Posted by Nik on Feb 23, 2010 in
Salesforce Web to leads are a wonderful tool – right from your blog/website, you can collect information from your visitors, and begin to nurture a relationship with them. But one of the pains many people have is the fact that Country is a text field. I think of our friends from the south, and I realize why this could be such a pain. Dependant on what someone felt like typing, they could see a Country listed as:
- USA
- US of A
- U.S.A
- United States of America
- The United States
- US
And I am sure I could write about twelve more. But you get the point. There is no control of what they enter. So all those nice validation rules, assignment rules, territory management configuration which could possibly use static Country information (such as 2-letter ISO Code) are rendered useless.
So, how can you save yourself time and effort in data quality coming in? A simple change in your Web to Lead form can do this. We’ll use the Country field as an example. After you generate the HTML from salesforce.com, your line which will collect information for the Country field is
<label for=”country”>Country</label><input id=”country” maxlength=”40″ name=”country” size=”20″ type=”text” />
As you see, it has a maximum size of 40 characters, and is a free form text field. Now, to set this as a picklist, you need to know the data you wish to have your visitors choose from, and then set up the Country portion to look as follows (note: we are Canadian – thus Canada, and the US are at the top. This can be easily changed to allow you whatever Countries you would like to have right at the top):
<label for="country">Country</label>select id="country" name="country" title="Country">
<option val<option value="">--None--</option>
<option value="CA" >CANADA</option>
<option value="US" >UNITED STATES</option>
<option value="">-----------------------------</option>
<option value="AF" >AFGHANISTAN</option>
<option value="AL" >ALBANIA</option>
<option value="DZ" >ALGERIA</option>
<option value="AS" >AMERICAN SAMOA</option>
<option value="AD" >ANDORRA</option>
<option value="AO" >ANGOLA</option>
<option value="AI" >ANGUILLA</option>
<option value="AQ" >ANTARCTICA</option>
<option value="AG" >ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA</option>
<option value="AR" >ARGENTINA</option>
<option value="AM" >ARMENIA</option>
<option value="AW" >ARUBA</option>
<option value="AU" >AUSTRALIA</option>
<option value="AT" >AUSTRIA</option>
<option value="AZ" >AZERBAIJAN</option>
<option value="BS" >BAHAMAS</option>
<option value="BH" >BAHRAIN</option>
<option value="BD" >BANGLADESH</option>
<option value="BB" >BARBADOS</option>
<option value="BY" >BELARUS</option>
<option value="BE" >BELGIUM</option>
<option value="BZ" >BELIZE</option>
<option value="BJ" >BENIN</option>
<option value="BM" >BERMUDA</option>
<option value="BT" >BHUTAN</option>
<option value="BO" >BOLIVIA</option>
<option value="BA" >BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA</option>
<option value="BW" >BOTSWANA</option>
<option value="BV" >BOUVET ISLAND</option>
<option value="BR" >BRAZIL</option>
<option value="IO" >BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY</option>
<option value="BN" >BRUNEI DARUSSALAM</option>
<option value="BG" >BULGARIA</option>
<option value="BF" >BURKINA FASO</option>
<option value="BI" >BURUNDI</option>
<option value="KH" >CAMBODIA</option>
<option value="CM" >CAMEROON</option>
<option value="CV" >CAPE VERDE</option>
<option value="KY" >CAYMAN ISLANDS</option>
<option value="CF" >CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC</option>
<option value="TD" >CHAD</option>
<option value="CL" >CHILE</option>
<option value="CN" >CHINA</option>
<option value="CX" >CHRISTMAS ISLAND</option>
<option value="CC" >COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS</option>
<option value="CO" >COLOMBIA</option>
<option value="KM" >COMOROS</option>
<option value="CG" >CONGO</option>
<option value="CD" >CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE</option>
<option value="CK" >COOK ISLANDS</option>
<option value="CR" >COSTA RICA</option>
<option value="CI" >COTE D'IVOIRE</option>
<option value="HR" >CROATIA</option>
<option value="CU" >CUBA</option>
