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  • Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT, a ChatGPT-Powered Einstein AI

    Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT, a ChatGPT-Powered Einstein AI

    Salesforce has announced Einstein GPT a major upgrade to its Einstein AI that uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT to improve its abilities.

    On the heels of an announcement by Microsoft that it was releasing Dynamics 365, the world’s first ERP/CRM copilot, Salesforce has fired back with Einstein GPT. The company describes it as “the world’s first generative AI CRM technology, which delivers AI-created content across every sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT interaction, at hyperscale.”

    Salesforce says Einstein GPT will help transform the entire customer experience, thanks to generative AI.

    Einstein GPT will infuse Salesforce’s proprietary AI models with generative AI technology from an ecosystem of partners and real-time data from the Salesforce Data Cloud, which ingests, harmonizes, and unifies all of a company’s customer data. With Einstein GPT, customers can then connect that data to OpenAI’s advanced AI models out of the box, or choose their own external model and use natural-language prompts directly within their Salesforce CRM to generate content that continuously adapts to changing customer information and needs in real time.

    “The world is experiencing one of the most profound technological shifts with the rise of real-time technologies and generative AI. This comes at a pivotal moment as every company is focused on connecting with their customers in more intelligent, automated, and personalized ways,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. “Einstein GPT, in combination with our Data Cloud and integrated in all of our clouds as well as Tableau, MuleSoft, and Slack, is another way we are opening the door to the AI future for all our customers, and we’ll be integrating with OpenAI at launch.”

    Sales personnel will be able to use Einstein GPT to generate personalized emails to customers, while service personnel will be able to use the tech to generate articles based on case notes, as well as auto-generate personalized interaction with customers.

    Slack will also see Einstein GTP integration, giving users the ability to see in-depth insights.

    Marketing personnel will be able to use Einstein GPT to generate personalized content and engage with customers across mobile, email, web, and advertising.

    Even developers can get in on the action, using the technology to help generate code.

    “We’re excited to apply the power of OpenAI’s technology to CRM,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “This will allow more people to benefit from this technology, and it allows us to learn more about real-world usage, which is critical to the responsible development and deployment of AI — a belief that Salesforce shares with us.”

    https://youtu.be/YAsKRxXdyj0
  • Microsoft Dynamic 365 Copilot Is the First CRM/ERP AI Copilot

    Microsoft Dynamic 365 Copilot Is the First CRM/ERP AI Copilot

    Microsoft is continuing its rollout of artificial intelligence across its platforms, unveiling Microsoft Dynamic 365 Copilot.

    The company touts Dynamic 365 Copilot as “the world’s first copilot in both CRM and ERP that brings next-generation AI to every line of business.” Microsoft has already begun rolling out next-gen AI in its Bing search engine and is now looking to improve the CRM and ERP experience using the new tech.

    In particular, Microsoft wants to help CRM/ERP customers to reduce the daily monotony of necessary tasks, such as notetaking, data entry, and content generation. For example, in Dynamics 365 Sales and Viva Sales, AI can help users write email responses and even create email summaries of Teams meetings. Similarly, in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, AI can generate answers based on chats and email and customers will soon be able to build virtual agents in minutes for their unique needs.

    In Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Dynamics 365 Marketing, AI can help personnel better understand their customer segments, even receiving insights, suggestions, and recommendations they otherwise may have missed.

    “The next era of business applications is being transformed by generative AI,” writes Charles Lamanna, CVP, Business Applications and Platform. “Users will increasingly expect their CRM and ERP applications to include AI-powered expertise. Dynamics 365 Copilot brings the latest AI breakthroughs to every line of business, improving customer experience, employee experience and operational efficiency. Essential to our approach as we bring these latest advancements to customers is our commitment to responsible AI by design – our framework for the safe deployment of AI technologies.

    “Today’s announcement builds on recent AI momentum across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform. This includes: the next generation of AI capabilities in Microsoft Teams, the collaboration platform for work with more than 280 million monthly active users; Viva Sales, which helps sellers by bringing a sales copilot to their flow of work in Microsoft 365; and Power Apps, enabling citizen developers to write code using natural language.”

  • Microsoft Adding ChatGPT Email Creation Into Viva Sales

    Microsoft Adding ChatGPT Email Creation Into Viva Sales

    Microsoft is taking another crack at Salesforce, integrating ChatGPT email creation into Viva Sales to make it easier for salespeople to communicate with clients.

