What Is Salesforce Integration and Why Do You Need It?
What Is Salesforce Integration? Your Complete Guide
In the world of customer relationship management (CRM), Salesforce reigns supreme — it is literally the most used CRM platform in the world, with over 150,000 users.
With its robust features, customizable options, and an app marketplace that seems to have everything it’s the go-to platform for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a massive enterprise, Salesforce has something to offer.
But let’s face it: as powerful as Salesforce may be, it can’t do everything on its own. That’s where integration struts onto the stage like a superhero in a cape — ready to save the day (and your data).
So, what is Salesforce integration, and why should you care? Grab your popcorn; it’s time to dive into the world of seamless connections and why they matter.
But first, a quick primer.
Understanding Salesforce: The CRM Behemoth
Salesforce is not just a CRM; it’s a sprawling ecosystem that helps businesses manage customer relationships, sales processes, marketing campaigns, and service efforts — all while providing insights through analytics.
With features like lead tracking, customer segmentation, and marketing automation, Salesforce lets you do everything but physically deliver your product (you might still need a delivery service for that).
The platform is all about enhancing customer experience and boosting sales efficiency. It helps businesses understand their customers better, anticipate their needs, and respond faster than you can say, “I need a coffee.”
Salesforce has become synonymous with CRM, and for good reason.
A Closer Look at Salesforce’s Features
- Lead management: one of Salesforce’s flagship features, lead management allows businesses to track and manage their potential customers throughout the sales funnel. This means you can see where leads are coming from, how they’re engaging with your content, and what actions they take before they convert.
- Opportunity management: once a lead shows interest, Salesforce helps you track opportunities, including potential revenue and the probability of closing the deal. This feature helps sales teams prioritize their efforts, ensuring they focus on the most promising prospects.
- Analytics and reporting: with Salesforce, you can generate reports and dashboards that provide insights into your sales performance, customer behavior, and campaign effectiveness. This data-driven approach allows businesses to make informed decisions, optimizing their strategies over time.
- Customizable workflows: Salesforce is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The platform allows users to create custom workflows and automation rules tailored to their specific business needs. This ensures that your team can work efficiently without unnecessary manual tasks.
- Mobile access: Salesforce offers a mobile app, allowing sales teams to access customer information and manage tasks on the go. This is crucial for those in the field, ensuring they always have the latest data at their fingertips.
But before you start thinking Salesforce is the magic wand that will solve all your problems, let’s set the record straight: it can’t do everything.
Why Salesforce Integration Is a Game-Changer
Imagine trying to run a marathon in flip-flops. It’s uncomfortable, it slows you down, and let’s be honest, you’re probably going to trip over your own feet. That’s what using Salesforce without integration feels like.
Salesforce is undoubtedly a powerhouse, but it needs to communicate with other systems to reach its full potential. This is where Salesforce integration comes into play. Integration connects Salesforce with other applications, allowing them to work together harmoniously like a well-rehearsed dance team.
What Is Salesforce Integration?
So, what exactly is Salesforce integration? In simple terms, Salesforce integration is the process of connecting Salesforce with other software applications to share data and automate workflows.
For example, you can integrate Salesforce with Mailchimp, a popular email marketing tool, to synchronize your customer data and streamline your email campaigns. This means you can effortlessly send targeted emails based on customer behavior without manually updating your lists. Sounds nice, right?
But wait, there’s more! Integration isn’t just about syncing contact lists. It allows Salesforce to pull in data from other applications, analyze it, and provide a holistic view of your business operations.
It’s like having a personal assistant who can juggle multiple tasks at once — except this assistant doesn’t need coffee breaks.
Why Do You Need Salesforce Integration?
Even the best CRM can’t operate in isolation. You might have various tools for different aspects of your business, like marketing, finance, or project management.
Without Salesforce integration, you risk creating data silos, where information is trapped in different applications, unable to communicate with each other. This fragmentation can lead to inconsistencies, errors, and inefficiencies.
Did you know that the average company loses 20-30% of its revenue because of data silos?
Consider the implications of having your sales and marketing teams operate independently. If the marketing team runs a campaign that generates a bunch of leads, but those leads are never synced with Salesforce, your sales team might miss out on potential sales opportunities.
Conversely, if your sales team closes deals but forgets to update customer information, your marketing campaigns could miss the mark.
This is why Salesforce integration is essential for ensuring that your teams can collaborate effectively, leading to better customer experiences and improved business outcomes.
Top Benefits of Salesforce Integration
You might be wondering, “What’s in it for me? Doesn’t Salesforce integration just add needless complexity?”
Not at all! Here’s what benefits you can leverage through Salesforce integration — provided you choose the right platform for it, of course. But more on that later.