<option value="CY" >CYPRUS</option>
<option value="CZ" >CZECH REPUBLIC</option>
<option value="DK" >DENMARK</option>
<option value="DJ" >DJIBOUTI</option>
<option value="DM" >DOMINICA</option>
<option value="DO" >DOMINICAN REPUBLIC</option>
<option value="EC" >ECUADOR</option>
<option value="EG" >EGYPT</option>
<option value="SV" >EL SALVADOR</option>
<option value="GQ" >EQUATORIAL GUINEA</option>
<option value="ER" >ERITREA</option>
<option value="EE" >ESTONIA</option>
<option value="ET" >ETHIOPIA</option>
<option value="FK" >FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS)</option>
<option value="FO" >FAROE ISLANDS</option>
<option value="FJ" >FIJI</option>
<option value="FI" >FINLAND</option>
<option value="FR" >FRANCE</option>
<option value="GF" >FRENCH GUIANA</option>
<option value="PF" >FRENCH POLYNESIA</option>
<option value="TF" >FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES</option>
<option value="GA" >GABON</option>
<option value="GM" >GAMBIA</option>
<option value="GE" >GEORGIA</option>
<option value="DE" >GERMANY</option>
<option value="GH" >GHANA</option>
<option value="GI" >GIBRALTAR</option>
<option value="GR" >GREECE</option>
<option value="GL" >GREENLAND</option>
<option value="GD" >GRENADA</option>
<option value="GP" >GUADELOUPE</option>
<option value="GU" >GUAM</option>
<option value="GT" >GUATEMALA</option>
<option value="GN" >GUINEA</option>
<option value="GW" >GUINEA-BISSAU</option>
<option value="GY" >GUYANA</option>
<option value="HT" >HAITI</option>
<option value="HM" >HEARD ISLAND AND MCDONALD ISLANDS</option>
<option value="VA" >HOLY SEE (VATICAN CITY STATE)</option>
<option value="HN" >HONDURAS</option>
<option value="HK" >HONG KONG</option>
<option value="HU" >HUNGARY</option>
<option value="IS" >ICELAND</option>
<option value="IN" >INDIA</option>
<option value="ID" >INDONESIA</option>
<option value="IR" >IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF</option>
<option value="IQ" >IRAQ</option>
<option value="IE" >IRELAND</option>
<option value="IL" >ISRAEL</option>
<option value="IT" >ITALY</option>
<option value="JM" >JAMAICA</option>
<option value="JP" >JAPAN</option>
<option value="JO" >JORDAN</option>
<option value="KZ" >KAZAKHSTAN</option>
<option value="KE" >KENYA</option>
<option value="KI" >KIRIBATI</option>
<option value="KP" >KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF</option>
<option value="KR" >KOREA, REPUBLIC OF</option>
<option value="KW" >KUWAIT</option>
<option value="KG" >KYRGYZSTAN</option>
<option value="LA" >LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC</option>
<option value="LV" >LATVIA</option>
<option value="LB" >LEBANON</option>
<option value="LS" >LESOTHO</option>
<option value="LR" >LIBERIA</option>
<option value="LY" >LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA</option>
<option value="LI" >LIECHTENSTEIN</option>
<option value="LT" >LITHUANIA</option>
<option value="LU" >LUXEMBOURG</option>
<option value="MO" >MACAO</option>
<option value="MK" >MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF</option>
<option value="MG" >MADAGASCAR</option>
<option value="MW" >MALAWI</option>
<option value="MY" >MALAYSIA</option>
<option value="MV" >MALDIVES</option>
<option value="ML" >MALI</option>
<option value="MT" >MALTA</option>
<option value="MH" >MARSHALL ISLANDS</option>
<option value="MQ" >MARTINIQUE</option>
<option value="MR" >MAURITANIA</option>
<option value="MU" >MAURITIUS</option>
<option value="YT" >MAYOTTE</option>
<option value="MX" >MEXICO</option>
<option value="FM" >MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF</option>
<option value="MD" >MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF</option>
<option value="MC" >MONACO</option>
<option value="MN" >MONGOLIA</option>
<option value="MS" >MONTSERRAT</option>
<option value="MA" >MOROCCO</option>
<option value="MZ" >MOZAMBIQUE</option>
<option value="MM" >MYANMAR</option>
<option value="NA" >NAMIBIA</option>
<option value="NR" >NAURU</option>
<option value="NP" >NEPAL</option>
<option value="NL" >NETHERLANDS</option>
<option value="AN" >NETHERLANDS ANTILLES</option>
<option value="NC" >NEW CALEDONIA</option>
<option value="NZ" >NEW ZEALAND</option>
<option value="NI" >NICARAGUA</option>
<option value="NE" >NIGER</option>
