platform approach, Police Forces can consolidate touchpoints and ensure that all information is presented in a single view. The most advantageous part is they do not replace the existing system but instead integrate it and make it interoperable with Salesforce.
There is always a desire and drive to gather more data in order to measure the progress of any service. And that's what Salesforce is for, right?
What's the main goal?
To facilitate the automatic exchange of data between officers, control centers, care teams, and other organizations.
To provide data to better inform decision-making with the public
To ensure that the appropriate people have access to the proper data and that the right officers are provided with the appropriate information.
Measurement of performance in various areas
Assuring a capable and sustainable workforce capable of meeting the ever-changing needs of the public and its own employees.
Example: In the context of evaluating a citizen when necessary, insight into the citizen and his or her background can be gathered more effectively with Salesforce. By doing so, they will be able to gain a more comprehensive understanding of any situation at hand, and effectively bring together disparate data sets that will provide a complete 360 view of the individual.
Did you know that in the 2019 Police Foundation report – Data-Driven Policing and Public Value – Points were presented in order to demonstrate a transparent path forward? It included the removal of closed technology to enable the integration of systems and data across force boundaries. A coordinated approach to the accuracy of data was proposed as a means of ensuring data-driven policing.
What is the current use of this platform by the UK Police Force? Police in the UK is rapidly transforming how they engage with citizens. In addition to many other tasks, they use Salesforce to.
Integrate with legacy systems and get a single view of citizens
Identify vulnerable individuals quickly to prioritize engagement
Deliver an improved level of service to create satisfaction and build trust
Use Salesforce Solutions for: Force Control Rooms, citizen engagement, interoperability with systems & automation of manual processes
In such a diverse industry, #healthcare organizations utilize Salesforce as a means to improve patient communication and interaction.
Last week, we talked about how Salesforce has streamlined, improved, and innovated public services. This week, we'll look at some of the ways and reasons healthcare organizations use Salesforce, as well as why so many others keep implementing it.
"Transforming healthcare services together."
Salesforce's official website says Salesforce is committed to providing a connected platform for digital care. This empowers healthcare organizations to provide innovative, integrated, digitally based services, improve engagement, and make access to services easier.
Here's a quote from Salesforce "A unified, collaborative platform that provides a fully-equipped industry solution to improve patient outcomes and quality of care, bringing visibility and transparency across the entire health and social care network."
How does it do that? Salesforce Health Cloud.
In simple terms,
It's a cloud-based patient relationship management solution for healthcare organisations
It gives providers a 360-degree view of their patients.
Health Cloud is built on Salesforce's cloud platform (which is scalable and secure). This keeps sensitive patient information safe and accessible only to authorized people.
It's not a replacement for clinical decision support systems or electronic health records, but rather an extra layer of support for caregivers.
Since Salesforce Health Cloud was released in 2016, it's revolutionized healthcare. There are many benefits that Healthcloud and its solutions can provide in the healthcare sector, including improving collaboration and efficiency between members of care teams and enhancing patient-provider relationships.
Make smart use of data... The use of Salesforce AI is becoming increasingly prevalent. Let's take a look at how it can be applied to health care. Healthcare providers can anticipate and meet patient needs with tools like Tableau CRM (formerly Einstein Analytics). They can also utilize risk stratification to identify high-risk patients and enroll them in the proper care management program. In a nutshell, data-driven decisions equal better health outcomes.
Teamwork at its finest... It is safe to say that anyone who spends time in a hospital will be familiar with the variety of medical professionals there. Just think about the front desk staff when you check in, the triage nurse, the doctor, maybe a specialist doctor... if there is a real concern a surgeon and his team, and then maybe even aftercare professionals. There may be a primary care doctor, a specialist, a household caregiver, or anyone else involved in patient health. Users can view a unified care plan, assign tasks, and communicate with one another from any device, depending on their role.
Get a personalized experience... Consumers today expect personalized experiences, and that's not just in healthcare. Salesforce lets you personalize every step of the healthcare process to the patient's preferences, whether it's phone calls, text messages, or the Salesforce Communities site.
Stay secure... Data security is a big deal in healthcare. There are devastating consequences to a breach. Salesforce Shield and Health Cloud let healthcare organizations keep electronically protected health information (ePHI) encrypted.
Salesforce has helped healthcare organizations adapt quickly to tackle healthcare's biggest challenges.
As a platform, it is highly adaptable. As we move forward into 2023, it is imperative that healthcare providers remain efficient while providing quality care.
