How the best companies are using Salesforce to thrive during COVID-19
Nearly one-third of companies surveyed are increasing Salesforce investments.
The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021 from IBM reviews a year disrupted by COVID-19—and how leading companies have evolved their Salesforce strategies looking to accelerate and adapt to the conditions created by the pandemic. In this report, The State of Salesforce: Industry Perspectives, 2020-2021, we examine the four trends uncovered in the main report and drill deeper into what they mean for five key industries:
Consumer goods (retail and consumer packaged goods)
Telecommunications
Insurance (inclusive of financial services)
Healthcare
Industrial
Every industry has had to accelerate their business and shift priorities in response to the pandemic. We examine here how global industry leaders are adapting Salesforce strategies to survive now and thrive in the future. Our results are based on 107,000+ data points and 15+ hours of interviews with global industry executives.
Increasingly complex employee, workflow and customer demands
Industry leaders are meeting increasingly complex employee, workflow and customer needs with investments in AI, process innovation, risk management systems, workforce recovery solutions and end-to-end Salesforce integration.
IT and business alignment is the top priority
Business transformation using Salesforce is most successful when IT and line of business leaders are aligned from the start and are able to satisfy both their needs and wants.
Business outcomes
Happy customers
Engaged employees
Ease of collaboration
Data-driven insights
Automation and productivity
Innovation speed
Business outcomes
Less complexity to manage
Data and privacy
Scale functionality with ease
Technical flexibility
Future-proof solutions
Focus on innovation over maintenance
Salesforce customers had a starting advantage
What continues to be true is a divide in the market—one where organizations further along their Salesforce journey at the start of the year continue to pull ahead and build additional advantages. Those slower to adapt and invest have struggled.
Last year we defined the best companies as those that see customer experience (CX) as a direct reflection of employee experience (EX) and can act to redesign their approach accordingly. This year, “the best companies” represented 23% of our survey sample. The best companies are those that are focused on their ability to meet customers’ needs and on employee safety and enablement—as well as on increased investment in emerging technologies to anticipate change and improve resilience. Salesforce plays a critical role in digital transformation as companies navigate pandemic conditions.
“ Salesforce has helped our business deliver more value to our customers, which at the end of the day is what it’s all about. ”
Jim Dundas
Chief Information Officer
SaskTel
Nearly one-third of businesses surveyed increased their Salesforce investments in 2020, despite uncertainty and disruption in the market. These enterprises recognize that Salesforce gives them a major advantage in the market, and helps to create industry differentiation. They seek to maximize the impact and value of their investments.
Trends and business priorities emerging during COVID-19
1. Trust is the new currency of customer engagement
2. Human-centered AI creates new business value
3. Employee safety and well-being build resilient businesses
4. COVID-19 widens the gap between digital “haves” and “have-nots”
Consumer goods companies respond to simultaneous upheavals
New competition, higher customer expectations and thinner margins
Consumer goods companies (inclusive of retail and consumer packaged goods) are shifting priorities in response to the pandemic. Leaders are meeting increasingly complex employee, supply chain and customer needs with investments in AI across the enterprise. This includes order management innovation that enables no-touch orders and transparency into the last mile of supply chain, risk management systems that safeguard the supply chain and protect the brand, and end-to-end Salesforce integration that enables an omnichannel commerce experience.
In The State of Salesforce: Industry Perspectives, 2020-2021 from IBM, we examine how key industries are adapting their Salesforce strategies to survive and thrive in response to the pandemic. Our results are based on The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021. In this section of the Industry Perspectives report we provide you with a closer view of results from consumer goods respondents. Responses from all the other industries combined are used for comparison.
“ A visit to a retail store, an online order, email communications—all those touchpoints are opportunities to optimize the journey and personalize that process using Salesforce. ”
Alexandre Regard
IT Digital Manager
TAG Heuer
Increasing investments in AI and analytics Priorities are shifting to investments in analytics and AI, a focus on customer insights and innovation ahead of competition. AI helps consumer goods companies personalize product recommendations, accurately forecast demand and offload routine tasks and inquiries through adoption of virtual agents. Employees, like customer service agents, can then handle more complicated customer interactions and higher value tasks.
With a 67% increase in prioritization and investment for supply chain planning, consumer goods leaders believe that AI can stabilize supply chains and logistics. Automation, visibility, shipment load-balancing, on-time delivery and fewer errors are examples of how AI improves logistics. Salesforce is allowing businesses to innovate ahead of competitors through AI, analytics and intelligent workflows.
“ We interview employees, gather candid and critical insights, and then incorporate that feedback into how we design our business processes in Salesforce. ”
Shoba Ganesan
Director IT Sales Transformation
Frito-Lay North America
Trend 1: Trust is the new currency of customer engagement
The need to increase brand loyalty is redefining how consumer goods companies operate and changing how they go to market. To create the personalization needed to deliver on customer expectations that build real connection and loyalty, companies must harness and share massive amounts of data with a growing partner network and third parties, all without sacrificing trust. Blockchain is one way to solve this “trust gap” through a distributed ledger that saves, traces and authenticates data across every partner—or node—in the network.
Customers will more willingly provide data to brands and companies they feel they can trust. Salesforce enables companies to bring together authenticated and validated customer data. Meeting these expectations requires leveraging Salesforce Customer 360 for an end-to-end lifecycle view.
Traceability is key People’s most immediate concerns are health and safety—but trusting that a company can serve customer needs well is also critical for loyalty and retention. For instance, a major European grocer is using blockchain to trace the provenance of food—and to create customer trust. Shoppers can scan their eggs and find out the farm of origin, shipping and packing dates.
91%
of consumer goods respondents cite greater customer satisfaction as a top benefit of intelligent workflows.
70%
of consumer goods respondents say brand loyalty is a direct benefit of intelligent workflows.
Trend 2: Human-centered AI creates new business value
Enterprises using Salesforce are implementing a full spectrum of AI solutions, from AI assistants and Salesforce Einstein to conversational AI platforms.