<option value="NG" >NIGERIA</option>
<option value="NU" >NIUE</option>
<option value="NF" >NORFOLK ISLAND</option>
<option value="MP" >NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS</option>
<option value="NO" >NORWAY</option>
<option value="OM" >OMAN</option>
<option value="PK" >PAKISTAN</option>
<option value="PW" >PALAU</option>
<option value="PS" >PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, OCCUPIED</option>
<option value="PA" >PANAMA</option>
<option value="PG" >PAPUA NEW GUINEA</option>
<option value="PY" >PARAGUAY</option>
<option value="PE" >PERU</option>
<option value="PH" >PHILIPPINES</option>
<option value="PN" >PITCAIRN</option>
<option value="PL" >POLAND</option>
<option value="PT" >PORTUGAL</option>
<option value="PR" >PUERTO RICO</option>
<option value="QA" >QATAR</option>
<option value="RE" >REUNION</option>
<option value="RO" >ROMANIA</option>
<option value="RU" >RUSSIAN FEDERATION</option>
<option value="RW" >RWANDA</option>
<option value="SH" >SAINT HELENA</option>
<option value="KN" >SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS</option>
<option value="LC" >SAINT LUCIA</option>
<option value="PM" >SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON</option>
<option value="VC" >SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES</option>
<option value="WS" >SAMOA</option>
<option value="SM" >SAN MARINO</option>
<option value="ST" >SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE</option>
<option value="SA" >SAUDI ARABIA</option>
<option value="SN" >SENEGAL</option>
<option value="CS" >SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO</option>
<option value="SC" >SEYCHELLES</option>
<option value="SL" >SIERRA LEONE</option>
<option value="SG" >SINGAPORE</option>
<option value="SK" >SLOVAKIA</option>
<option value="SI" >SLOVENIA</option>
<option value="SB" >SOLOMON ISLANDS</option>
<option value="SO" >SOMALIA</option>
<option value="ZA" >SOUTH AFRICA</option>
<option value="GS" >SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS</option>
<option value="ES" >SPAIN</option>
<option value="LK" >SRI LANKA</option>
<option value="SD" >SUDAN</option>
<option value="SR" >SURINAME</option>
<option value="SJ" >SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN</option>
<option value="SZ" >SWAZILAND</option>
<option value="SE" >SWEDEN</option>
<option value="CH" >SWITZERLAND</option>
<option value="SY" >SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC</option>
<option value="TW" >TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA</option>
<option value="TJ" >TAJIKISTAN</option>
<option value="TZ" >TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF</option>
<option value="TH" >THAILAND</option>
<option value="TL" >TIMOR-LESTE</option>
<option value="TG" >TOGO</option>
<option value="TK" >TOKELAU</option>
<option value="TO" >TONGA</option>
<option value="TT" >TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO</option>
<option value="TN" >TUNISIA</option>
<option value="TR" >TURKEY</option>
<option value="TM" >TURKMENISTAN</option>
<option value="TC" >TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS</option>
<option value="TV" >TUVALU</option>
<option value="UG" >UGANDA</option>
<option value="UA" >UKRAINE</option>
<option value="AE" >UNITED ARAB EMIRATES</option>
<option value="GB" >UNITED KINGDOM</option>
<option value="UM" >UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS</option>
<option value="UY" >URUGUAY</option>
<option value="UZ" >UZBEKISTAN</option>
<option value="VU" >VANUATU</option>
<option value="VE" >VENEZUELA</option>
<option value="VN" >VIET NAM</option>
<option value="VG" >VIRGIN ISLANDS, BRITISH</option>
<option value="VI" >VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S.</option>
<option value="WF" >WALLIS AND FUTUNA</option>
<option value="EH" >WESTERN SAHARA</option>
<option value="YE" >YEMEN</option>
<option value="ZM" >ZAMBIA</option>
<option value="ZW" >ZIMBABWE</option>
</select></td>
Now, the above uses Countries (which seems to be a large area of possible difference) – however, this could be used for many fields which are not set as picklists natively through salesforce.com, such as Number of Employees, Annual Revenue or State/Province.
