What should we expect from Salesforce in 2017?

You know how all the television and news outlets make their “predictions” for the new year? Well, I thought it would be a good time for us to make some predictions for 2017 when it comes to Salesforce.

Here are the trends and solutions I see happening with Salesforce in the upcoming year.

Intelligence

Over the last few months, the CRM industry has become overwhelmed with Artificial Intelligence. Salesforce became one of the first AI adopters when it introduced its Einstein solutions (with the Sales Cloud Einstein being the most progressive.)

Here’s what you can expect with the new Sales Cloud update:

• Events and emails are added to records automatically.
• Leads are prioritized according to probability of conversion.
• Sales reps receive opportunity predictions and reminders for follow-ups.
• Account insights display key developments related to customers.

Mobility

The growing mobility trend will continue in the new year. The Spring 2017 release will deliver a host of new mobile-friendly features for Salesforce1. This will enable field service reps the ability to do their jobs from anywhere and on any device. Salesforce is also planning to roll out an iOS version for Field Service Lightning in the coming months.

Integration

Today, businesses need to get even more value from their Salesforce solutions. In 2017, these companies will be able to integrate their Salesforce instances with BI, analytics, marketing automation, and other custom tools that will enhance and refine internal business processes.

User Experience

Now more than ever, it’s important to focus on the user experience. What are your customers’ routines? How do they prefer to get their information? What is their experience when they use your website or your app?

A thorough UX research has already caused many companies to switch to Salesforce Lightning. Not only that, they are also customizing and tailoring their Lightning experience to their users’ requirements.

Salesforce will keep pace with UX trends and offer new features and updates in the upcoming releases, including enhancements to Person Accounts and Chatter.

Analytics

One of the most popular analytical solutions for Salesforce – Wave Analytics – will get more personal in 2017, with better visuals and the capability for both external and internal data analysis.

The new year may also become the tipping point when it comes to transitioning from smart analytics to intelligent. This is where Salesforce Einstein comes into play again with its predictive capabilities and recommendations.

It is clear that 2017 will be the year that businesses strive to create a more focused and detailed view of their clients. In order to do this, they will need an integrated and flexible CRM platform that is constantly evolving. Salesforce is stepping up to the plate to meet those needs.