There is a general consensus in higher education that institutions of nearly all types and sizes need to improve persistence and completion rates. While there have been slight improvements in recent years, data indicates that only half of the students complete degrees at the institution at which they start. Studies have suggested that many students complete their degrees at other institutions, taking completion to about 62%. Student departure remains a mystery for most educational leaders. They feel a compelling need to understand and fix the causes of attrition. There is no shortage of knowledge or reference on what works in student retention. Given all that, it is surprising that rates have only gradually improved. This could be for two reasons. First, institutions are flooded with data points and may not be able to identify the ones that must be tracked or which ones help would explain the persistence patterns of their students. Second, we may lack the connections between institutional supports and students who need them to see if we are truly doing something about it. Organize the Data Points with a Model Student success models can be helpful for educational leaders who wish to identify the key aspects associated with student success, persistence and completion. While there are many models to choose from, one of the most talked about is Tinto’s “Theory of Student Departure”. The model helps track the student lifecycle and identifies areas where both student and college attributes can impact the decision to stay in or leave an educational program. Tinto’s model, when analysed and condensed, suggests that there are five key areas where students may encounter challenges that disrupt their educational careers. Likewise, they may identify areas where students may have strengths that boost their success: Academic Integration Academic Integration in a college can be segmented into three parts: preparation, transition, and performance. These three can be connected sequentially, meaning lack of preparation can lead to a poor transition and weak ongoing performance, or they can occur in isolation, disconnected from one another. Experienced faculty and advisors probably know several cases where poorly prepared students were highly successful, well-prepared students failed, and those from both groups realized a trajectory in line with their levels of preparation. Social Integration Social Integration addresses the extent to which the student is able to connect with peers within the educational ecosystem. Adult learners often bond with other adults through common programs. The extent to which students have successfully bonded with their peers can be hard to read; it is not usually a one-size-fits-all model of social integration and student information systems are not typically built to collect and report the data that may be associated with this important area of student success. This aspect may also be useful when working on student faculty engagement.  This form of social integration in which students feel heard, seen and accepted by faculty is important especially for under-represented groups to feel a sense of belonging at their institution. Financial Support Financial Support is critical to enable a student to be able to afford education at that institution.. For those who complete annual aid applications, the resulting calculations serve as a proxy for the ability to pay. The data collected for this purpose does not include factors that can help a student afford costs such as support from family or those that can hamper affordability such as need of a student to work to support a elderly dependent household. We often have a different perception of need-based aid than how students view the issue: the amount of the education bill, less the aid is the amount to be paid or financed. More often than not, it is this bottomline number that impacts students’ real or perceived ability to remain in an educational program. It can also impact the value perception of the educational experience. Is this experience worth it’s price? Goal Clarity Goal Clarity indicates the degree to which a student recognises why they are enrolled in certain college, and the end goal of the program being pursued. Certain institutions might assume that a chosen program or subject translates to goal clarity but data often shows that students change subjects two to three times before getting a degree. A few of the factors that can determine whether a student may have clarity about program they have chosen are its requirements, their personal ability to meet required standards and their practical experience in that field. Faculty and advisors will spot a common situation of students feeling lost when they are unable to pursue a popular program. Support of Family and Friends One of the least investigated areas for measuring student persistence is the support of family. As the number of college students grows, the perception of the college experience amongst their friends and families may differ than those who come from families where college attendance is common. However, that does not mean all families don’t support of first-generation students across the board. In fact, many families place high value on college education. Having said that, there may not be an obvious relation between the program curriculum and career, time