Hope this helps!
Nik
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Tags: Salesforce, Time Saver
Posted by Nik on Jan 26, 2010 in
Salesforce That old adage – “it’s the little things that kill” can be oh so true. I’ve decided that a blog entry each month will be based around a time saver that some people may know, but it is one that can be a time saver, and be one of those little Salesforce.com customizations that can be a killer for the end user. The first one is a time saver I create for the highland dance association here in Ottawa – how to make an email link on a record so that it uses a template.
Previously, they were using the Send An Email button, choosing the template that had been created, and then completing any further personalization before pressing the send button. The email was a confirmation registration for dance competitors in an upcoming dance. This is a very easy process, but to send the email it was 4 mouse clicks. Not too many, however when you receive a dozen entries a day, it can get tedious.
To speed up the process, I created a custom page link, which would in one click open the Send An Email page, fill out the Contact detail (the who), the Association to the custom object (the what), and use the template for registration confirmation. How? Quite simple, actually…
The syntax for the link is as follows -
/_ui/core/email/author/EmailAuthor?p2_lkid={WHO_ID}&p3_lkid={WHAT_ID}&template_id=TEMPLATE_ID&rtype=003&retURL=%2F{RECORD_ID}
The WHO_ID is the ID of the contact you wish to send it to, while the WHAT_ID is the object you wish to associate the email to. The Template ID is likely the hardest ID to find, as you have to go to the URL of the template in the admin side to find it. You can find the template ID by clicking Setup, Admin Setup, Communication Templates, Email Templates, then clicking on the template itself. In the image below, the template ID is highlighted.
Once you have all this information, you can use the ID’s you have to create the link on the object. Below the image shows the setup for the email link I created on a custom object:
Other uses for this type of link? A follow up email to a main contact for an account you haven’t spoken to in a month or two. A reply you typically send at the onset of an opportunity. A thank you email for your prospects time after a lead qualification call. Any email you send out, and have a template for you could use a link to – and the more you send it the more help the link could be. I know with the highland dance association, the link cut the time spent in sending confirmation emails out by over 50 percent!
Hope this simple time saver helps!
Nik
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Tags: Salesforce, Time Saver
Posted by Nik on Nov 26, 2009 in
Salesforce So, it is Thanksgiving Thursday. Well, that would likely mean much, much more if I lived south of the border, but I still have been able to work while watching 3 absolute football blowouts, and the Senators hockey game on TV!
As it is Thanksgiving, it’s been fun to sit an watch Twitter, to see what people were talking of when they were tweeting about what they were thankful for. And, as I watched, it gave me an idea, especially with the previous post of all the Force.com applications. So, without further ado, here are five free force.com apps that I am thankful for.
1) Services Project Manager: While there are some really awesome applications for services companies using salesforce.com to utilize apex, visualforce, and all sorts of web wizardry to manage their business (which is projects!), the Force.com Services Project Manager makes great use of native functionality within salesforce.com to give you an easy, intuitive and scalable application to manage your work efforts. Many services-based clients have had this configured by xLerate for this, and it is what I have overhauled to run our business. Without a doubt, it is the most important application I use!
2) AppExchange Dashboard Pack: It amazed me how scared people are of reporting and dashboarding in Salesforce! It is like we’ve all been affected by years of the pains of Crystal Reports or something (grin…)! With each and every new client, I install this lovely application to give users an idea of what you can do. I have found that between the addition of custom reports and dashboards, and a training session on reporting and previous fears and conditionings disappear! Just a note, however – you need to have campaigns in your org to install this. If you do not, the application can be installed separately.
