by Amy Keuper, VP Sales

CRM systems are the heart of most inside sales operations. Many of Initial Call’s clients use Salesforce.com, so we are passionate about best practices. Hence my recent trip to Salesforce.com’s 2009 conference, dubbed Dreamforce. This “Global Gathering” occurs every fall and serves to unite partners, prospects, and users around Salesforce.com’s vision.

The event is surreal and dream-like on many levels--complete with an ethereal sky motif perfectly suited to cloud computing. Giant inflated Mylar cloud balloons are tethered to a fleet of Mini-Coopers outside the event center. Inside, the theme continues everywhere you look.  In tangible and intangible ways, Salesforce.com taps into common human thoughts, emotions and desires. Since sales and customer relations are both objective and subjective, let’s take note of how Salesforce.com makes Dreamforce attendees feel--and the powerful lessons we can all apply from it.  

“I’m special!”  
Somehow Salesforce.com masterfully affirms each attendee as valuable while simultaneously feeding the power of the crowd mentality. Like junior high students, we all deep down want to be “in” with the popular crowd. And Salesforce.com made sure the cool kids were at Dreamforce. Any prospects on the fence about purchasing or renewing the tool were swayed by the big business names endorsing the solution. On the BART train to the airport, I connected with a fellow attendee and current user who is up for renewal. He confessed that he had been considering other CRM tools but that his Dreamforce experience convinced him to stay. 

While not so subconsciously assuring attendees that “everyone who is anyone” is using Salesforce.com, our host also offered several activities aimed at highlighting individuals.  Breakout sessions and lunch roundtables were tailored to each attendee’s interest track or company role. Customized conference schedules negated the herd mentality that could have easily prevailed. I had my photo taken with the Saas-y mascot, and Salesforce.com posted my and others’ photos for viewing in the hallway. All attendees got eco-friendly tote bags.  Live Twitter feeds displayed continuously to multiple jumbo screens throughout the facility.  Speaking of the keynote address, Jason S. from Seattle Tweeted, “...Marc melted my face off!”   

Have you found a way to develop a sense of community and belonging among your clients without losing a personal touch?  Salesforce.com modeled how to expertly strike this balance. How will you mix social media, mass communication with direct interactions to make your clients feel valued?     

“I’m Powerful!”
Dreamforce had plenty of hype, but the core message of making CRM accessible to everyone--not just “the big guys”--still rang through loud and clear. Salesforce’s original mission was to democratize databases. Dreamforce delivers on this mission with hands-on training and information sessions to empower users. Salesforce.com says, “You can build it.  You can customize it. You can manage it. We will help you.” Salesforce.com takes the complex and makes it relatively simple and user-friendly. Their openness has not cost them business but has instead earned allegiance and yielded growth.  

Surely your business exists to serve your customers and meet a need--to make them better, faster, or more economical in some way. Reflect on how Salesforce.com “opened their kimono” and de-mystified the how-to of customizing and creating applications. Examine whether there is any part of your service or product offering that is unnecessarily confusing or overly complicated--somehow inaccessible. Salesforce.com shows how eliminating customer fear and impotence will build loyalty.  

“I’m on vacation!”
Clearly the CRM system conference is work-related, but holding the event in the destination city of San Francisco lends a getaway feel to the week. The conference atmosphere and amenities are first class and fun, with everything from bean bag lounges to tofu lunch choices to DJs spinning hot dance tunes in the atrium.   

Few of us are likely to hold events on the Dreamforce scale (19,000 attendees), but we should consider whether our clients ever feel like our interactions with them are “all business” in a negative way. We can’t escape our work obligations and must always be professional, but we should strive to provide levity for our clients where we can. As often as possible, be a blessing rather than a burden to your client. They should see your dealings as a privilege and a help rather than drudgery. At this time of year, make sure your holiday greetings exude sincerity and gratitude.  

Wake Up Call  

So, in our dreams, sugarplum fairies dance in our heads. Reality is relative and we can be or do anything. In real life, well, there are limits.  

Conference gifts included Marc Benioff’s new book, Behind the Cloud. In it, Salesforce.com’s CEO weaves the company’s story into 110 tips to grow your business.  What becomes clear during the read is that Salesforce.com is unique--birthed and grown within a bubble of high-level Bay Area power players and with rare financial resources.  While Benioff paints a quaint picture of the early days when his team worked in Hawaiian shirts from his living room, he later relates how just two years into their founding they were spending between $2 and $3 million per month on advertising. (pg. 45)  

So, we can’t all be Salesforce.com. I don’t take regular six-month sabbaticals to India or bounce ideas of my good buddy Michael Dell. But dreams do inspire. Having been part of Dreamforce, I am motivated to ensure all our clients feel valued, empowered and in a small way even swept away by the service we provide.