7 benefits of integrating your phone system with Salesforce
5 min
If you are using Salesforce, you probably understand the value of a centralized system of record to keep track of your business.
The thing most people overlook when deploying a CRM though, and Salesforce in particular, is that it doesn’t provide a great system of action. Engaging with customers and prospects over the phone, text messaging, video, and other channels through your CRM and logging all of these interactions in Salesforce automatically requires a Computer Telephony Integration or Salesforce CTI for short.
You can find vendors on the AppExchange that offer pre-built phone system integrations and should choose a different approach whether you need to integrate an existing phone system or totally replace legacy infrastructure with a cloud-based solution that is natively built for Salesforce.
Without further ado, we’ll jump right into the 7 benefits of integrating your phone system with your CRM.
1. Automated call logging:
This provides multiple benefits. First, it enables your agents to be more productive since they can focus on their work while your Salesforce CTI ensures all customer interactions are being logged to your CRM and the right records, including call recordings, call outcome, important call metadata, and more. Secondly, it empowers management by providing a reliable and consistent source of information regarding all activities and interactions.
2. Screen pop:
Reduce average handle time and provide a personalized experience at scale with screen pop. This feature automatically presents the right record on-screen to agents within Salesforce for both inbound and outbound phone calls. The most advanced phone systems offer this feature not only on desktop but also when answering calls on mobile or desk phones.
3. Click to call:
Although simple, this feature makes it easy for agents to start new calls with just a click on their CRM. When selecting a vendor, we suggest making sure they offer this feature through a desktop application, mobile, and desk phones; not only within the Salesforce CTI widget.
4. Track KPIs with pre-built dashboards:
With the increase of remote work and distributed teams, keeping track of agent and rep performance in real-time has become paramount. Building custom reports and dashboards in Salesforce requires expertise and time. The best CTI solutions provide out-of-the-box reporting and dashboards in Salesforce that help you track both inbound and outbound activities and even combine phone system and Salesforce data to create innovative reports like inbound lead response time, dials to opportunities, revenue per dial, and more.
5. Salesforce call routing:
An IVR or Phone menu helps route callers to the right person within a company. IVR’s haven’t evolved much in the past 20 years, you’ve probably reached one this week, and all pretty much sound the same: “Thanks for calling ACME Finance. For sales press 1, for support press 2”.
Modern phone systems can integrate with Salesforce in real time to route callers more efficiently. Imagine being able to route a caller automatically to the lead, case, or opportunity owner; or bump a customer to top priority on a wait queue if they are marked as VIP customers in Salesforce.
6. Power dial using list views & reports:
A dialer is a software application that automates the outbound dialing process for the sake of productivity gains. When used effectively, a power dialer can increase rep productivity and connection rates by as much as 400%. The most sophisticated phone systems for Salesforce offer the possibility to automatically import Salesforce objects into the power dialer using List views and Reports. Once the campaign is kickstarted, best-in-class CTI solutions offer local presence caller ID, voicemail drop, and automated triggers to further enhance agent productivity.
7. Integrate with new Salesforce products:
The best phone system providers on the AppExchange are continuously integrating with new and innovative Salesforce products like High-Velocity Sales, Einstein Call Coaching, and more. Companies should look to vendors that are fully committed to delivering a cloud communications platform that will enable them to further integrate their phone system to new modules as they expand their Salesforce investments.
A lot of phone system and contact center software providers claim that they integrate with Salesforce, but activity and call logging is just the tip of the iceberg. Fully integrated business communications are paving the way for the new customer experience and even the future of work with the rise of remote teams.
