Salesforce has become the golden child of the CRM space. With over 150,000 customers worldwide, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, Salesforce now commands 20% of the CRM market share.
Founded in 1999, Salesforce was one of the first on the scene and aimed to master the art of providing a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management solution. Since then, they have beat out behemoths in the tech space such as Microsoft for the top spot in CRM. Many clients turn to Salesforce for reliability, innovation, and superior features.
But, did you know that there are hundreds of Salesforce integrations that can help you elevate the CRM’s platform and optimize every part of your business? If you are using Salesforce without these kinds of apps and tools, your business is missing out.
In this article, we’ve broken down some of the benefits of adding integrations as well as a list of the best Salesforce integrations in 2022, separated by category. Read on to see which apps might be a perfect fit for you and your business.
Benefits of Adding Salesforce Integrations
Salesforce is incredibly powerful in and of itself. But, customizing the power that your CRM holds and what it does for you and your sales team by adding Salesforce integrations can drastically improve your business’ day to day sales operations in many ways.
The Salesforce AppExchange houses hundreds of apps that can seamlessly integrate with your CRM by allowing the third-party application to share data with Salesforce. A few of the benefits of utilizing these types of apps include:
- Creates a centralized hub: Instead of having to bounce back and forth between several different software programs and spreadsheets, using integrations within Salesforce creates a powerful central hub to work from.
- Automate processes: Manual sales processes, especially administrative ones, can eat tremendous amounts of time each day. Many Salesforce integrations can help automate these processes, saving your sales team valuable time that they can more effectively use to actually sell.
- Increases efficiency and effectiveness: By having a more centralized and streamlined process, your sales reps and management can more efficiently and effectively attract new prospects, provide relevant solutions to customers, and keep them happy.
- Better understanding of where the business is at: There are a variety of integrations that optimize sales data visualization and reporting. This gives sales management a more in-depth look into exactly where things stand and where they are headed, allowing for a more proactive management approach.
Top Integrations for Salesforce
With so many apps available in the AppExchange and more being added every day, it can be hard to narrow down the search for the best Salesforce integrations. That’s why we’ve pinpointed some of the top ones you should be looking at. Here are some of the best options, broken down by category of use:
Data Visualization Integrations
Domo
Data visualization allows sales management to get a clear bird’s-eye-view of their business, enabling them to make proactive data-backed decisions. The powerful cloud-based app Domo allows you to do just that. As one of the top Salesforce data integration tools, it combines BI (business intelligence) and data analytics to bring your company and its data together visually on one intuitive and mobile-friendly platform.
With the Domo integration, users can view their Salesforce CRM data alongside other valuable business intelligence. Thus providing an in-depth understanding of what is currently going on and where the company is headed. The app helps Salesforce users stay on top of all the moving parts of their sales organization, while also allowing executives to access important metrics and KPIs anytime, anywhere.
Pros
- Centralized hub – It integrates in-house business data with external data sources into one cloud-based central hub. It easily compiles all the information you need about your company and is available no matter where you’re at.
- Customizable – Domo understands that no two businesses are the same. You can customize your Domo platform to fit your company.
- Collaborative – One of the main goals of Domo is creating a collaborative data environment. They offer a messaging system that was designed with teams in mind. It also connects C-suite executives with the day-to-day operations of the business.
Cons
- Cloud-based only – It does not offer on-premise deployment.
- Steep learning curve – For those that are not very tech-savvy it can have a steep learning curve in the beginning. Customizing the platform for your business can also take some time initially. Domo is ideal for businesses that have dedicated IT teams.
- More expensive – Some consider Domo a luxury product, as it is more expensive than other offerings. It was created mostly for enterprises, so it’s priced out of range for many smaller companies
Zoho Analytics
Another Salesforce data visualization option with over 100 ready-made dashboard options, Zoho Analytics combines the power of BI, data analytics, and your customer info. Everyone from small businesses to large corporations can quickly gain valuable insights and track key sales metrics in this affordable app.
