Navigating economic uncertainty - how organizations can ride out the storm with digital transformation and the cloud

(Zahra Bahrololoumi)

We live in a challenging macro-economic time. Businesses have endured an unprecedented period of global turbulence for the past two years, from the pandemic and war, to labor shortages and supply chain issues.

Today, sustained economic headwinds are forcing companies across the UK and Ireland to further re-evaluate their plans and priorities. Maintaining a durable business that can drive success now in this challenging climate is no small feat. Digital transformation is key and sits at the heart of the CEO agenda.

Challenges also create new opportunities for businesses to develop new competitive advantages and evolve to win. The UK and Ireland are home to some of the world’s most resourceful companies. Our customers are turning to the cloud to unlock additional value for their stakeholders. Salesforce’s Customer 360 provides all the tools they need.

The average company uses nearly 1,000 applications to run its business and store customer data. This isn’t efficient, effective, or affordable. With Customer 360, automation, intelligence, and real-time data are built directly into our best-in-class applications for sales, service, marketing, commerce, analytics, and IT teams. Pulled together onto one easy-access, highly-trusted platform, companies can quickly increase productivity levels, automate, and drive efficient growth, all whilst exceeding customer expectations.

Cost savings and increased efficiencies when using Salesforce

Salesforce recently surveyed more than 3,500 customers to better understand how our technology impacts their businesses. On average, organizations that use Salesforce see clear benefits, including faster insights and increased sales productivity; improved customer acquisition costs; faster process automation; lower support and IT costs.

(Salesforce)

At Salesforce Live this week, we’ve brought British businesses together, demonstrating our vital role as a trusted digital advisor to help companies deliver success today and in the long term. Over 3,500 customers, partners, and Trailblazers gathered to learn how to create operational efficiencies, unlock hidden opportunities to grow, and keep their customers coming back.

Leading organizations Formula 1, LV=, Santander UK and TSB Bank have all used Salesforce to accelerate their digital transformation journeys, driving immediate impact across their business, and creating lasting benefits for customers and employees:

• Formula 1 isusing new real-time platform Salesforce Genie alongside Customer 360, to create a single source of truth for every customer and high-performance experiences for every fan.
• LV= has embraced smart automation to secure engaged insurance customers for life, establishing 98% email click-through rates, self-service innovation via 100,000 service agent chats in a year and data-driven insights with more than 60 APIs.
• Ocado has launched a new B2B supplier offering, Beet by Ocado. Built using Tableau, Beet by Ocado’s new customer shopping insights product, ‘Beet Insight’, helps suppliers drive sales and increase revenue on Ocado.
• Santander UK is using Salesforce technology to power Santander Navigator, a new digital platform designed to help UK businesses expand internationally. Delivering highly personalized digital services that leverage automation, intelligence, and real-time data, Santander UK is creating 'beyond banking' experiences for its customers.
• TSB Bank has increased online revenue by 29% whilst cutting costs and driving loyalty by providing customers with fresh ways of engaging, investing, and growing their money.

Learning from the pandemic for success now — and tomorrow

It’s a daunting time for businesses — many have never had to manage so many issues at the same time. But there are parallels between the start of the pandemic and this latest phase of global economic uncertainty that we can learn from. 

Companies that acted quickly in the face of the pandemic and adopted a digital strategy are invariably stronger today. Leaning into digital investment, these forward-thinking businesses increased efficiency and profitability whilst accelerating customer innovation and sharpening their competitive edge.

The same opportunity exists today. Where organizations can be laser-focused on building the right digital strategies, they stand to realize new levels of resilience and agility, and provide the strongest foundations for success now — and tomorrow.