5 ways to automate your small business with CRM integrations
Market uncertainties and rising customer expectations have seen small and medium businesses (SMBs) searching for new ways to cut costs, increase productivity and drive sustainable growth.
By augmenting the power of your CRM with integrations, you can deliver automation that will boost efficiency and allow you to focus on the highest value activities.
Time to read: 5 minutes
That’s one of the advantages of using a CRM like Salesforce in a small business. In a recent study, our customers reported 27% faster automation of business processes, and a 26% boost in employee productivity.*
This performance can be improved with CRM integrations. Salesforce AppExchange includes thousands of apps that can help you automate and digitise even more of your business, while broader integrations can help you unlock new efficiencies with other systems.
In the new SMB Efficiency Toolkit, Salesforce’s Adrian Towsey reflects on the different approaches to technology adoption that SMBs have taken in the face of uncertain market conditions. He says two main camps of behaviour have emerged: the risk-averse ‘batten down the hatches’ and the opportunistic ‘seize the day’.
Regardless of which option business leaders choose, one universal truth is the need for automated business processes where possible. So to help, we’ve found 5 of the most effective integrations you can easily implement to be more efficient.
Connect your content management systems and websites to your small business CRM
Especially if ecommerce is a big part of your SMB, connecting your content management system (CMS) or website to your CRM can help personalise customer experiences, increase conversions, boost revenue and give you deeper insights into what your customers want. That includes being able to sync payment data with Salesforce and automate lead records.
Many businesses integrate Salesforce with WordPress, which powers millions of websites, but this combination can be a heavy-hitter regardless of your CMS. As an example, furniture retailer Living Edge wowed customers with personalised browsing experiences, resulting in a 290% higher conversion rate – which meant an 82% increase in revenue.
Feed your marketing automation into your CRM
Many SMBs use marketing automation platforms like MailChimp or Salesforce Marketing Cloud to manage a broad range of marketing and sales activities and engage more deeply with customers. That includes email marketing, dynamic content and A/B testing.
That can be a powerful combination with Salesforce, enabling you to do things like trigger hyper-personalised emails and test content based on your 360-degree view of a customer.
Marie-Claire Andrews, Head of Marketing & Sales at Paysauce, wanted to support her small team through more automated services. In the new SMB Efficiency Toolkit she explains how automated journeys and segmentation have increased open rates by 15% and freed up her team to focus on creating personal connections.
Combine your CRM with electronic signature and digital agreement solutions
Any business that depends on lots of contracts, proposals and agreements should be thinking about how to speed up signing processes, a common bottleneck within the sales journey.
Integrating DocuSign with Salesforce can empower users to send, sign and track agreements digitally, from just about anywhere – including on mobile. It’s not just easier for customers and clients, it means sales reps can work faster, from anywhere, while getting real-time updates and visibility into where customers are at in the agreement process.
Australian startup Shootsta used this exact combination to help scale their processes after rapid growth, using the integration to standardise agreement processes, reduce legal risk and free their sales team from unnecessary manual admin.
Pair your accounting solution with your CRM
When it comes to cash flow and financial planning, there’s little room for error as an SMB. That’s why accounting software like Quickbooks and Xero is so crucial for automating the tracking of revenue and expenses, or prepping for tax season.
Combining those capabilities with Salesforce can ensure nothing is getting lost between accounting and sales. That means both teams are getting deeper visibility into customer payments and additional data points for better forecasting.
Loop in file storage, collaboration tools and internal processes
Particularly when you have teams working from home or from lots of different geographic places, it’s crucial to find tools that facilitate collaboration and productivity. That includes Slack, G Suite and Dropbox, which can keep employees connected, communicating and working from a single version of a document.
Even better, you can do all of this without leaving Salesforce – and you can also share and collaborate with customers, while keeping that information inside Salesforce and accessible to the right team members.
These are just some of the ways to keep your teams connected, build a 360-degree of your customers and grow your SMB through new efficiencies.
*Source: 2022 Salesforce Success Metrics Global Highlights study.
Data is from a survey of 3,706 Salesforce customers across the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, India, Singapore, Japan and Brazil conducted between June 8 and June 21, 2022. Results were aggregated to determine average perceived customer value from the use of Salesforce. Respondents were sourced and verified through a third-party B2B panel. Sample sizes may vary across metrics.
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