spent away from class, student services, and the potential of associated programs for providing key career skills. Create a Framework of Indicators for Lagging Using these five aspects of higher education as a model, it is possible to establish a data framework that measures what we know about students and their probability to continue and succeed. Lagging indicators are most commonly available data points that reflect things that have already occurred. These include grade point average (GPA), which don’t reveal student successes and struggles with certain concepts and skills. They also include the marks of courses finished in a term, unpaid fees that disallow registration for another term, abandonment of courses midway etc. While these data may support analysis of past activities, rarely do they provide understanding of current students. For insight that is “current”, institutions need data indicators that reveal outcomes in real time. Lagging indicator data is important. It allows the institution to conduct detailed, multi- parameter analysis to reveal student groups that may enter into high-risk situations. It may also aid in identifying remedies and support structures to support future students who may have the same characteristics. Too often, these analyses are univariate, such as GPA and one-year retention rate. Even while doing multivariate analyses, the data silos and not sufficient to form regression models with retention values high enough to explicitly establish the differences between students who continue and those who don’t. Human behaviour is complex and is driven by many factors. Consequently, analysis needs to be detailed and based on comprehensive data to allow analysts to investigate multiple factors to understand the patterns of their students. Leading indicators allow institutions to impact persistence in real time. Awareness of a student not connecting with faculty as expected, assignments, fellow students, lets the institution to intervene and attempt to resolve the issue before the student feels isolated to a degree that compels him/her to leave. Identifying students who have pending program fees within the term, which usually happens because loans applied on parent creditworthiness, have not been approved, allows the institution to intervene and find a solution. The institution can support in bridging the gap and mitigate the stress felt by the student before it becomes overwhelming. These are but a few examples of how leading indicators can be used to impact student persistence. Identify and Address Gaps There is typically more data available on lagging indicators than leading indicators, which implies that we have been more attuned to collecting and using data that reflect information on something that already occurred. It must be re-iterated that lagging indicators are help in analysing patterns and suggest interventions for future students. There is far less data available and used as leading indicators, however, and this implies an emerging area of practice that demands more attention. Analyses need to have robust and comprehensive data, yet those tend to exist in various systems/data silos. Institutions that have data warehouses are one step ahead; identifying the important data and extracting them from those systems may still be a challenge, even with solutions in place. Many other institutions that lack these data tools find themselves wishing for better insights and tools to help them collect, assemble and analyze their data. Certain areas suggest polls or surveys. While there are a number of solutions available today, these can also have limitations. One of these is the timing of offering a survey to new or current students, when receive the data back and place those into the hands of those who need it (especially advisors). Some of these instruments allow comparisons of student responses at your institution to others, which can be helpful, but that may be outweighed by the timing, where these data then become lagging, not leading, indicators. Short polls, such as those that ask students to rate how they are doing that day with facial emojis, may capture those who are feeling overwhelmed. Longer polls, that tease out the nuances of family and friend support, shouldn’t exceed 10 questions and five would likely increase response rates. Survey overload can be avoided by good planning and timely distribution of short polls and surveys. Connect the Dots (and the Data) Collecting, assembling, analyzing and acting upon a robust dataset is an evolutionary process. Institutions should start with what they have and gradually augment and enhance their data and its usage as part of a quality development process. Knowing what the desired state looks like is important to creating a strong road map toward it. Assembling a robust set of lagging indicators means getting data from multiple systems, modules and tables in to a unified dataset. Once aggregated, data analysis and visualization should reveal the interaction of the data categories within the framework. Human behavior is often complex and more often than not the decision to stay or leave a program is a mix of multiple factors originating from various parts of that experience. And there may be outside factors as well such as childcare, work pressure etc. External factors may be harder to capture through these data collection mechanisms and may not reveal the true picture. A proper assessment of the internal factors within the control of the institution will augment the analysis and sidestep simplistic, one dimensional solutions about why students are staying/leaving. Assembling and using a robust set of leading indicators is often a tremendous challenge at the most forward-thinking institutions. Is anyone following up to check if any student needs help on unpaid balances? Does the financial aid office, who may be equipped to discuss solutions, even know that this has occurred? Is financial stress causing the student to look for additional outside work, such that they have less time to read and complete assignments? Is the early alert system complicated to use by faculty?  