3) Auto Complete Lookups: As simple as it sounds. I am as lazy as the next person…the idea of having to click a lookup icon, type in some name, and click Go…well, it drives me batty. Enter the auto complete. Simply start typing in the object you wish to find, and….voila!
4) Opportunity Primary Contact Required: I absolutely believe that the Contact Role related list on the Opportunity is one of the most under-utilized lists in Salesforce. You may have an opportunity with an account (which is a required lookup), but you sell to people and the contact role list allows you to define this. I truly believe that all people should be forced to use the Contact Role – thus my love of this application. However, there seems to be a catch. After the critical update to the Opportunity save was released back in late summer, people cannot install this properly. I can tell you that you can deactivate the critical update, install the application and reactivate the critical update without issue. As of December 15, 2009, I am not sure what will happen.
5) PRM Home Page Components: OK, so this is not available publicly – you need to access it through the Partner Networks blog. But this application allows you to add a Lead Inbox table, Approval Request table and Channel Manager component to your PRM home page, and all of them are used by Visualforce!
So, there you have it – 5 apps that I am thankful for. And, in the spirit of Black Friday, the price is right for each one – they are absolutely free! Did I miss one you like? Let me know.
To end – Happy Thanksgiving, to all my American friends. I hope you had a safe, and filling holiday filled with family and friendship!
Nik
Nik
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Tags: AppExchange, Salesforce
Posted by Nik on Mar 21, 2009 in
Salesforce So, with March and family comes the joys of March break, and if you’re lucky, a nice little vacation to ring in the new spring. My family was lucky enough to visit Myrtle Beach for two weeks. However, my vacation was much shorter – a long weekend to relax and have some fun. It was much needed.
While there, we did the usual…mini gofling, alligator adventure, food and of course, grazing at the beach. The weather has not been the nicest, and while there it was 11 to 15 degrees everyday. But, being a Canadian, it was plenty warm enough for me to break out the shorts and enjoy the sounds and smells of the breaking waves. This trip is turning into a family tradition, and memory was telling me the beach looked a little different from the previous year…
The condos we stay at are right by a swash – a small rivine which moves water from inland to the ocean. It snakes out in an S shape, before finally mouthing open to the Atlantic. It looked further away from the dunes than the previous year. In asking a local Tennant at the condo, I found that people were concerned that the ocean was “once again eating away at the Dunes, so we had to recreate the swash we want by dumping sand”. In furthering the converstion, I found the condo spent a massive amount of money every 2 years through dumping sand because they needed their swash to be what they wanted. “We should likely try something new, cause Lord knows – the ocean has it’s plan”.
This fascinated me, yet I couldn’t quite figure out why. On my last day, before flying back to the real world, I stood at the mouth of the swash, watching the tide rise. Lines of erosion were already being drawn along it’s lip, and I sat and watched small mounds of fresh sand dropping into the water, to be dragged away with the ebb and flow. And that’s when it hit me – I watch this action on a regular basis, with clients new and old.
A common theme I’ve heard from both prospects and clients is “our CRM doesn’t work for our business. We spent (enter dollar figure here) on this app, and it’s still isn’t doing what we do”. Another thing I hear quite a bit is “I thought having a CRM would give us a way to manage sales, but we don’t see how to get what we want out of it”. Sitting on the beach, wathing the water eat away at the new sand, I could see the parallels. Just replace CRM with sand and your business process with the ocean. And the condo was attempting what many companies try and fail at – placing a CRM into their organization without and understanding of their process, or worse – to be the process.
When starting a new project, the hardest aspect I have experienced with clients is sitting down and getting an understanding of their business before talking about the application. I believe this is caused for two reasons – one is that technology has advanced so much in the past years, and the urgency to “get it in” is so high that they just want to go forward now. The second I find it a byproduct of the first. With such amazing technology, and with such good information about how other companies succeed in weeks not months, we want to skip by the intoduction and get right into the end game. And, in all honesty, I have even found myself in that boat, especially with new features and functions with our own solution.
