The unstoppable digitization process or the effects on the way we consume and relate to each other derived from the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic confirm that we are moving in a new and disruptive scenario, full of challenges to face. The world is changing and, of course, we must be able to change with it, to adapt to other channels, skills, regulations and expectations, and also to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise from these transformations.
All these issues will be analyzed in depth at the Salesforce Innovation Day that will take place in Barcelona on June 21, a meeting organized by Salesforce, the leading company in Customer Relationship Management (CRM, for its acronym in English), at Various experts and professionals will attend to share experiences and success stories, as well as to reflect on what companies should do to face the challenges in the near future.
The Keynote or opening talk of the event will be given by Enrique Polo de Lara, senior VP and country leader of Salesforce Iberia, and Pau Contreras, vice president of Salesforce. Both will analyze the conclusions drawn from the latest Connected Customer Report, a report for which they have surveyed more than 13,000 customers and some 4,000 purchasing managers from commercial companies in 29 different countries.
Among the main findings of the study, we confirm that 88% of consumers believe that the shopping experience is today as important as the product itself. Likewise, the preponderance of digital and the need to develop omnichannel strategies is confirmed. 60% of consumer interactions with brands are already digital.
At the same time, 86% of those consulted confirm that trust in a given company is a key factor. When this is broken, loyalty is also broken, as confirmed by the 75% of citizens who have decided to change their brand in the last year.
The challenges that arise from this data are not only posed to large organizations, but also to small and medium-sized companies. According to the 2021 SMB Trends Report, in which more than 2,500 SME managers participated, 71% of the companies surveyed claim to have survived the pandemic thanks to digitization. This has caused that 42% have accelerated their investments in technology and that 78% of Spanish SMEs have increased their presence on the Internet.
Is there something similar to an "instruction manual" that companies that want to be relevant in this new paradigm marked by digital must follow? Although the changes may seem dizzying and unpredictable, Salesforce has worked to identify four main trends that, without a doubt, will mark the next few years and that are worth taking into account.
The first has to do with the need to contact customers in a totally new way. The growth of companies currently involves putting the customer at the center of the strategy, through a complete and omnichannel connection. For this, it is essential to have a tool like Salesforce Customer 360, capable of driving all interactions in sales, service, digital marketing and e-commerce through a single platform.
A second essential factor is to build a digital headquarters. In an increasingly virtual world, workers collaborate from different places. Work is no longer a location, but an activity. To guarantee effectiveness in these new environments, the digital office of any company must have cloud solutions such as those offered by Slack-First Customer 360.
The goal is to integrate collaboration technologies to boost productivity, have a single source of information to build more meaningful relationships with customers, and be able to simplify all processes to the maximum to achieve success from anywhere.
In a post-pandemic world, ensuring the safety of employees, customers, partners and, in general, the entire community will also be paramount. Innovations like Safety Cloud bring people together safely, creating a single source for test automation and vaccine verification, creating flexible health and safety protocols, all connected to Customer 360.
Finally, companies must be more aware than ever of the need to help protect our planet and fight climate change. To do this, they have Net Zero Cloud, a tool to help organizations drive this change, which has investor-ready carbon reporting and supply chain transparency measures.
Salesforce's commitment to sustainability and the preservation of the planet has allowed it to become a "zero emissions" company. Currently working on achieving 100% renewable energy for global operations by 2022. Salesforce is also a founding partner of 1t.org, an initiative that seeks to accelerate the movement to plant a trillion trees worldwide.
Salesforce Innovation Day will also include the participation of clients such as Mango, Pronovias, Volkswagen or Glovo, who will explain how, with the help of Salesforce technology, they are facing all current challenges. The event will also allow participation in the industry breakouts, meetings in specialized rooms in which the role of technologies in specific industries such as retail, consumer goods, the health sector, the manufacturing industry or customer services will be analyzed.
Thanks to its CRM solutions, Salesforce continues to grow consistently globally. In the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) it has increased its income for fiscal year 2022 (closing on January 31) by 35%, with Southern Europe being the area that has achieved the best figures. His vocation to help companies and organizations to successfully take on global challenges promises even greater progress for the coming years.
