The goal at Simplus is to simplify the journey for customers by applying Salesforce and associated technologies. Today, Dr. Amy Cook, CMO at Simplus, and Erich Rusch, director of CPQ presales solutions at Simplus, talk about the technologies and practices used to streamline the sales process and connect more deeply with customers.

Erich talks specifically about three aspects: the install base, AI machine learning, and visualization that can be built out for customers. The following are his answers to questions about these tools.

Tell us more about the install base, what it does, and how it helps customers.

One of my favorite things about Salesforce Quote-to-Cash is the install base. Simply put, it’s a record of what you sold your customers, when, and for how much. Surprisingly, a lot of customers have a hard time tracking this. But the information is extremely helpful and, if used correctly, can really transform your organization.

This helps you track what you’re supposed to support and what customers are entitled to from a service perspective. You’re able to upsell or cross-sell better because you have a deeper understanding of your customer’s purchase history. Once you have this repository of data, we can help our customers draw on AI and machine learning to do things (like knowing which product are complimentary), which helps close deals.

Tell us more about AI and machine learning to help customers in a practical way.

AI is all about having the data and intelligence at the right time. Account managers switch all the time, and they don’t always carry that deep connection or understanding of the customers, so AI steps in and helps the account manager make that deeper connection. So we have all this data running through machine learning to help you get where you need to go without having to argue with a chatbot all day. If sales reps have the tools to better understand their customers, it not only creates more revenue, but it also helps customers solve their problems faster and more efficiently.

Having competitive selling information is critical to winning deals and maintaining margins throughout the selling process. For example, if I know the products and prices that were sold in the last ten deals, I can stand my ground and say, “This is the value I’m delivering to you, and this is what it costs, because it’s the prices we’ve been selling to other companies in this exact same context.” Even if you lose, you know you did the best you could, and you were backed up by the data.

What do you mean by visualization? How does this help customers grow revenue?

Visualization is the ability, in context, to see through images and 3D models what the product is and what it can do. It’s the holy grail of connecting with customers over the Internet and creating a completely immersive commerce experience. If you’re selling construction and gardening tools, this would allow a customer to build a shed and grow a garden and experience those products online before they purchase them. That’s powerful stuff.

To hear the full interview, click here.