AI enables relevance and value Many consumer goods companies now have a direct-to-consumer strategy. For instance, while producers of commodity products like bananas and milk are primarily business-to-business, they also understand and market to their end-consumers.
One of the largest supermarkets in the US uses AI virtual assistant technology. A customer who is dissatisfied with a purchase of bananas, for example, can call for service and speak directly to Watson and Salesforce Einstein AI assistants, which can resolve access to store data and availability issues.
With Salesforce Einstein, Watson and third-party market data, and demographics, AI can help provide the insights to recommend a relevant product mix to consumers.
45%
of consumer goods company respondents currently use enterprise AI.
84%
of consumer goods company respondents expect to deploy enterprise AI solutions within the next year.
Trend 3: Employee safety and well-being build resilient businesses
According to The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021, retail and consumer goods businesses are far more likely than all others to be in the crisis stage. The barriers to arriving at later recovery stages include: external regulations, employee readiness to return to work and customer willingness to engage.
Crisis: Reactionary decision-making; workforce in survival mode
Stabilized: Course corrections in place; workforce remote but not outcome-oriented
Operational: Hybrid work tools and training; workforce productivity re-established
Responsive: Increasing workforce agility; more up-skilling opportunities
Resilient: Workforce can quickly adapt in another crisis
Consumer goods businesses are 74% more likely to be in crisis mode than others
Predict and adapt to COVID-19 impacts to better prepare for safe return to work Using Salesforce Service Cloud, companies are providing customer support agents in their living rooms with the same data and processes that are available in a 1,000-seat workplace. This support fosters employee well-being and safety. And vaccination status will become a major safety focus for consumer goods companies globally, both in terms of employee safety and brick-and-mortar success.
Share information while protecting privacy IBM Digital Health Pass is an example of smart technology that helps bring people back to physical locations. Built on IBM Blockchain, the solution enables organizations to verify health credentials and vaccination status for employees, customers and visitors. As users enter a site such as a workplace, retail store, stadium or airline flight, they can manage and share information in a privacy-preserving way, based on criteria specified by the organization.
71%
of consumer goods respondents cite an increased focus on employee and customer well-being.
54%
of consumer goods respondents are still in crisis stage due to external factors.
Trend 4: COVID-19 widens the gap between digital “haves” and “have-nots”
Leaders are working to avoid being on the wrong side of the digital divide by integrating Salesforce with the rest of their business applications. Organizations who were further along in their digital transformation journeys have adapted to COVID-19 disruptions faster and more efficiently than the rest.
Consumer goods respondents are 25% less likely to have mature Salesforce transformations before COVID-19.
Consumer goods respondents are 14% less likely to pivot easily despite Salesforce investments.
Companies like Frito-Lay have been nimble in the critical last mile of the supply chain because they had already rolled out an advanced e-commerce solution.
The app is fully integrated with Frito-Lay’s proprietary snacking insight AI engine, which means that it can use data-driven insights to make ordering suggestions based on seasonal preferences, regional trends and current events such as the Super Bowl.
Businesses have an opportunity to emerge from the pandemic with greater resilience Leaders are accelerating their Salesforce investments in an effort to come out of the crisis smarter. They want to build more resilient businesses and workplaces. Over the next 12 months, Salesforce consumer goods companies need to stay ahead of competition through critical innovation and investment.
Investments in AI-assisted supply chain technologies, building an integrated view of the customer and intelligent workflows are key to adding transparency and communication. Data can be automatically collected in real time to provide hyper-localized visibility. This gives retailers flexibility to expand or contract manufacturing to match demand so that the supply chain is used not only to fulfill demand—but also to create a competitive advantage. Ultimately this flexibility supports seamless commerce distribution and delivery, which makes it easier for customers to transact.
Discover how IBM’s deep industry expertise can align Salesforce to your specific business needs to produce desired results.
Consistent connectivity and quality of service are no longer a differentiator, but an expectation
Every industry has had to accelerate their business and shift priorities in response to the pandemic—but telecommunications companies face unique challenges as digital and wireless connectivity has become more essential than ever before. Communications services providers (CSPs) are meeting increasingly complex employee, workflow, and customer needs with investments in AI to deliver proactive service and process innovation as 5G creates a new marketplace. And they are prioritizing seamless customer and employee experiences through end-to-end Salesforce integration.
In The State of Salesforce: Industry Perspectives, 2020-2021 from IBM, we examine how key industries are adapting their Salesforce strategies to survive and thrive in response to the pandemic. Our results are based on The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021. In this section of the Industry Perspectives report we provide you with a closer view of results from telecommunications respondents. Responses from all the other industries combined are used for comparison.
IT and business alignment is the top priority for organizations today
73%
of telecommunications firms surveyed say their top Salesforce priority is improving IT collaboration with business.
68%
of all other companies surveyed say their top Salesforce priority is improving IT collaboration with business.
Due to COVID-19’s impact, IT and business alignment is the top priority for organizations looking to build customer loyalty and trust. Part of improving IT collaboration with line of business leaders is improving business agility to support accelerated digital engagement—for customers and employees. But an excess of disparate systems, existing technologies and high technical debt are preventing some CSPs from being agile. The CSPs that are changing the game are deploying Salesforce solutions to quickly bring new ideas and innovation to customers, partners and employees.
CSPs are pushing to differentiate with real-time data and predictive insights CSPs are focusing on personalized experiences and curating offerings to create new customer value. Taking a cross-cloud approach using Salesforce Communications Cloud, Community Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud, field technicians and service agents have access to the real-time data and predictive insights needed to deliver the proactive and seamless omnichannel experiences that customers expect.
“ Salesforce has helped our business deliver more value to our customers, which at the end of the day is what it’s all about. ”
Jim Dundas
Chief Information Officer
SaskTel
Priorities: accelerate digital engagement, create seamless omnichannel customer experience, and design for 5G marketplace transformation
To make 5G a reality, multiple layers of partnerships will have to take place between device manufacturers, carriers and software providers, as well as a great deal of investment. The move to 5G is creating new ways to monetize services and will reduce costs over time for businesses and carriers because of its low-power requirements—but it will require a major switch to digital-first architectures, with a change from hardware to software-driven, horizontal infrastructure and capabilities. This allows transformative results for CSPs.
