Salesforce Unveils Einstein Studio: Develop and Implement Your Custom AI Models

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In an exciting announcement, Salesforce has introduced Einstein Studio, empowering users to create and deploy their bespoke AI models. This innovation opens doors for businesses to harness AI’s potential in a personalized and tailored manner, driving enhanced insights and efficiency.

Einstein Studio is designed to offer a user-friendly environment for building AI models that suit specific business requirements. This cutting-edge platform empowers users to take charge of their AI journey, even without extensive technical backgrounds. By combining intuitive tools and robust capabilities, Einstein Studio ensures that the power of AI is accessible to a broader spectrum of professionals.

With Einstein Studio, companies can tailor AI models to match their unique data and challenges. This level of customization allows for a deeper understanding of customer behaviors, more accurate predictions, and optimized decision-making processes. The ability to deploy these custom models directly within the Salesforce ecosystem enhances user experiences and drives intelligent automation across various touchpoints.

Furthermore, Einstein Studio’s integration within the Salesforce platform simplifies the deployment process. This seamless integration eliminates the need for complex integrations, ensuring that businesses can swiftly implement their custom AI models into their existing workflows. In this case, Salesforce integration services are becoming very significant. 

This announcement underscores Salesforce’s commitment to democratizing AI and making it a practical tool for businesses of all sizes. By putting the power of AI model creation and deployment in the hands of users, Einstein Studio empowers organizations to unlock new dimensions of growth and innovation.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of AI, Einstein Studio stands as a testament to Salesforce’s dedication to staying at the forefront of technological advancements. This tool not only amplifies the capabilities of businesses but also reinforces Salesforce’s position as a leader in providing solutions that bridge the gap between technology and business needs.

In conclusion, the unveiling of Einstein Studio marks a significant stride in the AI arena. Businesses now have the means to develop and implement AI models that resonate with their unique objectives, fostering better insights and smarter decision-making. As this cutting-edge platform becomes an integral part of the Salesforce ecosystem, it ushers in a new era of customized AI solutions that drive success across industries.

Salesforce’s latest AI updates enable sellers to integrate purchase experiences everywhere

Salesforce Inc. is rolling out yet more artificial intelligence features, this time for its Commerce Cloud platform.

The new capabilities are designed to help companies integrate purchase experiences into every customer touchpoint, the company said. Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based e-commerce platform for businesses with mobile-first strategies. It’s designed to provide customers and stores with a consistent experience across multiple touch points.

The service comes with many out-of-the-box features, tools and commerce portals that help companies to grow their online business. These tools allow users to streamline the purchasing process for customers, personalize their buying experiences and create mobile-friendly online retail portals.

The new AI features announced today and generally available now come in the shape of various embedded applications and integrations, enabling businesses to extend commerce to sales, service and marketing touch points, Salesforce said.

For instance, Reorder Portal is a new integration that helps businesses to grow their revenue faster by providing customers with personalized self-serve reordering opportunities. It leverages the AI-powered Next Best Actions in Sales Cloud and allows sales representatives to identify and target repeat buyers and send automated emails inviting them to reorder past purchases.

For instance, a manufacturer that sells surgery equipment to hospitals can use this to invite past buyers to buy additional items they’ll need, such as surgical needles and procedure trays, via a self-serve portal. There, they’ll be able to access all of their previous orders in one place and easily reorder what they need.

The new Order Support app can be embedded into various chatbots, self-service portals for order tracking and knowledge base articles, transforming service centers into revenue generators, Salesforce said. As an example, a shoe retailer’s agent who is assisting a customer with an order can use the Order Support app to identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities quickly, recommending a pair of matching socks to go with the customer’s order.

Another new feature is Pay Now, available within Salesforce Payments, which allows companies to collect payments more efficiently by embedding a checkout link into any Salesforce app. So instead of sending payment via invoice later, customers are given the opportunity to complete the transaction immediately through whatever channel they’re using. Salesforce explained that a field service agent could, for example, send a payment link to the customer via text message or email from within the Field Service Mobile app as they assist them with a request, in order to collect payment immediately.

Finally, Salesforce introduced Snapchat for Commerce, a new integration that makes it easier to create ads on Snapchat and direct users of that app to their storefront or even directly to a checkout.

