Switch to Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud and Profit

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud transforms your sales strategy and optimize your operations for maximum efficiency. Designed specifically for consumer goods companies, this powerful CRM solution offers a wide range of features and capabilities that can transform the way you do business.

With Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, you can -

• leverage a 360-degree customer view to gain a deeper understanding of your customers
• deliver personalized experiences
• optimize retail execution and empower your field representatives with real-time data and tools for more effective in-store decision-making
• streamline your operations is made easy with seamless collaboration across functions
• automate processes like never before!
• do intelligent reporting on all that sweet data supported by Einstein AI, no less

All-in-all, CG Cloud enables you to uncover drive efficient planning & operations with action-driven insights and drive increased user/customer satisfaction.

“That’s all good”, I hear you say. “But does it make sense to switch from my existing Salesforce implementations that everyone in the company loves so much?”

I hear you, and this is the exact question we will answer in this article. Discover why companies in the consumer goods industry are making the switch to Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud and the benefits it can bring to your business.

Key Takeaways | tldr; #

• Switching to Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud can revolutionize your sales and streamline operations.
• Get a 360-degree customer view of planning through operations at multiple levels to gain a deeper understanding of your customers
• Optimize retail execution with real-time data and tools for more effective in-store decision-making.
• Enable seamless collaboration between teams and automated processes.
• Benefit from smart analytics that is well-integrated with your data and processes

Ready for more? Let’s dive in.

The CRM of Choice for Consumer Goods Companies #

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud is one of the pioneers of “verticalization” of Salesforce and is built ground-up on the core platform.

We will talk more on the features, but here’s a few that matter -

• capture your retailers/ top customers and support them across channels. Yes, you get a 360-view of your customers (the oft-repeated cliché that is just tiring sometimes?)
• schedule visits efficiently & thereby increase field rep productivity
• dedicated mobile app for field force to do inventory audits, promotion checks, and capture orders
• track & prioritize deliveries
• trade promotion management (with an add-on)

Leveraging a 360-Degree Customer View #

Get a comprehensive view of their customers, including their -

• contacts & their preferences
• visit planning
• in-store activities
• purchase history / orders
• support requests
• active contracts
• all other interactions

All this data is more than adequate to tailor your marketing and sales strategies to individual customers, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. By understanding your customers better, identify even more opportunities for cross-selling and upselling, aligning your operations to suite unique needs and ultimately driving revenue growth at lower costs.

Optimizing Retail Execution with CG Cloud #

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud empowers field representatives with real-time data and powerful tools for more effective in-store decision making.

By accessing real-time inventory information, customer data, and sales analytics, field reps can optimize store visits, ensure shelf availability, and identify opportunities to improve product placement and promotion.

The level of visibility and control over retail execution enables consumer goods companies to enhance overall sales performance.

Streamlining Operations for CG Companies #

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud streamlines operations by providing seamless collaboration between teams and automating manual processes.

The platform offers features such as task management, communication tools, and centralized data storage, allowing teams to work together more efficiently.

By eliminating manual tasks and streamlining workflows, consumer goods companies can increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall productivity.

Intelligent Reporting for Increased Account Sales #

Everyone’s CRM Analytics comes packaged with relevant reports/dashboards for Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud. If not anything else, the app should provide a head start to configure your own reports.

You can do everything from real-time insights into sales trends, monitoring product performance, execution effectiveness through customer behavior and more.

See more of CRMA for CG Cloud on Trailhead

Einstein AI #

Obligatory Einstein plug.

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud leverages Einstein AI to provide automated data analysis, intelligent decisioning and data discovery capabilities. Uncover (or at least make an attempt to uncover) valuable insights from their data, identify patterns, and make data-driven decisions.

By automating the data analysis process to an extent, one tends to save time and resources while gaining a deeper understanding of their market, customers, and sales performance.

Doing a quick recap, CG Cloud offers more than a few benefits -

I don’t quite hear one say “I’m sold” by just looking at the features. Let’s look at the “why”.

1. Tap into Consumer Behavior Shifts with Salesforce CG Cloud #

Tapping into consumer behavior shifts is essential for consumer goods companies to stay ahead in the market. 

• track and analyze customer behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns
• collaborate across teams and with partners
• tailor marketing campaigns
• improve product offerings
• put personalization at the core

Customer behaviors are dynamic than ever before and CG Cloud is the key to adapt their strategies and meet changing consumer demands.

2. Strategic Sales Planning with Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud #

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud offers a powerful platform for strategic sales planning - all the way from setting targets / creating the game plan through execution. Foster collaboration between brands and retailers to make the sales cycle all the more effective and track and end-to-end view with all stakeholders that matter.

The collaborative approach ensures that sales plans are aligned with market demands and retailer requirements, increasing the likelihood of successful execution. With Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, companies can -

• streamline communication and enable real-time collaboration
• align sales strategies with retailer expectations
• optimize product placement
• enhance overall business performance.