    Microsoft unveiled Viva Sales in mid-2022, touting it as “a new seller experience application.” The app is designed to work with various CRMs and integrate their data with Microsoft’s suite of apps.

    The company is now integrating ChatGPT into Viva Sales so salespeople can use the AI to write emails for them. According to Bloomberg, the software “will cull data from customer records and Office email software. That information will then be used to generate emails containing personalized text, pricing details and promotions.”

    Microsoft is investing heavily in ChatGPT and its creator, OpenAI. The company is planning to unveil a version of Bing that utilizes a new and improved version, and has invested billions in OpenAI.

    The company clearly sees potential for ChatGPT to help it in its efforts to take on Salesforce’s dominance in the CRM market.

  • Salesforce Bows to Investor Pressure, Appoints New Board Members

    Salesforce Bows to Investor Pressure, Appoints New Board Members

    Salesforce is bowing to investor pressure, appointing new board members shortly after activist investor Elliott Management invested in the company.

    Sales announced it had appointed three independent board members late last week “as part of its ongoing board refreshment process.” The new board appointments go into effect March 1, 2023.

    The new board members are:

    • Arnold Donald, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Carnival Corporation & plc;
    • Sachin Mehra, Chief Financial Officer of Mastercard; and
    • Mason Morfit, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of ValueAct Capital

    “We’re excited to welcome Arnold, Sachin and Mason to the Salesforce Board,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce. “As highly respected business leaders, they each bring valuable experience to further enhance and balance the diverse skills on the Board and advance our value creation initiatives. We look forward to benefiting from their expertise and insights as Salesforce continues to drive durable top- and bottom-line growth and build on our position as the world’s #1 CRM.”

    “The addition of these three new independent directors to our Board demonstrates Salesforce’s commitment to ongoing refreshment in action,” said Robin Washington, Lead Independent Director of the Board. “Arnold’s proven cross-industry leadership experience, Sachin’s expansive financial, technology and operational expertise and Mason’s investor perspective and record of helping public companies build sustainable, long-term value will further strengthen our Board’s depth of expertise and diversity of thought. Ensuring we have the right Board in place to guide the Company’s strategy and oversee its ambitious goals continues to be a top priority. Over the past year, we have benefited from the valuable input of our investors and look forward to continuing that dialogue as we drive value for Salesforce shareholders.”

    Salesforce’s decision to appoint additional board members is likely in response to Elliott’s multibillion-dollar investment in the company, and may be an effort to avoid an all-out proxy fight. Elliott has a long history of heavily investing in companies and then aggressively pushing for executive and board changes.

    According to The Wall Street Journal, that appears to be exactly what Elliott is doing with Salesforce, with the investment firm preparing to nominate its own slate of directors.

    “Salesforce is one of the pre-eminent software companies in the world, and having followed the company for nearly two decades, we have developed a deep respect for [Co-Chief Executive] Marc Benioff and what he has built,” said Jesse Cohn, managing partner at Elliott, at the time of investment.

    “We look forward to working constructively with Salesforce to realize the value befitting a company of its stature,” added Cohn.

    Elliott’s involvement comes at a difficult time for Salesforce. The company has seen the departure of some of its top executives in recent weeks, as well as layoffs that have impacted roughly 10% of its employees.

  • Ecommerce, Search, Social… and Conversational Space?

    Ecommerce, Search, Social… and Conversational Space?

    “When I look at the conversational space I think it’s going to have as much impact as ecommerce or search or social,” says LivePerson CEO Rob Locascio. “The conversational space is going to be just as big. I think you’ll see one day that there will be a trillion dollar company in this space and I want it to be us. The things we’re investing in right now and setting up for will allow us to do that. That’s what’s important.”

    Rob Locascio, CEO of LivePerson, predicts that the AI-driven conversational space will ultimately have as much impact and be as big an industry as ecommerce, search, or social. Locascio was interviewed by Jim Cramer on CNBC:

    Ecommerce, Search, Social… and Conversational Space?

    When I look at the conversational space I think it’s going to have as much impact as ecommerce or search or social. The ability to talk to a machine and have a natural conversation, it’s in the collective consciousness of people. We all believe the Alexa type situation should happen with every company. 

    We do that with Delta and T-Mobile and all these big brands. What we’re looking at now is how do we take that to the world? LiveIntent is proprietary technology to look at the intent that a consumer is having with the brand. In terms of I want to buy something, we have a way to analyze that and then use machine learning algorithms to then scale those conversations. That’s what this is about. 