“The advancements announced by Salesforce today are more about automation than AI, but users will appreciate them nonetheless,” said Ray Wang of Constellation Research Inc. “They deliver much-needed efficiency improvements, allow users to craft new experiences, and provide more personalization for customers.”

Today’s updates are the latest in what has become an almost constant flow of new AI features introduced by Salesforce this year. The company has invested billions of dollars in research and development over the past several years, with much of that effort focused on AI. Its latest innovations include new generative AI capabilities in its Sales Cloud and Service Cloud applications, which came after similar updates to Marketing Cloud and Commerce Cloud.

Salesforce’s AI investments have been expensive, though, and the company is looking to offset those costs by raising the prices of its software-as-a-service applications for the first time in seven years.

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Salesforce vs Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2023

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Our research shows that Salesforce is better than Microsoft Dynamics, offering more features, more team infrastructure functionality, and better customer support. In fact, Microsoft Dynamics is only better on pricing, and it's not by much, with both options representing some of the most expensive CRMs on the market.

That said, both CRMs are respectable choices, particularly for larger businesses. When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) software, there are many services out there, but these two providers are giants among the rest.

Salesforce is certainly the popular CRM software option, used by thousands of businesses worldwide, thanks largely to its massive features catalog. Microsoft Dynamics, meanwhile, is a great choice for those whose businesses are already integrated with other Microsoft services, such as Outlook and Office 365.

For a thorough look at the benefits and features of Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, take a look at their head-to-head comparison table, below:

30 days

30 days

A robust CRM platform that embeds brilliantly with Microsoft products

Google Ads integration

Add-on required

Add-on required

Additional cost

A good way to discover a CRM that can be customized for your needs is to use their handy CRM Quotes Tool to receive tailor-made, zero-obligation CRM cost quotes that take into account your company's individual needs and scale.

Before they dig into the nitty gritty details of the Salesforce vs Microsoft Dynamics matchup, let's take a quick look at some basic differences between the two platforms.

As they mentioned above, Salesforce beats Microsoft Dynamics in all of the major categories of their research. Salesforce has more features, better customer support, more team infrastructure functionality, and overall better scalability for businesses that want to grow with the platform.

The only metric by which Microsoft Dynamics is better than Salesforce is price, and both CRMs are definitely on the more expensive side, netting two of the lowest scores across their research.

Likewise, Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce both netted the same score for customizability, as both offer a wide range of integrations and robust analytics, allowing for users to utilize the platforms however they see fit.

Microsoft Dynamics still has its place, though, as it integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Microsoft 365 platform, like Outlook and Teams, so even if it has a bit less functionality, the ease of use is there if you already use those tools. Still, Salesforce clearly has the edge of everything else, which is why they recommend it so highly.

Salesforce contact databaseImage: Tech.co testing

Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce are reputable CRM brands from two of the biggest names in global software. While Microsoft is well-known for its consumer and business software – including the ubiquitous Windows and Office platforms – Salesforce is more of a CRM purist.

Indeed, Salesforce is almost a byword for CRM software, it's become so well-established in the field. But that's not to say Microsoft is anything to scoff at. In fact, one of the strongest things going in Microsoft Dynamics' favor is how well this platform can integrate with other Microsoft software. Chances are, your business is already running plenty of other Microsoft tools, so adding Dynamics may be a smart choice.

Let's look in a little more depth at the pros and cons of each of these big-name CRM providers.

Do you already use CRM Software?

The first thing to know about Microsoft Dynamics is that it is heavily integrated into other Microsoft applications. Microsoft's integration doesn't just extend to its desktop software, either.

Even LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired in 2016, integrates with Dynamics CRM. The platform uses design language similar to other Microsoft software, making it easier for anyone who's already familiar with the look and feel of modern Microsoft applications to feel right at home.

Pros

Cons

Most of the various Microsoft Dynamics services use a dashboard as their starting point similar to Salesforce. Here, you get at-a-glance information about the current state of your business. In Dynamics CRM for Sales, for example, the dashboard supplies current sales revenue, the average deal size, and your sales force's lead conversion rate.

Dashboards are completely customizable and usually take the form of a tiled interface with large lettering for key numerical data, as well as large charts and graphs. Their researchers found the database functionaltiy to be extremely robust, tracking a lot of information, including in-depth timeline options that can show you everything you might need in chronological order.

Let's take a look at three platforms offered by Microsoft Dynamics 365: Sales, Marketing, and Service.