From Planning to Execution: A Comprehensive Approach #

Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud supports the entire sales planning process, ensuring a comprehensive and efficient approach from ideation to execution. The platform provides a range of tools and capabilities that enable companies to develop and refine sales plans, set clear objectives, allocate resources, and track progress.

The planning process is then seamlessly integrated into day-to-day activities for the field agents, enabling them to execute their plans effectively.

With real-time visibility into sales data and performance metrics, companies can make data-driven decisions and adjust their strategies as needed. This comprehensive approach helps to optimize sales effectiveness, improve customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.

3. Trade Promotion Management Optimization #

Trade promotion management plays a critical role in the success of consumer goods companies. Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud offers powerful tools and features that enable companies to optimize trade promotion management and improve the effectiveness of their promotional activities.

Improving Effectiveness with Performance Insights #

With Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, companies gain access to performance insights that provide valuable data and analysis on the impact of trade promotions on sales. By leveraging these insights, companies can make data-driven decisions and adjust their strategies to drive better results and maximize the return on investment (ROI) of their promotional activities.

Fund Management Visibility #

In addition to improving effectiveness, Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud provides visibility into fund management. This feature allows companies to track and allocate trade promotion budgets effectively, ensuring that funds are utilized strategically and efficiently. With fund management visibility, companies can make informed decisions about resource allocation and optimize their trade spend.

By leveraging the trade promotion management optimization capabilities of Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, companies can drive revenue growth, enhance the effectiveness of their promotional activities, and improve the overall performance of their trade promotions.

4. Unlocking the Full Potential of Retail Execution Capabilities #

Retail execution is a critical component of success in the consumer goods industry. With Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, companies can unlock the full potential of their retail execution capabilities, optimizing their operations for enhanced performance. This cloud-based platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools and insights that empower companies to streamline store visits, improve in-store merchandising, and ensure compliance with planograms.

Leverage visit planning tools and purpose-built mobile app to enable central and field teams to collaborate effectively -

• plan store visits efficiently incl. target activities depending on the store / brand
• optimize routes and ensuring that field reps cover the right locations at the right times
• leverage Salesforce Maps for real-time tracking
• order capture on the go eliminating the need for manual paperwork and reducing the risk of errors. 
• instant access to critical information such as inventory levels, pricing, and promotions.

With real-time data access, field reps can make informed decisions on the spot, ensuring that they are always equipped with the most up-to-date information. Streamlined store visits, improved merchandising, and accurate order capture contribute to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

To summarize retail execution capabilities -

Now that we have seen the “why”, let us delve into what CG Cloud can deliver.

Why Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud is Your Future-Proofing Toolkit #

Embrace digital transformation for long-term success with CG Cloud. In today’s rapidly evolving consumer goods industry, digital transformation is crucial for companies to thrive. Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud provides the tools and capabilities necessary to drive this transformation, empowering companies to adapt to the digital advances shaping the industry.

A Comparison of Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud and Other Salesforce Products #

While benefits of CG Cloud for consumer goods companies are clear, it’s important to understand how it compares to other Salesforce products. Some of these companies have embrace salesforce quite some time back and worries on their investments going to waste is too real.

In essence, we will make this comparison b/w the older Service / Sales products vs. the newer Consumer Goods Cloud but keep the discussions somewhat focused on features needed by CG companies.

The table below is not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of the differences between the products.

When and how should I make the jump to CG Cloud? #

Well, there is no one right answer.

• If you are a CG/retail company considering a new Salesforce implementation, you should definitely consider CG Cloud.
• If you are an existing Salesforce customer, you should consider your current investments, all those customizations that provide you the market edge and take the call

Migrating from another Salesforce product to CG Cloud offers clear benefits -

• Leverage OOB features for CG industry. No one gets fired for embracing the product, do they?
• The power of Industries Cloud platform - Omni Studio, Data Pipelines, etc.
• Purpose-built mobile app!
• Lower technical debt
• Better alignment with your business needs
• Lower maintenance complexity

However, there are some challenges to consider as well -

• Migration complexity
• Your tailor-made features going away
• Change management
• Costs. CG Cloud is typically more expensive than Service/ Sales Cloud et. al.

If you are migrating to CG Cloud, consider doing that in increments.

1. Identify the right promoters for your project, and get support from the pilot project (below)
2. Get a pilot project going for a specific region/function
3. Sync data between the custom/older salesforce objects to CG Cloud objects
4. Plan to remove tech debt as you migrate fully away from select functions

Conclusion #

Congraulations in order if you made it this far.

In conclusion, Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud is essential to the continued success & future proofing of consumer goods companies in today’s competitive market.

Featured Sources #

• https://www.salesforce.com/products/consumer-goods-cloud/overview/
• https://www.salesforce.com/eu/blog/turn-every-store-in-the-perfect-store/
• https://consumergoods-guide-salesforce.herokuapp.com/
• https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/alliances/library/salesforce-consumer-goods-cloud.html