Transformation @ Work Transformation @ Work

You might not notice a particularly good user experience (UX) – in fact, that’s often the point – but when done right, UX can inform nearly every user decision and shape brand perception. However, just as it’s easy to experience good UX design without realizing it, it can be easy to fall into pitfalls while taking a DIY approach. So, how can a business leverage the often “invisible” art of experience design to create delightful customer experiences and encourage long-term employee tech adoption?

In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we’re unpacking the realities of experience design: why it’s crucial for businesses, the impact it can have on customers and employees alike, and how the right design partner can elevate a business’s experience to the next level.

Key Insights:
03:22: What is user experience, and why is it so crucial for modern businesses to understand?
05:14: How UX directly impacts long-term customer perception of a brand – for better or worse
06:55: Introducing employee experience (EX), and how it guides long-term adoption for new digital technologies
08:46: How a qualified design partner can help organizations transform their experience for customers and employees alike
10:59: Common experience design use cases: How elevated UX design translates into better business outcomes for organizations
13:21: Potential pitfalls in experience design, and how the right technology partner can help teams navigate around them

Guest Bio
Gordon Forsyth
Practice Lead, Experience Innovation, Gerent
With two and a half decades of experience in the digital marketing sector, Gordon is a seasoned marketing leader and strategist. In his current role as Senior Practice Lead, Gordon brings expertise in digital business strategy, product management, digital marketing, content management and analytics, with implementation experience across the Salesforce platform.

There isn’t just one way to shop anymore – which presents a unique challenge for retailers. After all, how do you build a buying experience that offers the same level of personal care for a customer, regardless of whether they’re shopping in-store, online, or via an app? That’s where Salesforce comes in: by leveraging Salesforce’s data-driven capabilities, backed by the power of AI, retailers can overhaul every aspect of the order management experience, from buying to fulfillment to returns. The end result? Deeper relationships with customers, greater wallet share, and a true competitive advantage.

In this episode of Transformation @ Work, our experts break down specific ways in which Salesforce can transform order management for retailers, and give advice on how to unlock that value within an organization.

Ready to dig deeper into Salesforce’s insights into what retailers should expect in the coming holiday season? Check out their latest blog on five key holiday shopping predictions!

Learn more: sfdc.co/bNeZli

Key Insights
02:29: How retailers can leverage Customer 360 to personalize the customer shopping experience
04:45: How Salesforce can bring the Customer 360 experience into a single pane of glass
05:42: Delivering better order support to delight and retain retail customers
07:44: Reimagining the fulfillment process with Salesforce’s inventory availability service
09:10: The vital role of omnichannel inventory management in facilitating hybrid shopping experiences
10:50: Adding the power of AI, backed by the Salesforce trust layer, into forecasting and analytics
13:07: Creating a more seamless returns experience with Salesforce and AI
15:43: Advice for retailers looking to implement Salesforce and overhaul their order management process
19:13: What does a truly overhauled order management process look like, and what can it offer to retailers and customers?

Guest Bios
John Cardaris
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce
John Cardaris brings over 3 and a half years of experience at Salesforce to his current role, on top of over 8 years within the broader tech ecosystem. In his current role as Senior Product Marketing Manager for Commerce Cloud, he oversees operations relating to order management, support, and fulfillment, helping retailers to transform their customer shopping experiences.

Liam Huston
B2B Commerce Practice Lead, Gerent
Liam Huston is a commerce expert who has dedicated 20+ years of his career to empowering clients in the ecommerce/B2B ecosystem. As a consultant, Liam specializes in Salesforce B2B Commerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and helps his customers tailor the solutions to suit their unique needs and goals. For Liam, the customer’s success is the ultimate project requirement — and to that end, he makes a point to help his clients bring complex systems into discrete pieces so they are better able to explore potential optimizations and improvements.

Retail shopping has changed dramatically in the past few years, and nowhere is that shift more apparent than during the holiday season. Trends and new buying models such as Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) — which rolled out largely as a pandemic response — are here to stay, and the retail organizations that can’t maintain them are unfortunately falling behind. But make no mistake: innovating the retail shopping experience means going beyond playing catch-up to the latest retail trend and proactively anticipating how customers’ buying habits will change over time.

In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we’re looking at just how the consumer shopping experience has changed, where it’s headed this holiday season, and how retailers and suppliers can anticipate the next major shift before it occurs.

