As Andy MacMillan, SVP & GM, Data.com, discussed in the Data.com Keynote at Dreamforce last week, how we think about customer data is changing. Now, you need to look outside the four walls of your business to get the best customer intelligence.

While creating this multi-dimensional customer view is critical to accelerating sales, it's not always easy or obvious where to begin. To that end, MacMillan announced the Data.com Exchange, which aims to bring the best 3rd party customer intelligence directly into Salesforce. By partnering with 6 industry-leading data providers, the Data.com Exchange will empower customers to understand and connect with their customers in deeper, more intelligent and whole new ways.

But beyond the data itself, the Data.com Exchange brings an unprecedented level of simplicity and intuitiveness to third-party data consumption that's deeply embedded in customers’ business processes. Whether you’re a pharma sales rep looking for physicians to grow your pipeline, or a wealth manager looking to connect more deeply with your high net-worth clients, the Data.com Exchange powers those experiences right inside Salesforce.

Data.com Exchange industry-leading initial launch partners are:

• Acxiom
• Bisnode
• Harte Hanks
• Health Market Science
• S&P CapitalIQ
• WealthEngine

Acxiom brings extensive demographic, household, and purchasing data that provides insights on the buying habits of consumers.

Bisnode gives you the ability to find, import, and update contact records for 26 million decision makers across Europe.

Harte Hanks provides intelligence on what a company spends on technology, what software and platforms they are using, and the outlook on future IT spend.

Health Market Science delivers profiles on health care providers with detail about licenses, certifications, specialties, education, and affiliations.

S&P CapitaIQ data can be leveraged across industries to gain performance insights on public and private corporations, and markets, as well as identify the Executives who drive that performance.

WealthEngine provides insights into a person’s wealth, ability to buy, invest, and their propensity to donate.

The Data.com Exchange, with these initial partners, brings a rich data set that can be easily leveraged within Salesforce to accelerate sales. As MacMillan said in the keynote, connecting all your systems for a "360-degree" view of the customer only gives you part of the picture. You need deeper data to know your customers better than they know themselves.  

 To learn about the sales process map, visit salesforce.com, or download the free e-book.