An Exclusive Q&A with Jennifer Good, Director of Business Operations at Access Intelligence

Choosing the right sales and marketing technology is a big (and expensive) decision for any business. Companies must consider the functionality they’re looking for, the ease of use and how well the platform can be integrated into company culture. Here, Jennifer Good discusses how Salesforce has streamlined Access Intelligence’s sales process and bolstered business development.

Tell us a little about your professional background and your role at Access Intelligence.

My role at Access Intelligence is Director, Business Operations.  I have been with AI for 8 years, and much of my job involves streamlining our existing workflows so that our sales people can be more efficient and productive, and not have to spend so much time on administrative tasks. I find and roll out new tools and processes for sales reps to help them sell more, and am in charge of maintaining and customizing our Salesforce.com database, which has about 150 users. We use Salesforce not only for contact management, but also for billing, payments, integration with our websites, prospecting, contract signing, and automating workflows.

Prior to AI, I worked in banking as a business analyst, as well as in the logistics industry in operations and planning, and also served in the U.S. Army.

How does Access Intelligence utilize Salesforce to support business development/sales for its publication and conference businesses?

In terms of business development, we utilize the Data.com platform within Salesforce to find new prospects and import them into SF automatically.  We also upload into Salesforce new business cards and prospect lists that we buy or rent. As far as sales support, our entire sales cycle is managed in Salesforce – the sale is entered as an Opportunity, the signed contract is added to that opportunity, and it is automatically passed on to our billing and fulfillment departments when the sale is closed. We use Adobe eSign (electronic signatures) in conjunction with Salesforce to send electronic contracts, which streamlines and expedites the contract signing process.

What features and functionality of the Salesforce platform are most important to Access Intelligence?

The most important features of Salesforce that we use are:

• Contact Management (contact info, and associated call notes and emails)
• Opportunity entry for sales input
• Data.com for prospecting
• Workflows to decrease data entry
• The API, for integration with our event websites
• Reporting for sales

Do you practice any integration of Salesforce with third party platforms or technologies?

We have several integrations with Salesforce:

• We pull data into our event websites from data stored in Salesforce, such as exhibitor listings, sponsorship logos, and session and speaker information.
• Our sales reps use AdBook to view online ad inventory from our ad server, directly within Salesforce, in conjunction with entering a new sale.
• We use Conga to create contracts, some reports, and send automated emails to our clients and speakers.
• We use DataTrim DupeAlerts for duplicate management.
• Data.com for prospecting.
• Adobe eSign for electronic contracts
• ExpoCad, our floor management software, for exhibit booth rebooking. When we book a booth in Expocad, it automatically creates and opportunity and Adobe eSign contract in SF.
• LiveHive, to copy emails from Outlook into Salesforce automatically, for historical and reporting purposes.

Catch coverage of today’s Salesforce World Tour in DC here. #MarketersDoBetter