As healthcare organizations utilize intelligent data at every stage of the patient journey, they will be able to provide the level of service patients expect and deserve.
Modernize and digitize. Automation is key! Part 1/4
Using Salesforce as a platform, the #publicsector can transform its engagement - by gaining a 360-degree view of citizens, stakeholders, and partners. What's not to like? As a result of #Salesforce, public services have been streamlined, enhanced in efficiency, and supported in innovation. Here is how and why organizations in this sector continue to implement Salesforce solutions on a daily basis.
Why Salesforce?
As well as Salesforce's scalable, flexible, and secure platform, it offers a variety of apps and services tailored to meet the needs of specific industries. These include #Healthcare, #Government, and #Law enforcement. Immediately following implementation, Salesforce customers can transform how they deliver services, demonstrating the impact and time-to-value.
Which industries fall under the public sector? The purpose of this series is to examine Salesforce's use in the public sector and specific industries in which it is used. In addition, it will examine the reasons for doing so.
Keep up to date with all things Salesforce & The Public Sector on our blog!
Let's begin with a brief introduction to each.
Salesforce for HealthCare Marketed is a collaborative platform that provides a complete industry solution to improve patient outcomes and quality of care. Salesforce brings perks such as increased transparency and visibility to the health and social care systems. As a result of Salesforce implementation, healthcare organizations are able to deliver transformative, digital-first and integrated services, which improve engagement and simplify access to care, giving patients enhanced control over their health and well-being. By utilizing the 360° patient view, patient-centered, coordinated care can be provided effectively.
Salesforce for Government
Salesforce enables government organizations to manage citizen interactions through a variety of channels. As a result, government agencies around the world are utilizing Salesforce's capabilities to enhance citizen engagement and improve daily operations.
Salesforce and law enforcement
Bringing citizen engagement to the next level. Salesforce integration helps law enforcement such as the police manage the exchange of information, to better inform public decision-making, and to share appropriate information with officers. It includes solutions for the following: Force Control Rooms, citizen engagement, system interoperability, and the automation of manual processes.
Want to know more? We will cover the healthcare industry, Salesforce, and the public sector. Next up... Part 2/4 of Salesforce & Public Sector!
Salesforce CRM for retail enables retailers to keep their customers' needs at the forefront of their minds. The key to success for all retailers is Customer Experience & Loyalty. To achieve this, knowing the right information is crucial! The Salesforce platform allows sales representatives, partners, and employees to do just that.
Currently, shopping experiences and the economy influence purchase decisions significantly. We live in a digital-first world, no doubt. More and more, retailers need to create personalized, memorable experiences aligned with their brand values to succeed. Especially during #COVID-19, #recession, and #war when customer sentiment is low.
The retail industry is suffering from what's being called a major crisis. In addition to demand fluctuating constantly, supply chain breakdowns and rapid increases in operating expenses only exacerbate these problems.
What can retail organizations do to overcome this? Implementing a powerful IT solution.
So why Salesforce?
We all browse online, either for ideas or to buy something, but when things get tricky, it can be frustrating. As we navigate through each site, we get a feel for the customer experience. During this period of time, we decide whether to buy from the retailer...or not. Bottom line, customer experience, including ease of shopping and customer service, is a HUGE factor in driving sales.
Salesforce can help retailers improve customer experience and loyalty. Moreover, they can collect and harness customer data, automate processes, and fully understand customer behaviour, which will allow them to maximize marketing, sales, and customer service.
According to Salesforce 'Our integrated CRM platform for retail will help you unite your teams, create compelling commerce and marketing experiences, and deliver consistent service at every moment. Unify marketing, commerce, service, and IT data on one connected retail platform.'
How does it do this?
Salesforce integration enables teams to get a 360-degree view of every customer throughout their shopping journey, so retailers can meet customers' expectations with a customized shopping experience.
Enhancing the customer experience. Today's consumers use multiple channels to learn about and connect with companies; I use google, instagram, tik tok it. It's these diverse channels of communication that make it tough for retail companies to reach the right customers at the right time. It's not a problem for Salesforce. With a 360-degree view of customer interactions across all channels and touchpoints, retailers can figure out what customers want and produce the most appropriate offering at the right time for the right customer.
Retail organizations need positive customer experiences to grow. As for me, if the customer experience is not satisfactory, I won't buy from you. Providing a seamless, hassle-free buying experience is of the utmost importance for retailers since most customers expect high-quality shopping experiences across all channels. When implemented effectively, Salesforce helps retailers deliver a fully contextualized, tailored experience that leads to high customer satisfaction.
