As always, Dreamforce was an amazing event where Salesforce announces many exciting new features they are planning to roll out in their software over the next one to two releases. In the past few years, Lightning was the key focus area; however, this year, Salesforce made a strong pivot towards Einstein – their Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform. It is clear that integrating AI and Machine Learning into their platform has now become the main focus of where Salesforce is driving the majority of their new innovations. Therefore, it will be no surprise that many of the items on the list this year relate to Einstein features and functions.

#5 – Einstein Search

Per Salesforce, they are taking the Enterprise Search function in Salesforce to a new level by making it personal, natural, and actionable. One of the most exciting aspects of Einstein Search is that it will provide a personalized search result for each user. Einstein Search leverages both Machine Learning and Data Mining techniques to produce its’ results. Another exciting enhancement to Einstein Search is the ability to use Natural Language to enter a search. I saved the best for last and certainly the most exciting feature of Einstein Search will be the actionable toolbar. This toolbar  will allow you to take action on your search results right from the search bar, which will result in a 50% reduction in clicks and page loads for your most frequently-used tasks. Reducing the number of clicks is far and away the number one requirement clients ask us for, so this will be a truly powerful new feature.

Note – This personalize results feature currently requires at least 100 active Sales Cloud licenses. Salesforce is working to remove this restriction.

#4 – Einstein Voice

This is a feature that was announced at last year’s Dreamforce with huge excitement and anticipation, but it was never released. We are happy to announce that this key feature is finally ready for beta usage in the upcoming release. Now you will be able to speak into your phone or many other compatible devices like Alexa or Google Dot to enter your info into Salesforce without having to type anything. Some key features that already exist include: Opportunity and Task Updates, Einstein Voice Skills (a new feature we will elaborate on in a future post) and the ability for Einstein to suggest follow ups tasks. You can also receive briefings from many smart devices by simply using natural language like: Give me my daily briefing, or What accounts are at risk? There is no doubt that allowing Sales reps who are on the road to update info and add leads without having to type this in will address the biggest issue people have had with getting data into Salesforce – the need to get key people to enter data. This feature promises to have the biggest impact on timeliness of information and the quality of information in Salesforce.

#3 – Pardot Lightning Email Builder

Salesforce announced a real game changer by leveraging their familiar builder canvas with components on the left, properties on the right, and drag and drop WYSIWG in the center panel so you can create dynamic and powerful emails right in Pardot. Key features include a totally responsive capability right out of the box where moving the email to any device will result in the email scaling perfectly. The Email Builder also includes key features like Hover and Link capability, as well as a Call to Action button and a Survey Provider. The release date for this feature is not set right now, but hopefully Pardot users will see this feature in a release in 2020.

#2 – Einstein Prediction Builder & Next Best Action

Einstein Prediction Builder used to be a paid  Service and now it is free and included with Sales Cloud. In a nutshell, Prediction Builder will look at all your historical leads and assess which leads converted using Machine Learning. It will construct a model that will enable you to identify the leads your team creates that have the highest likelihood of closing, which will enable your team to maximize their efficiency in the sales process. Predictions are unique to each company you create; the domain expertise and prediction builder does the rest!

• How much is this deal likely worth?
• How long will it take for this deal to close?

Or

• Is this Lead Going to Convert?

Prediction Builder will support Einstein Next Best Action helping you to cross sell, upsell.

Next Best Action works on getting your insights to work together to create a unified decisioning layer in the form of a recommendation to a Salesperson’s desktop at the right moment and turn that into an action that results in a outcome (closed deal). Next Best Action also integrates to Salesforce Lightning Flow by allowing a customer to link to an automated workflow.

#1 – MyTrailhead

Salesforce is now offering companies the ability to leverage their world class learning platform to provide bespoke training for any company. Imagine a simple and user-friendly interface that will fast-track compliance and other core company-required training because of its’ usability. . With Badges used to incent employees and interactive videos and quizzes to confirm knowledge, the Trailhead platform provides a top-notch environment to ensure key financial services requirements are fully covered by all employees while making it fun and easy to complete.

Uses include:

• Supercharging the Employee Onboarding Process including critical Compliance Training
• Reinforcing the Company Culture

Conclusion

These features, available now or in Beta and some that will be available in 2020, are items your organizations should seriously consider for your Salesforce roadmap in 2020. Each of these features will add great value to key areas like data integrity, compliance, user adoption and user friendliness of your system. If you would like help with planning or implementing these solutions, or just get more info or a demo on these features, FinServ would love to help. You can reach us at info@finservconsulting.com or give us a call (646) 603-3799.