Salesforce integration: common options, types, steps & considerations
Salesforce integration involves connecting Salesforce with other software through API integrations, middleware, or pre-built connectors. We can create a seamless integration between Salesforce and other systems to improve companies’ efficiency, data accuracy, and collaboration across teams.
Why Itransition
10+ years as a Salesforce services provider
In-house Salesforce Center of Excellence
Named among Top Salesforce Consulting Companies by Clutch
98 Salesforce certifications
Expertise in Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, CPQ, and other Salesforce solutions
Apps and systems commonly integrated with Salesforce
Highly integrable by design, Salesforce can connect with cloud-based or on-premises business software from various departments and third-party applications for seamless data synchronization.
By integrating Salesforce with accounting software, companies can sync actual financial data into CRM and help sales teams create more detailed customer profiles. The integration also contributes to more accurate handling of invoices and business transactions and simplifies budget planning and sales forecasting.Â
Common integration options:
ERP
Salesforce and ERP integration is essential for companies wanting to synergize their customer-facing divisions and the back office. With order and shipment statuses and real-time data about inventory availability in CRM, sales representatives can easily keep existing clients up-to-date and come up with more relevant offers for potential customers. At the same time, data uploaded into the ERP system can help production departments tap into demand and plan out the manufacturing process and volume more wisely. Â
Common integration options:
Marketing automation tools
The connection between CRM and marketing automation tools can simplify the collaboration between the sales and marketing departments through automated data exchange. The availability of marketing data enables sales managers to better track new leads and improve their product pricing, customer outreach, lead nurturing, and prospect engagement strategies.
Common integration options:
Ecommerce platforms
Ecommerce integration with Salesforce can provide retailers with a deeper view into customer-facing operations. By analyzing customer relationships and ecommerce data together, companies can pinpoint opportunities for improvement in their upselling and cross-selling strategies, marketing campaigns, and customer service capabilities and create more personalized and satisfactory experiences.Â
Common integration options:
Computer telephony
By connecting call center software with their Salesforce CRM, companies can increase the speed and quality of the sales department’s work. This integration brings phone system features into Salesforce, allowing sales agents to quickly recognize and properly route incoming calls, personalize conversations on the fly, and then record them for further analysis and use.
Common integration options:
Social media
Through this integration, sales agents can get seamless access to customers’ social media activity and get valuable insights into their interests and needs, as well as general trends. Based on this information, sales departments can tweak their customer engagement strategies to meet the target audience’s expectations and preferences.
Common integration options:
Collaboration tools
Storing customer-related documents in siloed CRM and collaboration software can result in data duplication and complicate sales agents’ work. Through Salesforce-collaboration tools integration, companies can create a single source of truth with functionality familiar to sales agents where they can conveniently work, collaborate, and share documents. For example, Itransition has significantly streamlined our sales teams’ workflows by turning SharePoint into a document library for Salesforce.
Common integration options:
Email & calendar
By synchronizing contacts, emails, tasks, and calendars between Salesforce CRM and work mail and calendar apps, companies can simplify workday planning and customer communication for their sales agents, increasing their coordination and productivity.
Common integration options:
Project & IT service management software
The integration between Salesforce and IT support solutions can streamline ticket creation and collaboration between sales and service agents and tech teams, ensuring more transparent and efficient resolution of customer issues.
Common integration options:
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Salesforce integration roadmap
Here’s how Itransition’s experts approach and carry out a typical integration project to seamlessly connect Salesforce with any kind of business or third-party software.Â
1
Business analysis
We begin with a comprehensive analysis of your business needs and objectives as well as the existing IT infrastructure and determine your Salesforce integration requirements.
2
Planning
Next, we choose the integration approach, selecting the business apps to integrate with, patterns, and methods of implementation. We also decide on the project’s responsibilities, timeline, and integration tools needed.
3
Development
If we’ve decided upon a custom Salesforce integration solution, our team designs and develops a custom Salesforce connector app or API in line with your needs.
4
Integration
We set up the integration process between Salesforce and the target business software using an off-the-shelf or custom-built solution. If necessary, we can customize the integration to make sure it works as intended.
5
Testing
We perform a range of QA activities to validate the integration and locate any errors and security vulnerabilities and make sure it sustains the expected data exchange load.
6
Launch
Having validated the established integration, we launch it to the production environment for business users to access.
7
User training & support
We offer hands-on training sessions for employees and Salesforce admins to show them Salesforce integration’s capabilities and can provide long-term maintenance services upon request.