Scale and flex to launch new products and offerings in multiple marketplaces
Open up avenues for ecosystem collaborations and revenue generation
Decouple hardware from software to lead to a massive reduction in costs
Radically change the way networks and the value chain are set up
Rapidly onboard third-party partners and connected devices
Create and price bundles in real-time
Allow customers to self-service through channels of choice
Trend 1: Trust is the new currency of customer engagement
CSPs typically suffer from a poor customer service track record. But during COVID-19, quite a number of CSPs strengthened their model without raising prices, earning loyalty and trust from their customer base. When customers, students and employees switched overnight from physical to remote locations, telecommunications leaders understood the gravity and need for connectivity and related services. For instance, when CSPs in the US lifted data caps and speeds during COVID-19, they enabled many low-income families that lacked broadband to gain educational access.
“ COVID-19 has given us new opportunities to, quite frankly, do the right thing. We've been able to extend our care capabilities... during this trying time. ”
Shawn Draper
VP Global Enterprise Platforms
Lumen
The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021 report showed that CSPs are 14% more likely than all other industries to focus on improving brand loyalty, trust and customer experience. Emerging from COVID-19 and through the shift to 5G, CSPs will need to continue to build trust and deliver superior, seamless and—most importantly—consistent digital experiences across all channels to meet customers preferences.
Auto-manage issues like account churn and billing discrepancies Layering industry-first applications like Salesforce Communications Cloud into the customer journey provides CSPs with visibility into customers’ key buying preferences, existing services, competitive whitespace, and billing and usage patterns. This visibility allows providers to predict and auto-manage issues like account churn and billing discrepancies, fostering brand loyalty and trust.
58% of all organizations surveyed have increased focus on building brand loyalty and trust in response to COVID-19.
61% increased prioritization for CX-related projects in response.
Trend 2: Human-centered AI creates new business value
AI use among CSP respondents grew by 121% this year The pandemic has increased customers expectation for 24x7 digital self-service. AI use among CSP respondents grew by 121% in 2020 versus 2019.
Going forward, AI will be increasingly essential for CSPs to unlock insights from all the rich data they own, combined with publicly available and third-party sourced data. Companies must continue to infuse AI across their businesses, for multiple audiences, to unlock efficiencies and augment customer and employee experiences.
AI helps strengthen connections to the business process AI is essential to provide proactive service. Whether it’s automated digital self-service channels or next best action and insights served up to customer service agents and field teams, integrating AI into the business processes gets the right information to the right customer at the right time.
49% of telecommunications firm respondents are using enterprise AI this year, compared to just 20% last year.
Trend 3: Employee safety and well-being build more resilient businesses
Maintaining relationships through voice and digital communication channels with both customers and employees has become paramount. CSPs are using Salesforce solutions to enable remote employees—and to look out for the safety of workers on the front lines in the field.
66%
of telecommunications firm respondents are still either in the crisis or stabilization phases of recovery—lower than all other industries.
Crisis: Reactionary decision-making; workforce in survival mode
Stabilized: Course corrections in place; workforce remote but not outcome-oriented
Operational: Hybrid work tools and training; workforce productivity re-established
Responsive: Increasing workforce agility; more up-skilling opportunities
Resilient: Workforce can quickly adapt in another crisis
“ We’ve been able to bring our remote and field employees additional care, communications, and enablement solutions to help them... ”
Shawn Draper
VP Global Enterprise Platforms
Lumen
T-Mobile uses Salesforce to empower and support employees As the “uncarrier,” T-Mobile aspires to change wireless for good—providing the connectivity and services that matter to their customers and the world. Salesforce is seen as essential to T-Mobile’s ability to create a competitive advantage, and IBM has helped T-Mobile embark on a number of Salesforce initiatives aimed at empowering employees.
Recent transitions to Sales Cloud Lightning and Field Service Lightning have streamlined sales and services processes within T-Mobile for Business, and across more than 5,000 retail stores nationwide. T-Mobile has created a complete office solution for employees on Salesforce, including credit processing workflow, end-to-end configure, price, quote functionality and contract lifecycle management. In addition, the team is using Einstein Analytics to help guide sales reps to high-probability accounts and opportunities while flagging at-risk accounts.
T-Mobile has continually leveraged emerging features across Salesforce to deliver innovation to its employees and customers. The Lightning solution has dramatically changed the retail store experience as well, giving customers the ability to make insight-driven appointments on their mobile devices, which incorporate availability of specialists and even an option to virtually stand in line. Einstein Analytics paired with mobile enablement is giving T-Mobile unprecedented insights into their business and making their employees’ jobs easier.
93% fewer clicks in the sales process
7 hours saved a week for sales reps
85% faster renewals process
Trend 4: COVID-19 widens the gap between digital “haves” and “have-nots”
CSPs are well positioned to embrace further digital transformation, despite complexities. According to our survey, 79% of CSPs cite having Salesforce transformations that were mature or in-progress prior to COVID-19, placing them in a better position to respond to the disruption. Early AI entry by CSPs has fueled the shift to cloud, preparing it for next moves towards rationalization and integration.
Savvy leaders will prioritize seamless customer and employee experiences that are data-driven—and they can use the Salesforce Platform as a vehicle for engagement, personalization and collaboration across all of the stakeholders—ranging from customers and partners to employees. With the rollout of 5G, Salesforce has never been more critical for CSPs as adopting cloud technologies is necessary to harness the potential of 5G not only as a connectivity solution, but also as a business services platform.
79%
of telecommunications firm respondents say their Salesforce transformations were mature or in-progress prior to COVID-19.
39%
of telecommunications firm respondents were more likely to increase Salesforce investments in response to COVID-19.
2021: A year for disruption and market dominance in telecommunications Challenges such as customer service innovation, pricing pressures and network capacity all intensify the need for a forward-looking business model. This will be critical for growth. As 5G-capable devices and infrastructures enter the market, 2021 will be a defining year for the industry.
Discover how IBM’s deep industry expertise can align Salesforce to your specific business needs to produce desired results.
