Written By:

The CRM Firm

When you are pulling data from source audiences in over 100 countries, consisting of over 64 million records for B2B and Consumer campaigns, accuracy and efficiency are paramount.   

When Infocore, an end-to-end, audience-first Data and Marketing Solutions Firm that can identify the precise consumer audience for companies to target, came to The CRM Firm (CRMF) via another digital marketing agency with an inaccurate and incomplete picture of a customer’s journey, we understood how important it was to bring their business back into focus. 

The Business Problem: Consolidating Salesforce and a Mutually Exclusive Database  

There are times when shiny, off-Salesforce applications and products seem to make a lot sense: cost, UI, specific functionalities, etc. But, this is not always the case. Often times you can find yourself burning more time, dollars, and manpower having to learn a new system, getting the link with Salesforce operating optimally, and filling gaps that the service or product just doesn’t cover with manual effort that quite simply may have errors that will leave you with inaccurate data.  

This was the case with Infocore. Utilizing two databases, Salesforce for general Opportunity tracking for new and existing customers and another for compiling documents to support their quoting and invoicing processes, created numerous inefficiencies and process gaps that lead to unintentional human errors. Errors = Bad Data = Misguided Practices 

Problem Solved: Leveraging Salesforce, Consolidating Data, and Optimizing Processes 

Back to Basics 

It takes two to tango, and one is the loneliest number, but for Infocore, one database to rule them all was the best and most effective option for their data needs. They were already paying for Salesforce, but had barely scratched the surface of its full potential.   

CRMF began simply by reintegrating and leveraging their existing Sales Cloud license, features, and functionality on the Opportunity, Quotes, Quote Line Items, and Quote Templates. By pulling this information back, on-platform they started to reduce the gap created by the other database.   

Reverse Demo 

One of the most essential elements of the consulting process is a thorough and effective discovery, to gain a full understanding of a client’s business practice and processes presented, and this is very important, in their own words. Every client operates with its own vernacular, understanding how essential comprehension is, CRMF invests the necessary time to gain fluency in their data and processes.  

During the reverse demo of the external system, CRMF collected data points, calculations, instances requiring manual input, while also ascertaining operations that could be optimized and automated.  

Buoyed by that insight, we began developing a sandbox to work through both UI, exposing standard Salesforce features, and building out custom elements and automations.  

Workstream Development 

There were several workstreams that were addressed during this project’s development, but one of particular interest was Infocore’s custom pricing model. During the reverse demo we came to understand it would require a unique schema to handle the multitude of permutations that could potentially exist within a single quote. With that in mind, CRMF created a number of custom fields and formulas to support the summation of various potential Quote Line Items while leveraging the standard Quantity and Sales Price fields.  

On the Right Track 

A major facet, perhaps THE most important aspect of this project was the lack of clarity and vision into Infocore’s customer journey, purchase history, reporting metrics, etc. You know … that single view. For that, tracking is an essential component. They needed to be able to track both individual and bundle media product offerings, as well as the media delivery to accurately produce final invoices and margin calculations.  

To bring this to fruition CRMF developed a custom object to provide data and schedules for their media delivery within Quotes, in a few steps, automatically identifies and updates specific areas with real-time metrics and documentation and produce additional Invoicing/PO automation via Bill.com and Quickbooks.  

The Tools of the Trade 

Infocore’s existing Salesforce license allotted our team Sales Cloud and an Enterprise database as a foundation with which to develop the necessary processes to close any remaining gaps. Utilizing that base, we leveraged Bill.com’s document intake to automate and deliver Quote PDFs and close the Vendor Payment Process loop. Zapier aided with the Quickbooks integration. Lastly, FirmWorks Files optimized a more comprehensive Invoice tagging and management process, which effectively identified “Final” versions of Salesforce Quote Templates that are then delivered externally via Flow.  

The Proof is in the Process 

When this project began, Infocore was a divided data house with holes and inefficiencies strewn throughout their processes that leaked like a sieve. Their data was untrustworthy and laden with human errors, which skewed their business perspective and affected their approach.  An unideal situation.  

From Discovery to Go-Live, working and collaborating with the Infocore team those aforementioned gaps and human errors have been eliminated, “replaced” by a fully optimized Salesforce ecosystem efficiently operating flows and providing accurate, specific, real-time data to inform their business decisions.