    Healthcare Companies Defending Themselves From Amazon Via AI

    In Q4 we signed a couple healthcare companies. They want to talk about defending themselves from Amazon because Amazon said they want to go into healthcare. The way they think they can do that is scaling the conversations they are having with their customers and creating a totally different experience. You go to a doctor, you have an experience with them, you capture that on a messaging platform and an AI will help you with whatever is wrong with you. You want to process a bill instead of calling and being put on hold, you do that through a conversational experience. 

    They want to game change it. The only way they’re going to defend themselves is to get into the conversational space. That’s what they see and we’re the company they’re trusting to scale their operations with the conversational platform.

    Conversational Space Is Going To Be As Big As Search and Social

    The conversational space is going to be as big as search and social. I think you’ll see one day that there will be a trillion dollar company in this space and I want it to be us. The things we’re investing in right now and setting up for will allow us to do that. That’s what’s important. The Amazon’s and the Facebook’s and Apple’s, they’re in the space. Jeff Bezos made a big bet obviously in Alexa to say this is the way it’s going to be. 

    It can’t just be Amazon and Alexa. It has to be other companies getting access to that technology and that’s what we are providing. Who else is providing it? We’re one of the largest companies in the world to do this. Even though we’re not big tech, we are large enough to go ahead and go after them. We are large enough to go ahead and define a space and win it.

  • Tableau Bears the Brunt of Salesforce Layoffs & Reorganization

    Tableau Bears the Brunt of Salesforce Layoffs & Reorganization

    Salesforce may have spent $15.7 billion to acquire Tableau, but the division is bearing the brunt of Saleforce’s recent issues.

    Salesforce announced Wednesday that it would be laying off roughly 10% of its workforce. According to Bloomberg, however, Tableau has seen a larger percentage of its workforce laid off than the rest of Salesforce.

    The gutting of Tableau is being seen as a lack of confidence in the division, given Tableau’s performance issues.

    “It makes a lot of sense to me that Tableau would have a disproportionate contribution to this layoff,” John DiFucci, of Guggenheim Research, told Bloomberg. “That company was not growing new business when they bought it, and they paid a lot.”

    The cuts come on the heels of most of Tableau’s top leadership exiting the company. The latest departure was CEO Mark Nelson in December and, according to Bloomberg, the majority of top execs that were with the company when Salesforce acquired it have left.

    With the economy in a downturn, it seems that Tableau doesn’t measure up to Salesforce’s current needs.

  • COVID Accelerated Digital Transformation, Says DocuSign CEO

    COVID Accelerated Digital Transformation, Says DocuSign CEO

    “We have seen significant acceleration since the COVID-19 pandemic,” says DocuSign CEO Dan Springer. “A significant portion of that (increase) was due to increased use cases from customers driving that digital transformation faster with services like DocuSign. We don’t see customers going back. Once they’ve got the benefits from that efficiency in their business, the better customer experience, and the better employee experience, they’re going to stay in a digitally transformed world.”

    Dan Springer, CEO of DocuSign, discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and he says that businesses are not going back to a manual world:

    COVID Pandemic Accelerated Digital Transformation

    We’ve been really pleased with the growth we’ve had since going public a few years. We have also seen significant acceleration since the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s obviously a horrible pandemic and our number one priority has been the health and wellbeing of our employees so we can take good care of our customers. As you can see in our Q1 earnings we did see an acceleration of our bookings to 59 percent.

    Traditionally, if you look at the billings-type metric they have been in the mid-30s’. A significant portion of that (increase) was due to increased use cases from customers driving that digital transformation faster with services like DocuSign.

    Companies To Stay In This Digitally Transformed World

    One of the things we’ve seen with the pandemic impact is that it has really accelerated the path that companies were already on to drive that digital transformation. We don’t see companies after the pandemic settles down going back and saying they want more paper and more manual processes.

    Once they’ve got the benefits from that efficiency in their business, the better customer experience, and the better employee experience, they’re going to stay in a digitally transformed world. They are going to use DocuSign and other fantastic services to do that.

    The Future Is Going To Have eSignature At The Center

    We really think that the future is going to have eSignature at the center of what we call the overall Agreement Cloud. Companies want to be more agreeable. They want to be easier to do business with and be easier to do business for. They’re going to not just use DocuSign for signature but all of the other components of preparing agreements and managing those agreements digitally once they’ve been created. That’s why we’re excited about our very robust future.