Ready to dig deeper into Salesforce’s insights into what retailers should expect in the coming holiday season? Check out their latest blog on five key holiday shopping predictions!

Learn more: http://sfdc.co/bNeZli

Key Insights
03:20: Salesforce market analysis: how shopping has changed in the past few years
04:08: What does the average customer expect from retailers in 2023?
05:25: How “fast fashion” retail outlets gained market share by responding to growing demand for agile, omnichannel shopping experiences
06:25: The ripple effect: how changes in customer buying behavior led to massive shifts in supply chain operations
07:46: Looking back: understanding the major holiday shopping trends of the past three years
08:33: Looking ahead: predicting the major focus points for consumers heading into the 2023 holiday season
09:55: How Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) became a fixture of modern shopping
11:19: How retailers can leverage BOPIS to personalize the shopping experience and increase customer spending
13:16: Supporting frontline retail workers as they uphold BOPIS
14:19: How technology can facilitate seasonal worker training
16:40: How retailers can anticipate the next major shift in customer behavior and meet shoppers where they are
19:31: How Salesforce can help retailers streamline operations ahead of the holiday season
21:34: How the right implementation partner can unlock the value of Salesforce for retailers and suppliers

Guest Bios
Rob Garf, Vice President & General Manager, Retail, Salesforce
Rob brings over 25 years of retail experience as a practitioner, industry analyst, strategy consultant, and software leader to his current role at Salesforce. This experience has given him unique insight into the challenges retailers face within a rapidly shifting landscape, and how technology can help them overcome those issues. Rob is also a frequent industry speaker and a member of NRF’s Digital Council.

Rosa Campagna, Sales Director, Retail & Consumer Goods, Gerent
Rosa Campagna is a seasoned account executive with a deep understanding of the retail consumer goods sector and several years’ experience in the Salesforce ecosystem. As a charismatic sales leader, Rosa excels in forging connections with prospects and developing a quick, keen understanding of their concerns, goals, and needs. Her extensive skill set includes sales, account management, digital strategy-setting, media relations, event management, and more.

It’s a fact — the average prospective student entering into higher education in 2023 is more engaged with technology than any generation in history. This raises the critical question: why are so many higher education institutions still relying on outdated, manual processes for enrollment, communications, and ongoing engagement? Practices that have worked reliably in the past now risk feeling antiquated and obtuse to a new generation of digital-first students. Supporting the needs of this incoming class will require serious reimagining of the entire student experience – and an understanding of how digital tools can aid in that reimagining.

In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we’re looking at how Salesforce is equipping institutions to engage with tech-savvy students on their terms through the newly-enhanced Education Cloud offering.

Key Insights
03:33: A brief history lesson: what brought the education industry – and Salesforce – to this crucial moment
06:27: What does it mean that Education Cloud is a core Salesforce offering?
08:55: How Education Cloud’s new features help institutions meet digital-first students where they are
12:42: How institutions can personalize and tailor their experience with core Salesforce features such as OmniStudio
15:24: Leveraging Salesforce capabilities found in other industry clouds to create a better education experience
18:12: The role of a qualified technology partner in helping institutions get up and running with the new Education Cloud

Guest Bios
Julia Taylor
Director, Solution Architecture, Education and Nonprofit, Gerent
A 24x Salesforce-certified professional, Julia has been part of the Salesforce ecosystem nearly her entire career, focusing in Education for the last 11 years. She was one of the founding members of Salesforce.org Services prior to joining Gerent, and has led some of the most dynamic and innovative Salesforce Education customers through digital change. Julia maintains a relentless focus on customer ROI, ensuring every aspect of success is addressed, from technology to people to student experience. Her personal passion is the transformation of Student Recruitment and Admissions, helping bring a commercial-style experience to a digital native generation.

Matthew Horton
Senior Solution Consultant, Education, Gerent
Matthew brings over 15 years experience in the Salesforce ecosystem, as well as 15 certifications, to his current role as Gerent’s senior solution consultant for the education industry. His background in education and nonprofit gives him unique insight into the challenges institutions face as they work to engage with students throughout their journey.

Any change within an organization– whether it’s new technology, processes, staffing changes, or other shifts in the business – can be intimidating for employees. Without careful execution, team leaders will inevitably face uncertainty, resistance, and ultimately, even rejection of promising new initiatives. Managing a successful transition requires steady communication, hands-on training and support, and — most importantly — a comprehensive change management plan.

