How to Calculate the ROI of Experience Cloud

Layoffs, shrinking budgets, and a world teetering between digital and reality—but here's the kicker—*Most* of your customers don't care about your budget cuts.

They want quality, and they want it now.

Some sobering stats:

A poor mobile experience can do serious damage to your brand.

57% of customers won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile. 50% of customers will stop visiting the mobile site, even if they like the business.

More than 2/3s of companies now compete primarily on customer experience – up from only 36% in 2010!

The pluses?

• 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.
• 88% of companies now prioritize customer experience in their contact centers, realizing the value of great CX.

So, the million-dollar question: "Is the Experience Cloud worth the hype?"

Forrester 's research on Experience Cloud reveals that companies that jump onto the Experience Cloud bandwagon can expect 342% ROI within just three years.

Yes, you read that right.

Digging into the numbers:

• About $35 million of incremental revenue attributed to Experience Cloud digital experiences.
• Business process automation and reduced cost to serve drive $2.7 million in savings.
• It consolidated $1.3 million of legacy technology stack licensing, consulting, and maintenance costs.
• Speed to development of mobile applications with Salesforce Mobile Publisher saved $191,000 in development costs.

Source: Forrester

There are also many unquantified benefits—like how dashboards and reporting improved visibility and enabled data-driven decision-making. And how Tableau drove intelligent custom optimizations.

Calculating Potential Business Gains

• Improved customer engagement: Experience cloud can improve customer fulfillment, reduce support costs, and boost sales by providing personalized experiences.

• Simplified workflows: Automate tasks and reduce administrative work to save time and increase revenue.

• Better decision making: Leverage analytics tools for informed decisions affecting sales, marketing ROI, and inventory management.

• Scalability: Experience Cloud scales with your business, saving IT costs.

• Outperforming competitors: Easily outshine your competitors by providing superior customer experiences and gaining market share.

• Customer retention: Reduce churn by giving a better experience and driving higher customer lifetime value.

Factoring in Implementation and Maintenance Costs

Besides the good things Salesforce Experience Cloud can do for your business, you must also consider things like:

Salesforce subscription, fees, and consulting costs.

• Experience Cloud subscriptions: Salesforce tailors each subscription to fit the needs of each customer. The price depends on the type of digital experience you want.

If you want authenticated access, you'll pay for units such as logins or members. This lets your company be precise about how frequent or occasional users you must cater to.

• Add-On costs: These are extra licenses you might need for apps you get from the Salesforce AppExchange or more Salesforce packages.

Implementation labor and ongoing management costs.?

• Internal implementation labor: These are both business and technical resources that participated in implementing Experience Cloud.

• Ongoing management, maintenance, and optimization cost: The cost to keep the platform following data hygiene best practices.

• Training costs: Having an expert train your technical users and partners.

Let’s Get Real: Experience Cloud Success Stories

Enough with the number game. Let's get real with a firsthand look at how Experience Cloud changed the game for the National Ability Center (NAC).

National Ability Center Participant Portal

The National Ability Center (NAC) is a nonprofit organization based in Park City, Utah. NAC’s mission is to aid people with disabilities in participating in outdoor recreation.?

Project Overview

In 2023, the National Ability Center considered balancing technology and outdoor activities and gathering data for the participants, instructors, and donors they serve.

Before Experience Cloud, they used paper forms to gather information. This was time-consuming and didn't give NAC easy (or full) visibility into their operations, participants' journeys, instructors' progress notes, or pain points. Nor did their analog process give them the insights they needed to analyze, learn, and continuously improve.

All these made NAC contact us to implement the Experience Cloud.

Key Features and Benefits Realized

National Ability Center streamlined operations, reduced the number of logins, and improved their participant and instructor engagement via:

• Personalized portals: Users get their hands on personalized portals tailored to their needs, where they can sign up for programs, keep track of their schedules, and access essential resources.

• Streamlined communication: Experience Cloud made communication seamless for participants, instructors, staff, and volunteers, creating a more connected community and promoting knowledge sharing.

• Accessible resources: The platform made information accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. It also allowed admins to easily make changes without needing IT.?

• Enhanced training: Instructors loved the improved tools. Planning lessons, tracking progress, and getting real-time feedback were more straightforward, which enhanced their adaptive sports programs.?

• Community engagement: The National Ability Center created an online hangout. Participants and families could chat, share stories, support each other, and stay up-to-date with NAC happenings.?

• Intelligent data use: Analyzed participants' preferences and program performance. They made intelligent decisions based on customer behavior and insights.?

Lessons Learned

Here is what NAC learned at the end of the implementation:

• Put people first: The top priority when creating and running this platform should be participants' and instructors' experiences.?

• Keep learning: Offer training and help to all platform users to help create an efficient and enjoyable experience for everyone.

• Accessibility matters: Ensuring the platform is accessible for people with disabilities is more than just a need; it’s part of NAC’s DNA.?

• Engagement is crucial: Building a lively online community requires active involvement and cultivating relationships. Experience Cloud enables that.

• Always improving: Analyze (and keep analyzing) your data to discover insights to improve your programs and resource allocation.

• Plan for growth: When planning for growth, consider the size of your platform and its ability to meet future demands.

The National Ability Center's journey with Salesforce Experience Cloud isn't just about tech. It's about harnessing technology to craft spaces that cater to diverse individuals and serve them at every turn.

Related Reading

• Mastering User Experiences in Salesforce Experience Cloud
• What is Salesforce Experience Cloud and How Do Businesses Use It?
• Salesforce Adoption: The Psychology of Turning Skeptics into Advocates
• National Ability Center Transforms Participant and Instructor Experiences with Salesforce Experience Cloud