Insurers turn to AI and digital to deliver the experiences consumers demand
Shifting behaviors and expanding options are influencing insurance purchase decisions
As more options become available, insurance has moved away from being a product that is sold to one that is selectively bought. With customer experience (CX) influencing purchasing decisions, insurers are focused on improving CX. Research from the IBM Institute for Business Value shows that 85% of insurers are deploying CX initiatives throughout the customer journey (PDF, 881 KB).
In The State of Salesforce: Industry Perspectives, 2020-2021 from IBM, we examine how key industries are adapting their Salesforce strategies to survive and thrive in response to the pandemic. Our results are based on The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021. In this section of the Industry Perspectives report we provide you with a closer view of results from financial services respondents, inclusive of the insurance industry. Responses from all the other industries combined are used for comparison.
Insurers need to push further along on the digital journey to deliver a better CX Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and related recession, insurance customers have become more discerning in what they will purchase, and how they will protect their assets. New competitors and business models that have evolved in recent years—such as by-the-mile car insurance—are growing in popularity because of shifts to remote work, less commuting, and the emergence of ride share companies like Uber and Lyft. These shifts are exacerbated by changing behavior as individuals cut back on physical outings and opt for more digital interactions.
As COVID-19 spread, insurers were ready to support the sudden upticks in customer inquiries for current plans but were a step behind in adapting to new purchasing habits of pandemic-stricken customers. To both build trust and retain customers, insurers are pushing themselves further along the digital innovation journey to deliver a better CX.
A key strategy is investing in end-to-end, purpose-built platforms for insurance, like Salesforce Industries Insurance (formerly Vlocity), which enables insurers to:
Connect the policyholder journey at every stage, and on the channels they prefer.
Unify and personalize insurance experiences.
Bring agents and policyholders together in the new remote world.
The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021 report shows that financial services respondents are planning to add Salesforce Industries Insurance to their technology stack at an increase of nearly 250% over the current usage.
Insurers already know they need to be more nimble, innovative and connected with their customers. But to acquire new customers and retain loyalty, IT and business leaders need to put the policyholder at the center of the business model.
Simplify the claims experience – Remove the stress from customer experiences (such as reporting a car accident) by infusing AI and automation across channels, providing transparency for both customers and agents, and enabling parties to connect and triage complex issues related to replacements or repairs.
Expand digital channels to maximize efficiency for agents and customers – Offer hybrid contact channels—direct, direct to agent, agent-based—that mimic in-person discussions and increase the number of customer touchpoints in the remote environment.
Shift to a proactive service model – Rethink traditional CX approaches by using AI and intelligent workflows to streamline and personalize processes like policy renewals and anticipate next best actions.
Provide targeted insurance offers – Build-in customer protection and flexible-rate coverage offers into new products, services and partnerships. From short-term vacation rental leases to protecting new pets, insurers need the ability to quickly create new products and experiences that meet emerging customer trends and demands—and they need to do it in real-time.
Purchase of insurance on an airplane flight is more prevalent now due to unpredictability of future flights and plans due to COVID-19. Airline and insurance companies are creating turn-key functionality for partnership offers that maximize revenue.
Existing and new products which can be adapted to plug into new experiences growing from the pandemic. For instance, pet insurance inquiries have increased as pet adoption rates rise.
New products to accommodate emerging needs, such as Airbnb leasing insurance.
Trend 1: Trust is the new currency of customer engagement
To maintain customer loyalty in the moments that matter, insurers are being tasked with fostering trust by humanizing digital experiences. At crucial life milestones, insurers can use Salesforce to communicate properly with policyholders and make sure they can self-serve as needed, but quickly be upgraded to a live agent or in-person interaction when desired.
When COVID-19 restrictions caused reduced car travel and auto-related claims, many insurers responded by issuing partial refunds of premium. In the US, with effectively every carrier offering similar refunds, insurance customers came to expect reduced premiums as routine.
Empathy during a time of crisis
50% of financial services respondents have increased their focus on building brand loyalty and trust in response to the pandemic.
23% of financial services respondents are more likely to have increased their focus on philanthropy and charity.
Creating relevant and personal experiences is a critical strategy for growth and resilience. And communications that support transparency, visibility and self-service play a greater role in building brand equity and customer trust, especially as operations become remote. Customers expect quick answers from their agents, as well as:
Intelligent and optimized recommendations for risk prevention and new purchases that provide clear value.
Seamless look-up of claim or life insurance application status.
Data security, no matter if agents are in the office or field.
Delivering more personalized offerings and experiences requires access to more customer data and less constraints from legacy systems. Many forward-thinking insurers are now running their core insurance processes on Salesforce—and using Salesforce Industries Insurance coupled with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud to transform their businesses and traditional systems for the modern age. This means agents and customers can get information when and where they need it, which helps avoid service disruptions.
Use of Financial Services Cloud is on the rise
46%
of financial services firm respondents currently use Financial Services Cloud.
83%
of financial services firm respondents that use Financial Services Cloud plan to expand use its use.
Trend 2: Human-centered AI creates new business value
AI and intelligent workflows underpin seamless customer experiences. Automating and streamlining processes like claims quotes helps insurers understand customer behaviors—which enables better curation of product and services bundles.
Insurers are leveraging more data sources for AI and analytics. These are applied to predictive models to identify and reduce default, credit and loan delinquency risks. Insights surfaced by AI and analytics will help agents augment conversations and unlock the ability to provide customers with personalized service bundles.
74%
of marketers in financial services organizations cite increased demand in AI capabilities involving analytics and reporting.
AI and analytics are essential to identify security and compliance risk. Financial services teams are looking for AI solutions that have pre-built features for regulatory compliance. A case in point is Salesforce's Einstein Analytics for Financial Services, which includes all the security, privacy, auditing and reporting tools, consistently configured to maintain compliance with industry requirements.
