CRM tools and strategy
Customer relationship management combines various tools -- like marketing and sales force automation software -- and strategies to help organizations maintain, manage and learn from customer interactions. Find out the latest news and expert advice for your CRM approach.
Top Stories
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News
22 Mar 2023
Adobe unveils new collaboration tool for marketing teams
The CX giant revealed new technology for faster workflows between marketing, product and data teams to collaborate on marketing campaigns in its new Product Analytics platform. Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2023
Adobe Firefly brings generative AI image marketing tool
The CX giant's Firefly is an image creator trained on millions of visuals from Adobe stock content to understand written commands and make images for better marketing. Continue Reading
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News
12 May 2020
Salesforce coronavirus contact tracing platform goes national
Salesforce gets involved in state and local health authorities' coronavirus contact tracing efforts in New York City, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California and Louisiana. Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2020
Salesforce Lightning App Builder adds low-code forms features
Salesforce Lighting App Builder will include oft-requested low-code features for building complex forms that previously required developer coding to create and update. Continue Reading
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Opinion
08 Apr 2020
What to expect from the Salesforce and Tableau integration
The Tableau integration with Salesforce has many users wondering how this will affect its approach to growth and development, and its place in the digital transformation marketplace. Continue Reading
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News
31 Mar 2020
Salesforce Live web series offers tips for uncertain times
Salesforce execs and celebrity speakers deliver advice to help customers rewrite the sales and marketing playbook while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Mar 2020
3 ways CRM improves customer experience
To be efficient, businesses need their information in one place. Using a CRM system, companies can improve CX by keeping track of their customers and automating business processes. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Mar 2020
9 steps for negotiating deals with Salesforce
Understanding the Salesforce fiscal calendar, motivations of sales agents and what your businesses needs from a deal are key steps in negotiating contracts with the CRM giant. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Mar 2020
Salesforce adds new features to Trailhead Live and Go mobile app
Trailhead Live now features a live chat option and is available on Trailhead Go. While the mobile app fills a need, users still gravitate toward the desktop version. Continue Reading
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News
04 Mar 2020
Zendesk Sunshine CRM, social media upgrades released
Zendesk upgraded Sunshine CRM and Support platforms to manage digital customer conversations, and added e-commerce tools that enable agents to work through order and payment issues. Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2020
Salesforce Vlocity acquisition to aid vertical CRM integrations
As Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block steps down, the CRM vendor acquires Vlocity to spur growth in healthcare, energy, media, government, financial services and insurance. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Feb 2020
Salesforce salary survey shows increase in Trailhead use
The annual Mason Frank International survey shows the top two Salesforce certifications are administrator and platform app builder. Trailhead use has also increased. Continue Reading
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News
19 Feb 2020
Salesforce Sydney event moves online amid coronavirus concerns
As coronavirus spreads, Salesforce changed its March 4 live World Tour Sydney conference to a livestream event, citing safety concerns for employees, customers and Trailblazers. Continue Reading
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News
04 Feb 2020
Experts: Salesforce Evergage acquisition for personalization, not CDP
Salesforce acquires Evergage, which offers personalization and a customer data platform. Analysts say Salesforce bought the tech for the personalization -- not to add to its CDP. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Jan 2020
6 ideas to consider before making a C/4HANA SAP cloud migration
Moving to SAP's C/4HANA platform may lead to improved CX. However, companies should make some considerations before starting an on-premises to SAP cloud migration. Continue Reading
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Answer
07 Jan 2020
What are some useful Salesforce CPQ features?
