This week is Valentine’s Day and my thoughts are all about the things I love about you, Salesforce. Sure, I could be basic and say that I love the ease of use, the user interface, and the way it keeps my business running smoothly, but there is so much more to love.
10 Things I Love About You, Salesforce
- Trailhead – I’ve shared my love for this training tool once before.
With challenges that you complete on a dev org and a learning language that isn’t textbook jargon, I find myself eager to learn new skills. Trailhead helps me take learning and apply it. The badges are pretty, too!
- Chatter – I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a social media addict, so this one should come as no surprise. Not only does Chatter give me that community inside my org, it tracks changes on records and is a great backup for auditing change. (Yeah, I have a process following side to me, too). Collaboration is so easy in Salesforce!
- Innovation – Not only are Marc Benioff and Parker Harris committed to innovating the product to innovate businesses, the platform itself makes me an innovator. It is having tools at my fingertips to streamline business processes which save my business users time. Bringing this value to my day-to-day work means I get to go home each day smiling.
- Mobile – Working with a global company, I have a need to be connected most hours of the day. Because Salesforce mobile and SalesforceA are on my phone, I’m able to help my end users get back to business. This is possible whether I’m at my son’s soccer game or getting ready for my sister-in-law’s wedding (yeah, that happened once). Bonus – because Salesforce has an amazing uptime, I rarely have to do this, but knowing I can makes me swoon.
- Flow – Salesforce’s visual way of making magic happen behind the scenes makes it so an admin can woo their end users with automations. Admins can keep things moving without code – grabbing related information and allowing us to update records on the fly are just the start. Like any good relationship, flows do have flaws and challenges, keeping admins on their toes with “just manageable” challenges.
- Releases – Three times a year, we get the gift of a release. The notes behind these releases are usually 300+ pages long, showing that innovation is important. We’re using the tool of the future here, so there’s no surprise when things get an upgrade or functionality is added. And the downtime for the releases being five minutes speaks volumes to the power of the tool.
- Ideas – When something bothers us Admins about out of the box functionality that we can’t work around, the Ideas component of Trailblazer Community is a place to make this happen. Allowing others to share their thoughts and/or up-vote the Ideas shows that the request is valid for the Product Dev team to review. Sure, every Idea hasn’t been delivered, but it’s like being married and knowing you can’t change everything…but you can nudge.
- The Community – My first experience with Salesforce was with a project team that I am still connected to. Everyone that I’ve met that uses this tool (whether through User Groups, LinkedIn, or even at a picnic table in the Dreamforce campground) is willing to help each other. Even newbies bring something to the community – I’ve been taught lots by people who have less experience with the tool than I do! Asking for help is not a no-no in this Ohana.
- Dreamforce – Even with 170,000 other people, the annual user event never fails to amaze. It’s not just the concerts and swag. The idea sharing, hands-on learning, and motivation are incredible gifts. During this jam-packed week, there are opportunities to give back and to be mindful, too.
Giving Back – Although I am not working in the non-profit world, one of the Core Values I have at work is “Make a Real Difference”. This aligns with Salesforce’s value of Giving Back. With the 1-1-1 model and Power of Us program (where non-profits can get up to 10 free licenses), it is clear that taking care of others is important. This warms my heart and pushes me to want to do more for my local community, especially when Salesforce could be a solution.
Oh, Salesforce. You were dropped in my lap as a gift from my (previous) employer seven years ago and the journey has been nothing short of incredible. Don’t worry about sending me chocolates and roses, I’ll take the Spring ’18 release as a showering of your love.
Tell us, what do YOU love about Salesforce?