Do residence hall advisors have a similar alerting mechanism for issues they might spot? Who is following up on these and what data do they have that will help them facilitate an empathetic and inform conversation with the student before they make a decision to leave? Adopting a case management methodology to understand student persistence and success has been used by institutions in first-year programs. Some of the more remarkable results have linked students to institutional resources, as well as community services and supports, in a “wrap-around” approach to student success. These approaches can only work when cases are surfaced and those empowered to act have sufficient information to meaningfully interact with the student. It requires that the information from disparate systems is brought together. Improving student outcomes also requires that the care teams and staff can see the relationship between suggesting services and resources and the student’s engagement or lack thereof. Higher education. student support has been based upon a “build it and they will come” approach, as well as an invitational approach to student referrals. Become a part of the Innovation eco-system Girikon is a certified Salesforce Consulting Partner with extensive Salesforce Consulting experience. Get access to experts who can help you adapt fast and achieve success. Contact us today. Questions? Our reps have answers. CONTACT OUR SALESFORCE CONSULTANTS

Pharmaceutical innovation from Health Cloud allows pharmaceutical companies to deliver personalised engagement and support experiences to patients and reduce operational costs while assisting patients navigate through their health journey. Health Cloud connects all patient centric data on a single platform and provides intelligent recommendations to enhance support programs to help you achieve targeted results for patients. Patients can be enrolled directly by a call center agent or by using forms on the patient portal. With Health Cloud, patient liaisons can see details about the program, such as products, services and overall goals. Once patients are enrolled, they can log in to view and authorise any necessary consent forms right from their mobile app. Patient liaisons can also interact directly with patients from a single console and offer services like adherence reminders, copay programs, benefits investigation or in home support. With Health Cloud, patients are kept informed and are supported throughout their entire journey with automated text messages and emails on progress updates. Patients and liaisons can access important resources through secure portals and mobile apps. Access to Therapy A new diagnosis often leaves patients overwhelmed. Patients want to have answers to questions like -How do I get started on treatment? Is the treatment affordable? How does the pandemic affect my access to therapy? Who do I approach for guidance? Onboard quickly, engage, and scale. Getting patients on therapy fast is critical to establishing engagement. That’s where a smooth and convenient onboarding process comes in. Guided enrollment allows service teams to provide critical resources, including insurance verification and copay coordination effortlessly. It is equally critical to create an easy-to-use patient portal for maintaining a 24/7 contact with patients. This allows engagement on any device so patients can get what they need — from relevant educational material to adherence reminders. With the Connect the Patient Experience solution from Health Cloud, you can scale patient service programs and reduce costs. Financial Support Many patients are anxious about the affordability of their therapy. The affordability concern ma also arise midway through the treatment. Withour proper guidance and help, they are at risk of abandoning treatment prematurely. Educate, support, and coordinate. With Health Cloud, pharmaceutical patient support teams can access funding sources for those in need quickly. The Connect the Patient Experience solution enables that by providing a 360-degree view of patients along with financial assistance options for specific therapies. It also suggests key information that can be shared with patients to help reinforce the benefits of staying on course of treatment, even in tough times. This allows patients to maintain the care they deserve for as long as is necessary. Therapy Adherence In today’s pandemic reality, it has become more difficult than ever for patients to adhere to their treatment plans, often a challenge task in normal times. The time is now right for organizations