- Improved Data Accuracy through Salesforce Integration
Integration ensures that your data is consistent across all platforms. No more entering the same customer information multiple times and risking errors that could lead to miscommunication or lost sales.
Your data is automatically updated, so you can say goodbye to the days of searching for that one spreadsheet that has the correct phone number (you know the one).
- Enhanced Efficiency
By automating repetitive tasks, integration saves time and allows your team to focus on what really matters — building relationships and closing deals.
Whether it’s automatically syncing leads from your website to Salesforce or updating customer information across platforms, integration makes your life easier.
- Holistic View of Customer Interactions
Integration provides a 360-degree view of your customers. You can see their purchase history, email interactions, and even their social media activity — all in one place.
This enables you to tailor your marketing efforts and sales strategies to better meet their needs. Talk about being a mind reader!
- Streamlined Workflows
With Salesforce integration, you can automate workflows that span multiple applications. Need to notify your sales team when a new lead comes in? Integration can handle that for you.
Want to send a follow-up email after a demo? Yep, integration has got your back.
- Better Analytics and Reporting through Salesforce Integration
When you integrate Salesforce with other tools, you can pull in data from various sources, enabling more comprehensive reporting and analytics.
This means you can make informed decisions based on real-time data rather than relying on gut feelings (which, let’s be honest, can sometimes be a little off).
- Scalability
As your business grows, so do your needs. Integration allows you to easily connect new applications to Salesforce as your operations expand.
This scalability ensures that you won’t have to start from scratch every time you add a new tool to your tech stack.
- Cost Efficiency
By streamlining processes and improving efficiency, Salesforce integration can save your business money in the long run.
The time saved on manual data entry and error correction can be redirected to more strategic initiatives, ultimately boosting your bottom line.
- Improved Customer Experience
With seamless integration, your customer interactions can be more personalized and relevant. And that matters because 71% of buyers want personalized experiences. Worse yet, 76% of them get frustrated when they don’t happen.
The more you know about your customers, the better you can serve them. Integrated systems provide your teams with the information they need to engage with customers effectively, resulting in higher satisfaction rates.
Different Types of Salesforce Integration
Understanding the different levels of integration is crucial. Each level serves a unique purpose and helps businesses streamline processes, improve data accuracy, and enhance user experience.
Here are the three primary levels of Salesforce integration:
- User Interface (UI) Salesforce Integration
User Interface integration is all about displaying information from external systems directly within the Salesforce application. This level of integration provides users with seamless access to data without needing to switch between multiple platforms, making it a valuable tool for enhancing productivity.
Key Features:
- Embedded components: with UI integration, businesses can embed external data displays, forms, and dashboards into the Salesforce interface. This means users can interact with relevant information from other applications while remaining within Salesforce.
- Enhanced user experience: by consolidating data into a single view, UI integration eliminates the need for users to toggle between different systems. This streamlined access leads to improved efficiency and a more satisfying user experience.
- Contextual insights: users can view contextual information alongside Salesforce records, allowing them to make informed decisions quickly.
- Application Logic Salesforce Integration
Application Logic integration leverages interfaces, such as APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), to facilitate interaction with external data and business processes. This level allows Salesforce to communicate directly with other systems, enabling more complex operations and workflows.
Key Features:
- Real-time data interaction: through APIs, Salesforce can exchange data with external applications in real time. This capability allows businesses to react swiftly to changes, such as updating customer statuses or reflecting inventory levels immediately.
- Automation of business processes: By integrating application logic, organizations can automate workflows that span multiple systems. For example, when a new customer signs up, an API can automatically create a record in Salesforce and trigger follow-up marketing actions in another application.
- Enhanced business efficiency: this level of integration enables the orchestration of various business processes across different systems. By linking Salesforce with other mission-critical applications, businesses can streamline operations and improve overall efficiency.
- Data Integration
Data integration focuses on the processes involved in extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) data between different data stores. This level ensures that data is accurately moved and managed across systems, maintaining its integrity and usefulness.
Key Features:
- ETL processes: data integration employs ETL processes to extract data from various external sources, transform it into the appropriate format, and load it into Salesforce. This ensures that the data in Salesforce is current and ready for analysis.
- Data quality maintenance: by integrating data regularly, organizations can enhance data quality and prevent issues like duplicates or inconsistencies. Automated data cleansing processes help ensure that all customer information remains reliable.
- Comprehensive data synchronization: data integration ensures that updates made in one system are reflected in Salesforce and vice versa. This synchronization is crucial for maintaining an accurate view of customer interactions, which can inform better decision-making and strategy development.
Out of these three types of Salesforce integration, API integration is what most businesses need: it’s easy to use, you need no tech skills, and it’s the most widespread.
And, as you may have guessed, it’s exactly what we use at SyncApps.