Benefits of Salesforce integration
Overall, Salesforce integration with other software can help get better returns on CRM investment. Here are its key benefits:
Processes automation
Integrating Salesforce with other apps can streamline data management tasks and eliminate the need for manual data entry.
Improved data accuracy
Salesforce integration can eliminate data duplicates, inconsistencies, and human errors, thus improving data accuracy and consistency across systems.
Personalized customer experiences
Integrated with other data sources, Salesforce can deliver a 360-degree view of customer data and help companies deliver more personalized services and customer experiences.
Better decisions
Seamless data flow between Salesforce and other systems can provide a comprehensive and real-time view of business data, enabling better decision-making through improved data accuracy, timeliness, and accessibility.
Increased employee productivity
By integrating Salesforce with different business systems, companies can eliminate manual data entry and create a single source of truth for all business data, helping sales and support agents work more efficiently.
Streamlined collaboration
Salesforce integration with other business apps simplifies data sharing and improves cross-team and cross-department communication and collaboration.
Salesforce integration considerations
Here are four aspects that organizations should take into account when integrating Salesforce with other systems:
1 Â Data mapping
Before the integration, map the data properly to ensure it’s accurately and consistently transferred between systems. This will help you maintain data integrity and maximize the benefits of Salesforce integration.
2 Â Security
Salesforce can be integrated with systems containing sensitive information, so it’s critical to ensure that the data is protected in transit and at rest with proper security measures, such as encryption and access controls.
3 Â Integration architecture
By designing proper integration architecture, you ensure that data is shared efficiently and securely between Salesforce and other systems while minimizing the risk of errors or data loss.
4 Â Ongoing maintenance & support
Salesforce integrations should be monitored and maintained to meet the organization’s evolving needs. You should also be ready to resolve any arising issues.
Hire a certified Salesforce partner for error-free integration
Common Salesforce integration challenges
While Salesforce integration can provide many benefits, there are also some common challenges that organizations should overcome themselves or with the help of Salesforce integration consulting to see positive results.
Challenge
Solution
Data quality issues
Challenge
Since data from Salesforce and different systems isn’t always consistent and of the same quality, its synchronization can fail to bring any value to users.
Challenge
Solution
Before the integration, companies can establish data governance policies and use data quality tools to clean and standardize data. Post-integration, they can create rules and validations to enforce data consistency in Salesforce.
Data rate limits
Challenge
Salesforce limits the amount of data that can be transferred in and out of the system within a certain period for the sake of the system’s stability and performance. These restrictions can pose a challenge for companies dealing with large volumes of data or performing frequent transfers.
Challenge
Solution
One way to overcome this problem is to optimize data transfer by reducing the amount of data, compressing it, or using incremental updates instead of full data transfers. Another option is to apply third-party integration tools or middleware to help manage data transfer and ensure compliance with Salesforce's limits. Additionally, an experienced integration partner can help companies optimize data transfer in line with Salesforce's restrictions.
Prioritizing real-time integration
Challenge
Companies can quickly opt for a real-time Salesforce integration as the best solution for their needs but fail to realize it is way more complex to set up and manage.
Challenge
Solution
Real-time integrations are not necessary for every business scenario. To make the right decision, companies should carefully evaluate the integration needs and requirements, including the volume of data transferred, the frequency of data updates, and the necessity of data accuracy and timeliness. Only then they can make an informed decision for or against real-time Salesforce integration.Â
Different tech stacks
Challenge
If the technology stacks of Salesforce and integrated apps are not compatible, this can lead to data mapping, code migration, or testing difficulties, as well as increase the integration project’s timeline and cost.
Challenge
Solution
The best solution is to use middleware or integration platforms that support different technology stacks and provide a layer of abstraction between the integrated systems. Companies are also advised to hire an integration provider to help navigate the challenges of different technology stacks throughout the integration project, like correct data mapping or satisfactory data quality.
FAQs about Salesforce integration
Can Salesforce integrate with legacy systems?
Yes, it can. To achieve seamless data exchange between Salesforce and legacy systems, companies typically have to rely on middleware solutions or develop custom integrations using APIs and web services.
How can I check if the integration I need has already been developed?
There are thousands of integrations and connectors with external systems available on AppExchange, the official Salesforce marketplace. If you can’t find what you are looking for, then you should consider building a custom integration solution for your specific needs.
How long does it take to integrate Salesforce?
The Salesforce integration timeline depends on the complexity of the integration and the systems involved. A simple integration can be completed within a few weeks, while a more complex integration can take several months. To learn precise time estimates for your Salesforce integration project, reach out to our experts.
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