CPQ tools help speed up the quote process while providing accurate pricing, along with other features. Here's how this technology can help your organization. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Dec 2019
AppExchange, acquisitions key to the future of Salesforce
In the first 20 years of Salesforce's history, acquisitions and products drove rapid growth. In the next 20, AppExchange partners will play a crucial role in the company's growth. Continue Reading
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News
21 Nov 2019
Salesforce Trailhead app makes learning more convenient
Learning Salesforce skills and boosting career potential gets easier with the new mobile app, Trailhead Go. Customers explore how they can take advantage of it. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
21 Nov 2019
Salesforce Dreamforce 2019 news, events and highlights
Dreamforce 2019, Nov. 19 to 22 in San Francisco, promises a variety of announcements and events. Follow this guide for all the happenings during the conference. Continue Reading
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News
20 Nov 2019
How Salesforce mobile Einstein Voice Assistant can improve CX
The Salesforce mobile app’s Einstein Voice Assistant brings a variety of benefits to customers. The AI-enabled tool creates a more human interaction and could help improve self-service. Continue Reading
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News
18 Nov 2019
Oracle expands Customer Experience platform with Oracle Digital Sales
Features of the new CRM tool include Oracle Digital Assistant and a user interface that brings tasks frequently done by sales reps into one place to reduce data entries and clicks. Continue Reading
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News
18 Nov 2019
Salesforce mobile app, Trailhead Go rebuilt for iOS
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Apple CEO Tim Cook take the Dreamforce stage as a rebuilt-for-iOS Salesforce Mobile, new Trailhead Go app and Swift-optimized mobile SDK debut. Continue Reading
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News
14 Nov 2019
Salesforce.org Education Cloud updates enhance student engagement
New Salesforce.org Education Cloud features assist with degree planning, setting up adviser appointments and getting a more well-rounded view of students. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Nov 2019
Microsoft CDP helps businesses unify customer data
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights takes data from disparate sales, service and marketing systems to bring it all into one golden record of the customer. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Nov 2019
Salesforce customers supplement CRM with AppExchange tools
Salesforce customers are turning to the AppExchange to supplement their CRM function. Many find AppExchange tools to be more cost-effective and to integrate better with the CRM. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Nov 2019
Have success with SAP C/4HANA on-premises-to-cloud migration
There is no one way to complete a CRM platform migration, but a little planning and asking questions along the way can ensure you are on the road to success. Continue Reading
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News
30 Oct 2019
Salesforce Trailhead to roll out live training videos
By year's end, Salesforce will unveil a new set of live and on-demand video training classes to give users a new way to earn Trailhead badges and certifications. Continue Reading
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News
29 Oct 2019
Salesforce Financial Services Cloud adds mortgage tools
Salesforce pushes deeper into financial services with tools to make mortgage data collection easier, and to find upsell opportunities for customers looking for home loans. Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2019
Salesforce email marketing gets Einstein AI infusion
Salesforce adds Einstein AI features to email marketing tools to find images and keywords and provide keyword analysis to help email campaigns succeed. Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2019
Ex-Salesforce exec Bob Stutz takes the reins of SAP C/4HANA
Ex-Salesforce Marketing Cloud CEO Bob Stutz, known for jump-starting stagnating CRM and CX software at Siebel, Microsoft and SAP, returns to SAP to bolster C/4HANA CX cloud. Continue Reading
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News
18 Oct 2019
Microsoft CDP pricing might prove attractive to midsize retailers
With entry-level pricing of $1,500 a month, the new Microsoft CDP could attract midsize retailers. Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Oct 2019
These are the ABCs of marketing in the digital age
Audience understanding, behavior analysis, marketing convergence and accessible design are the ABCs of marketing in the digital age, according to Microsoft's Purna Virji. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Oct 2019
Salesforce Einstein Vision sinks teeth into shark recognition
Using drones and a modified version of Salesforce's Einstein Vision, marine biologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, can track and identify great white sharks. Continue Reading
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News
10 Oct 2019
Salesforce Lightning Order Management boosts e-commerce
Salesforce extends Customer 360 capabilities with a bundle of APIs to help users manage and track e-commerce orders and provide more detail to the customer as orders are picked, packed and shipped. Continue Reading
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News
03 Oct 2019
Zendesk Sell apps marketplace extends Sunshine CRM platform
Zendesk's Sunshine CRM gets an apps marketplace built on its Sell sales force automation platform, adapted from the 2018 acquisition of FutureSimple's Base. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Oct 2019
Field service providers drive CX, engagement, retention