In Zoho Analytics, users can track sales KPIs, create and monitor sales funnels, view your win/loss rates, put together sales forecasts, gauge sales team performance, and more. Sharing these reports with your colleagues and clients is also made easy with customizable access control permissions.
Pros
- Affordable – Zoho One offers access to all Zoho products for $30 a month, making their prices hard to beat.
- Great customer service – Users reported prompt and preemptive help, even for their free version.
- Intuitive – The learning curve is relatively short for most users and the platform is easier to master than other applications.
Cons
- Not customizable – For those concerned with the looks of the graphic, Zoho doesn’t offer the ability to customize it.
- Lacking support documentation – Users reported that there isn’t much documentation to help figure out issues. If you’re the type that wants to work it out for yourself instead of working with customer service, this could be inconvenient.
Map My Customers
You didn’t think we wouldn’t mention our favorite Salesforce data integration, did you? Although the data in Salesforce is excellent, Map My Customers, allows you to use that information to be more productive than ever. The platform enables your sales team with in-depth visualization of everything from the sales pipeline in real-time to the current sales territories to prospecting efforts and more.
Even though we’ve included Map My Customers in the data visualization category, the app is invaluable across several different categories of use cases. For example, purpose-built for outside sales reps, the territory and mapping features within the app allow reps to make the most out of their sales travels. In fact, users get 35% more visits per day with the mobile-first platform. Plus, users can easily sync Salesforce tasks and events and help streamline day to day activities for optimized efficiency.
Pros
- Mobile friendly – Sales teams will have everything they need, even on the go. Our platform can be easily used on mobile devices.
- Intuitive design – The app’s intuitive design means that it is easy for the whole team to use, resulting in much higher adoption rates across your team.
- Increased accuracy of reporting – With higher adoption rates of the app, more complete and accurate customer data will be available. Providing management with valuable insights through accurate performance metrics.
Cons
- Designed for field teams – Map My Customers was mainly built for the needs of sales reps out on the road visiting customers. It may not be as effective for inside sales teams.
- Online and mobile-only – There are no on-premise versions, which might not work for some businesses.
Sales Prospecting Integrations
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
As arguably one of the best Salesforce integrations in today’s digital sales environment, LinkedIn Sales Navigator has quickly become an indispensable app for many top sales teams. By utilizing the power of the largest and most active online professional network, reps have a supercharged ability to research their market and network and actively prospect for new profitable opportunities.
With LinkedIn as part of your sales team’s prospecting tactics, the Salesforce integration helps make the process more streamlined and effective. While still in the Salesforce CRM, reps can stay up to date on relevant industry activities and news, search for and dive into key insights on prospects, use TeamLink to uncover warm introductions, use InMail to directly message contacts, and more.
Pros
- Easily keep up to date – This professional network is consistently one of the top sources for the latest and most accurate information on prospects and their companies.
- Custom lists – You can easily create and save custom lists of prospects and receive notifications on the latest news for prospects included in the list.
- Mobile-friendly – The mobile-friendly app allows sales reps to quickly and easily pull up a prospect’s LinkedIn profile on the go, allowing for a more customized sales approach.
Cons
- Higher price point – Even though you have access to such a large network of information and prospects, with a higher price point compared to other tools, it may be too pricey for smaller companies.
- Lack of export capabilities – Some users have complained about the tool’s lack of ability to export information to a CSV.
ZoomInfo
Having the correct contact data and intelligence is a critical part of effective prospecting efforts, allowing reps to zero in on the right people at the right time. This is exactly what ZoomInfo allows users to do. The leader in B2B intelligence enables sales reps to identify, connect with, engage, and close the ideal buyers.
With the ZoomInfo Salesforce Integration, your sales team (and marketing team) can pinpoint new prospects in the target market and instantly identify the decision-makers. Pair this with verified email addresses and direct-dial phone numbers and connect rates will be significantly boosted. Users can also easily identify any data discrepancies between ZoomInfo and Salesforce records in real-time and manually update the CRM data selectively or in bulk.
