Earlier today, Salesforce Chair and CEO Marc Benioff joined COO Bret Taylor at the Success Anywhere World Tour in Washington DC to lay out the company’s vision for sales success from anywhere.
The global pandemic has changed the way the world works, and we’re not going back to the way things were. Customer expectations have been changed, competitive dynamics upset, and companies have digitally transformed at a faster pace than ever.
We are not returning to the peak levels of air travel when sales deals were struck after a long flight and a handshake. Instead, teams need to excel at selling from anywhere. Those that do will be in the best position to accelerate their growth.
It’s against that backdrop that Benioff and Taylor discussed three new innovations to drive sales success from anywhere:
- The next generation of Sales Cloud, incorporating virtual selling tools and real-time pipeline visibility to build the most complete growth platform for digital sales
- Tableau Business Science to empower Sales Operations with easy-to-use, powerful AI to help streamline processes
- MuleSoft Composer, to connect data and apps without writing code so sales operations teams can connect apps and systems to Salesforce
The reimagined Sales Cloud, the most complete growth platform for digital sales
- “We’ve reimagined [Sales Cloud] for the all digital work anywhere world. In the last survey we did of account executives and sales reps, 51% said they weren’t going to get on airplanes to do their sales meetings anymore. Let’s be honest, virtual selling is here to stay. And we’ve built virtual selling and digital meetings directly into Sales Cloud. This is the next generation of digital selling, and the most complete growth platform for digital sales teams.” – Bret Taylor, President and COO, Salesforce
To learn more about the next generation of Sales Cloud, review the press release here.
How the Pandemic has accelerated Cloud 3.0
“Everyone knows the world has changed. The past is gone. We know we’re in a new world where we have to be able to work from home, and we’re in a new world where we have to be successful from anywhere.”
Marc Benioff, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce
- “When you look back to all the other previous times of crisis, what we see is that’s the time that innovation really happens. We can see it right now, we can see how innovation has been happening, and how we’ve been moving so quickly from Cloud 1.0 to Cloud 2.0, to Cloud 3.0. – or, as we like to say, from the internet, to social and mobile, and now to success from anywhere.” – Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce
Customer 360: the operating system for success
- “Customer 360 is your platform to find success from anywhere. Every aspect of every business has changed. Sales meetings have moved from conference rooms to Zooms. Contact centers used to be a building and now they’re in the cloud. Marketing events like these used to be in cavernous conference centers, and now they’re being broadcast over Twitter or YouTube. If you look back at Black Friday this past November, ecommerce was just commerce. Everything has gone digital.” – Bret Taylor, President and COO, Salesforce
- “In December last year…we announced our intent to acquire Slack. This is an amazing company, with an amazing vision about the new way to work…I think about [Slack] as your digital HQ. Our HQ is now in the cloud. With Slack, you have a system of engagement for every application in the Customer 360, every application at your company.*” – Bret Taylor, President and COO, Salesforce
* Please note that Salesforce and Slack remain independent companies until the transaction closes, anticipated in the fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2021.
How NYC DoITT is providing efficient and effective IT solutions for managing vaccination efforts citywide
- “In two and a half weeks, your team at Salesforce worked hand in hand with us, with [technology partner] MTX, and we built a single, streamlined scheduling tool for the public. But it’s more than just a scheduling tool. It manages the end to end vaccination efforts for New Yorkers, from the time a member of the public goes online to schedule their appointment, through to when they show up at the clinic, or to when they get their vaccination, we schedule their second dose appointment, all on this platform.” – Commissioner Tisch
Find out more about how the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications is bringing the City back with a citywide vaccine management system.
Honeywell is empowering its global sales teams to sell from anywhere
- “Like everybody, we were faced with a crisis of proportions that we had not seen before, nor experienced before. it really required us to pivot hard on two fronts. We had to make sure that our own company was able to operate,…and then at the same time we had to make sure that we were able to still serve our customers. We really pivoted hard, and put a lot of time and effort into understanding what our customers needed from us in this unprecedented time.” – Jeff Kimbell, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Honeywell
- “The future of business has fundamentally changed. In order to succeed, you need to adapt, and a big part of that is being able to work from anywhere. With Salesforce, our sellers have been able to continue their sales process virtually, without skipping a beat.” – Victor Abelairas, GM of Tridium Innovation at Honeywell Connected Enterprise
Watch the full Salesforce Success Anywhere World Tour from Washington DC here.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This communication relates to a proposed business combination transaction between salesforce.com, inc. (“Salesforce”) and Slack Technologies, Inc. (“Slack”). This communication includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements relate to future events and anticipated results of operations, business strategies, the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction, the anticipated impact of the proposed transaction on the combined company’s business and future financial and operating results, the expected amount and timing of synergies from the proposed transaction, the anticipated closing date for the proposed transaction and other aspects of our operations or operating results. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “foresees,” “forecasts,” “estimates” or other words or phrases of similar import. It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on the results of operations and financial condition of the combined companies or the price of Salesforce’s or Slack’s stock. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the parties’ control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of public health crises, such as pandemics (including coronavirus (COVID-19)) and epidemics and any related company or government policies and actions to protect the health and safety of individuals or government policies or actions to maintain the functioning of national or global economies and markets; the effect of the announcement of the merger on the ability of Salesforce or Slack to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and others with whom Salesforce or Slack do business, or on Salesforce’s or Slack’s operating results and business generally; risks that the merger disrupts current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the merger; the outcome of any legal proceedings related to the merger; the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed transaction on a timely basis or at all; the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals on the terms expected, at all or in a timely manner; the ability of Salesforce to successfully integrate Slack’s operations; the ability of Salesforce to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Salesforce’s business after the completion of the transaction and realize expected synergies; and business disruption following the merger. These risks, as well as other risks related to the proposed transaction, are included in the registration statement on Form S-4 (as amended, the “Registration Statement”) that was filed by Salesforce with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and declared effective by the SEC on January 29, 2021, the prospectus that was filed by Salesforce with the SEC on January 29, 2021 (the “Prospectus”) and the definitive proxy statement that was filed by Slack with the SEC on January 29, 2021 (the “Proxy Statement”). While the list of factors presented here is, and the list of factors presented in the Registration Statement, Prospectus or Proxy Statement are, considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. For additional information about other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Salesforce’s and Slack’s respective periodic reports and other filings with the SEC, including the risk factors identified in Salesforce’s and Slack’s most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Reports on Form 10-K. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof. Neither Salesforce nor Slack undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.
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Additional Information about the Merger and Where to Find It
In connection with the proposed transaction, Salesforce filed with the SEC the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and Slack filed with the SEC the Proxy Statement. The Registration was declared effective on January 29, 2021 and the Prospectus and the Proxy Statement were first mailed to shareholders of Slack on or about January 29, 2021. Each of Salesforce and Slack may also file other relevant documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction. The information in the Prospectus and Proxy Statement may be changed. This document is not a substitute for the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Proxy Statement or any other document that Salesforce or Slack may file with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, THE PROSPECTUS AND THE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders are able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Proxy Statement and all other documents containing important information about Salesforce, Slack and the proposed transaction, once such documents are filed with the SEC, through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Salesforce may be obtained free of charge on Salesforce’s website at http://www.salesforce.com/investor or by contacting Salesforce’s Investor Relations department at investor@salesforce.com. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Slack may be obtained free of charge on Slack’s website at investor.slackhq.com or by contacting Slack’s Investor Relations department at ir@slack.com.