Manuel Grenacher, general manager of SAP Service Cloud, offers tips for using CX best practices to improve the lives of both field service providers and the people they service. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2019
New Salesforce clouds focus on manufacturing, consumer goods
Following the success of the Health Cloud, Salesforce is releasing new industry-specific cloud services for the manufacturing and consumer goods sectors. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2019
Microsoft challenges Amazon with Dynamics 365 Commerce
Microsoft broadens Dynamics 365 retail apps suite by introducing an e-commerce platform, as well as tools to track product data and intermingle physical and online retail data. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2019
Salesforce rolls out new security add-on for Quip
The new security add-on, called Quip Shield, offers encryption and customization capabilities tailored to companies' specific security and compliance needs. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2019
Salesforce search about to get smarter with Einstein AI
Salesforce will add Einstein AI to its cloud search functionality in hopes of better assessing context, personalization and reducing false hits for end-user queries. Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2019
Oracle CX Unity goes live, adds voice to digital assistant
As Oracle CX Unity arrives, analysts debate whether it will be an upsell to current Oracle customers, or a challenger to Adobe, Salesforce and SAP CX platforms. Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2019
Security, management updates made to LogMeIn Bold360
LogMeIn has updated the search optimizer, monitor view and workload organization features in its live agent and chat bot customer engagement and AI software platform Bold360. Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Sep 2019
Organizations reap benefits of mobile CRM apps
Salesforce now offers organizations such as Cornell University the ability to render CRM systems as apps, making it easy to manage students and faculty at a number of colleges. Continue Reading
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Answer
28 Aug 2019
Learn how to build a Salesforce app in 4 steps
Salesforce users can follow these steps to create sophisticated codeless apps that integrate the Next Best Action feature using the Lightning App Builder. Continue Reading
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News
22 Aug 2019
SAP Product Content Hub underpins CX initiatives in C/4HANA
SAP SaaS tool integrates AI, APIs for pushing updated product content to e-commerce sites. It also gives sales, marketing and service teams using C/4HANA access to the content. Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2019
Salesforce DNSSEC project aims to boost site security, speed, uptime
Salesforce, which juggles multiple DNS providers to serve customers while complying with global data-privacy regulations, spearheads new DNS models to enable deeper encryption. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2019
Salesforce-SNHU partnership helps students earn college credit
A new partnership between Salesforce and Southern New Hampshire University enables students to earn college credit by completing guided learning modules through Trailhead. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jul 2019
Increases expected from new Microsoft Dynamics 365 pricing
Microsoft's move to a la carte pricing for Dynamics 365 could lead to higher costs for some customers. The new pricing plan takes effect Oct. 1. Continue Reading
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News
24 Jul 2019
Salesforce Essentials adds direct messaging channels, telephony
Salesforce expands its small-business offering with tools to facilitate customer conversations on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, YouTube and web chat. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Jul 2019
Businesses use AR/VR in CRM to boost customer experience
Businesses are using augmented reality -- and its cousin virtual reality -- in applications across many industries. Where CRM is concerned, AR/VR may represent a big leap forward. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jun 2019
Salesforce Customer 360 promises will be clearer in 2020
Salesforce expects to show off what customers are doing with Customer 360 at its next Connections conference in 2020, along with some new integrations. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2019
Salesforce teases new CDP features ahead of fall release
Salesforce gives details about the makeup of its Customer 360 integration platform and features of the customer data platform that it plans to release this fall. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2019
$15.7B Salesforce-Tableau acquisition a direct shot at Microsoft
By acquiring Tableau, Salesforce dramatically strengthened its BI and data visualization capabilities. The move boosts Salesforce's ability to compete with Microsoft. Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2019
SurveyAdvantage launches new customer management service
LoyaltyLoop is SurveyAdvantage's newest service. It provides businesses with a platform to collect and manage customer feedback and reviews through surveys and reviews. Continue Reading
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News
30 May 2019
Salesforce blockchain development tool for CRM platform unveiled
Blockchain has grown beyond its high-profile use case as the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. Salesforce is the latest tech company to bet big on blockchain. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 May 2019
Businesses see increasing importance of video conferencing
Video chat is another channel for businesses to interact with employees and customers. Learn why businesses are placing increasing importance on video conferencing and about its effects on CX. Continue Reading
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Answer
23 May 2019
How do Salesforce Next Best Action and Prediction Builder differ?
