How Professional Services Firms Can Optimize Client Management with Salesforce

According to Statista.com, the professional services sector encompasses various areas, including legal services, accounting, consulting, engineering, and advertising. In 2023, this sector is expected to generate $63.0 billion in revenue. From 2023 to 2028, it is projected to grow at an annual rate of 5.62%, reaching $82.7 billion by 2028.

Salesforce is a robust platform that offers many applications. For over 20 years, it has helped professional services firms improve their operations and manage client data effectively. 

With Salesforce for professional services, organizations can automate tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, and reporting. It also provides analytics and much more.

In our blog post, you’ll learn the following:

• Key Features of Salesforce for Professional Services

• How professional service firms can benefit from popular Salesforce products.

• Real examples of professional services companies using Salesforce.

• Pros and cons of using Salesforce and consulting partners to customize CRM for unique challenges in professional service firms.

Revolutionizing Service Delivery: The Essential Attributes of Salesforce for Professional Services Firms.

Professional services firms use Salesforce Sales Cloud to manage essential tasks. It helps them work efficiently and deliver good service.

The main features of this CRM system help improve:

Client Relationship Management

This professional services CRM enables organizations to create a comprehensive 360-degree profile of their clients. It enhances client relationship management by incorporating key information, including past interactions, service preferences, and communication history.

In the financial services industry, it’s essential to gather information about customers, including their demographics, current investment portfolios, and their engagement with brand content.

Using this information, financial managers can automate personalized investment recommendations. For example, they might suggest a new portfolio strategy tailored to the customer's financial goals or based on their past interactions with the company.

Workflow Automation

Salesforce helps manage new customers and vendors efficiently. It keeps all necessary paperwork organized, secure, and available in digital form. The system sends reminders and notices based on set triggers or conditions.

If market conditions change, you can send an automated email to update clients and offer a consultation. This approach enables you to manage relationships proactively by providing value and adapting to customer behavior and market changes.

Lead and Opportunity Management

Salesforce Sales Cloud empowers teams to track new business opportunities and manage leads effectively. It uses automated workflows to prioritize leads and assign them to the right team members. It makes the sales process more efficient.

Customizability and Integrability

You can easily customize and scale the system as needed. It also works well with 4,500 other apps for marketing, project management, and accounting.

Data Protection and Regulatory Compliance

The platform meets over 40 regulations worldwide. By using Salesforce CRM, professional services companies can safeguard their critical company and client information.

Task Automation

Salesforce CRM automates routine tasks, such as sending invoices, scheduling appointments, and following up on leads. This automation allows professionals to focus on providing high-quality services.

Data Analytics and Reporting

Salesforce provides robust data analytics tools that enable businesses to analyze critical metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). With these insights, companies can make decisions based on data, leading to improved performance and higher client satisfaction.

Collaboration Tools

Collaboration tools like Chatter help team members communicate easily, share documents, and work together on projects within Salesforce.

Salesforce offers more than 20 different software products. Each product is designed to meet the unique needs of various business types, including professional services.

Key modules, such as Sales, Service, Marketing, Experience, Analytics Cloud, and Pardot, are handy for fields like legal services, engineering, technology, and finance consulting.

Salesforce Service Cloud

Professional service firms, such as law, consulting, and engineering companies, can utilize Service Cloud to enhance their client connections, service delivery, and internal process management.

This product suite helps teams manage complex projects that require collaboration from different fields. It quickly directs client questions through various channels—such as email, phone, chat, and social media—to the right people, thereby reducing response time. Integrated tools enable users to measure key performance metrics, assessing how effectively services are delivered.

Salesforce Experience Cloud

Salesforce Experience Cloud, formerly known as Community Cloud, is a robust platform for the professional services industry. It helps create branded online spaces for different user groups, including customers, partners, and employees.

This customer relationship management module allows you to create secure and customized client portals. In these portals, a professional services agency can provide real-time updates on projects, give access to documents, and enable direct communication with service providers.

A professional service business can keep a complete record of all interactions with prospects, customers, and contractors. This record provides the critical context needed for making informed decisions and maximizing the value of each relationship.

Salesforce Experience Cloud helps create specialized partner portals. These portals facilitate communication, enable document sharing, and aid in project management, which is particularly useful for companies working together or subcontracting with each other. The built-in analytics provide real-time insights into how users engage with the portal, their behavior, and other critical performance metrics.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides a suite of marketing tools that enable you to connect more effectively with your current and potential clients. You can create personalized email messages for various groups, including new clients, existing clients, and partners.