Why 25,000+ Companies Rely on SyncApps for Salesforce Integration
Now that you know what Salesforce integration is, it’s the perfect time to start using it. We may be biased, but we think SyncApps is the best platform to start leveraging Salesforce integration.
Side note: biased or not, our clients rave about SyncApps on independent platforms like G2.com. Don’t take our word for it, read what real users have to say.
Done with the reviews?
Cool! Here’s a quick overview of why SyncApps is the preferred Salesforce integration platform:
- User-Friendly Interface
SyncApps offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy for anyone (even those who aren’t tech-savvy) to set up and manage integrations. No need to spend hours deciphering complex code or waiting for IT support.
- Pre-Built Salesforce Integrations
SyncApps provides a wide range of prebuilt integrations for popular applications like Mailchimp, NetSuite, or Constant Contact. This means you can get started quickly without having to build everything from scratch.
With just a few clicks, you can set up integrations that allow your team to work more efficiently and effectively.
- Bidirectional Real-Time Salesforce Integration
SyncApps is one of the very few iPaaS platforms that offers both bidirectional and real-time integration for Salesforce. This means that you don’t have to wait for scheduled syncs to happen AND that your data flows bidirectionally.
In most cases, the data only flows from Salesforce to, say, Constant Contact. But what about when someone unsubscribes from your mailing list? If you keep emailing them, you’ll not just annoy them but also break the law.
With SyncApps, this never happens because all records are synced bi-directionally and in real-time.
- Customization Options
Need a specific integration that isn’t available out of the box? No problem! SyncApps allows for customization, so you can tailor the integration to meet your unique business needs.
Whether you need to map specific fields or create unique workflows, SyncApps provides the flexibility to adapt to your requirements.
- 24/7 Supper with Real Humans
Yes, on all the plans. Yes, even if you’re just getting started on a free trial.
You can even hop on a call with our Salesforce consultants not for support but to learn how to use the integration more efficiently.
- Affordable Pricing
Integration doesn’t have to break the bank. SyncApps offers competitive pricing plans that cater to businesses of all sizes. You’ll get robust features without sacrificing your budget.
Plus, with the time saved through integration, you’ll likely see a return on investment (ROI) that makes the cost a no-brainer.
How to Get Started with Salesforce Integration
Ready to jump on the integration bandwagon? Here’s a quick guide to getting started with Salesforce integration through SyncApps:
Step 1: Identify Your Integration
Determine what application you want to integrate with Salesforce and what data you need to sync. You can select your preferred Salesforce integration here.
Step 2: Set Up Your Integration
Follow the user-friendly setup process to connect your applications. SyncApps provides step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process. The platform’s intuitive design means you won’t need a Ph.D. in IT to get started.
Plus, if you stumble upon anything, our support colleagues are here for you 24/7.
Step 3: Monitor and Optimize
Once your integration is live, monitor its performance and make adjustments as necessary. SyncApps allows you to fine-tune your integration for optimal results. Regularly reviewing the performance will ensure you’re getting the most out of your integration and will help you identify areas for improvement.
The Future of Salesforce Integration
Just like the CRM itself, Salesforce integration solutions are changing continuously. Here’s what’s in store for them — and you, as their user.
- Increased Adoption of iPaaS Solutions
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solutions like SyncApps are becoming increasingly popular as organizations look for ways to connect multiple applications seamlessly.
These solutions simplify the integration process and reduce the need for custom coding, making it easier for businesses to adopt new technologies.
This is why the iPaaS market continues to grow. It will go from USD 12.87 billion in 2024 to USD 78.28 billion by 2032,
- AI-Powered Integrations
Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to play a more significant role in integration processes. AI can help automate data mapping, identify anomalies, and optimize workflows, making integrations more efficient and effective.
- Greater Focus on Data Governance
With increased data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, businesses will need to pay more attention to data governance when integrating systems. This will involve implementing policies and practices to ensure that customer data is handled securely and ethically.
- Enhanced Customer Experiences
As businesses integrate Salesforce with various applications, the potential to deliver personalized and timely customer experiences will increase.
This means that organizations will need to focus on understanding customer behavior and using that data to inform their interactions.
Wrapping Things Up: What Is Salesforce Integration and Why Do You Need it?
In a world where businesses are constantly seeking ways to improve efficiency and enhance customer experience, Salesforce integration is a must. It transforms Salesforce from a powerful CRM into a supercharged tool that can handle all your data management needs.
By integrating Salesforce with other applications, you can streamline workflows, improve data accuracy, and gain a holistic view of your customer interactions. Plus, with SyncApps as your integration partner, you can rest easy knowing you have the best solution at your fingertips.
Ready to go from “what is Salesforce integration” to Salesforce integration power user? On SyncApps, it takes minutes to get started, not months.