    We just past a billion dollars in revenue (for DocuSign eSignature). We are only four percent penetrated today and we’re six times larger than the next biggest player in the space. There’s not a lot of penetration yet in that core business. Notary is still predominantly done manually. We are making investments there. We believe we can bring the same ease of use that we brought to eSignature we can bring to notary.

    AI To Power The DocuSign Agreement Cloud

    Much bigger than that, even expanding upon the opportunity of eSignature is that broader Agreement Cloud opportunity. We think this is the next big cloud opportunity. You are going to see companies increasingly say I don’t just want to do the workflow and signature. I also want to drive the creations of those agreements. I want to think about artificial intelligence and search capability to manage my agreements. This would enable me to actually manage my business and make my company more agreeable.

    Those are some of the investments we’re making. That’s why we just finished the acquisition of Seal Software last month so we can bring additional artificial intelligence and analytic capability to help people run their businesses better.

    COVID Accelerated Digital Transformation, Says DocuSign CEO Dan Springer
  • Three Use Cases for Syncing Salesforce and Snowflake

    Three Use Cases for Syncing Salesforce and Snowflake

    Cryptocurrency, CRMs, and other data-driven procedures are the most important things in today’s world. Without them, businesses cannot generate the revenue they need to thrive. The marketing landscape has become so unyielding as to require the use of data platforms to grab and maintain the attention of customers. Curiously, data platforms can often be combined into more potent data platforms with greater capabilities, but it is not always easy for business owners to discern which data platforms are best to combine. However, there are two incredibly powerful technologies that are even more powerful when they are combined: Salesforce and Snowflake. While both technologies are potent, it is important to consider the definitions of these phenomena. Without definitions, there is no way to observe and appreciate the effectiveness of both aforementioned technologies.

    What Is Salesforce?


    The purpose and potency of Salesforce may not be immediately apparent to laymen, but software developers link the technology’s effectiveness to meticulous data collection and management. Essentially, Salesforce is the stand mixer with which to bake the cake of data analysis.

    At its core, Salesforce is a cloud-based technology that utilizes software and services in order to learn more about what customers want from businesses. To keep track of customers is to keep track of so many things. There are so many different items such that one person cannot possibly keep track of the needs of every customer. Businesses can outsource this type of menial labor to software like Salesforce. Creating relevant customer experiences, Salesforce offers advertisements that are curated for any possible lead.

    Salesforce’s internal architecture allows for explosive financial growth, providing benefits like API integration, digital support, versatile scalability, configuration options, and low prices. Because of this, Salesforce is easily one of the best digital service providers, able to meet your business needs quickly and efficiently. It even provides an artificial intelligence platform with which to optimize machine learning for purposes of greater revenue.

    Because Salesforce is so widely used, small businesses depend on it as much as large businesses do. The key facet of Salesforce that allows for better interdepartmental communication is the way in which the technology breaks down a business’s operations into each of that business’s parts. This ensures that departments always have access to the information they need, no matter how distant any two departments might seem to be from each other. Now that we have outlined the importance and relevance of Salesforce, it is time to address the benefits of Snowflake, another potent technology.

    What Is Snowflake?


    A curious phenomenon, Snowflake is a technological marvel with which to solve problems on four primary fronts: collaboration, monetization, building, and accessibility. Snowflake offers great accessibility by bringing data out of silos and into contact with other data, making clear the relationships among data instead of focusing on hard numbers. With Snowflake, first-party and third-party data can be governed effectively in a way that brings about unimaginable insights among executive departments.

    The next major front is building, or leveraging Snowflake’s unmatched speed and versatility to establish excellent data models, streamline digital pipelines, and run data applications. Snowflake can allow your business to collaborate: Enjoy work across multiple clouds without any lapses in communication toward other departments, no matter the data, applications, or internal communities at play. Finally, monetization is the process of creating new avenues by which to obtain revenue. Snowflake helps you win new customers and maintain relationships with old customers. It accomplishes this by offering data sets and data services, both of which aim at the heart of what customers need. All of this begs the question, under what circumstances should Snowflake and Salesforce be combined?

    Effective Account Pursuit


    Data analysis should enable your executive teams to chase after the warmest leads. Combining these two eminent technologies allows for lead info to travel from your data warehouse to a CRM, which enables marketing professionals to sell products to the most receptive accounts.

    More Direct Action


    Pushing product data enables account managers to ascertain the activity and general behavior of potential clients. With Snowflake and Salesforce, you can know what your potential customers are up to at all times, and this allows for more convincing advertisements across the web. Whether potential customers are offline or online, you can keep track of their needs.