Marketing Cloud uses artificial intelligence to score leads based on their interactions with your brand. It can also automatically send follow-up messages to help these potential customers make a purchase, focusing on those who are most likely to make a purchase.

This Salesforce service helps promote events, such as webinars and conferences. It utilizes various channels, including social media, SMS, push notifications, and in-app messaging, to effectively engage audiences.

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot)

Pardot is a tool from Salesforce designed for business-to-business marketing. It helps companies that provide professional services enhance their marketing efforts, attract more potential customers, and retain clients' engagement.

The platform generates high-quality leads using forms, landing pages, and social media. It utilizes advanced scoring models to evaluate leads based on their level of engagement and readiness to purchase. It helps sales teams focus on the most promising prospects.

This tool enables organizations to break down their contact lists by various criteria, facilitating more personalized email campaigns. It also includes automated drip sequences to guide leads through the sales process, making it easier to engage them directly.

Tableau (Salesforce Analytics Cloud)

Salesforce Analytics Cloud, also known as Tableau CRM, is a powerful tool for analyzing data and gaining valuable business insights. It helps service organizations understand their operations, clients, and key performance metrics.

The platform enables you to track key performance indicators, including client satisfaction, project profitability, and billable hours. You can customize reports and dashboards in Salesforce for these insights.

Analytics Cloud helps predict potential project delays and estimate the potential earnings. It also identifies ways to make work easier, train employees, and improve processes.

Additionally, it enables organizations to accurately assess marketing ROI, customer acquisition costs, and customer lifetime value. It helps them allocate their budgets more effectively.

Choosing Your Path: Professional Services by Salesforce vs. Salesforce Consulting Partners

Salesforce.com offers a flexible and feature-rich platform that can adapt to the needs of today’s fast-paced business world. It works well for both small startups and large companies. To achieve the best results, it's advisable to seek professional assistance for setting up the technology.

To help professional service firms maximize the benefits of Salesforce, customization is crucial. The platform is powerful on its own, but it needs adjustments to meet your organization's specific needs.

To get the most out of Salesforce for your business, you have two main options: use Salesforce professional services or work with Salesforce consulting partners.

Choosing the right provider is crucial when launching a new platform or enhancing existing services. This choice reduces risks and establishes a solid foundation for future projects.

Let’s look at two options for professional services automation:

Professional Services by Salesforce Consulting Partners

Choosing Salesforce consulting partners can save money, especially for small to mid-sized businesses. These partners usually offer a more affordable option than Salesforce’s in-house services.

Many consulting partners provide specialized knowledge for specific industries. They create solutions that closely match your unique business needs.

Moreover, their local or regional presence can be beneficial for time zone alignment and potential on-site support. These partners also offer greater flexibility in solution offerings, project timelines, and even pricing structures.

On the other hand, several challenges must be considered when selecting a Salesforce consulting partner. The quality and expertise among these partners can vary significantly, making due diligence critical during the selection process. There’s also a risk of over-customization, as partners may propose exceedingly complex solutions. It can also become challenging to manage over the long term.

Additionally, working with a consulting partner may necessitate multiple points of contact for various project components. It can complicate project management and dilute accountability.

Why Salesforce Professional Services by Codleo

If you're experiencing challenges with sales productivity, team alignment, or maximizing the potential of your CRM platform, Codleo's Salesforce professional services can help. We focus on creating solutions that match your specific goals.

We offer a comprehensive range of services, spanning from initial consulting to custom development and ongoing support. Our Salesforce consultants help you choose the right tools and features to improve your Salesforce organization.

We focus on transforming your business to put customers first. We enhance services based on insights, craft successful customer journeys, and deliver overall better experiences. Our consulting partners help you transition away from outdated systems and address specific CRM challenges. We streamline your sales, marketing, and customer service operations to make them more efficient and effective.

We have years of experience with Salesforce. We help you reach your full potential by creating custom workflows, optimizing performance, and providing clear, actionable reports.

To reduce disruptions, we will integrate Salesforce with other applications, CRM systems, and additional Salesforce products. As your business grows, we will continually enhance platform features, introduce custom tools, and stay current with technological advancements to help you remain competitive.

Our custom Salesforce app development services enhance what Salesforce can do to help you achieve your business goals. To maximize the benefits of your unique application, we will assist you in getting it listed on the AppExchange platform.

Codleo fosters a work culture that enhances productivity and promotes teamwork across departments. It all happens within Salesforce’s unified system.

Looking for true Salesforce experts? Book a free CRM consulting call, and our experienced Salesforce professional services industry consultants will support your business needs with advanced professional service technology.