However, the surest way to success is a small step. We’ve heard it all beforw, but CRM is a strategy, not just an application. And it is a mixture of people, process and application, not just the application itself.
Step away from the beach, and look at what your ocean is. Know how you want the tide to flow, and plan accordingly. Having a firm, strong understanding of how you run your business, what your steps are in accomplishing your goals, and knowing how to measure the key metrics of success are absolutely needed before you implement any CRM. Without this knowledge, your simply dumping sand on the swash.
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Tags: Business planning, Salesforce
Posted by Nik on Feb 5, 2009 in
Development,
Integration,
Salesforce As I opened my email this morning, I clicked as I do everyday on my Google Alerts email regarding Salesforce.com. When I did, I saw an article by Peter Thomas entitled “10 key issues that On Demand (SaaS) CRM systems won’t tell you”. In the article, Mr. Thomas outlines 10 supposed issues SaaS companies try to hide from you. As I have worked with CRM for over a decade now, and with Salesforce.com for 3 years, I have heard these all before. However, today I feel like responding. You may want to read the original as I do not quote his original point in every one of my counters.
1. Yes, Salesforce.com is a subscription based model, which lasts for the contract period you sign. And, for the price per license of an on-premise application (over a year) you are typically spending a similar amount. However, most on-premise models also have annual subscriptions, which allow you access to the latest versions, support and in some cases even hotfixes for the application of your choice. These subscription costs typically run anywhere from 15 to 25 percent. Add on to this the software, licensing, and setup costs for the required servers (Windows Server, SQL Server, IIS, SharePoint for partner collaboration, etc.) and you have a truer sense of your CRM hardware requirements with an on-premise solution. With Salesforce.com, you need a computer and a browser – that’s it.
2. You say customization is not as great, and when possible is as expensive if not more. I would highly disagree – customization native to Salesforce.com is in most cases point and click – you no longer need a VB or a .net developer to be on site (or outsourced) to change the look and feel of the application. You don’t need a database administrator to create custom tables and fields in a database. And in cases where you wish to completely change the look and feel, Salesforce.com has Visualforce and Apex – Visualforce being a markup style language which is moderately easy to learn even for non-programmers (such as myself) and Apex being a truer programming language (similar to Java) which allows for some serious programming to customize your business process.
3. I’m not even sure how to answer this “issue”. Every CRM company has solutions partners across the globe to assist clients with implementation, customization, support and training. I own a company that does this for Salesforce.com in Canada, and you work for a company that does this for Microsoft and Sage in the US. A CRM company’s partner ecosystem is one aspect of how they are rated. All prospective clients for a CRM solution should take the time to look at partners (for Salesforce.com, they are listed and rated by previous clients at www.salesforce.com/partners) and ensure they find a partner that fits. One beautiful point about on-demand consulting I will share is remote consulting. I have had clients I only met and conversed with over the Internet (and finally met in person at Dreamforce) as there are no required visits to their IT closet. No software minimizes the need for travel, lowering consultancy fees. Combine this without the weeks of planning and installing software on servers, clients and such, and you are left with a simple fact – SaaS implementations cost less than on-premise applications.
4. I have worked with Microsoft, Goldmine, Sage and SuperOffice CRM (holding certifications with all) in the past, and have seen price sheets (and been on the selling side) for all, including Salesforce.com. SaaS applications such as Salesforce.com are not the only CRM which have extra costs for add-on functions, or versions broken out for typical styles of users. As an example, in my experience with most on-premise applications, licenses for a mobile edition of the application was available at an extra cost. And for MS CRM, you could download a mobile client, but a free application existed for Windows Mobile devices only.
