As more and more of our clients in Dubai and the UAE implement Salesforce and continue to add more sophistication to their system, one of the common requirements is Salesforce integration (or Pardot integration) with other software systems. Even our smallest clients have considered the benefits of getting data shared across their cloud-based systems. The benefits of Salesforce integration with multiple software applications is that it gives more accurate data to your employees faster. Providing staff with a single view of your data means that they save time on sourcing information, and can concentrate their time on more productive work, like closing sales.

So how does Tenacre create Salesforce integration with other systems? There isn't a single method that we use, instead, it's very much a case of what integration method meets our client's requirements best. We always consider factors such as what data needs to be shared across systems, and whether the data needs to be in real - time sync, or whether a sync cycle of every 15 or 30 minutes will work. We also consider cost, in most cases, there's a trade-off between cost and performance. The most straightforward and common method of connecting data systems is via the Salesforce data loader. This free application is used to load large volumes of data with drag and drop field mapping. 

Connect your website to Salesforce for marketing automation

Salesforce can be connected to your website or landing page contact form. This simple Salesforce integration between your website and your CRM system enables automatic email response to all inbound inquiries, tracking of the source of lead (Adwords, Facebook etc.) and faster response times from the sales or marketing team to the inquiry.

Tracking the source of leads and all subsequent sales gives you the platform to evaluate in real-time which marketing activity is working. Many of our clients have benefited from the Salesforce reports for lead tracking, particularly in understanding whether high volumes from a specific lead source (such as Facebook advertising) actually convert into a sale.

Connecting emails and calendar systems to Salesforce

Connecting your email system and calendar to Salesforce makes it a lot easier to track the communication between your company and your prospects or clients. Depending on your email system, there will be an integration method available. At Tenacre we are Google Apps users, and through a plug-in, to our Gmail and Google Calendar, all our emails and meetings are shown in the correct Salesforce record. This integration is via the standard Salesforce integration capability.

Connect Salesforce with accounting or ERP platforms

Connecting standard accounting platforms such as Xero, Sage, Quickbooks or Tally to Salesforce is made easier by using either the connector applications from the Salesforce Appexchange or using the Salesforce API's. Connecting the accounting platforms to Salesforce helps creates value by giving the sales staff a single view of the customer account via the Salesforce interface. With field - based sales teams, they want to be able to log into their Salesforce1 mobile app and see all the historic invoices related to each account, or even see if there's an issue with an outstanding payment before they process a new order.

Integration with ERP platforms such as Sage X3, SAP, JD Edwards or even Microsoft Dynamics gives the benefit of integration with an accounting system plus the benefit of additional data points. Through Salesforce integration, users could see data relating to stock levels, product returns, deliveries or any record that the integrated ERP platform holds on a particular client or transaction.

Salesforce integration with your telephone system

For our clients that operate a call center or outbound sales department, it makes sense for a Salesforce integration with their telephone platform. In the past three months, we have completed Salesforce integration with Vocalcom for an Abu Dhabi based hospital, with Avaya for a real estate company in Dubai and with the Asterisk open-source platform for a consulting firm also in Dubai.

The benefits of a Salesforce integration with your phone system is the seamless access to data. As soon as a call is coming into your company the call center can see on their Salesforce screen the caller details including Sales opportunity data or whether there's a customer service case open. Whether for inbound or outbound calls, the Salesforce integration to the telephone platform for many companies gives their customer service or sales staff an edge in being able to see and log data quick while on a call.

Document generation and mail merge

Tenacre is a partner of Conga, a document merge technology that provides the ability for Salesforce users to create documents (invoices, quotations, proposals etc.) via the click of a button. The Conga system helps a Salesforce integration with standard document formats such as Word, Excel or even PowerPoint. Our clients take advantage of the Conga capabilities to merge data from across Salesforce into a single pre-formatted template via the click of a button.

One of our clients, Basin Supply Corporation in DMCC use the Conga feature to create Request for Quotation (RFQ) as well as Proposal documents. The Conga button creates the document, and then depending on how Tenacre has coded the business process, can save the document to an email template and attach it to the Salesforce record of the company or sales opportunity that it's connected to.

Salesforce integration to 3,000+ Apps via the Appexchange

The Salesforce platform has been designed and built to connect with other technology systems so that clients can create more value from their CRM data. The Salesforce Appexchange is a store-front for over 3,000 applications that can be connected to Salesforce effortlessly. The Appexchange is like the iTunes of business software and includes applications that I've mentioned in this article as well as thousands of other business scenarios.

We encourage all of our clients to start their Salesforce journey with a specific goal in mind, and then to build up the sophistication of their system with new apps or integration with other systems. We find that over time the business case for Salesforce integration with other applications presents itself as your users start to suggest ways that integration could save time.

Whatever the integration requirement that our clients ask us about, we take a fresh look at each project and come back with what we consider to be the best and most cost-effective way of delivering the project.