Salesforce data integration means connecting
Salesforce to one or more other systems or apps, so that they share data with
each other. This makes it easy for people working in one system to see vital
data from another system, saves resources and streamlines processes.
In short, it makes getting great results in
business easier and cheaper.
What can you integrate with Salesforce?
Data integration can just mean adding another
cloud-based program to Salesforce. You can do this with some common apps very easily
from within the Salesforce system. You can integrate Slack, for example, to
make it really simple for your sales team to communicate and collaborate, with
all the information they need to talk about right there. Or, you could
integrate Salesforce with LinkedIn, so all the leads you gather there go
straight onto the Salesforce system.
You can also integrate Salesforce with systems
that are completely separate from it. Why would you want to do that? Because
you’ll often hold data about your customers in other places than Salesforce,
and because your staff will often need to access data from other teams.
Integration makes this happen and, fortunately,
there are a lot of Salesforce data integration tools that will
make the process easy.
Salesforce-ERP integration
The most common, and for many businesses, the
most useful, integration you can put in place is between Salesforce and an ERP,
or enterprise resource planning system.
ERPs work well alongside a CRM and most
businesses that are big enough to have one are big enough to need the other.
Some ERPs have a built-in CRM, but if you’re using Salesforce, how do you
exchange data between them?
Your ERP holds data that is vital to good
customer relations, such as on finances and inventory. At some point, it is
inevitable that people working in sales and marketing, who’d usually only
normally use a CRM, will need to access some data from an ERP.
An ERP integration can’t be set up from within
Salesforce, but it’s not necessarily complicated. You will, though, probably
need to use a specialist provider. Many of them offer easy, cloud-based
solutions that will meet the needs of most businesses, and can be set up in a
few hours. Take a look at this infographic to find out more about them.
Also Read: Top 5 Best CRM Tools for Business
Benefits of Salesforce data integration:
You’ll save resources
When you don’t integrate data, you end up sharing
it manually. But manual data sharing will cost your business money. It takes
people time to put data into spreadsheets or to email it to colleagues. And
when they do that, they inevitably make mistakes. It’s not difficult to see
that a small mistake made when copying data, a mistake in a name, for example,
could easily spiral into a serious reputational and technical headache.
You’ll build better business foundations
Data integration means that everyone in your
business always has access to good quality data, updated in real-time. That
means that they’re much better able to spot problems and solutions and make
well-founded forecasts and decisions.
You’ll grow
You can’t grow a business in a data-driven world
without good data. Your data is your business’ biggest tool – integration means
you can make the most of it.
Also Read: 5 Real-World Applications of How Brands are Using Big Data Analytics
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