“ We utilized Salesforce’s tracking capabilities and advanced analytics to listen to clients’ needs [and] track our client engagement data year-over-year. . . ”
Managing director
International financial services company
Employing Customer 360 and AI solutions also provides a complete view of the customer and engagement, surfacing intelligence around next best actions and increasing the ability to upsell and cross sell services. While 16% of financial services organizations currently use Einstein Analytics, an additional 18% are planning to add the capabilities to their organization.
Early adopters of the Salesforce Platform were one step ahead, helping agents engage with policyholders with key insights into the customer life cycle.
The value of intelligent, human-centered workflows Salesforce customers are designing intelligent, human-centered processes and workflows across their businesses that enhance both employee and customer experiences. Financial services organizations use Marketing and Commerce Cloud for specific benefits such as personalized product recommendations and next best actions. They use Service Cloud for incident routing, case deflection and self-service workflows.
85%
of financial services firm respondents have either currently established, or plan to establish, intelligent workflow solutions within Salesforce.
91%
of financial services firm respondents with currently established intelligent workflows cite increased customer satisfaction—and 90% cite increased employee satisfaction.
Trend 3: Employee safety and well-being build resilient businesses
As with other industries, key barriers to recovery and growth in the insurance industry include external factors like public health and government guidelines and disruptions. However, insurance and financial institutions play an important role during times of crisis. Financial services respondents to our State of Salesforce survey were 24% less likely to cite “customer willingness to engage” as a significant barrier to transacting business, possibly because insurance services are considered essential.
64%
of financial services firm respondents cite their organizations have increased focus on employee and customer well-being.
41%
of financial services firm respondents cite their organization is in a stabilized state of recovery from the economic effects of COVID—28% more likely than all other industries.
The best companies use Salesforce to help protect and support employees and their businesses, advancing further along the path of stabilization and resilience.
Crisis: Reactionary decision-making; workforce in survival mode
Stabilized: Course corrections in place; workforce remote but not outcome-oriented
Operational: Hybrid work tools and training; workforce productivity re-established
Responsive: Increasing workforce agility; more up-skilling opportunities
Resilient: Workforce can quickly adapt in another crisis
Trend 4: COVID-19 widens the gap between digital “haves” and “have-nots”
Due to the nature of the business, insurers are generally on par or better prepared for market disruptions—such as natural disasters—than are other industries. But the COVID-19 pandemic brings new kinds of disruptions, such as difficulties in quickly serving customers, more claims and the shift to remote work.
Eighty-two percent of financial services respondents had either partially or mostly digitally transformed their businesses prior to COVID-19. Mature Salesforce users had many advantages that enabled them to pivot more quickly in response to the pandemic.
In the last year financial services organizations have shifted their Salesforce innovation roadmaps to focus increasingly on data. Insurers have also been able to maintain their focus on innovating for the future, hoping to meet the demands of the next normal. These advances involved establishing new ways of working, including:
Digitization of platforms.
Further development of AI and analytics to support all channels.
Development of intelligent workflows to help control cost.
These changes can free employees to focus on higher-value work. Automating end-to-end workflows using Salesforce makes it easier to both serve customers and maintain a more agile workforce.
A need for always-on management Not surprisingly, financial services organizations are 21% more likely than others to cite the need to minimize system downtime for customers. Increases in projects related to customer data security (66%), and data integrations with other systems (64%), were the innovations most affected by COVID-19.
75% of financial services industry organizations have a dedicated group responsible for maintaining always-on support for their Salesforce orgs.
Data privacy and security (71%), real-time access to company data (54%) and minimizing system downtime for customers (52%) are the primary reasons for needing always-on management.
Discover how IBM’s deep industry expertise can align Salesforce to your specific business needs to produce desired results.
Healthcare embraces digital to build resilient healthcare systems
Omnichannel customer experiences are essential to engage patients now and in the post-pandemic future
The ways that patients need and want to access healthcare has been permanently altered by COVID-19. Already feeling the pressures of consumerization prior to the pandemic, the healthcare industry is quickly embracing digital processes and operations to build resilient healthcare systems able to handle new challenges. Cohesive, compelling, omnichannel customer experiences (CX) are essential for patient engagement and access now and in the post-pandemic future, and a necessary tool as communities move from crisis to stabilization.
In The State of Salesforce: Industry Perspectives, 2020-2021 from IBM, we examine how key industries are adapting their Salesforce strategies to survive and thrive in response to the pandemic. Our results are based on The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021. In this section of the Industry Perspectives report we provide you with a closer view of results from healthcare industry respondents. Responses from all the other industries combined are used for comparison.
To survive in a COVID-19 world, the healthcare industry must embrace digital and virtual CX. And to continue to prepare for the emerging healthcare landscape, the industry is embracing the omnichannel experiences that meet patient expectations.
For almost 10 years, the healthcare industry has been on the precipice of a holistic shift from sickness to prevention and wellness. Platforms like Salesforce Health Cloud have become the ideal engagement layer for both insurance payers and healthcare providers when integrated with systems like electronic medical records (EMR and EHR) or claims systems.
Salesforce Health Cloud seamlessly delivers a single source, 360 degree patient history and plans while providing real-time dates and continuation of care plans at the point of contact. Additionally, Health Cloud creates a new level of personalized care management programs at scale. This creates a complete member journey focused on proactively engaging at every moment that matters.
Business and IT Collaboration The panic and makeshift digital workarounds created during the beginning of the pandemic vary by region. But going forward, healthcare IT and healthcare business leaders need to team with providers and payers to control rising costs in patient care. Proactive investment in solutions like Salesforce Health Cloud and Community Cloud will help drive operational efficiencies and improve patient engagement.
Providers such as hospitals or medical clinics need to forge a stronger bond with patients through consistent patient interactions and by offering digitally-enabled, personalized and empowering services. Human-centered, intelligently designed Salesforce solutions such as Health Cloud and Community Cloud, and IBM solutions like Watson Assistant that drive next best actions, are helping providers stay connected to patients.
Priorities: Build scalable digital-first systems, invest in care continuity, enhance omnichannel experiences, streamline to control costs
Build scalable digital-first infrastructure and systems – Scalable and seamless digital systems and infrastructure support secure, virtual care initiatives. This will enable health care providers to engage more efficiently across the patient community while ensuring informed interaction through the digital first data framework. Digital capabilities augment in-person care activities for patients and providers, including vaccine and disease management initiatives.