The primary starting point for many is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. This core CRM app uses predictive analytics to better enhance the sales team's snapshot data and help make better decisions. This is also where Microsoft's LinkedIn integration comes into play; the LinkedIn Sales Navigator (available at higher pricing tiers) leverages your professional network to get introductions to potential leads through a mutual connection.

Beyond sales there's a customer service module that can present key data such as open cases and email history as a dashboard or you can drill deeper with a timeline of interactions. Dynamics also uses a guided three-step process (identify-research-resolve) for dealing with customer services issues. Harnessing Microsoft's server power, Dynamics offers intelligent chatbots that can help customer service agents surface important data about their customers.

The biggest gap for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales is that if offers zero lead capture features at all. Granted, Salesforce doesn't offer much in comparison, providing on web form functionality for lead capture, but at least it's something compared to complete lack of features from Microsoft.

Pros

Cons

When it comes to CRM for marketing, the range of products and prices is substantial. The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing platform is one the higher end of that spectrum, offering robust automation functionality that can save your team a lot of time.

Still, in the realm of CRM for marketing, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing can be a bit limited, largely because it can only be used for email. The platform offers no features for social, paid, or content marketing, which can be a bit limiting when it comes the scalability, you'd want with a CRM that's this expensive.

Compared to Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics does have a few notably missing features, like keyword monitoring and competitor analysis for content marketing. On top of that, Salesforce provides metric reports for paid marketing, which Microsoft Dynamics does not.

It does integrate excellently with other Microsoft products, though, and you'll get top notch customer support, training, security, and onboarding, so it's up to you!

Pros

Cons

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is probably the best option out of the three, offering a good option for the price. It only offers email support built in, but thanks to the myriad of Microsoft add-ons, you can integrate phone, website live chat, social media, and instant messaging app communications. They'll cost a bit extra, but it could be worth it to have a more complete customer service process.

Even better, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service comes with a bunch of team infrastructure features that can make managing your team that much easier. Pair with software like Outlook and Teams, you'll be able to manage a remote team flawlessly.

It's worth noting that most of these additional features are in the more expensive Enterprise plan, but the overall pricing of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing is at least competitive in the market, unlike the previously mentioned CRMs.

The problem is that Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service has a lot of its features behind paywalls, requiring add-ons that cost more to get added functionality. In fact, with any channel other than email, you'll be paying extra, including social and chatbot ticketing, both of which are included with Salesforce.

Pros

Cons

Widely known as one of the best CRM systems around, Salesforce has much cause for confidence. The company insists, for example, that Salesforce can outdo its main competitors. In truth, the functions of Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics are broadly similar.

Pros

Cons

The similarities are quite apparent when it comes to the kind of data you can track. Both Dynamics and Salesforce have robust dashboard and analytic options, with their researchers finding that Salesforce offers in-depth chart and visualization builders that can link up different data points, generating powerful insights for your team.

Where Dynamics has its modules, Salesforce has its various “clouds,” such as Sales Cloud and Service Cloud. These two form the major components of its CRM solution. There's also Salesforce Marketing Cloud, the company's marketing platform, which is a great option for streamlining your process for reaching and retaining customers.

“Think about all of the emails and chats that come into service agents today. They get inundated. With Einstein GPT for Service, they can auto-generate draft replies so that the agents can respond to customers much faster, and they get final say. They can make any edits before they hit send.” – Clara Shih, GM at Salesforce

Even better, Salesforce is fully partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT integration to the platform, so you can ensure you're getting top quality content generation from one of the best available today.

Salesforce home dashboardImage: Tech.co testing

Sales Cloud offers all the essential features you need for CRM, such as managing opportunities, leads, contacts, accounts, and email integration (Gmail and Outlook). Alternatively, users can access Salesforce data from within Gmail. This is similar to Microsoft’s Relationship with Sales feature they discussed earlier.

Both Salesforce Sales Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales offer lead scoring functionality. However, Salesforce Sales Cloud includes it as part of the platform for all plans except the Essentials plan, while Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales requires an add-on that costs extra.

Pros

Cons

Service Cloud also offers a number of essential features such as the ability to chat with customers across multiple platforms including IM, social media, and SMS. There’s also an integrated field service option and the ability to see all communication with particular customers.

Most notably, Salesforce Service Cloud allows for the creation of a user forum, where customers can help each other solve problems with the platform, a feature that is not available with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service, no matter how much you pay.

