Salesforce has gone through numerous advancements in the past years (Check the timeline of Salesforce here- Infographic | The Timeline: 20 Years of Salesforce). We have experienced many new technologies come up and take the entire tech world by storm. This storm, however, is in no mood to settle at all and is set to bedazzle 2019 as well.
Seven Salesforce leaders have predicted what Salesforce will look like in 2019 and what the future has in store for CRM. Take a look.
Here are the top 7 Salesforce predictions for 2019:
1. Transparency will make analytics accessible
In order to make smarter decisions, business leaders know that the most crucial role is played by the analytics. But, the insights that the analytics provide have been hard to measure and are often catered toward advanced data analysts. Ketan Karkhanis, GM of Salesforce Einstein Analytics, predicts that 2019 will witness a boost in the adoption rate of analytics across all business users. Packed with features like recommendations and storytelling, analytics powered by AI is becoming much more transparent so that those business users who do not have a background in data science can also understand the workaround and take appropriate actions.
2. The collaboration will adopt a vertical approach
According to Rafael Alenda, VP, Marketing of Quip, 2019 will be the year collaboration minimizes cycles and power actions. In today’s scenario, collaboration tools provide a slow, outdated experience. But further into the year, we will see more and more companies getting into digital transformation by turning to collaboration solutions that are vertical-oriented. Templates, workflows, and platforms specifically created for highly regulated industries (like finance and healthcare) shall contribute to the success of businesses in the connected world.
3. Marketing will get more personal
Marketers are progressively making personalization a priority, leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence and turning to various data sources to enhance customer engagement. However, they find respecting privacy and earning customers’ trust a challenge more than ever before. Since 2007, the use of AI by marketers has increased at a whopping rate of 44 percent. But with the improvement in personalization, only 30 percent of marketers are satisfied with their capability of balancing it with privacy. These trends will continue to see an upward trend this year, believes Chris Jacob, Director, Product Marketing, Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
4. Customer service will shift from reactive to proactive
Bill Patterson, EVP & GM, Salesforce Service Cloud, states that customer service has always been about reacting in the initial times. Taking calls, trying to resolve issues, etc., have been the things of the past. With the increase in connected devices and AI, companies are expected to resolve problems almost at the point of their origin, even without the customer having to report it. This will, evidently, lead to more satisfied and happier customers.
5. Demand for responsible AI will increase
This year, the year of taking actions is when not just human rights activists and data ethicists will be demanding fairness and accountability, more and more people will be joining in and seeking transparency. Kathy Baxter, Architect of Ethical AI Practice, believes that we will witness more declarations and pledges about the responsible AI creation and AI usage as more companies start leading with their conscience — whether they are building AI solutions or buying them — and seek assurance that the systems are ethical for everyone.
6. Employee education will take a new approach
In this digital age, nothing is more critical than continuous learning to keep up with rapid changes in the technology, says Sarah Franklin, EVP and GM of Trailhead and Developer Relations, Salesforce. Technology is evolving rapidly and every job is being reconsidered with the latest skills. This calls for keeping traditional learning tools and techniques aside. Doing so will give companies an opportunity to understand new technologies and pursue the skill sets required within organizations.
7. AI will be extensively used by sales reps
Sales representatives will reap huge benefits from Artificial Intelligence by automating their tasks instead of spending time searching for contacts and analyzing leads. This will provide sales reps more time to actually sell. According to Robin Grochol, SVP, Product Management, Salesforce Sales Cloud, with various features powered by AI, like data capture, voice, forecast indicators, etc., sales industry will shape up further just as it has over the past year, moving the needle even more in 2019.
We would be happy to hear your take around developments in Salesforce you expect in 2019!
Source: Salesforce
Pratyush Kumar