Streamline your retail operations in real time Increasing operational expenses and fluctuating demand are major challenges in retail. How do retailers tackle this? By improving operational efficiency and inventory management. But what use is it if you don't have real-time data? Salesforce gives you access to real-time sales and marketing data. If we take stock/inventory operations as an example, using Salesforce a clothing brand can view real-time sales data of a popular Christmas jumper in their store, thus enabling them to estimate how many quantities of the product remain and how many more they expect to sell; they can then restock at the appropriate time. Consequently, you can prevent the store from running out of stock. A great solution, right?
Predictive data analytics - No code needed! Analyzing marketing and sales data manually to identify business trends and estimate demand is outdated. It's evidently critical to forecast demand in real time. The solution is simple... SALESFORCE. With predictive analytics, you can estimate retail product demand in a few clicks. In addition, you can forecast revenue by division and develop complex business risk and strategy models.
Easy peasy.
Back to the customer experience. Here are some ways Salesforce helps retailers enhance the customer experience.
Personalized communication based on a deeper understanding of customers. Using Salesforce CRM's predictive intelligence, you can predict customer behavior and build appropriate responses.
Segment your customers better Every industry needs customer segmentation, but retail is particularly relevant. Your marketing strategy and customer experience rely on this. The Salesforce marketing cloud offers retail-specific segmentation services. Based on demographics, geography, behavior, and spending habits, you can segment your audience effectively.
Win customer loyalty and trust with more productive marketing campaigns. Retail is powered by marketing tools that gather customer data. For increased lead generation and conversions, Salesforce lets you customize one-to-one emails, messages, and social media content for shoppers. You can manage discounts, rewards, and loyalty programs to grow your customer base.
Customer service that's second to none. With Salesforce Service Cloud, retail businesses can solve customer issues effectively and quickly using AI, analytics, and automation. Ever been on a website that had a little chat box to help you out? Live chatbots make it easier for retail representatives to deal with customer questions and issues.
Retail organizations can use Salesforce to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction, streamline their operations, and manage the constantly changing demand for their products.
Due to the complexity of the #Fintech industry, many Fintech firms choose to implement Salesforce in order to drive business growth. In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of Salesforce for Fintech companies. We will also discuss how Salesforce can be effectively used to address a wide range of operational challenges faced in this industry.
The term "fintech" refers to the use of #technology to manage customer-facing and back-end processes in the financial services industry. This can include anything from online transactions to #stock investments, among many other things.
Due to the complexity of the technical processes involved in the FinTech industry, Salesforce is most frequently the platform of choice for all their needs. When FinTech companies are constantly under pressure to scale up operations and increase profitability, investing in a #finance#CRM system such as Salesforce can help them maintain a competitive edge.
Why Fintech Companies use Salesforce?
Salesforce has the ability to help companies grow by supporting primary transactional activities, providing customer-centric business models, providing analytical insight, leveraging seamless omni-channel experiences, and providing hyper-personalized customer service.
In this industry, there is a great deal of transactional activity, and Salesforce can support its core financial operations. A few examples include fund transfers, case escalation, and handling changes related to customers and accounts. Salesforce can accomplish the above-mentioned tasks quickly and seamlessly with front and back-office processes.
With Salesforce, FinTech companies are able to analyze their customer data to gain valuable insight into their preferences, behavior, and purchasing patterns. Insights such as these enable companies to segment their customers and offer them different products suited to their customers' needs/requirements. As a result of Salesforce's analytical capabilities, the sales team is able to identify prospects and present the best-fit products accordingly. The result is a higher conversion rate and an increase in profitability. Furthermore, analytics also assist sales managers in tracking the performance of their teams against their daily targets.
The omnichannel experience that Salesforce provides customers is one of the major benefits of deploying CRM capabilities at work. It makes banking more convenient and accessible for customers when they have access to banking through different digital channels, including mobile apps, social media, websites, etc. Banks are also able to reduce their dependency on physical branches and support staff as a result of this technology.
Many of us are aware that Salesforce enables companies to gain a deeper understanding of their customer's data for marketing purposes. In this way, the sales team can craft a hyper-personalized sales and communication strategy for each customer. Thus, representatives are able to build trusting relationships with customers.
Benefits
Replacing Multiple Systems. The growth of a fintech company often necessitates multiple solutions to cope with new business areas, products, and services. Salesforce enables you to stay at the forefront of innovation and adopt a customer-centric approach as your business evolves.