    A Reduction in Cost


    Churn and health score are both major factors that any good business is going to want to limit. Both CRMs, specifically the Salesforce CRM, present an unparalleled account management platform with which to track the changing needs of customers. Reducing costs means advancing advertising capabilities, and greater advertisement capabilities means more revenue. Each of these cases requires a combination of Salesforce and Snowflake. While combining the two is no easy feat, the rewards are potentially limitless.

  • Salesforce and WhatsApp Are Joining Forces

    Salesforce and WhatsApp Are Joining Forces

    Salesforce and WhatsApp are partnering to integrate WhatsApp messaging with Salesforce’s CRM platform.

    Salesforce is the top CRM platform, while WhatsApp is the top instant messaging service. The partnership will allow companies to leverage the power of WhatsApp to better communicate with their customers.

    Companies will be able to use the all-new Salesforce Genie to activate their customers and gain real-time insights. Salesforce Genie will also help inform companies’ Click-to-WhatsApp ad campaigns on both Facebook and Instagram.

    “L’Oreal is on a mission to invent the future of beauty, which also requires us to revolutionize how we connect with our customers around the world. Our customers move fast – we not only have to keep up but exceed their expectations across every interaction. As more customers use their mobile devices as their primary way to engage our brand, we need a single messaging solution that pulls in information across sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT, to help us deliver personalized customer service, deliver product recommendations, and increase sales. Being able to do all of the above on WhatsApp as a single messaging platform could have a tremendous opportunity in beauty, to drive conversational commerce and build greater engagement,” said Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer at L’Oréal.

  • Microsoft Takes Aim at Salesforce With Viva Sales

    Microsoft Takes Aim at Salesforce With Viva Sales

    Microsoft has unveiled its latest attempt to take on Salesforce, launching Viva Sales, “a new seller experience application.”

    Microsoft has been working on challenging Salesforce’s dominance in the CRM market for years. The company’s latest effort is the Viva Sales tool, designed to with with any CRM and integrate its data with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365.

    “The future of selling isn’t a new system. It’s bringing the information sellers need at the right time, the right context, into the tools they know, so their work experience can be streamlined,” said Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft. “Empowering sellers to spend more time with their customers has been our goal — and we’ve done that by reimagining the selling experience with Viva Sales.”

    Viva Sales allows sales reps to tag customers in Outlook, Teams, or Office apps, automatically capturing the data as a customer record. The software then uses AI to help move a customer through the sales process, prioritizing the next steps and providing valuable insights. The AI also helps sellers with recommendations to improve customer engagement and follow-through.

    “Sellers rely on digital collaboration and productivity tools to connect with customers and close deals, but a lot of the insights they uncover with these tools don’t make it into the CRM,” said Paul Greenberg, founder and managing principal, The 56 Group. “Microsoft is taking on this challenge by offering a solution that complements the CRM. Viva Sales automates the busy work, captures critical information about the customer and helps sellers get the job done.”

    Salesforce clearly sees Microsoft as a significant threat to its business, with many believing its acquisition of Slack was a way for the company to better fend off the Redmond giant.

    While Viva Sales works with any CRM, the app could represent a significant foothold effort. If companies find that Viva Sales lives up to expectations, it’s one more piece of Microsoft software integrated into their workflows. Eventually, they may find a full switch to the company’s CRM is the next logical choice.

  • Google Experiment Is Adding Favicons to Ads

    Google Experiment Is Adding Favicons to Ads

    Online ads may be on the verge changing significantly, with Google testing favicons within ads.

    Favicons are those little icons that show up in browser tabs when visiting certain websites. They’re a way for websites to add a little more branding, but many users find them annoying and distracting. What’s more, browser favicons have been exposed as a privacy risk, allowing bad actors to track users’ activity.

    Evidently, Google still believes favicons may have a place in advertising, and is testing their inclusion, according to a tweet by Google’s AdsLiason account.

    This is part of a series of small experiments to help users more easily identify the brand or advertiser associated with the Search ads they may see for a given query.

    AdsLiason (@adsliason), January 24, 2022

    There’s no indication when Google will make a final decision.

  • Salesforce COO Bret Taylor a Rising Star, In Increasing Demand

    Salesforce COO Bret Taylor a Rising Star, In Increasing Demand

    There appears to be a leadership shift in play at Salesforce, with COO Bret Taylor increasingly in demand among the company’s customers.

