If you use Salesforce, then you are already familiar with its benefits as a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solution. Individually, Salesforce’s sales and marketing capabilities are impressive. it automates sales processes, makes it easy to manage multiple marketing campaigns, provides funnel insights to sales leaders, and more.
However, like any SaaS solution used in the business world, Salesforce’s impact grows exponentially when combined with strategic business solutions that enable customized functionality for a variety of business functions. These pairs of systems referred to as “Salesforce integrations”, will help upgrade your organization in a number of ways when used correctly.
Whether you’re looking for a more streamlined approach to managing your marketing campaigns, a little extra help with that accounting cycleor a way to keep all your employees on the same page internally, there are Salesforce integrations you can tap into.
Benefits of Salesforce Integration
Finding the right systems to integrate with Salesforce and figuring out how to execute those integrations can seem daunting, but it’s actually quite simple. Salesforce has been around for many years and its integration capabilities have improved, making it reliable and accessible for any business. With Salesforce integrations, you’ll see a number of benefits start to take shape:
Cross-functional Collaboration
If your sales team uses one system, your marketing team uses another, and your finance team uses a third system, it’s much harder for these functional teams to collaborate with each other. Not only does every system come with a learning curve, but if the systems don’t communicate seamlessly, finance may see one data point while the sales team sees a conflicting data point. With Salesforce integrations, even if each function relies on a different tool, it becomes MUCH easier to align between functions, allowing them to work together in new ways.
Data synchronization across systems
Without integrations, when a sale is recorded in Salesforce, it must then be recorded in each different platform to be reflected correctly. This is a lot of manual lifting for your employees. Using Salesforce integrations, a sale can be recorded in one place and transferred to integrated systems without human intervention. This also leads to better collaboration within your organization because everyone has access to real-time KPIs and metrics.
Improved information and reporting
Because each system’s data sets are connected, creating detailed and accurate analytical dashboards or business reports can be done in seconds. If you want to evaluate revenue, sales and expense data in one report, your analysts no longer need to download data from multiple systems and compile it into a manual file with Microsoft Excel. They can just build the report, tell it what data to pull from where, and refresh it automatically.
Automation Opportunities
Automating manual tasks and heavy data processing can save businesses a lot of time and money, but without the right tools, it can be difficult to achieve. Key Salesforce integrations can help with operational automation such as accounts payable automation, marketing automation and display automation. When weighing the costs and benefits of investing in new software solutions, be sure to consider the time savings associated with automation that opens up.
How to integrate with Salesforce
When it comes to forging salesforce integrations, there are a few ways to go about it:
- Native Integrations: Some apps have built-in Salesforce-oriented integration capabilities. Things like Google Cloud, MailChimp, and Slack are all designed to integrate seamlessly with the CRM giant.
- AppExchange/Third Party: External apps that can connect to Salesforce are listed on the Salesforce AppExchange, and the integration itself usually only takes a few clicks.
- Custom build: If your organization has a proprietary software solution or uses an application that is not listed on the Salesforce AppExchange, it is possible to create a custom integration channel using API technology.
- Connector Applications: If you have heard of platforms like Workato, Zapier, MuleSoft or something similaryou are already familiar with the tools created to facilitate Salesforce integrations.
Salesforce Integration Highlights: Top 10
With thousands of Salesforce integrations available, the possibilities are truly endless. As more and more companies begin to take advantage of these tools, the list of available integrations and their associated capabilities will continue to grow. Some of the top Salesforce integrations of 2024 – broken down by function – are:
Accounting
Nanonets Salesforce Integration
Nanonetworks and Salesforce have two key things in common: they process and automate customer-facing transactions. When a sale is completed and recorded in Salesforce, Nanonets uses OCR technology to automatically send one invoice to the customer, process the payment and record customer history in both systems. Whether it’s sales orders, invoice processingor customer relationships you want to improve, Nanonets Salesforce integration is revolutionary.
Salesforce QuickBooks Integration
As a long-standing software solution dedicated to streamlining the accounting cycle, QuickBooks works well with Salesforce to provide the data needed for revenue forecasting and sales goal planning. This integration also streamlines its process receiving payments and processing customer invoices. Because of synchronized customer data reflected in both systems, the Salesforce QuickBooks integration also reduces manual data errors.
FreshBooks Salesforce integration
FreshBooks EasyConnect is a native Salesforce application that enables a two-way flow of data between Salesforce and this SaaS accounting solution for self-employed professionals. This integration allows users to sync customer information between Salesforce and FreshBooks and makes sales easier expense management.
Marketing
HubSpot Salesforce integration
The HubSpot Salesforce integration allows users to use data in Salesforce when sending emails through HubSpot, creating a more personalized customer experience. It’s also simple to link revenue numbers to specific campaign results, giving decision makers faster turnaround time when adjusting campaign strategies.
Mailchimp integration with Salesforce
Mailchimp contacts can come directly from Salesforce leads and contacts, and on the other hand, campaign activity reports from Mailchimp emails can be viewed in Salesforce. Mailchimp integration with Salesforce leads to targeted marketing efforts, increased engagement and better sales results.
ActiveCampaign Salesforce integration
If you want to automate email follow-up on your Salesforce contacts and target leads based on certain attributes like company size, the ActiveCampaign Salesforce integration is just what you need. It’s easy to track how prospects respond to your messages and alert the perfect team member when it’s time to reach out.
Demand base integration
Demandbase provides deep insight into targeted accounts, enabling highly personalized marketing and sales efforts that resonate with key decision makers. When integrated with Salesforce, this information becomes actionable in the CRM, enabling better targeted campaigns, improved alignment between sales and marketing, and ultimately, accelerated sales cycles and higher close rates.
Communication and Collaboration
Salesforce Slack Integration
If sales and service teams need to access real-time customer updates, share key customer information, and collaborate to push deals, they can do it all within Slack. Salesforce Slack integration keeps internal communication a top priority while ensuring that all the information your employees need to succeed can be found at a glance.
Google Workspace Salesforce integration
Because it’s easy to sync emails, calendars, and documents between Google Workspace and Salesforce, your teams will never miss a thing when collaborating with each other. It doesn’t take much to boost the productivity and efficiency of your hard-working employees, and Google Workspace Salesforce integration is a step in the right direction.
Integrate Microsoft Outlook with Salesforce
Customer interactions made through the Outlook interface will be automatically recorded in Salesforce, reducing the time required to track customer transactions and get a detailed view of customer contact efforts. Integrating Microsoft Outlook with Salesforce will help reduce data entry errors and provide a continuous look at key information related to customer interactions.
Which integration catches your eye?
The list of Salesforce integrations above only scratches the surface. With tens of thousands of integration options, you can transform many different business functions. We know you’ll love the wins from AP automationemail campaign management and easy revenue alignment with sales information, but if you’re looking for something different, all you need is internet access and some time to look at Salesforce AppExchange to find the perfect fit.