Pros
- Increased CRM data accuracy – With the ability to easily pinpoint discrepancies in CRM contact information for prospects and customers, data accuracy will be significantly boosted.
- Targeted prospecting – In ZoomInfo, reps can identify users of specific technologies or even when prospects are searching for the service you provide. This helps your sales team target prospecting efforts even further and provide solutions for your prospects.
- Increases efficiency – The app helps significantly decrease the amount of time spent researching prospective companies to target.
Cons
- Not all categories available in filtering – Some users have reported a lack of categories available in the filtering tools, especially when it comes to the service industry.
- International information lacking – ZoomInfo does not have as much info for contacts at company locations outside of the US. If your business deals with international locations often, this might not be the best fit.
Communications Integrations
Slack
Thousands of sales and account management teams utilize Slack for communications and collaboration. But, by integrating Slack with your Salesforce CRM, you unlock streamlined communications and sales processes without having to jump back and forth between platforms. Users can easily view Slack notifications, tasks, and commands while still working within the CRM.
The integration also means increased collaboration within the sales team and even across teams with your customer service or marketing teams. Users can easily send Salesforce customer information directly through Slack channels. As well as link important customer interactions and conversations (including internal) with related Salesforce records.
Pros
- Easy to use – With this app, you can count on increased adoption and collaboration due to its ease of use and intuitive platform.
- Highly customizable – The platform is highly customizable. It can be easily tailored to meet the needs of your teams and keep everything organized and streamlined through the use of custom channels etc.
- Mobile friendly – The app is extremely easy to use and responsive on mobile devices and helps to keep your teams connected on the go.
Cons
- Large number of notifications – In the instances of multiple teams involved and multiple channels, some users have noted that there can be too many notifications and information becomes harder to find quickly.
- Can become a distraction – With all of its fun features and ease of communication, without standards set in place by your company, it can become somewhat of a distraction to users.
SalesLoft
Internal communications are not the only place you can take advantage of Salesforce integrations. Consistent follow-up is a critical aspect of effective sales prospecting. While responsiveness and ease of communication is a huge part of keeping existing customers happy. For both of these instances is where the SalesLoft integration with your Salesforce comes in. By integrating this platform with your CRM, users can take advantage of the #1 sales engagement platform and streamline customer and prospect communications. From customized email templates and cadences to in-app mobile dialing out in the field, SalesLoft makes effective sales communication easy.
All communications performed in or from SalesLoft are synced in real-time with your Salesforce platform. So, all sales communications can easily be monitored and tracked to pinpoint what is working and where there might be holes in the process. Insight from SalesLoft is combined with your team’s Salesforce data, giving management instant visibility into sales performance.
Pros
- Streamline processes – The app syncs your SalesLoft data with your Salesforce CRM in real-time, helping to streamline communication processes and increase productivity.
- Intuitive interface – For such a powerful platform, it is intuitive, extremely easy to use, and does not require a huge learning curve.
- Robust reporting and analytics – In-depth analytics can be easily run to give management a broad look at the sales communication effort that is going on.
Cons
- Some restrictions on the number of emails – With a restriction of 1,000 emails per day, this can be somewhat frustrating for large sales teams who often process a high volume of emails daily.
- No native connection with LinkedIn InMail – There is not currently a way to send InMail directly from within SalesLoft.
Utilize Integrations With Your Salesforce CRM to Elevate Your Business
Working in powerful, effective sales tools and integrations doesn’t have to be a burden. Don’t be afraid to dive further than a simple Excel and Salesforce integration. As you can see, the integrations we’ve covered above can help make your sales reps, your sales process, and your business more efficient and effective. While also amplifying the power of Salesforce CRM.
As many successful sales teams know, utilizing the available tools in today’s digital environment is essential to get ahead of the competition. Try out a few of these integrations today and build your optimized stack of sales apps to elevate your business’ success.
