The Next Wave of Business: IBM Salesforce Report 2022-2023

Jenna Trott

5 min read | OCTOBER 27, 2022

Salesforce has long since proved themselves to be a driving force behind customer success strategies and recent studies reveal that a majority of customers even plan to increase their Salesforce investments within the next year. With 2023 looming on the horizon, it can be beneficial to take a look back at 2022 in order to better prepare for the future; and that’s just what the IBM State of Salesforce report does. This year, The State of Salesforce report recognizes the impact that people and technology have on businesses’ resilience but also the ways in which companies can leverage Salesforce to continue growing and evolving their businesses. In 2023, we can expect to see a big wave of companies that use Salesforce technology to advance human-centered experiences, along with ways to drive value. In this article we’ll break down the top four trends that offer insight into how companies are unlocking the next wave of value with Salesforce in 2023.

Trend 1: Harmonize Operations with Cross-Cloud

Harmonizing operations with cross-cloud will help businesses reduce costs, boost
productivity, streamline processes and retain employees in three key ways:

1. Simplify Workflows: Many companies already use AI to improve and automate business processes within the Salesforce platform, but the biggest competitive advantage will occur for companies that use intelligent workflows to create digital headquarters that shrink geographical divides, accelerate productivity and eliminate silos.

2. Accelerate Revenue Streams: Salesforce is seeing an increase in companies utilizing global partner networks as a revenue stream, which makes it that much more important for businesses to quickly cultivate profound relationships with suppliers, resellers and service providers. Experts recommend modernizing the partner-business relationship through cross-cloud integration to deliver consistent experiences and generate new value.

3. Customer 360
Customer 360 provides powerful insight into your customers’ needs and pain points, but in order to achieve a true 360-degree experience, companies must leverage technology integrations that enable data sharing, automation and transparency. For example, Mulesoft from Salesforce can reduce friction, significantly decrease manual work and provide valuable insight across company data sources.

4.

Trend 2: Thrive in a Trust Economy

Thriving in a trust economy involves establishing a trustworthy reputation. This involves ensuring that your company is using digital technology in ways that reinforce ethics, transparency, security, privacy and safety. Companies can achieve this by managing their data with secure and stable data management systems like Tableau. In the very near future, you’re likely to hear more companies talking about “AI integrity” and “trust as the new currency,” as companies begin to prioritize investing in bolstering their trustworthy reputation.

Trend 3: Innovate Smarter, Not Harder

Business slows for no one and these days it seems to be happening at breakneck speeds. When considering digital transformation at scale, there are seemingly infinite possibilities which can overcomplicate things quickly. Salesforce’s intelligent ecosystem innovations and updates exceed market requirements while minimizing technical debt.

Trend 4: Make Sustainability a Transformation Catalyst

What does Salesforce business transformation and innovation have to do with sustainability? Well, everything. Sustainability best practices are growing with a new sense of urgency and there is an increasing demand, particularly from younger generations, for companies to assume responsibility. There are two key ways in which organizations can embrace eco-friendly strategies and technology:

1. Data-driven Environmentalism: In order to practice more sustainable solutions, organizations need to know where they stand. By utilizing platforms like Salesforce Net Zero Cloud companies can track and analyze their environmental impact across front and back offices to inform better decision-making processes that move sustainability initiatives forward.

2. Transformational Sustainability: It’s one thing to proclaim sustainability and another to actively practice it. Transformational sustainability means making sustainability a core value within your company and acting in a way that reflects that. Furthermore, experts have found that companies can benefit from a sustainable digital transformation. This includes seeing higher returns for productivity, efficiency and reduced environmental impact at scale.

There is no denying that the world we live in has no plans to slow down digitization, and the businesses that will thrive will be those that are focused on cultivating meaningful customer relationships powered by technology, not run by it. To read the full report on how to maximize your business’s service, productivity and innovation with Salesforce in 2023, click here.