5. SaaS development/test environments do exist, and yes we refer to them as sandboxes. You do have to pay for these with the Pro edition of Salesforce.com, get one test environment in Enterprise and unlimited in the Unlimited edition of Salesforce.com. I also agree with on-premise, you can install the CRM application for development (I suggest all users of on-premise CRM read their licenses to ensure that they are legally doing so, especially if using more than one instance). Once again, however, the associated costs of testing are not shown in your article. Setting up clients to attach to the test environment, managing the installation and management of multiple instances, and having another critical application to be concerned with, not to mention remote access to the test environment all have associated costs. With Salesforce.com, you receive a new URL and an append to your username and password. All with six clicks of the mouse by a Salesforce.com administrator, anywhere from a 10 to 30 minute time period before the sandbox is finished, and you are ready to test or develop.
6. I am not a programmer. I run away from programming like a 7 year old from homework, and I have successfully integrated Salesforce.com with financial applications, ERPs, and other databases which were on-premise at a client site. Your point on integration being harder or more expensive is absolutely, horrendously wrong.
7. Salesforce.com hasn’t always been available. You are right, and I think we have all read about the 45 minute outage users experienced last month. Let’s be honest though, can you imagine if the same coverage occurred every time an in house system caused a major outage in email, CRM or data access? Newsfeeds would flood with information! And as we are being honest, did my client care if 51,000 clients, and 1 million users lost access at 3 pm for 45 minutes? No – they did not. They cared that 1 client lost access…them. As one client said to me though – “ah, it’s not too bad – you should be here for our monthly Exchange crisis!” I do not have the numbers for Salesforce system availability for last year, but as a user, I can not remember a time where full access was lost except for that fateful day last month. I would put the availability of Salesforce.com up against the availability of the systems at any company I have ever worked for as an employee or consultant any day.
8. No IT! Yes, you are right – there is no IT requirement for Salesforce, until you wish to bring them in. The native application is easy enough to manage (after training) that a techno-suave business user can administer it. Most of my clients are this way. No IT lord thrashing at the bit with regards to database management, or time wasted setting up a new user. Until IT needs to play a part in extension through development, integration or such, they can forget about Salesforce.com and worry about those systems I spoke of in point 7.
9. Trying out an application is simple. And it has been a mainstay of application sales even before SaaS models. Microsoft and Sage offer the same on their website. And it allows the customer to make a knowledgeable, sound decision on which application is right for them. Although, the 30 day on-premise trials usually require the help of the IT staff to install on servers, it is a good idea to ensure you have all the backoffice requirements. And yes, moving CRMs is a costly experience. The tryout assists with some of those concerns; so that you don’t have to do it again due to poor choices in vendor. I also recommend prospects talk to a partner(s) of the applications to get another view on the program, as well as implementation costs.
10. You are correct – contracts are hard to get out of. Not just with Salesforce.com, but with almost every contract, I believe. I remember when I worked as the IT manager of a start up firm which was closing its doors. Getting out of subscription contracts for our hardware (Cisco, Dell) and software (Microsoft Open Volume L&SA, which was a 2 year annually paid software assurance plan for their software…which sounds very familiar to me right now) was like pulling teeth. And I never recommend to any user of CRM, whether it be on-premise or SaaS that you continue with an application without their support and maintenance subscriptions.
Well, that was long…sorry for the length. There just has been an increase in the amount of “SaaS is evil” threads I have read in the last month, and I felt it important to add my rebuttal to this one.
Enjoy the day, all…
Nik
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Tags: On Premise, SaaS, Salesforce
Posted by Nik on Jan 5, 2009 in
Salesforce So, I must admit I have rung in the new year spending time with family, and trying to leave the work stuff aside for a bit. I have also, however, continued my new love affair with Twitter by reading, posting and pretty much figuring out the best way to use this tool to learn and to share. I am still in neophyte mode, but have met and read some excellent tweeters/tweets.
I have noticed a great amount of chat and questions around what 2009 will bring, and of course, the “what ya think will happen” questions. My simple answer for this – not a clue! If there is one thing I can predict, it is that I am in no way, shape or form, an expert in any field to predict or trend. What I do have though, are thoughts and beliefs in how xLerate can act to continue to grow, while also helping our clients succeed. And with that, I hope to accomplish a triple win – where our clients, our selves and us as a whole gain.