to partner with patients so that they can get the best possible outcomes. Analyze, identify, and check in. Analytics are key to revealing insights that can empower pharmaceutical companies to identify patients who are struggling to stay on the therapeutic course. Predictive insights can help reveal patients who are at risk of deviating from the prescribed path or simply stop treatment. With Connect the Patient Experience solution from health Cloud, pharmaceutical companies can receive proactive AI-driven recommendations for next best actions, like reminders or creating learning journeys. This will enable organizations to help patients course correct by providing highly personalized and compliant experiences. How can Pharma Companies Drive Engagement from Diagnosis through Adherence with Health Cloud? In today’s pandemic context, pharmaceutical innovators are moving faster than ever to engage patients with personalized insights and recommendations. Their goal is to get to the best possible outcome by making it easier to start and stay on course of  treatments, no matter what the situation is. Here’s how pharmaceutical companies can create a patient-centric experience that reduces operational costs, is compliant, and scales by therapeutic scope. Accelerate R&D Innovation Transform therapy development with a 360-degree view of trials. Reduce time to market by integrating teams and systems on a unified, secure platform and access real-time data on any device. Boost patient recruitment and retention with personalized communication. The Salesforce accelerate R&D Innovation solution from Health Cloud lets life science companies connect with trials teams to finding new ways to innovate faster. Lightning allows easy configuration of the apps you need, enabling teams to collaborate during every phase of clinical development such as study design, study start up, site selection and execution. Teams have easy access to study documents and can share with staff and investigators and then store their findings on the Salesforce platform using partner apps from the AppExchange or third-party apps pulled from API libraries in integration cloud. Clinical research associates and other field personnel can stay connected 24/7 across any device. Analytics show each team member a complete view of all their activities and they can view real time status updates on study start up and subject enrolment to get data insights and determine next best actions. Clinical data is pulled into Health Cloud and shown in a streamlined patient management console letting you manage patient trials while collaborating across the trial teams. This allows subjects to have the necessary support to successfully participate. Salesforce community cloud lets you connect stakeholders to important documents and resources, quickly recruit patients and collaborate with patients and investigators within a secure authenticated portal. Marketing Cloud lets you send personalised email and text messages to keep everyone informed and up to date. Connect Patient Experience Deliver tailored support programs at scale, deliver personalized patient experiences, and track and monitor performance with built-in analytics and AI. The Salesforce Connect the patient experience solution from Health Cloud lets pharmaceutical companies deliver personalised engagement and support programs across a single platform. To reduce operational costs and help patients manage their disease while navigating their healthcare needs.  You can connect all your data on a single platform to drove predictive recommendations and improve support programs to achieve targeted patient outcomes. Deliver programs at scale to drive awareness with patients and physicians using Salesforce Health Cloud and enrol patients directly through a call centre agent or using forms on the patient portal. And Patients can stay informed and supported through their entire journey using automated email and text messages through a secured and authenticated portal directly on their mobile. All while letting pharmaceutical companies have a complete view of their patients on a connected intelligent platform

Deliver rapid business outcomes with purpose-driven commercialization solutions. Transform Virtual Sales Provide a connected selling experience, from planning to support, on a unified platform to fast-track value and drive quicker business results. Take engagement to the next level and close more business with AI-driven actionable insights. The MedTech industry has always been on the cusp of innovative technology for healthcare, with the usage of robotics, nanotech, and AI to build life-saving devices. Today, more than ever, MedTech organizations are under tremendous pressure to discover innovative ways to connect and advise everyone they serve faster and more efficiently – and through multiple channels during the age of COVID-19.The pandemic fortified existing trends, such as the necessity for boost efficiency, bolster device effectiveness, and deliver a higher ROI. MedTech companies are now facing new demands to work with healthcare organizations in a hybrid environment. Medtech companies are also embracing innovative patient engagement models to support healthcare providers, both during, and post treatment. They need to be flexible to meet the dynamic and rapidly changing needs and expectations. And