What Happens When Salesforce Isn’t Where Salespeople Work?
Originally reported by Salesforce
For years, Salesforce adoption has meant getting salespeople to open Salesforce, enter information and work their opportunities inside the CRM.
But what happens when they don't have to?
Salesforce recently unveiled AIforce, a new interface layer designed to bring Salesforce data, workflows, business logic and AI into the tools where people already work. Salesforce specifically points to environments such as Claude and Slack, allowing users to access Salesforce information and take actions without necessarily opening Salesforce itself.
That's a pretty significant change in the way we think about CRM adoption.
Salesforce Comes to the Salesperson
The traditional model is straightforward: go to Salesforce to get the information you need.
The emerging model is different: bring the information to wherever the salesperson is working.
Salesforce's expanded relationship with AWS provides another example. Salesforce data and context can now be surfaced through Amazon Quick, allowing teams to work with CRM information without constantly switching between applications.
We've already explored this idea in The Future of Salesforce Adoption: What If Salespeople Don't Have to Use Salesforce?.
The implications go beyond convenience.
If salespeople spend less time navigating CRM screens, the definition of Salesforce adoption starts to change.
What Does Adoption Mean Now?
This doesn't make process or training less important.
It makes them different.
Salespeople still need to understand what information matters, how their sales process works and how to use AI effectively. Managers still need to use CRM information to coach and manage performance.
As we've discussed in Why Salesforce Adoption Fails and How to Fix It, adoption isn't simply about whether people know how to use Salesforce. It's about whether the technology supports the way the organization actually works.
The future may not be about getting salespeople to spend more time in Salesforce.
It may be about making Salesforce useful wherever salespeople already spend their time.