Invest in care continuity – Salesforce Health Cloud and Community Cloud serve as valuable, scalable solutions that assist in care continuity to connect providers and patients with each other and the data and records they need. These solutions help create a bi-directional, omnichannel platform furthering the reach of health care providers–with a path for patient engagement in a more secure and informed way than ever before.
Enhance patient omnichannel experiences – Enhance the patient journey through secure, consistent, and personalized omnichannel CX. Integrate digital tools, data capabilities, AI and workflow automation to create more affordable, accessible and effective patient experiences–and to measure provider successes and outcomes.
Streamline for cost control – Control health care costs and lead in new market development. Adopt the right strategy to address more patients and segments, with additional services like virtual appointments—while managing channel conflicts and cost.
Trend 1: Trust is the new currency of customer engagement
Insurer payors and healthcare providers must increase the “moments that matter,” meeting the patient where they are, physically or virtually. Establishing trust means patients feel cared for both in and outside the provider’s office. Patients want to feel empowered and connected to make the right health and wellness decisions beyond the doctor's office. And they increasingly expect easy-to-use, self-service experiences, especially for booking appointments, viewing lab results and dealing with billing.
Payors need the digital capabilities that allow them to support members on their journey to wellness and beyond, not just in times of sickness. To combat loyalty challenges and to stay competitive, payors must have clear differentiators such as value add services and personalized care. There must also be a seamless experience that recognizes the patient whether they are interfacing with payers or providers.
Protecting patient health information is paramount—and required by law. Providers need to protect that data, and the combination of Salesforce and IBM technologies like blockchain offer solutions for safe and secure information exchange.
Trend 2: Human-centered AI creates new business value
Intelligent workflows that augment data with emerging technology like AI to streamline and automate business processes and connect operations end-to-end help improve efficiency and quality. Intelligent workflows enable strategic decisions that drive growth. Proactively sending secure messages to patients about upcoming appointments, lab results, and wellness and disease management programs can help improve patient satisfaction, promote care plan participation and grow healthcare practices while reducing costs.
Electronic medical records were only the first step towards digitization—the next step includes using AI to capture important insights from that patient data to communicate and guide patients’ next actions.
“ We want to use Salesforce and AI to guide our seniors to the right Medicare products. By knowing their behaviors, claims history, doctors and prescription information we can confidently say, ‘Based on what we know about you, this is what we recommend, and here’s why.’ ”
Senior Director of IT
US national insurance company
Healthcare organizations see the importance of intelligent workflows
81%
of healthcare organization respondents are investing in established intelligent workflow solutions.
87%
of healthcare organization respondents realized increased customer satisfaction because of intelligent workflows.
84%
of healthcare organization respondents are realizing increased employee satisfaction as the most important benefit of intelligent workflows.
Forty-seven percent of healthcare organization respondents in The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021 currently deploy enterprise AI solutions. AI and IoT devices can help providers learn and engage in informed one-to-one patient interactions. For example, connected devices for diabetes management show promising signs in augmenting patient care by helping with continuous glucose and biomarker monitoring.
Healthcare organizations are increasingly using AI
57%
of healthcare organization respondents currently using Einstein are planning to expand its use.
5X
In 2021 healthcare organization respondents have increased use of enterprise AI by a multiple of 5, versus 2020.
Healthcare organizations are using Health Cloud along with Community Cloud and also leveraging Heroku to create more seamless member and patient engagement from out-of-the box Salesforce solutions. Instead of multiple disjointed channels, Customer 360 allows for anytime, anywhere access for the member or patient to inquire, schedule and leverage their healthcare network. Integrated omni-channel experiences and personalized technology engagement capabilities demonstrate the increased focus on engaging across personas with Community Cloud.
Trend 3: Employee safety and well-being build resilient businesses
In response to COVID-19, empathy for healthcare workers and patients is driving organizational focus for healthcare organizations. For healthcare providers working under extremely challenging conditions, there has been no break during COVID-19 for frontline employees.
54%
of healthcare organization respondents have increased focus on employee and customer well-being.
74%
of healthcare organization respondents have increased focus on philanthropy and charity – twice as likely as all other industry respondents.
Healthcare organizations are applying digital tools that enable agile and scalable IT infrastructure and experiences that support contactless experiences, as well as safe return to provider locations as appropriate. Patients and providers are continuing to adopt experiences like virtual appointments, especially for non-critical interactions. For example, a digital patient engagement platform like Patient 360 will be needed to manage data, orchestrate connection and deliver a holistic view of patient information.
Providers are using Health Cloud and Community Cloud to create more seamless member and patient engagement. Integrated omni-channel experiences, rather than multiple disjointed channels of connection, are supporting technologies that recognize and respond to individuals. This enables more anytime, anywhere opportunities for members or patients to inquire, schedule and leverage their healthcare network on their own terms.
Healthcare organizations are re-thinking many of their processes through a digital-first lens that goes beyond the brick-and-mortar approach. This helps build more holistic and intuitive patient journeys that lead to better adherence to prescribed plans, higher retention and lower acquisition costs. AI enables providers to push the right information, so they can consult with more patients virtually and cut wait times by using electronic queue.
Vaccine distribution is mission-critical Vaccine distribution is currently the primary objective the healthcare industry must tackle to protect the health and well-being of society. By centralizing and scaling critical aspects of vaccine management using Salesforce Vaccine Cloud and IBM Watson Assistant within contact centers, health officials and vaccine administrators can track distributions. Salesforce Vaccine Cloud helps connect vaccines to people with simplified inventory management and scheduling.
Watson Assistant provides customers with fast, consistent and accurate answers across any application, device or channel. Using AI, Watson Assistant learns from customer conversations, improving its ability to resolve issues the first time while removing the frustration of long wait times, tedious searches and unhelpful chatbots. And the IBM Digital Health Pass tool provides communities with a secure and validated path to return to shared spaces with confidence.