Cons

Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 offer similar options when it comes to their marketing automation platforms and the price reflects that. You'll be able to automate your marketing efforts to make a bigger impact on your potential customers. The primary focus for both is email, but Salesforce also offers limited features for social, content, and paid, while Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing does not.

Salesforce is a bit expensive, though, particularly when you consider the limited features it offers compared to others in the industry. Even worse, it doesn't offer great help and support, which can be vital to the success of a good CRM.

Pros

Cons

While business software pricing is typically pretty cut and dry, Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce represent, arguably, two of the most thorough and confusing pricing systems you can find. They both offer a seemingly endless array of add-ons, optional packages, and core functionalities that can make the process a bit intimidating.

In hopes of making it a bit less daunting, we've covered each providers pricing plans and options to give you a better idea of what you're signing up for and how much it's going to cost you.

Microsoft offers its CRM platform under the Dynamics 365 app, which caters to a wide range of business types. As such, pricing for the platform depends on what kind of business area your company falls under.

Below, we'll breakdown the pricing for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service

30 days

30 days

30 days

An expensive, robust tool for analytics that's better suited to current Microsoft users

A bit too expensive for most, but great for managing teams closely

A great, customizable platform aimed at larger businesses

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales platforms offers the most plans in the bunch, with a total of four. The prices start a bit high compared to Salesforce, but have a smaller range, topping out at barely more than half of Salesforce's most expensive plan.

Here's a breakdown of the four pricing plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales:

Database: 10GBFile: 20GBLog: 2GB

Database: 10GBFile: 20GBLog: 2GB

Database: 10GBFile: 20GBLog: 2GB

Database: 10GBFile: 20GBLog: 2GB

Add-on

Predictive scoring

Add-on

With only two plans, the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service platform might seem a bit limited. But as long as you're a bigger company in need of some robust features, these are competitively priced. Still, it's worth considering the expense you could incur if you need additional channels other than email, as they will cost you extra.

Here's a breakdown of the two pricing plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service:

Add-on required

Add-on required

No need for a table on this one! Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing only offers one pricing plan — compared to Salesforce Marketing Cloud's four — which costs $1,500 per month, allows for unlimited users, and has a contact limit of 10,000 contacts. It can notably only help with email marketing, which can be a deal breaker, especially for the price. Still, if you're already set up with Microsoft, it can be a valuable addition to the business.

The most common options for CRM are the Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, which give you all the CRM functionality you need for your sales or customer service business.

Each platform offers four different pricing plans, which conveniently line up in price and functionality: Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited.

Sales and Service can also be bought as a bundle, with the Essentials plan still costing just $25 per user per month, but different pricing for the remaining plans: The Professional plan for a Sales/Service bundle costs $100 per user per month, the Enterprise plan costs $175 per month, and the Unlimited plan costs $325 per user per month.

File storage: 1GBData storage: 10GB + 20MB per license

File storage: 10GB + 2GB per licenseData storage: 10GB + 20MB per license

File storage: 10GB + 2GB per licenseData storage: 10GB + 20MB per license

File storage: 10GB + 2GB per licenseData storage: 10GB + 20MB per license

$15/user/month

In addition to the Sales Cloud and Service Cloud options, Salesforce Marketing is a popular option for those in those looking for a CRM for marketing. It offers a robust platform that can help you automate a wide range of processes to save your business time. It is a bit expensive, especially considering its limited features in some areas, but it could still be the right fit for your company.

Here's how the pricing breaks down for the different Salesforce Marketing Cloud plans:

The only way to make a truly informed decision is with this kind of research, which is why we've focused so much energy on bringing these CRM software providers into the light. They evaluate everything — including features, pricing, customization, help & support, and team infrastructure — so you don't have to do all the digging yourself.

For more information about their in-depth process, take a look at their research guide to see exactly how they rate and rank these business software providers.

Let's be clear – neither Salesforce nor Microsoft Dynamics would be a bad choice for your business, and both are market leading CRM suppliers. The difference really comes down to what your particular needs are, and what your existing setup looks like.

As they said earlier the key to deciding on a CRM is finding a service that fits your needs in terms of functionality, price, and customizability. For that you really need a bespoke quote that takes all of those factors into account.

Learn more about their top-rated providers and their prices

Check out their Best CRM for Small Business guide for more information

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