The Salesforce Einstein Prediction Builder and Next Best Action components look similar to the untrained eye, but each product works in a different manner. Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2019
Salesforce outage exposes Pardot marketing automation data
Salesforce's 15-hour outage may not scare away users. But it might get them to use more encryption, as the outage exposed customer marketing automation data in the GDPR era. Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2019
New Salesforce FoundationConnect designed for grantmakers
Salesforce.org has launched FoundationConnect, a CRM platform designed specifically to make managing the philanthropic lifecycle easier for nonprofits. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 May 2019
What you need to know about Flow Designer vs. Flow Builder
Salesforce Flow Designer is on the way out, Flow Builder is in -- sort of. The new update includes features that may not make a big difference for developers. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 May 2019
Pega Cloud is Pegasystems' preferred platform
In a Q&A, Alan Trefler, Pegasystems CEO and chess master, ruminates about the cloud, the symbiotic relationship between chess and AI, AI inflation, and the pivot to CX. Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2019
Einstein Analytics for Financial Services enhances banking CX
Salesforce's new analytics tools for financial services follow AI advancements from IBM Watson and Acquia upgrading customer experiences in retail banking and wealth management. Continue Reading
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News
02 May 2019
Impartner PRM integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for sales
Impartner's collaboration with Microsoft delivers Impartner PRM for Microsoft Dynamics 365, a PRM sales software that gives users immediate access to direct and indirect sales data. Continue Reading
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News
01 May 2019
Infor launches new CRM mobile app for CloudSuite
Meeting mobile needs is key for Infor, which just released its Infor CloudSuite CRM Mobile application for iOS users. The app will provide access to important information on the go. Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2019
Upgraded Salesforce Sales Cloud features boost productivity
With AI enhancements, the new cohort of Sales Cloud features will minimize busywork and increase productivity of sales reps, according to Salesforce. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Apr 2019
Salesforce buys Salesforce.org: What that means for customers
Salesforce.com bought Salesforce.org. Nonprofit Cloud customers mull changes they hope to see now that all Salesforce products are under one umbrella. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Apr 2019
Salesforce learning resources include free and paid options
While Salesforce offers a number of free and paid customer success tools to users, nonusers can also benefit through the use of Trailhead and the Trailblazer Community. Continue Reading
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News
17 Apr 2019
Salesforce adds OCR, translation, AI app builder to Einstein platform
Salesforce enables no-code AI app development, as well as optical character recognition, translation and services to extend Einstein predictive modeling tools into external apps. Continue Reading
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News
16 Apr 2019
Infor launches Infor CloudSuite for customer management
Infor has released the Infor CloudSuite CRM cloud-based application, a program for companies to track customer lifecycles, sales and marketing analytics. Continue Reading
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News
08 Apr 2019
Microsoft releases Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator update
A newly released second version of Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator doubles the size of the CDM and allows better management of all user data for nonprofits. Continue Reading
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News
05 Apr 2019
Salesforce Classic nearing end of life, but not dead yet
Salesforce's Lightning UI debuted three years ago, and the vendor stopped adding features to its predecessor, Classic. Customers cling to Classic, despite a big push for Lightning. Continue Reading
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Infographic
26 Mar 2019
Choosing between single- vs. multivendor strategy for CRM
There are two ways to set up a CX tech stack -- either an integrated CRM suite or best-of-breed approach. There are benefits to each model, and the two are compared here. Continue Reading
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News
15 Mar 2019
Microsoft Government Community Cloud adds Teams, Dynamics 365
U.S. government agencies are undergoing a digital transformation, and Microsoft hopes that upgrades to its Government Cloud lineup will make its platform part of that change. Continue Reading
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News
01 Mar 2019
Microsoft mixed reality software comes to smartphones
Microsoft is adding mixed reality capabilities for sales departments and for customer service, extending the features beyond their HoloLens headset and onto smartphones. Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Feb 2019
How Lucky Brand improved its online customer experience
As retailers try to keep up with customers' changing expectations, more and more brands are trying to mesh their online shopping experience with their in-store experience. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Feb 2019
Salesforce makes push for diversity in technology
Salesforce is maneuvering into industry leadership, making a diverse IT community a priority. Its product development strategy seems to have been crafted with such diversity in mind. Continue Reading
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Answer
25 Jan 2019
Why is the Salesforce administrator role so crucial?
Salesforce administrators serve as analysts, trainers and advisers in their roles. Companies can employ one or more Salesforce admins, depending on how the business is organized. Continue Reading
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Infographic
24 Jan 2019
How Salesforce.org's Philanthropy Cloud and Nonprofit Cloud differ
Salesforce.org's Nonprofit Cloud and Philanthropy Cloud both partner with nonprofit organizations but in different ways. The uses of each are compared here. Continue Reading
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Answer
22 Jan 2019
Which vendors make the best CRM for small businesses?
Choosing a CRM for small businesses can be difficult, as the most well-known CRM vendors cater to large enterprises. Others, however, create products with SMBs in mind. Continue Reading
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Feature
22 Jan 2019
Industrial engineering company chooses integrated CRM for CX needs
Through partnering with only Oracle for all of its CX needs, Schenck Process realizes the benefits of an integrated CRM over multiple products. Continue Reading
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News
07 Jan 2019
Salesforce High Velocity Sales boosts inside sales
High Velocity Sales includes Salesforce tools, such as Einstein Lead Scoring, Lightning Email, Sales Cadences and Work Queues, with more features expected in later 2019 releases. Continue Reading
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Answer
07 Jan 2019
How do Salesforce Success Cloud and Trailhead differ?