In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we take a deep dive into what makes a truly effective change management plan and how leaders can ensure high levels of employee engagement at every stage of their Salesforce implementation.

Key Insights
00:46: What is change management, and why is it so crucial in addressing employee resistance to new technology?
02:33: The first step in effective change management: pre-implementation research
04:12: Why effective and frequent communication is key to any successful change within an organization
07:42: The importance of identifying change champions when it comes to building employee enthusiasm
09:07: How good training can serve as a crucial component of a successful change management strategy
11:15: Strategies for maintaining employee engagement and adoption well after the change is complete
13:10: The role a qualified technology partner plays in an effective change management plan
14:21: How effective change management helped auto employees go from “ready to quit” to “embracing new technology”

Guest Bios
Keisha Ruggs
Director, Change Management, Gerent
Keisha Ruggs is an accomplished “change whisperer” who specializes in helping people understand, engage, and adopt change in their day-to-day work activities. She loves to guide clients through these transitions with minimal resistance by encouraging leadership alignment, understanding organizational impacts, and developing appropriate interventions.

References
Transformation @ Work episode 15: Saving Teams From Bad Training: Building Better Plans for Greater Adoption: https://www.gerent.com/podcasts/episode-15-saving-teams-from-bad-training-building-better-plans-for-greater-adoption

The nonprofit industry is vast, encompassing over 1.5 million organizations in the United States alone, each with their own unique mission, organizational structure, and needs. No two nonprofits are going to serve their communities in the same way– which makes planning a Salesforce implementation a distinct challenge for change-minded leaders. After all, how do you take one solution, even one as comprehensive as Salesforce, and deploy it equally well across such a range of organizations and use-case contexts?

In this episode of Transformation @ Work, our experts share step-by-step guidance on how industry organizations can make the most of Salesforce at every stage of implementation.

Key Insights
01:52: The importance of understanding the needs of your nonprofit and the communities you serve before considering new technologies
05:05: How careful research into Salesforce and its capabilities can translate into a more successful implementation
07:14: Identifying resources available to help strengthen your understanding of Salesforce
08:33: Don’t boil the ocean: avoiding common implementation pitfalls through a steady, incremental approach
12:06: How team leaders can help encourage long-term employee adoption of new technologies
16:20: The role a qualified technology partner can play during every stage of implementation to ensure success

Guest Bios
Regine Benchetrit
Director, Nonprofit Growth and Marketing, Gerent
Regine Benchetrit is a highly adaptable consultant with a diverse professional background and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. With a career spanning two decades, of which more than half was spent in the nonprofit sector, she has held various leadership positions within digital consultancies and prominent Canadian nonprofit organizations. In 2022, she was invited by Salesforce to speak about NFTs and Cryptocurrency at the Nonprofit Summit. Her professional expertise has spanned a wide range of industries, including sports & entertainment, insurance, CPG and Telco, to mention a few. She excels at empathizing with and uncovering her clients’ pain points, forging strong connections, and crafting innovative solutions to intricate challenges through constructive teamwork. Regine is fervent about giving back, building communities, and helping nonprofits drive their missions.

Kathy Zozos-Pliagos
Director, Education and Nonprofit, Gerent
Kathy Zozos-Pliagos is a multidisciplinary leader with over 15 years of experience in management, education, nonprofit, recruitment, and organizational change. For the last decade, she has dedicated herself to empowering organizations with well-designed CRM solutions. Kathy previously served as a customer success architect at Salesforce and, in an earlier role, spearheaded the implementation, adoption, and successful launch of Sales and Service Cloud for three large online international universities. She excels at leading collaborative teams, defining high-performance business processes, architecting supportive solutions, and driving user adoption through effective change management initiatives.

Julia Taylor
Director, Solution Architecture, Education and Nonprofit, Gerent
A 24x Salesforce-certified professional, Julia has been part of the Salesforce ecosystem nearly her entire career, focusing in Education for the last 11 years. She was one of the founding members of Salesforce.org Services prior to joining Gerent, and has led some of the most dynamic and innovative Salesforce Education customers through digital change. Julia maintains a relentless focus on customer ROI, ensuring every aspect of success is addressed, from technology to people to student experience. Her personal passion is the transformation of Student Recruitment and Admissions, helping bring a commercial-style experience to a digital native generation.

References
https://www.statista.com/topics/1390/nonprofit-organizations-in-the-us/