    CEO Marc Benioff has been the face of the company since he founded it in 1999. According to Business Insider, however, customers are increasingly asking for COO Bret Taylor when discussing business.

    The move is seen as an indication that Taylor is viewed as heir-apparent for the top job at Salesforce, once Benioff retires.

    “I’ve seen a lot of cases where Bret is just becoming more and more in demand with the sales leaders, where they want him,” said Kevin Gibbs, the head of Salesforce Mobile, in a Business Insider interview arranged by Salesforce. “They want him to talk to the CEO, to talk to the leader of those companies, over all the other leaders inside the company over the past five years.”

  • Salesforce Economy to Create 9.3 Million Jobs, $1.6 Trillion in Revenue by 2026

    Salesforce Economy to Create 9.3 Million Jobs, $1.6 Trillion in Revenue by 2026

    A new report is demonstrating the breadth of the current digital transformation, claiming the Salesforce economy will create 9.3 million jobs and $1.6 trillion in revenue in the next five years.

    Salesforce is the leading CRM provider in the world, and recently acquired Slack, one of the leading corporate messaging platforms. Salesforce has gone all-in on the hybrid/remote workplace, and aims to be the “digital HQ” for its customers. CEO Marc Benioff is a firm believer that employees “can be successful from anywhere,” and Salesforce is aggressively positioning itself as the company that can make that happen.

    A new study by IDC, shows Salesforce is doing something right, as the company and its ecosystem partners “will create 9.3 million new jobs and $1.6 trillion in new business revenues worldwide by 2026.” Equally impressive, for every $1 Salesforce makes, its partner ecosystem will make $6.19.

    The company attributed its “digital HQ” strategy as a key to IDC’s findings. IDC predicts that cloud-related tech will make up 27% of digital transformation IT spending in 2022, and grow to 37% in 2026. This trend is being driven by the remote work transition initially sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Salesforce is helping its customers make that transition smoother.

    In fact, IDC found that Salesforce solutions had helped 47% of customer respondents expand their workforce to include more suburban and rural areas. In addition, 38% were able to expand their workforce into new demographics, such as stay-at-home parents who would otherwise not be able join the workforce, and 36% are able to support more flexible work environments.

    “The Salesforce partner ecosystem extends the power of Salesforce to companies of all sizes, across industries and helps make customer success possible,” said Tyler Prince, EVP, Alliances & Channels, Salesforce. “As Salesforce grows, so do our partners — and we are committed to providing our expanding partner ecosystem with the tools needed to succeed in the jobs of the future.”

  • Salesforce Adds AI-Driven Improvements to Service Cloud

    Salesforce Adds AI-Driven Improvements to Service Cloud

    Salesforce has announced AI-driven improvements to Service Cloud, aimed at helping service agents and their customers.

    Salesforce is the leading customer relationship management (CRM) vendor and a powerhouse in the SaaS industry. The company recently acquired Slack, and is a major proponent of a digital-first workflow moving forward. Salesforce is positioning itself as the provider of a “digital HQ,” bringing together the services and products companies need to thrive in the new hybrid workplace.

    As part of that, the company is improving its Service Now platform, recognizing that top-notch service is one of the defining features of companies that have survived the pandemic.

    “The businesses that have thrived over the last 18 months are those that embraced digital tools to deliver excellent customer and employee service experiences with trust and transparency,” said Clara Shih, CEO of Service Cloud, Salesforce. “With new AI and process automation for Service Cloud, as well as Slack to provide a digital hub to quickly resolve issues across teams and departments, we’re giving agents more time to focus on providing human-centric service and giving customers fast, proactive service to build trust and loyalty.” 

    To help companies better meet the needs of customers, Salesforce is introducing a number of new AI-driven workflows, including Customer Service Incident Management, Omni-Channel Flow and Robotic process automation capabilities (RPA) for Service Cloud.

    The company is also introducing new and improved digital contact center capabilities. These include Einstein Conversation Mining, a Natural Language Processing (NLP) system to help prioritize customer interactions; persistent in-app and web messaging; virtual remote assistant; Workforce Engagement Intraday Management; and Service Cloud Voice for phone, digital channels and CRM data.

  • Salesforce Competed With Zoom to Acquire Five9

    Salesforce Competed With Zoom to Acquire Five9

    Zoom made headlines in July when it announced it was purchasing Five9, despite apparently having competition from Salesforce.

    Five9 is a leading intelligent cloud contact center provider, making it natural fit for Zoom. Zoom’s roots were primarily in the enterprise before the pandemic made the company a household name and Five9 will help it bolster its services in that core market.

