“What Exactly Is Salesforce?”
I sometimes run into people that have not heard of Salesforce. It doesn’t happen very often. But when I do, I try to figure out how to best describe what Salesforce is to them.
Me: Salesforce is a Customer Success Platform that allows users to “easily log, manage, and analyze all customer activity in one place with a suite of web-based CRM software.” (Taken from Salesforce, itself.)
Them: Blank stare. “What’s CRM again…?”
Me: “Customer Relationship Management helps companies understand their customers’ needs and solve problems by better managing customer information and interactions — all on a single platform that’s always accessible from any desktop or device.”
Them: “That sounds complicated.”
That’s when I knew it would take a different approach.
How to Actually Describe Salesforce
Over the years, Salesforce has evolved into something incredibly huge. Over 150,000 companies trust Salesforce to manage their customer data. It’s no longer just a Contact Manager (or a CRM). It is so much more than just a database in the cloud.
So how do you describe it? How do you describe Salesforce to someone in your family or circle of friends who may be technical-challenged during holiday feasts and get-togethers?
When I describe Salesforce now, I like to begin by saying it is a database in the cloud that lets you do just about anything you need it to do. At this point, there is often a moment of silence followed by the question, “So you’re a programmer?”
“No, I’m not a programmer,” I tell them. In fact, I know very little about coding, which is what makes Salesforce so awesome. I describe how my role as a Solution Architect/Analyst is to help companies figure out how to best setup Salesforce for their use. In my role, however, I do little to no coding.
I briefly explain how Salesforce comes set up with so much ready to go right out of the box, and how easy it is to modify it to meet a company’s particular needs, usually wrapping up with a few use cases around sales, marketing, and customer service.
Usually, when I describe Salesforce to my friends and family they’re amazed by how much Salesforce can do. I like to tell them about the Internet of Things (IoT) and how Salesforce is used in devices, in cars, and in robotics. And now we’re also seeing applications for Healthcare and Education.
What Salesforce Means to Me
When you sit back and start thinking about all the things Salesforce can do, it really is incredible. Looking back at that “Big Bang moment” when Salesforce started as a mostly web-based Contact Management tool for sales to where it is now — and where it is going with things like artificial intelligence (AI) — is totally mind-blowing.
This is why I love what I do, and love to describe to people what Salesforce is.
How do you describe Salesforce to your friends and family? Let us know in the comments below.
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