Einstein AI Set to Pack More Automation Power Than NASA

This week on Funnel Frontier: Salesforce set to release Einstein 1 update for merchants and marketers, plus learn more about the history of CRM and CCaaS

This week:

• Salesforce pumps up Einstein for marketing & merchants

• How CRM and CCaS came to blows

• AI reliance = CRM fail?

• Airtable vs monday.com 

• What’s the deal with website headers and marketing? (via EngageBay)

Stat of the Week 

In the CRM market, the average Spend per Employee is projected to reach $25.14 USD in 2024. (Statista)

Salesforce launches a raft of new Einsteins (for marketing and commerce)

So much Einstein-ing, so little time. 

At the Connections conference in Chicago last week, Salesforce announced a beefy set of updates to the Einstein 1 platform. 

The focus? AI and data tools for marketing and merchants—and this time it feels like the House of Benioff is throwing more tech into the launch than NASA.

Einstein Copilot for Marketing is designed to be your new robo-wingperson, automating everything from campaign briefs to that pesky personalized content.

Got a Mt. Everest of data? The Data Cloud for Commerce is like having a sherpa who knows how to climb it, ensuring every promotional push is as inspirational as Blur “Song 2.”

Einstein Copilot for Merchants does AI-assisted personalized content and promotions, along with AI-assisted SEO recommendations.

And because what goes up (your data) must come down in actionable, profit-generating insights, the Data Cloud for Commerce syncs business and customer data, saucing up personalization and promotional efforts. 

Meanwhile, if you thought personalization was just about knowing someone’s name, Einstein Personalization is about to school you. Leveraging real-time data to deliver tailored marketing interactions, this feature is designed to ensure customer engagement stays relevant at every touchpoint.

Seems the world’s favorite Ulm-born astrophysicist isn’t done yet!

Come summer, Einstein Copilot for Marketers will be generally available, while Copilot for Merchants will be released in beta in the fall. More from the horse’s mouth here.

The Week @ CRM.org

Construction CRM. Construction without CRM is like carpentry without a tape measure—sure you can eyeball it, but is that really the move?

Customer Service CRM: Why You Need the Best. You could settle for good customer service, or you could notch it up to memorably good.

Weekly Bloom

Having a Growth Mindset. According to Carol Dweck, there are two basic mindsets: “fixed” and “growth.” Can you guess which one’s preferable?

CRM and CCaS, a tale of two bickering buds

Here’s the sitcom pitch: CRM and CCaaS are two frenemies, acrimonious yet inseparable in the tech world. The wacky twist? They’re perma-roommates.

A new Forrester think piece explains how this actually happened IRL.

You see, back in the edgy 90s, CRM systems handled customer details and tickets, while automatic call distributor (ACD) systems, forerunner of CCaS, made sure calls went to the right agents without much overlap. 

Then came screen pops and computer telephony integration (CTI), making them step on each other's toes by showing customer details during calls. 

Fast forward the Blockbuster VHS tape to 2024, and both technologies have hovered into each other's spaces big time via the cloud. 

CRM added routing and workforce management. CCaaS beefed up data handling and expanded into digital routing. 

Then Salesforce introduced "Voice" to better integrate CCaaS, giving the CRM a meatier role and pushing CCaaS into a sidekick position. 

Genesys joined the party by aligning with Salesforce's Service Cloud Voice, adding structure with a reference architecture that sorts out who does what. Other vendors hopped on this harmoniously whistlin’ train, marking an era where frenemies collaborate but still eye each other's lunch.

Still, “many brands use a myriad of back-end systems, and it is not at all unusual for an agent to access five or more systems to answer a customer question,” quips analyst Max Ball. 

However, going forward, more deliberate, defined approaches to integrating the CCaS and CRM are probably the deal. Less ad hoc, more… high-fiving around the clock?

Stellar Strategies: Tips & Tricks for Sales, Marketing & Service

AI reliance = CRM fail?

In a thrilling twist, Workbooks has unleashed survey results suggesting our affair with AI in CRM might be setting us up for a spectacular faceplant.

Picture AI as that charismatic yet unreliable friend who promises the world but sometimes leaves you paying 65% of the bill. The survey whispers caution into eager ears, hinting that leaning too heavily on AI might yank the rug out from under customer relations. 

“Build trust and confidence” and “address nuanced needs,” said Dan Roche, Head of Marketing at WorkBooks, in an interview following up the survey. 

Also, collaborate with AI providers to ensure the recipe is less like canned Beefaroni and more like that Michelin-starred trattoria. 

Airtable vs monday.com

Deciding between Airtable and Monday.com is like choosing between a USB stick and a USB brick. Both tools can’t be chastised. However, they serve slightly different purposes…  

Airtable mixes the best of databases with the simplicity of spreadsheets, making it a jack-of-all-trades for anything from CRM-lite to event planning. 

monday.com, on the other hand, is the project management powerhouse designed to streamline complex workflows and foster team transparency with its rich visualizations and robust automation features. 

The comprehensiveness of comparison is right over here.

What’s the deal with website headers and marketing? (via EngageBay)

In web design, the header isn't just a pretty face—the overachieving multitool greets visitors with the elegance of a maître d' and the efficiency of a washer-dryer combo.

This pivotal piece of digital real estate sets the tone for the user’s journey, guiding bedraggled internetters through your website with soothing promises. And for small biz, it’s a potent place to proclaim brand identity.

Imagine, then, the power of a header that doesn’t just sit there looking fire, but actively enhances user engagement, simplifies navigation, and, dare we say, transforms casual browsers into committed customers. 

Full strategy guide, with examples? That’s here.

Galactic Gourmet

CRM blips from around the web

IBM and Salesforce deepen partnership in AI and data. The move deepens bidirectional data integration between IBM watsonx and Salesforce’s Einstein 1 platform, and adds LLM choices and prefab prompts for CRM users.

Healthcare cloud computing market projected to grow at 18.4% CAGR. According to a new report, it’ll reach $131.8 billion by 2031. Broadly speaking, the boom is driven by demand for personalization, analytics, and data migration (CRM caters to one segment of this growth).

Phenom to host HR tech streaming event. The two-hour virtual event will focus on genAI and next-gen HR productivity tools. It takes place June 6th at 11 AM ET (and if you’re interested you can register here).

Astronomical Assets

Significant Stock Moves from Last Week

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