most of all, they also require a holistic view of data, facilitate collaboration across teams, and the requisite digital tools. That’s where an all integrated CRM platform like Salesforce comes into play. More than forecasting and managing customer contacts, Salesforce securely connects data from disconnected systems and delivers a unified experience to providers, patients, and partners on their channel of preference. This enables MedTech businesses to connect teams, integrate different data sources across existing systems, and deliver intelligent insights. Let’s explore how Salesforce helps Medtech companies drive business excellence, streamline innovation, deliver tailored experiences, deliver value, and boost efficiency. Drive business excellence with digital, connected experiences Seles models were adapting to change even prior to the pandemic. The only change now is that pace has accelerated. Consolidation amongst hospitals with adoption of enterprise-wide subscription-based models started to happen. Today, purchase decisions are moving faster now. And safety protocols are resulting is sales teams virtually interacting with decision makers. On top of that, tighter budgets means healthcare providers are now more demanding. They expect the devices they buy to deliver improved patient outcomes at a lower cost. To move forward, it is imperative that medtech businesses have a holistic view of their customers to better understand their needs and consequently provide personalised engagement and service. The Salesforce platform acts as a knowledge-sharing center, enabling sales teams to drive business excellence by taking advantage of a 360-degree customer view while working off the same platform. Streamline your technology Many MedTech organizations depend on multiple technology systems that don’t always work well with each other or deliver an engaging customer experience. Standardization of data from legacy systems on a unified platform helps make information easier to manage. Salesforce solves this problem of dealing with multiple systems and consolidates data by seamlessly integrating data from existing solutions. Salesforce Customer 360 connects all touchpoints of the customer journey.  These include manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, sales, clinical and service. With a unified view of all data, businesses get better visibility and are able to maintain relationships better across the business. Not only that, it also delivers consistent, personalized experiences. A flexible and scalable platform like Salesforce accelerates business excellence, fosters collaboration, and empowers teams. Not only that, you can also build on top of the Salesforce platform with new functionality with new apps, for internal staff, partners or customers. This allows you to: Take advantage out-of-the-box services. Easy to use drag-and-drop functionality enables anyone on your team to develop apps without even writing a single line of code. Drive innovation. Stay focused on high-value projects with available and tools and apps. Drive governance and compliance. Out-of-the-box functionalities like integration and identity services ensure app development follows requisite guidelines. Advise customers with actionable insights Those tiny moments matter the most. That’s when access to accurate information is critical – whether you’re a physician in the middle of a procedure, a staff member who needs to transfer stock, or a patient beginning their treatment journey with a wearable device. With Salesforce, reps can access valuable, actionable data and insights from a single platform to best serve customers in a connected and intelligent manner. That lets MedTech companies act at speed and scale. The starting step to accomplish this is to aggregate data. Salesforce pulls in information from across the ecosystem so that everyone has visibility into: Real-time sales information that delivers production, marketing, and service team needs Research and development processes that impact production, quality assurance, and licensing Patient and clinical staff feedback that boosts evolution of devices and services Integrates Artificial intelligence that delivers critical data analytics and insights. These insights include predicted outcomes, recommended course of action, and automated workflows. From a single console, teams can deliver simpler, smarter and faster interactions. Start selling smarter and drive ROI In the fast-changing Medtech industry, businesses must meet increasing customer expectations for better patient outcomes and improved ROI quickly and efficiently. Digital tools accelerate the sales cycle and deliver critical insights in an agile framework, even while working in virtual or hybrid selling models. Salesforce delivers a 360-degree view of customers and provides teams with deeper insights into customer activity and subsequently drives value. AI-based intelligence predicts sales activity, forecasts growth, and reveals areas of opportunity. When sales teams can personalize interaction and sell proactively, businesses can foster deeper relationships and build customer trust. With Salesforce Customer 360 you can: Get next best actions. Teams can access each customer’s detailed account history for accurate forecasting along with recommended next best actions. AI can prioritize sales