So, what are these ideas? Glad you asked…
1). Time to focus
We are a Salesforce.com consultancy. This statement in itself is much like saying I am a man. It really doesnt focus on what we can do for clients, and need to do to grow and succeed. As such, we here have spent a good portion of December focusing in on a strategic initiative to let us all know where we are heading, what we need to do along the journey and where we will be at the end. Simple thought, eh? Throw in the day to day operations of clients, running a company, talking with new prospects into an 8 (or 10, 12, 14) hour day, along with personal lives and sleep and it no longer is easy. So, often we are worried about walking that we forget, or refuse to plan where we want to go. Without the focus of a goal, and a plan to achieve, the risk of spinning your wheels corporately increase. The spin on the planning here at xLerate is our mimimalization of the long term plan. Thanks to the elephant in the room, also known as recession, we have plotted a series of goals for 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to keep a short leash on our focus and our adherence and variances.
2) Salute your solution.
Those who know me personally know my love of music, so the use of such a great song as a title make me giggle with delight. However there is much truth to the line as well. Not only do we help others with Salesforce.com but we use it ourselves. As such, a good hard look at our own CRM. After setting our goals, a major area of focus this year for us is our support packages. The next step was for us to ensure our technical solution would allow us to measure and assist us in out focus. As such, we have rewritten our customizations within the service and support module of salesforce, and creating new reports and a dashboard to measure our actions and goal attainment. Now, whether you use salesforce, or another tool, know what it can do for you, and utilize it. You’ll be squeezing out the most on your dollars spent on your CRM, and helping yourself acheive success.
3) Know when and what you can do.
We are all busy people – case and point. When looking at xLerate’s client list every single one of them has a Salesforce Administrator who has another major job activity, whether it be customer service, operations or sales. This is fine, but it can lead to a CRM initiative falling to the wayside, especially in busy times, or when money is tight. I am no exception to the rule. There are many things I would like to do to help us via our CRM – whether it be new reports, new customizations, or even creating new applications to add on. The fact of the matter is though, there is only 24 hours in the day and we all have other important factors which equate to our day. What we have done here at xLerate is prioritized these new features and functions, and laid out when and how we will accomplish this. Only by doing so can I ensure that they get done. And, for areas that are not the focus of expertise, we will need to utilize outside help. In this way, we control our costs (both through internal time and external fees), and have a set date for completion.
So, there you have it, folks. Three areas in which we have laid out plans and goals to accomplish what we need to do. Now, the proof in the pudding is in completing them. But, I have it on good authority that we here at xLerate will know exactly where we are come the end of the year after using these goals to meet our end game. Hey…that does sound quite a bit like a prediction after all, doesn’t it…
Nik
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Tags: Salesforce, strategy, xLerate
Posted by Nik on Dec 16, 2008 in
Salesforce So, here we are, within a couple of weeks from Christmas and work is keeping us busy. Completing an implementation which includes data migration from Goldmine. As much as the application is good for what it does, i wonder what the designers were thinking – the data map for this application is like a dog’s breakfast. I understand that it is a contact centric CRM (the primary contact is the key object, not the account as in most mid-size CRM applications), but the way they have the day going all over the place is an absolute nightmare.
The biggest area I ran into with Goldmine was pulling the secondary contacts into a list. These are located with information in both CONTACT1, and CONTSUPP. After a while of pulling my goutee (and yes, I tried the export wizard, but over 2000 associated contacts were missing). So, after playing, I finally found a nice way to match them all. Here is the SQL code I used…
select contact1.company, contsupp.contact, contsupp2.contsupref from contact1, contsupp, contsupp as contsupp2 where contsupp.rectype = ‘C’ and contact1.accountno = contsupp.accountno and contsupp.recid = contsupp2.linkacct order by contact1.company, contsupp.contact
You can add fields from each table as required for your import (the addresses, and I always utilize the recID…make sure it is from CONTSUPP for your secondary as a log of whom is in) and utilize this for your import.
Also tried the Apatar GM to SFDC mail app – this is still ongoing, so more on that another time…
Until next time…
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Tags: data migration, goldmine, Salesforce
