Salesforce has launched a product which it says will make it easier and faster for small businesses to close more sales.
Called SalesforceIQ for Small Business, it is based on the “relationship intelligence” technology Salesforce acquired in its 2014 purchase of RelateIQ for $392 million.
Relationship intelligence technology automatically captures, analyzes, and surfaces information that is relevant for customer relationships from email, calendars and more. It seeks out the patterns needed to provide insights into future outcomes and proactively recommends actions.
SalesforceIQ for Small Business automatically captures data from your customer and prospect communications (such as from your email, calendar and marketing automation systems).
But it does more than collect data. Its predictive intelligence engine then surfaces important insights by suggesting actions and generating out-of-the-box reports.
This enhanced CRM and sales automation product for small businesses replaces the small business offering Salesforce had before. It essentially rebrands RelateIQ’s offering under the Salesforce brand and integrates the technology into the Salesforce product umbrella.
What’s the Benefit for Small Businesses?
Salesforce recognizes that small businesses don’t have time to collect and deal with the influx of data coming at them.
By automating the data management, small businesses will have more time to focus on developing the 1-to-1 relationships needed for closing sales.
For example, the analytics and intelligence baked into SalesforceIQ for Small Business can tell you who you are connected with at a target company and who else on your team is connected with that target. That way, you can identify who has the strongest relationship and thereby make the strongest introduction.
The product also suggests actions to make you more effective at sales. For instance, it will identify prospects that have an unanswered question, and thereby serve as a fail-safe to avoid a sales rep dropping the ball.
SalesforceIQ for Small Business is available in the United States, Canada and Australia. Pricing starts at $25 per user per month.
According to Brent Leary, industry analyst and partner of CRM Essentials, “The biggest takeaway is that SalesforceIQ for Small Business is a definite upgrade from the previous Salesforce offering aimed at small and medium sized businesses, yet maintains the same price level.”
“It positions small businesses to approach their sales process with more data intelligence, and know when to interact with prospects and what stage those prospects are in, as far as the sales lead,” Leary added.
Salesforce is offering a free trial of SalesforceIQ for Small Business.
Image: Salesforce
Aira Bongco
I think it is a relevant service for small businesses because it keeps you in touch with customer information.