Quick Take: Ford Motor Company, a global auto manufacturer and longtime innovator in the automotive industry, today announced the launch of VIIZR, a CRM tool built on Salesforce Field Service, designed to empower small business owners — plumbers, electricians, caterers, and landscapers — to run their businesses from anywhere.
Driving the news: A recent study found that only one in five small business owners are currently happy with how their business manages customer and employee relationships. Only 10% believe today’s business productivity software tools are designed for businesses of their size, with most believing that such solutions are built for much larger companies.1
VIIZR fills that gap by bringing together Ford’s commercial vehicle business, Ford Pro, and Salesforce Field Service to address key pain points felt most often by small business tradespeople, including invoicing, scheduling, and managing service requests.
How it Works: VIIZR provides affordable, easy-to-use CRM tools enabling tradespeople to maximize productivity and serve customers digitally and on-the-go. VIIZR users can:
- Stay on track with digitized quotes, work orders, invoicing, and job management.
- Connect with customers through an all-in-one customer profile, making it easy to communicate and provide a better customer experience.
- Streamline operations with capabilities for scheduling, dispatching, and coordination of field technicians, improving productivity and efficiency.
- Eliminate waste by boosting efficiency. Tradespeople can reduce waste from their business through real-time job scheduling, which saves time and fuel; while digital invoicing can help save paper.
Zoom out: Ford is currently looking for small businesses to test drive the VIIZR platform on a complimentary basis with its Early Access Program.
What they’re saying:
- “Today, companies of every kind are becoming software companies, and every customer expects a digital first experience,” said Tyler Prince, EVP, Alliances & Channels, Salesforce. “Ford is transforming its business and expanding into the digital technology market and Salesforce is excited to see Ford build deeper and differentiated relationships with its customers as VIIZR evolves.”
- “Effective field service requires companies to match the expertise of their workforce with their customers’ requirements, and manage the complexities of scheduling – and for many small business trades today, managing customer interactions and mobile workers involves time-consuming, manual processes done on paper,” Paul Whitelam, SVP & GM, Field Service Management at Salesforce said. “VIIZR is helping tradespeople digitize their businesses, empowering them to focus less on back-end processes and more on their craft.”
- “The automotive industry is transforming from pushing metals to delivering customer value and outcomes through a customer centric-model. Ford’s work with VIIZR represents a new vision for how automakers can best serve and deliver value to their customers,” said Achyut Jajoo, SVP & GM, Manufacturing and Automotive at Salesforce. “Ford is evolving their relationship with commercial customers to go beyond sales and service and becoming part of their customers’ business value proposition by empowering them with the digital tools they need to run and grow their businesses.”
- “Ford Pro helps commercial customers maximize productivity,” Ford Pro CEO Ted Cannis said. “We know the back-office is a major pain point for the trades, who are often writing up paperwork from the cabin of their truck or van. VIIZR gives that time back, providing greater returns to these small businesses and empowering them to better service their customers.”
Explore further: Check out Ford’s press release detailing VIIZR’s launch here.
1 Based on Morning Consult, U.S. Omnibus Survey, November 19, 2021.