activities and spot new opportunities to help close deals faster. Stay close to current and prospective customers. Reps can increase the reach and frequency of selling activities, thereby improving account and territory performance and later assessing effectiveness based on insights from flexible dashboards. Gain real-time insights into market conditions. Reps can compare territory performance with forecast and industry data in a real-time view. Quickly onboard new team members. New reps can train in a centralized location for sales and enablement. Salesforce speeds up the procurement cycle and helps reps stay close to current customers while prospecting new ones. Improve engagement with personalization Medtech businesses were already becoming more involved in the patient journey by providing services that helped patients use devices properly. But in 2020, the ability to engage virtually became even more valuable as HCPs adapted to remote patient monitoring during the pandemic. In addition to telemedicine and hybrid treatment models, digital tools that engage patients before, during, and after care are poised to become the norm. Salesforce enables medtech organizations securely log patient information and facilitate virtual, hybrid, and in-person treatment. For example, patients can request data to stay better informed about their health and actively involved in care decisions. Patients can also access product details on mobile apps and community websites and connect with other patients with similar health conditions. This creates peer to peer personalized experiences at every interaction point. In one example, a remote monitoring sticker helped medical professionals track the symptoms of sick patients recovering at home. With Salesforce, their agents could answer questions about the device from patients who were reaching out to the company directly. The 360-degree view enabled agents to create a case and provide streamlined services. Salesforce Customer 360 captures contact information and communication preferences to keep everyone up to date on new products and solutions. This also allows Medtech businesses to nurture prospective patients by guiding prospects to the right products. What’s next? The pandemic may have changed how Medtech organizations engage with providers and patients, but customer-focus is still at the heart of everything they do. Salesforce Customer 360 is far from your traditional CRM: You can connect teams and integrate data on one flexible, secure platform and deliver a unified experience for providers and patients alike. Salesforce can help you go digital fast, accelerate value, and transform your business. With greater across the value chain, you can manage commercial processes, build provider relationships, and engage with patients in the most intelligent, efficient, and personalized way. This all leads to better outcomes for your business, your customers, and their patients. Get in touch with a Salesforce Implementation Partner today.

With Vaccine Cloud, healthcare organizations and governments can more efficiently manage supply, delivery, execution, and logistics of vaccine programs and communicate faster wit beneficiaries, all on a platform that is trusted, secure, flexible, and quick to deploy. As more and more vaccine doses become available, people can pre-register for a spot in the queue. This allows healthcare organizations and governments to quickly and objectively schedule programs and forecast inventory at scale. Recipients can be sent personalized sign-up invites to enable them to schedule appointments directly. When they arrive for an appointment, clinical staff can access their medical records and get a 360-degree view of their immunization history and personal health information. Clinical staff can then take advantage of the latest public health guidance measures, allowing them to follow best practices and deliver great care. They can also update the recipient’s record to reflect any dosage specifics and administration information. Key metrics from these processes provide clinical officials with insights on the progress of their vaccination programs. These insights can then be swiftly converted into action based on reported health concerns, availability of stock, and vaccination preparedness.   Key Components of Vaccine Cloud.  HEALTH COMMAND CENTER  Get a complete view from a single dashboard to manage your vaccination program better.  Health Command Center gives governments and healthcare organizations a complete 360-degree view of vaccine management to drive data-driven decisions. You can use up-to-date vaccine inventory data and demand forecasts to streamline and optimize your vaccine program.  ·  Drive data-driven decisions based on vaccine needs and availability  · Ensure rapid response with a 360-degree view of vaccine programs  · Centralize all data into a single dashboard to drive faster responsiveness  VACCINE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT  Drive rapid mass vaccination with accurate forecasting.  Vaccine Inventory Management helps healthcare organizations and governments to ensure availability of stock and maintain adequate supply of doses, syringes, and PPE levels. It can also assist in forecasting demand, help reduce wastage, and rule out surplus supplies.  · Take advantage of a single solution for planning and prioritization  · Use Salesforce’s intrinsic robust inventory management to manage stock  · Streamline supplies to forecast demand and trim wastage  VACCINATION APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING  Centralized scheduling to drive efficient vaccine distribution.  With Vaccine Cloud healthcare staff can now easily conduct health assessments. It also allows you yo assess eligibility of recipients and schedule appointments. Not only that, acquiring digital consent and ensuring vaccine availability as and when needed is now easy.  ·   Manage registration and eligibility of recipients   ·   Pre-screen recipients and capture digital consent  ·   Drive on-demand scheduling with QR codes for contactless visits  ASYNCHRONOUS REGISTRATION AND SCHEDULING  Securely scale vaccination registration.  Through a robust and comprehensive web experience, organizations can gather recipient registration information, apply eligibility and inventory rules, and notify them via personalized emails about when an appointment slot is available.  ·  Streamline vaccine registration with a scalable and equitable process  ·  Take advantage of eligibility and prioritization and to connect people to appointments effectively  · Scale your program in-person, online or through call center registration for all recipients of your community  CLINICAL VACCINE ADMINISTRATION  Gather accurate vaccine information and prepare for distribution.  Clinical Vaccine Administration ensures clinical professionals are trained adequately before vaccine administration to prevent onsite bottlenecks. Data analysis tools allow vaccine administration agencies to assess readiness, log and track vaccine allotment, and analyze results.  ·  Augment safe vaccination practices with pre-arrival screening  ·   Analyze community-wide vaccine outcomes in conformity with public health guidelines  VACCINE OUTCOME MONITORING  Monitor post-vaccination outcomes with data capture.  Enable healthcare organizations and clinicians to follow up with recipients with surveys to assess their health outcomes. Streamline digital surveys with email, web, SMS and phone.  ·  Log recipient experiences with surveys and manage health outcomes  ·  Streamline communication amongst officials and the public in case of post-vaccination events  ENGAGEMENT AND AUTOMATION   Engage the community throughout the vaccination journey.  Empower health officials to interact with the community through notifications, and launch education and outreach campaigns. Ease staff burden by automating repetitive communications, such as dose reminders.  ·  Notify people for the next dose  ·  Alert delivery agency managers to replenish stock based on appointments  · Track recalls and trace back needs from adverse events  VACCINATION VALIDATION  Generate and verify health credentials for transparent proof of vaccination.  Generate health credentials during the process of vaccine administration.  ·  Capture and manage digital credential records  ·   Verify health credentials for proof of vaccination  ·   Integrate seamlessly with prevalent Digital Credential standards  Here’s a look at how Vaccine Cloud Helps deal with challenges to implementing Vaccine Programs.  Vaccine Velocity  In the current context of the pandemic, it is imperative for governments, public health groups, and healthcare organizations around the world to efficiently and effectively manage their vaccination programs.   Once the vaccines are developed, there are several other challenges to consider.  Overwhelming demand: Public health groups are under immense pressure to deliver vaccines. Healthcare groups and agencies must manage their inventory better and administer vaccines to the appropriate groups while preventing any wastage.  Delivery and logistics challenges: It is imperative to maintain vaccine quality throughout its journey from production, to packaging to storage and distribution to streamline the entire supply chain.  Clinical staff shortage: COVID-19 vaccines follow-up doses. Existing systems and staffing plans are not designed to handle the distribution and delivery of multistage vaccines to billions of people in a short period of time.  Vaccination outcome monitoring: It’s essential to capture data on recipient experiences, health results, and outcomes once they are vaccinated.  Communication challenges: High volume of vaccination programs makes consistent communication with high-risk populations about the program a daunting task. Addressing the challenges Public health organizations and private businesses must collaborate to tackle these challenges. Salesforce launched Vaccine Cloud with an objective to facilitate that coordination. With Vaccine Cloud, health organizations and groups can easily design, launch and manage vaccine programs from start to finish. Vaccine Cloud takes advantage of native Salesforce products to empower healthcare providers, businesses and governments deliver vaccines at massive scale efficiently and equitably. Solution    What It Does    Why It’s Important    Health Command Center  It shows vaccine inventory levels and forecasted vaccine needs in a unified single console.  It helps health organizations to make data-driven decisions based on vaccine needs.  Vaccine Inventory Management  It forecasts demand for vaccines and related supplies.  