Success Cloud and Trailhead work hand in hand, enabling Salesforce users to make the most out of the platform and overcome obstacles along the journey. Continue Reading
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News
07 Jan 2019
HubSpot Ventures to strategically fund friendly startups
HubSpot remembers the financial backing it received as a new company and creates its own $30 million venture fund to invest in startups that align with the HubSpot mission. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jan 2019
Salesforce Lightning Web Components adds JavaScript model
By moving toward a standard-based JavaScript model, Salesforce is appealing to millions of JavaScript developers by making it easier to build custom apps on Salesforce Lightning. Continue Reading
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Podcast
24 Dec 2018
2018 in review: CRM morphs into CX software
Acquisitions and new products marked a busy 2018, with vendors like Salesforce, Adobe and SAP making splashy acquisitions while refocusing on customer experience. Continue Reading
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Opinion
20 Dec 2018
Salesforce CX, AI, integration tools are 2019 trends to watch
As the world pivots from CRM to customer experience management, Salesforce makes its own moves with research showing millennials value CX over the actual goods or services received. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Dec 2018
CRM for nonprofits rewires charitable giving
Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud and marketing automation tools help charitable organizations gain and retain valuable donors, giving them a more positive experience. Continue Reading
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News
19 Nov 2018
Zendesk CRM moves beyond customer service into CX
Zendesk moves on from focusing solely on customer service by adding analytics, sales force automation and CRM capabilities, while also providing third-party integrations on AWS. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Nov 2018
Marketing automation tools make personalization possible
Marketing automation software can be a game-changer for sales and marketing departments, as it helps simplify campaign management and gauge the performance of marketing efforts. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Nov 2018
Using Shuttle to track sales leads and close deals
Using Shuttle to track sales leads, sales reps at CBC Settlement Funding can focus less on coordinating follow-up emails and nurturing campaigns and more on closing deals. Continue Reading
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News
09 Nov 2018
Cloud e-commerce IT battle pits content management vs. CRM
ERP-based and stand-alone e-commerce systems dominate the market. As more companies go to the cloud, CRM and CMS vie to be the next foundation of e-commerce. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Nov 2018
Salesforce salary survey details pay among professionals
A new survey of Salesforce professionals, published by Mason Frank International, analyzes Salesforce salary data, employment trends and diversity. Continue Reading
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Guide
09 Nov 2018
Guide to customer experience management best practices, technologies
Customer experience management is growing. Learn about technologies, strategies and best practices that businesses are applying to their CEM. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Nov 2018
4 signs Salesforce skills demand outpaces talent pool
Survey points to four reasons the demand and salaries for Salesforce admins, developers and other professionals is high, but talent pool can't meet it. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Nov 2018
Will Salesforce decaNLP model live up to the hype?
Salesforce's decaNLP model made a big splash at Dreamforce. But can it deliver on its promises? Here's what to expect from the natural language processing initiative. Continue Reading
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News
25 Oct 2018
Adobe Magento Commerce Cloud brings e-commerce muscle
After acquiring Magento for $1.7 billion earlier this year, Adobe has integrated its commerce product into Adobe Experience Cloud for both enterprises and SMBs. Continue Reading
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Podcast
24 Oct 2018
How enterprises use dynamic pricing algorithms with AI, CRM
Born out of the '80s era of airline deregulation, dynamic pricing finds new life and popularity when mixed with AI. In this Pipeline podcast, we talk with Ulrich von Beck of Pros. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2018
FinancialForce adds Einstein Analytics to back office
FinancialForce added an analytics layer to its Professional Services Automation product to help its users find better insights in their back-office applications. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2018
Clicks-and-bricks one-up online companies with behavioral data
Physical stores and banks are closing, losing ground to more agile online competitors. Technology and data can help them fight back. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Sep 2018
4 tips on getting up to speed with GDPR for U.S. companies
When GDPR went into effect four months ago, some U.S. companies just shut down communications with EU customers, but compliance can benefit organizations and marketers. Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2018
Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI going hard after Salesforce
Microsoft hammers Salesforce by launching low-code, AI-based virtual agents for customer service. Also: New tools for sales and marketing add automated insights to Dynamics 365. Continue Reading
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News
14 Sep 2018
Adobe acquisition of Marketo could shake up industry
Adobe looking to acquire Marketo could also be a ploy to incite a bidding war for Marketo from its holding company, Vista Equity, according to an analyst. Continue Reading