This morning, I drove through the Starbucks drive-thru on my way to work and handed my phone to the barista. She scanned the barcode on my screen, handed me a caramel iced coffee with 2% milk, and I enjoyed a blissful moment of consumer satisfaction as I saw new rewards points rack up. Their delicious coffee, hipster tunes, and well-designed stores are great. But the main thing that draws me (and my wallet) to Starbucks is their mobile app.
The ease with which I can grab my morning cup while juggling kids, early morning work calls, and my morning commute gives Starbucks a major advantage in earning my business. And their app's built-in rewards system enhances my experience.
Now, manufacturing may not have a lot common with a food-service business like Starbucks.
But one thing is universal: the more convenient and pleasant you can make things for your customers, the better. And given that our customers are on-the-go more than ever, mobility is critical to meeting their needs.
Fortunately, you don't have to invest a lot of time and money in creating a mobile strategy from scratch. Salesforce has done much of the work for you.
4 ways to leverage Salesforce when developing your mobile strategy:
Serve customers more efficiently — wherever they are
The Salesforce platform makes engaging with clients more efficient and intuitive by providing customers with support when and where they need it. You can easily embed knowledge articles, cases, chat and video chat functions within your website or mobile application. Or monitor customer complaints or questions on social media and provide proactive personalized responses. You can even provide real-time updates on when your field service team will arrive onsite.
Because Salesforce products are unified across the platform, you can provide a seamless experience from touchpoint to touchpoint. Behind the scenes, Salesforce's analytics and intelligence tools streamline communication and connect clients with the right person the first time.
For example, you can be sure to connect customers with employees that specialize in knowledge they need. Or you can connect them to the customer service agent they spoke to previously if they're available.
So whether your customer reaches out through social media, email, chat, text message, phone, or all of the above, Salesforce offers a connected customer experience. This type of consistency can dramatically enhance your ability to build stronger relationships with clients and enhance brand loyalty.
Build trust in B2B relationships
Entering into a relationship with a vendor or manufacturer can feel a lot like entering into a marriage. Think "partnership" over "transaction."
Both parties want and need personal communication and a certain level of transparency. Tools like the Salesforce Community Cloud provide the near perfect solution to the difficult task of building trust in B2B relationships.
Communities connect customers, partners, and employees allowing them to engage with each other and key data. Communities make it easy to collect and share important information instantly, and securely, across multiple devices and accounts. This includes the ability to share industry trends, supply chain information, CPQ data, and transactional data that is constantly evolving. This level of intelligence, speed, and engagement strengthens bonds among all parties and helps everyone grow.
Even better, Salesforce's "mobile-first" design put your community at your customers' fingertips. So whether they're in the office, in the field, or on the shop floor, they'll have the information they need to make decisions.
Real-time data and information — at your team's fingertips
Your sales teams and managers are probably on the road... a lot. So the Salesforce mobile app should be one of their go-to tools. The app's user interface can be customized to fit your workflow, allowing your team to enter information quickly and easily from their mobile device.
Combine that with automated reminders, mobile dashboards and reports, and real-time information and alerts, and the app can be a game-changer.
See also: Demo: Cloud ERP Mobile App
Business automation
Another great benefit of the Salesforce mobile app is the ability to automate complicated and time-consuming business processes. Because the application handles the collection, filing, and analysis of data automatically, your sales team can focus their skills and talents on relationships rather than on paperwork.
For example, let's say you're an installation consultant in the construction industry. Using the Salesforce mobile app, you can enter a set of site-specific parameters and get immediate feedback on products to recommend. You can even instantly start a case with a manufacturing specialist who can review the data and make customized recommendations on how to implement or install the product.
Ready to learn more about Salesforce's mobile capabilities?
Give us a call or leave a comment below!