    According to an SEC filing, Zoom was not alone in trying to acquire Five9, with another company also interested in a deal. While the filing doesn’t reveal who that company was, according to Business Insider, RBC analysts believe it was Salesforce.

    Salesforce recently acquired Slack and has been very vocal in its goal of creating a “digital HQ” to help companies reinvent their productivity. Salesforce itself has been one of the most open in embracing hybrid and remote workflows, and clearly sees pandemic-fueled workplace changes as a long-term factor.

    Given that Salesforce was not able to complete a deal with Five9, it will be interesting to see if the company tries to snap up one of its competitors.

  • Your Next Streaming Service: Salesforce

    Your Next Streaming Service: Salesforce

    Salesforce is preparing to enter the video streaming market, a major departure from its current CRM and enterprise offerings.

    Salesforce is the leading customer relationship management (CRM) provider, and offers a host of complimentary applications and services. According to an exclusive provided to Axios, the company is preparing to add a video streaming service to its list of services.

    Salesforce+ will be a free video streaming service dedicated to business professionals, featuring original content from Salesforce and, eventually, SalesForce clients. The company has hired 50 editorial personnel to help launch the service, and has built its own studio in-house.

    “It’s going to help you learn things that help you do great at your job, whether you’re a salesperson, a marketing professional, a CEO, etc.,” said Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Franklin.

    The company hopes Salesforce+ will help customers establish an emotional connection to the company as well, making users “want to use our products and want to engage more with us.”

    Salesforce’s foray into streaming, on the heels of its Slack acquisition, highlights the growing convergence occurring in the industry, and the importance of companies embracing new ways of connecting with new and existing customers. It’s a safe bet Salesforce won’t be the last company to adopt this approach.

  • The Deal Is Done: Slack Is Officially Part of Salesforce

    The Deal Is Done: Slack Is Officially Part of Salesforce

    Salesforce has completed its $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack, combining the leading CRM platform with one of the leading messaging platforms.

    The two companies announced in December they had reached a deal for Salesforce to acquire Slack. The deal was seen as a way for both companies to better compete with Microsoft. Microsoft Teams had eclipsed Slack, in terms of user count, thanks in large part to being part of Microsoft 365. Similarly, Microsoft has made it a goal to topple Salesforce as the leading CRM provider.

    The deal underwent additional scrutiny by the DOJ before receiving regulatory approval, paving the way for the deal to close.

    Executives from both companies highlighted their intent to create a “digital HQ,” to serve as a way for companies to reinvent their productivity.

    “We couldn’t be more excited to have Slack as part of the Salesforce family, combining the #1 CRM and the trailblazing digital platform for the work anywhere world,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce. “Together we’ll define the future of enterprise software, creating the digital HQ that enables every organization to deliver customer and employee success from anywhere.”

    “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink and reshape how and where we work,” said Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO and Co-Founder. “Salesforce and Slack are uniquely positioned to lead this historic shift to a digital-first world. I could not be more excited for what’s to come.”

    The deal was welcomed by other companies as well.

    “We are obsessed with continually delighting our clients, and offering them the best experience and value across every interaction,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM. “Salesforce and Slack coming together will help us become more connected, more productive, and more innovative so we can better serve our clients.”

  • Salesforce Announces First Global Dreamforce 2021

    Salesforce Announces First Global Dreamforce 2021

    Salesforce has announced Dreamforce 2021, the first such global event, with both virtual and in-person elements.

    Dreamforce is the premier event for Salesforce and its ecosystem of partners and customers. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, like most companies, Salesforce took its event digital. Doing so helped it reach an unprecedented audience, some 140 million worldwide.

    Salesforce is eager to build on that success by taking Dreamforce 2021 global with in-person events. The conference will be held September 21-23, 2021, in San Francisco, New York City, London and Paris, as well as digitally.

    “We’re thrilled to bring Dreamforce back as an in-person experience, and we can’t wait to bring all our Trailblazers together for a completely new brand experience,” said Sarah Franklin, President and Chief Marketing Officer, Salesforce. “Whether you join us in person or online, it will be the most innovative and immersive Dreamforce ever — another example of how, in this new all-digital world, we can achieve success from anywhere.”

    Salesforce has been one of the biggest companies to permanently embrace remote work and flexible office policies, so it’s nice to see the company committed to ongoing digital events.