Trend 4: COVID-19 widens the gap between digital “haves” and “have-nots”
Healthcare organizations remain overwhelmed by the impacts of the pandemic. They need the ability to quickly pivot their businesses to meet public demands—first to survive, then to begin recovery—with proactive and preventative approaches to the changing landscape.
Based on their investments in Salesforce, healthcare organizations cite an easier ability to make the necessary business adjustments or pivots in response to the pandemic. For example, organizations with a more mature Salesforce foundation were able to respond more quickly, ramping up contact centers with AI to assist with call routing and deflection, passing non-emergencies off to a virtual agent or self-service portal, while prioritizing live agents for more urgent inquiries.
Healthcare organization respondents are 33% more likely than all respondents from other industries to have mature Salesforce foundations prior to the onset of COVID-19.
Healthcare organization respondents are 14% more likely than other industries to have increased their Salesforce investments during 2020 in response to the pandemic.
Healthcare organizations that continue to invest in Salesforce and AI will be better positioned in the future to engage patients digitally at every point in the journey in the channels that they choose. Example channels and capabilities include:
Patient community portals that promote self-service, reduce unnecessary calls and empower patients with greater control over their healthcare.
Virtual assistants to confirm identifying information and streamline communications and call resolution.
Personalized content and promotions for preventative wellness programs tailored to the individual and their health needs.
Discover how IBM’s deep industry expertise can align Salesforce to your specific business needs to produce desired results.
Digital innovation is transforming industrial delivery and service models
Purchase and post-purchase relationships are evolving through connected customer experiences
The challenges for companies in the industrial industry (comprised of automotive, electronics, manufacturing, oil and gas, and energy) brought on by COVID-19 also carry opportunities to innovate. Improvements in digital capabilities and connected customer experiences are transforming the way products and services are created and delivered – and how post-purchase relationships are maintained.
In The State of Salesforce: Industry Perspectives, 2020-2021 from IBM, we examine how key industries are adapting their Salesforce strategies to survive and thrive in response to the pandemic. Our results are based on The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021. In this section of the Industry Perspectives report we provide you with a closer view of results from industrial respondents. Responses from all the other industries combined are used for comparison.
From defining new features in product design, process and factory floor assembly, to the way products are delivered and serviced in distribution channels, manufacturers are looking for new ways to deliver more value for employees, stakeholders and customers. As buying experiences and dealer models evolve, manufacturers will need to leverage automation and data-driven insights to improve productivity, satisfaction and loyalty. And this is increasingly important regardless of whether the buyer is a consumer or a business.
Better insights into the needs of end-consumers are driving transformation. In oilfield services, for instance, capital equipment manufacturers are creating digital storefronts for self-service transactions.
More collaboration between IT and business leaders Fifty-seven percent of industrial respondents to The State of Salesforce: COVID-19 Special Edition, 2020-2021 cited an accelerated priority to innovate in response to current industry disruptions. Data and AI are crucial keys to unlock new efficiencies, connect design and manufacturing operation and maximize collaboration between IT and business leaders, both across and outside of the organization.
The State of Salesforce report reveals the need for greater collaboration between IT and business leaders
65%
of industrial respondents cite an accelerated need to improve IT and business collaboration in response to COVID-19.
Competencies and shared resources based on the Salesforce platform and solutions can support a variety of cases across IT, sales and business:
Internally, IT leaders need predictive analytics for supply chain insights to anticipate shifts in demand.
IT also needs to support field workforce management by helping them monitor equipment and manage technicians and repairs in the field, as well as to augment field capabilities with predictive and preventative machine wellness.
Sales leaders will expect more transparency in their partnerships and greater forecasting accuracy.
Business leaders looking to deliver value quickly need to optimize sales forecasts and set up digital commerce environments (digital storefronts).
Priorities: Mobility tools, AI and analytics, sustainability, omnichannel experiences
Mobility tools - Mobility tools help your employees work safer and smarter when they are on the factory floor or in the field. Matching IoT capabilities with tools like Salesforce Field Service will be essential to support automation, connected experiences and optimized routes and scheduling.
AI and Analytics enrich experiences - The ability to customize and personalize the customer journey for specific processes in industries like automotive and electronics creates opportunities for deeper relationships with customers, beyond the point of sale.
"Green" and "carbon zero" are finally non-negotiable - Manufacturers are seizing the opportunity to innovate and change perceptions of what sustainable is and can be. With Sustainability Cloud and Einstein Analytics, organizations will look to apply their data to achieve sustainability goals, new cost efficiencies and regulatory compliance through greener operations and production.
Analytics and sustainable plastics in automotive - Plastics are becoming increasingly re-usable. One major petrochemical company is producing a wide range of advanced, greener plastics. High-yield and low-cost innovations are helping the company gain leadership in sustainable plastics markets, such as for auto manufacturing.
Greener plastics that are stronger and lighter will play a growing role in automotive. Auto-makers are using analytics and advanced plastics to cut costs and to meet regulatory targets for greater fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gases.
Omnichannel service experiences - End-to-end service across channels matters more than ever, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond in the digital age. For their employees, the best companies are creating industry-specific digital experiences that rely on automation and intelligent workflows to reduce repetitive tasks. For partners and stakeholders alike, they are focusing on seamless buying experiences.
Salesforce Industries becomes increasingly important to deliver the omnichannel experiences customers expect.
220%
Industrial respondents noted more than a 4X increase in plans to add Salesforce Industries (formerly Vlocity) to their Salesforce instances.
Trend 1: Trust is the new currency of customer engagement
As experiences increasingly shift to digital due to COVID-19-driven needs, trust is earned through the quality, reliability and delivery of the brand experience, which are also keys to driving customer retention for industrial industry in general. Additionally, the cost to serve—often a one-time activity or engagement—can be very steep, especially when multiple costs can chip away at low factory margins.
58% cite increased focus on building brand loyalty and trust (18% more likely than all other respondents)
58% cite increased focus on brand-corporate mission alignment (23% more likely than all other respondents)
Building trust and driving retention includes predictability and transparency around commodities and raw materials, for instance, using blockchain to track materials to ensure ethical means and sourcing.
