Salesforce News: August 2023

Salesforce Scoop

What’s New with Salesforce?  

Marc Benioff discusses AI with the Associated Press 

Marc Benioff is an outlier, even amongst his billionaire peers. Unlike Gates, Bezos, Page, Hastings, and many other Owners/CEOS who have stepped down from their respective transformative companies, Benioff continues to be at the helm of the world’s leading CRM and wants to be so for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of the future: recently, Benioff gave an interview with the Associated Press that was quite illuminating into the plans of the tech giant.

On the 4th wave of technology

“When I look back at 2019, we had really gone through three huge waves of technology: cloud computing, mobile and social. And now we are going into the fourth wave, which is probably the most important one in AI (artificial intelligence), which is not just the most important technology of our lifetime, but probably the most important in any lifetime.”

On the dangers of AI if unchecked

“Technologies are never good or bad; it’s what we do with them that matters. Nobody wants a Hiroshima moment to understand how dangerous AI is. We want to be able to kind of get our heads around the tremendous consequences of the technology that we are working with. And that’s going to require a multi-stakeholder approach — companies, governments, non-governmental organizations.”

On the rapid advancements in AI since the release of ChatGPT

“We are moving from the generative ChatGPT phase, which is phase one, into a stage where we are about to see agents that are quite alive** and aware and able to take these kinds of massive actions. These are called multimodal agents; that is, they can move from text to speech to video. And then we are going to move into something that is maybe more multisensory, where these agents are going to be more aware of us, and we are going to be more aware of them. None of us are really ready for this because none of us have had this experience before.”

(Note: The author of this had a panic attack mid-sentence while thinking of the prospect of sentient artificial intelligence but dutifully continued to provide you with the latest info)

Speaking of Salesforce and AI, Salesforce has announced pricing information for new features.

The leading customer relationship management platform has announced the general availability and pricing information for its GPT-powered services. These new features, made possible by Salesforce’s Einstein GPT, aim to enhance sales and service processes by leveraging artificial intelligence and Salesforce’s data clouds. The main advantages of these features are their ability to process natural language, making it easier for users to interact with the system and access information. The systems will also be able to provide suggestions based on previous interactions and user preferences, saving time for users. Pricing details for these exciting new features can now be obtained from Salesforce.

That’s all for now, folks; please enjoy this in the memewhile!

There’s a lot of Salesforce news, and it’s hard to keep up!  As always, Cloud Adoption Solutions aims to bring the best and most important Salesforce news to you so you don’t have to do all of the work. Keep following along with us and make sure to subscribe to our blog posts for more!  – Sam

User Adoption Research: Details from my PhD Research

 Studying Salesforce Academically – and then Putting it into Practice

CRM Launch and Training Literature Review

“Training the organization on how to use the CRM system is a critical component to success of the initiative (Huang, 2018, p. 17). According to Grattan (2012), the implementation period may be long, and the training may be costly (p. 20), but the training and change management approach are critical to the success of the launch (p. 77).  Standardized training for the users of a cloud-based system is often led by organizational leaders, and these leaders require specific training (Landreville, 2016, p. 220).

Training programs are tools that can be used by the leaders of the change to ensure that the program is perpetuated (Grant, 2016, p. 57).  There is not an approach that will ensure optimal learning conditions for every adult learner at the same time; however, the training leader can create “engaging learning experiences for diverse learners” (Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p. 254).”

If you want even more info on this critical CRM user adoption research, I have a journey built that you can follow if you click here. Or, shoot me a message to have us help you develop your adoption strategy.  – Shannon 

Tips on YouTube

Salesforce: CAS Come and See Videos

Salesforce Orphaned Contacts Report: CAS Come and See Video

Sometimes Salesforce contacts don’t have an associated account name, and those are considered orphan contacts in Salesforce (you can create contacts without an account). Join Cory as he shows you how to create a report of Orphaned Contacts.

To watch this video, click here!

Interested in seeing more? Cloud Adoption Solutions has committed to launching videos on Youtube at a much higher rate this year, so subscribe to our channel to stay in the know! Watch as the team shows new trends, shows instructional videos, and keeps you up to date on all things Salesforce.  Subscribe to never miss a thing: we show you something new every week. – Andrew

Advice from an Expert

Send your Qs to info@cloudadoption.solutions

Q:  I’m seeing so much about AI; how do I even begin to approach leveraging it?

A: So to be honest, AI seems to still be really hard to use in the right way. There is a huge debate brewing over what help it provides, the ethical situation of its use, and if it is truly ready for rollout for the modern office and sales process.

In a way we have been using AI for years now, with Einstein predictability with Salesforce; however, it has recently progressed to a new level. If anyone says they are leveraging it perfectly, that’s just not true. As with any new technology, there is a huge learning and adoption curve. However, to us, it seems that every company should be at least having conversations about AI; just like anything else, if you are waiting to see what happens, you will be late to the game!

Our advice = give some AI a try and see how it improves your daily life and processes! Even in small personal ways (the Snapchat AI, or take ChatGPT for a spin), see if you can find any use for it. With more powerful AI tools within Salesforce or Sales predictability applications, the price tag increases, but so does the helpfulness!

AI is certainly not going anywhere, so getting ahead and starting the conversation around it now can only be beneficial! (And if you’ll be at Life Sciences Dreamin’, the opening session will be an incredible one on AI by Ian Gotts!)

If you have specific questions about Salesforce, let us know – we’re happy to lend a hand.  Hit “reply” to this email and we’ll jump on a Zoom! – Andrew

Content Corner

• STREAMING: The podcast “How to be a better human” by TED has a great episode worth checking out: What we can learn from great salespeople (thanks to my sister for sending it to me!)
• SOMETHING COOL: r/place is likely to end today – did you place your pixel yet? Looks like France, Germany, and the Netherlands are taking the top three spots – and the art is super cool!
• BANDS WE LOVE:  Jane Blonde and the Goldfingers, the Bay Area’s hottest pop dance band, are not only the headliner for the Life Sciences Dreamin’ Beach Bash, but you will 100% recognize a Salesforce key thought leader in the band…guess who!
• TRAILS WE LOVE: Everyone is talking about it – Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals is a great trail where you can learn the basics of AI and the tech behind its amazing capabilities.
• WANT TO BE A GUEST COLUMNIST? We’d love to feature your hot take on Salesforce! Email us and let us know your idea!