  • Salesforce Posts Record First Quarter

    Salesforce Posts Record First Quarter

    Salesforce has delivered its first quarter results, posting a record quarter on strong Customer 360 results.

    Salesforce posted $5.96 billion in revenue, a 23% increase year-over-year. Subscription and support revenue accounted for $5.54 billion of that, an increase of 21%, with the professional services and other revenue sources making up $0.43 billion, an increase of 47%.

    “We had the best first quarter in our company’s history,” said Marc Benioff, Chair & CEO, Salesforce. “We believe our Customer 360 platform is proving to be the most relevant technology for companies accelerating out of the pandemic. With incredible momentum throughout our core business, we’re raising our revenue guidance for this fiscal year by $250 million to approximately $26 billion and non-GAAP operating margin to 18 percent. We’re on our path to reach $50 billion in revenue in FY26.”

    “Our performance in the first quarter was strong across all financial metrics,” said Amy Weaver, President and Chief Financial Officer, Salesforce. “We saw record levels of new business and strength across all products, regions, and customer sizes. Our impressive start to this year helps fuel our momentum for the rest of the year as we keep pace toward our goal of $50 billion in revenue in FY26.”

    In addition to beating earnings estimates, Salesforce issued stronger guidance than analysts were expecting, predicting $0.91 to $0.92 per share for the second quarter, on $6.22 billion to $6.23 billion. In contrast, according to CNBC, analysts had been expecting $0.86 on $6.15 billion.

  • IBM Acquiring Waeg, Leading European Salesforce Consulting Partner

    IBM Acquiring Waeg, Leading European Salesforce Consulting Partner

    IBM is acquiring Waeg, the leading European Salesforce Consulting Partner as it continues its transition to hybrid cloud services.

    IBM is in the process of transitioning from its legacy business to hybrid cloud and AI. The company has been snapping up startups and complimentary companies left and right. Meanwhile, Europe is in the midst of its own transition, with some of the world’s fastest-growing software and services companies based on the continent.

    Waeg is currently the leading Salesforce consultancy in Europe, a significant part of the $30 billion worldwide CRM services market. IBM’s acquisition of Waeg will build on its acquisition of 7Summits in January, the leading US Salesforce consultancy, making IBM a powerhouse in the Salesforce community.

    “Our partner ecosystem is an important growth channel for Salesforce, and IBM continues to expand their capabilities across the world, most recently with the addition of Waeg,” said Tyler Prince, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Alliances and Channels, Salesforce. “The combination of IBM and Waeg’s Salesforce consulting capabilities and assets will help give customers across Europe the capabilities to create streamlined, automated experiences on the Salesforce platform.”

    “Waeg’s growth was built on the simple notion of helping our clients successfully navigate constantly changing customer demands,” said Chris Timmerman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Waeg. “Now, as we join forces with IBM, we are excited to leverage our collective Salesforce capabilities to accelerate that growth across Europe.”

    The deal is expected to close this quarter, subject to standard closing conditions.

  • Salesforce Announces Record Quarter, Slack Impacts Guidance

    Salesforce Announces Record Quarter, Slack Impacts Guidance

    Salesforce has announced its fourth quarter results, turning in a record-breaking quarter and raising its fiscal 2022 revenue guidance.

    Marc Benioff has long had the goal of Salesforce surpassing $20 billion in a year. Salesforce managed to do that, and then some, in fiscal 2021. Total revenue was $21.25 billion, up 24% year-over-year.

    Fourth quarter revenue was up 20%, year-over-year, coming in at $5.82 billion.

    “We never could have predicted a year ago what was in store, which makes me incredibly proud of how well we pivoted our company to adapt to this pandemic world,” said Marc Benioff, Chair & CEO of Salesforce. “We had a record quarter and year by innovating more and faster than ever, enabling our customers to be successful from anywhere, and becoming more relevant and strategic than ever. And we continued to serve all of our stakeholders in a time when they needed it most.”

    The company also raised its fiscal 2022 revenue guidance to between $25.65 billion and $25.75 billion, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.42 billion. However, Salesforce is projecting lower-than-expected profit, between $3.39 and $3.41 per share, as opposed to the $3.49 analysts were expecting. The stock was down 3.9% as a result of the guidance.

    Much of the hit to the projected profit is as a result of the Slack acquisition, valued at $27.7 billion. Even though Salesforce expects Slack to contribute $600 million to its revenue in the fiscal year, that’s still a far cry from the purchase price, and it will take some time before the acquisition pays for itself.