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Innovative small businesses like Humu, 5P Consulting, and ThatSoftwareGuy are future-proofing CRM to streamline their operations
Small businesses are key drivers of the economy. They rank high in patent creation and create more than 60 percent of new U.S. jobs, according to the U.S. Small Business Association. Small businesses have always been part of Salesforce’s DNA, and it’s important that we continue to listen to their unique needs and challenges.
In our 19-year history we have evolved our business and products to serve some of the largest companies in the world, but we haven’t lost sight of what it takes to serve small businesses — easy-to-use products that scale. That’s why we introduced Salesforce Essentials — to make it possible for them to build stronger customer relationships while focusing on growing their business. We’re excited to have thousands of customers today using Essentials to power their growth.
Working with SMBs offers an opportunity for us to learn from innovators and disruptors, and improve our product along the way. That’s why I’m honored to lead a new business unit focused on small business in the role of EVP and GM of Essentials and SMB. In my previous 13 years at Salesforce I grew the revenue and product operations team from one employee to more than 325. I’ve learned a thing or two about growth, and I’m excited to help small businesses achieve their goals.
Essentials is the easiest way for small businesses to get started on Salesforce, and it’s exciting to see customers in a host of industries addressing the needs of customers of their own. Here are a few of those success stories:
Humu’s goal is to make work better by providing HR software that’s built with science, machine learning, and as they put it, a little bit of love. As a fast-growing start-up that has raised millions in funding, Humu needed a best-in-class CRM tailored for small business that could keep pace with its busy day-to-day activities.
Like so many small businesses, Humu managed its customers and deals in a spreadsheet that required tedious manual effort to maintain. In order to scale the business, Humu needed a platform to automate business processes and integrate with their everyday tools like Google’s G-Suite.
With Essentials, Humu can stay true to its data-driven roots and quickly understand what is performing well and what isn't, because all their data is easily accessible. They can keep close tabs on how their customers complete the sales cycles and track each step of the sales path to see what needs to be changed and improved.
Humu’s customer success team uses Essentials to track goals and major milestones for each customer. They can also track product feedback from customers, which their product and engineering teams use to guide their product roadmap.
Y’vonne Ormond founded 5P Consulting to help businesses find productivity gains with technology. After two decades working with enterprise companies, Y’vonne knew that successful technology implementations couldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, and should be judged by the results they create.
Y’vonne used the same philosophy when she chose Salesforce Essentials for her own business. Essentials is flexible enough to fit her team’s unique needs, as the people who work with customers in the pre-sales process are the same ones who deliver their projects. With Essentials, 5P Consulting has improved processes like business development by surfacing recent communications with prospects, allowing the team to coordinate on nurturing activities. 5P Consulting has also gained new insights into the business with easy-to-use dashboards that show financials, opportunities, conversion probability, and more.
Scott Wilson is the founder and CEO of thatsoftwareguy.com, an independent ecommerce software consultancy, focused on Zen Cart. With his software, Scott helps clients turn web visitors into customers. Scott uses Salesforce Essentials to organize all his customer data, which has improved his productivity by helping him better manage his customer base.
Scott was a first-time Salesforce user, having previously managed his customers with a mismatch of productivity applications that didn’t work together. Scott was able to quickly learn the platform by completing free trainings on Trailhead, and he continues to learn by engaging the Salesforce Trailblazer Community, where he can connect with fellow users when he has a question. In addition, Scott has released a Salesforce and Zen Cart integration software as an open source project on Github, to kickstart other software developers who want to build Salesforce integrations with their shopping carts.
Essentials allows small teams to get up and running on the Salesforce Platform quickly and easily, and add new functionality as they grow. We are committed to the success of all small businesses and are excited to continue to improve Essentials to meet their needs.
Salesforce can help you find customers, win their business, and keep them happy so you can grow faster than ever. Learn more about our small business CRM solutions, follow us on Twitter at @SalesforceSMB, or keep up with us on LinkedIn at Salesforce for Small Business. Join the conversation with #SalesforceEssentials.