It is easy to customize Salesforce. It is quick to implement various new business functions. In addition, it offers an extensive Appstore of partners that can be quickly integrated into your Salesforce environment.
Increased sales due to an increase in lead conversions. It is possible to increase sales and convert leads into loyal, permanent customers in a short period of time.
Streamlined processes. Using the latest technology and improving processes and workflows, Fintech businesses are able to boost their profits while reducing expenses.
Reduced operational risk. A Fintech firm may be exposed to a number of debilitating risks as a result of insufficient processes, cybercrime, miscommunication, errors, and non-compliance. Integrated tools with streamlined processes can prevent data problems and maintain them while keeping them protected.
Salesforce is designed to facilitate the interaction between businesses and their customers. By using Salesforce, Fintech firms can transform their business practices, from providing the right financial products to responding to customer inquiries and onboarding customers, faster, easier, and in many cases in real-time.
Are you seeking Salesforce talent to join your Salesforce team? We have a number of Salesforce candidates with experience in the fintech sector seeking their next career opportunity. Get in touch with one of our dedicated consultants today for more information
It's not hard to see a possible recession in the mist. As the cost of living rapidly rises, many of us are already feeling the pinch. The price of gas has rocketed, making commuting challenging, and we can all expect more energy price increases later this year.(Again) In central London, even the pint of beer is expected to peak at £14 per pint by early 2023. Making those after work drinks a bit more challenging.
Is it time to prepare for the worse? How does this affect your Salesforce career? When the economy is in recession, can you find your dream job?
Let us ease your worries by diving into your concerns.
According to the Bank of England, inflation is expected to surpass 10% by the end of the year, which is the highest rate since 1982. To combat this, interest rates have been raised to their highest level in 13 years. As a result, it is expected that the economy will shrink in the coming years while unemployment will peak over the same period of time. Experts predict a recession, but no one can predict how severe or how long it will last, making it difficult to estimate how it will impact UK Salesforce clients and candidates.
What we think of when we hear the word 'recession'
·Businesses trying to save money during a recession causes lay offs
·Inflation
·Energy price hikes. Again
·Wages may be unable to cover the cost of everyday essentials.
·Unemployment levels peak
As scary as this sounds. DON’T STRESS...
The immersive business model that Salesforce has developed has made it possible for it to withstand not only the Great Recession of 2008 but also the dreaded Covid 19. Uncertainty is not new to Salesforce! Salesforce has managed to win new customers, retain existing customers, beat their competitors, and innovate their products throughout the past 'crisis' listed above.
It's settling to remember that Salesforce locks customers into long contracts. As a minimum, they may be one year long, but it's not uncommon to see longer contracts as well. Despite people hesitant to begin a new contract, their existing customers are staying put.
On top of all this.. Salesforce CEOs Benioff and Taylor stated in May 2022 that they were recession-resistant. We are confident in this statement.
Steadman Brown knows you may be wondering: Is your Salesforce job safe?
Despite a recession, Salesforce careers should remain relatively stable. Taking a look at Salesforce's own performance is the basis for the conclusion that Salesforce professionals are in high demand, and that demand is purely driven by the end users who use Salesforce. Although there was a recession in 2008 and a pandemic in 2020, Salesforce grew consistently year after year. With this clear point, it becomes evident to us that Salesforce should be able to navigate and mitigate through this difficult time to the best of its ability.
We have, however, taken into consideration that Salesforce may sell fewer products to new or existing customers during a recession, causing a reduction in demand for Salesforce professionals involved in implementing or maintaining the software. As a result, Salesforce jobs could feel pressure during that period. Many other industries will likely be affected as well. Job losses and bankruptcies are almost certainly a consequence of this - this is an unavoidable reality for some professionals.
Because Salesforce is incredibly resilient, it will be unlikely that end-users will start getting rid of it in haste - remember the contracts we mentioned? This is to our advantage!
Worst (and best) case scenario...
The Steadman Brown team is here to cushion the fall... We have a regular flow of Salesforce job placements that aren't likely to dwindle anytime soon. Should you have any issues at your current job, we can easily place you in your next position. Getting your dream Salesforce job could be just a click away! As Salesforce enthusiasts, we are here to ensure you are well looked after during these challenging times.
If you need us, send us a message - we'd be happy to assist.
Are you feeling the squeeze a little too much? Whenever you need more than a professional shoulder to lean on, the Gov.uk website has a lot of help available.