In the automotive sector, trust also involves the ability to fulfill the brand promise and support new models such as touchless sales, as well as:
Luxury vehicles differentiated through personalization.
Commercial trucks with telematics and data to accelerate predictive maintenance and diminish costly downtimes.
In the oil and gas and energy sectors, trust is primarily about daily operational safety, but also sustainability. With past and recent public failures in energy and oil and gas in mind, customers, employees and investors are highly concerned about protecting life and the environment. Salesforce supports risk evaluation and mitigation, analytics, reporting and insights to help integrate transparency about safe and sustainable practices to stakeholders.
With Salesforce IoT Cloud and Salesforce Einstein, industrial organizations can better manage supply and demand, monitor changing conditions and maintain equipment health through connected smart systems, data and devices.
Salesforce Sustainability Cloud , built on the Salesforce Customer 360 platform, gives organizations the ability to track and monitor their carbon footprint in real-time.
Trend 2: Human-centered AI creates new business value
AI and automation will be game changers and necessary components in the new normal for manufacturing companies. Yet use of AI, advanced connectivity and automation requires companies to reconsider the responsibilities of onsite employees–and the rationale for onsite work. At the same time, they must effectively address cybersecurity issues. Organizations will need to prioritize:
AI in sales cycles. This is especially true for high-consideration, longer sales cycles that have complex processes, where AI helps automate repetitive tasks.
AI and analytics to predict consumer trends that ladder up to production.
AI in the service cycle where predictive analytics that leverage IoT data will support maintenance cycles to improve efficiencies and limit downtime.
Nearly half (48%) of industrial respondents currently use enterprise AI solutions, more than double the usage versus last year.
“ We’re looking at Einstein to help us manage the IoT data that comes from our machines. The rich oil sample data our machines generate can be used proactively in Salesforce to alert customers about a problem before it even happens–and that’s powerful. ”
Brandon Acosta
Vice President, Enterprise Operations
HoltCat
Salesforce Einstein knows the customer and has an appealing customer front end experience. IBM Watson adds the machine learning layer and knows the person. Watson uses predictive insights from unstructured data inside or outside an enterprise (such as weather data) together with predictive analytics from customer data within Salesforce delivered by Salesforce Einstein. These insights into timing and customer needs can influence production.
Predictive maintenance gets people out in the field where their work is facilitated through Salesforce Field Service.
Predictive analytics help manage proactive servicing for heavy machinery such as autos, trucks and others, with the goal of measuring the wellness of machines.
Predictive maintenance through telematics cuts downtimes for commercial vehicles.
Proactive service also includes optimizing latency.
88%
of industrial respondents are more likely to cite the need to schedule field service appointments as a top priority.
76%
of Field Service users in the industrial industries are planning to expand its use.
Trend 3: Employee safety and well-being build resilient businesses
As with other industries, the most immediate concern of industrial industry employers (66%) is to safeguard the health and wellness of their employees—and of their customers. But industrial companies have special issues:
While most industries are suffering, manufacturing is unique because the workforces are mainly at front-line, warehouse, factory and field or branch locations.
Essential workers and field service employees need particular support, protection and data to safely do their jobs—including regular testing protocols.
“ Salesforce is a key platform in enabling us to communicate with employees in the personalized manner we need. We’ve seen our adoption of Salesforce increase as a result. ”
Marco Cornelli
Head of Information Systems, Global Markets Electrification & Head of Global Salesforce Practice
ABB
Salesforce’s Work.com and related suite of solutions enable organizations to gain visibility to adjust back-to-site strategies based on regional conditions. Designed to create a safer, more efficient workplace, Work.com provides a single view and comprehensive capabilities to help mitigate challenges brought on by the pandemic. For industrial organizations, Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud provides a turnkey environment for other CRM assets like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud. This provides employees with real-time visibility into sales processes, account activity and service issues.
Trend 4: COVID-19 widens the gap between digital “haves” and “have-nots”
To maintain a competitive advantage for the post-pandemic landscape, manufacturers are infusing AI into Salesforce and their technology stacks to build agility, automation, and intelligence across key functional areas. Most industrial data is generated outside of IT–in manufacturing, supply chains or connected products.
Integration of data silos Industrial organizations are integrating siloed, back-office systems and data with Salesforce. This powers front-office insights, leveraging MuleSoft for data integrations and CPQ to automate buying and selling in their order management supply chains. For instance, to create more resilient supply networks some manufacturers are using data to identify secondary supply sources, in case of last-minute border closures and shipping issues.
Industrial respondents are 87% more likely than all other industries to deploy Salesforce CPQ. They are 47% more likely than respondents in all other sectors to add MuleSoft to their Salesforce instances—and 75% plan to increase MuleSoft usage over their current level.
Leaders are working to avoid being on the wrong side of the digital divide by integrating Salesforce with the rest of their business applications. Organizations who were further along in their digital transformation journeys have adapted to COVID-19 disruptions faster and more efficiently than the rest.
Pivot with more ease in response to disruptions
58%
of industrial respondents cited their Salesforce investments made it easier to make the necessary pivots to respond to the disruption.
Companies like Frito-Lay have been nimble in the critical last mile of the supply chain because they had already rolled out an advanced e-commerce solution.
Acceleration of smart technology Principal Analyst Paul Miller of Forrester Research, in a December 2020 podcast, says that while most manufacturers dabbled in remote service capabilities using internet-of-things (IoT) technology prior to the pandemic, many more have accelerated their plans to allow more robust remote equipment monitoring and virtual service visits. "They'd been buying machines that could be remotely monitored and controlled for years, but they hadn't yet switched them on" until the pandemic, says Miller.
Salesforce customers had a starting advantage As industrial companies focus on recovering from market disruptions, investments in AI, machine learning, and IoT tools will help them better prepare for new or continued disruptions. What continues to be true is a divide in the market where organizations further along their Salesforce journey at the start of the year continue to pull ahead and build additional advantages. Those slow to adapt and invest will struggle.
Discover how IBM’s deep industry expertise can align Salesforce to your specific business needs to produce desired results.