It trims product wastage and prioritizes the deployment of inventory.  Appointment Scheduling  It schedules and manages vaccine appointments, acquires digital consent, and helps clinicians to establish eligibility of recipients.   It encourages recipients to do self-service and promotes on-demand appointment scheduling.  Clinical Vaccine Administration  It trains medical staff for vaccine administration before administration of vaccines, manages overall community health, logs and tracks delivery and administration of vaccines, and analyzes community-wide results.  It promotes pre-arrival digital  screening and safe vaccine administration practices.  Vaccination Outcome Monitoring  It captures data on recipients post vaccinations.   It helps clinicians to swiftly follow up on recipients if there’s a health concern or a emerging trend in the wider community.  Health Notifications  It delivers personalized outreach campaigns, sends reminders to recipients, and alerts clinical staff on restocking needs based on future vaccination schedules.  It automates repetitive communication and eases staff burden.  Digital Credentials  It provides verifiable, trusted, and secure certifications that let participants easily share health or vaccination status easily, privately and securely if they choose to do so.  Allows organizations to safely reopen public places.    Girikon is a certified Salesforce Consulting Partner and can help you effectively and efficiently manage your vaccination programs.  We will be happy to answer any questions you might have about Vaccine Cloud. Want to know more? We know that time is critical, so collaborate with us to help you deliver an effective and efficient vaccine program. CONTACT AN EXPERT

Background The manufacturing industry is a vital cog of the global economy. Globally, manufacturing output exceeds $35 trillion across the 34 largest manufacturing regions. This sector is also on the verge of renewed productivity, innovation and efficiency as technology innovation heralds the next generation of manufacturing in an connected ecosystem powered by intelligent analytics. Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud was designed with an intention to help drive this transformation with a solution specifically designed for manufacturers to unify accounting and forecasting for greater transparency and collaboration across their entire ecosystem. This unified platform provides a clear view of customers with account-based forecasting solutions that enable them to precisely forecast, plan, and drive improved business outcomes. What is Manufacturing Cloud? Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud is a new offering from Salesforce, specifically designed for manufacturers. It is an AI-powered, cloud-based manufacturing platform, built to take the industry to the next level of digital innovation. Unify customer-centric operations across the organization Prebuilt objects, frameworks and processes for manufacturers Unmatched innovation, including minimal-code tools and integrated AI Helping manufacturers align sales and operations One of the key success criteria in the manufacturing industry is building great products great products and meeting market demand with efficient production and fulfilment. The first step in that process is to ensure accounting teams have holistic visibility of the book of business for a customer. That includes ongoing business, business run rate and potential opportunities. This visibility translates to more accurate forecasting, more predictable outcome, and eventually, more revenue. Predictability is the top priority for all stakeholders in the manufacturing ecosystem. Customers want to be sure about pricing, availability and delivery; distribution partners need efficient delivery channels; sales teams need pricing based on real-time volume assumptions; and operations teams want to build and procure components based on the most accurate forecasting. To achieve all this, manufacturers must have a clear understanding of the entire shipment history of a customer, current production plans, and production forecasts. One of the key challenges most manufacturers face is information and data stored across multiple systems such as ERP, CRM and SCM. And with the involvement of various teams, the whole process faces resistance and makes the sales and operations process hazy. And to make things worse, those closest to the customer- sales and distribution partners are not accurately represented. In the current manufacturing ecosystem, there is gaping opportunity to link customers, sales teams and distribution partners to change the entire operational paradigm. Going forward, manufacturing leaders around the globe will set a new standard for connection and engagement with their customers. To achieve this would require complete access to previously stored data and to be able to extract insights out of that data. How Manufacturing Cloud works Manufacturing Cloud was created to align sales and operations, to improve the sales forecasting process for both current operations as well as new business opportunities, and to extend the new process to partners. Here’s how.  Sales agreements allow manufacturers to unify current business with data stored in external systems such as ERP with agreement terms so both accounts and operations teams have a 360-degree view of the customer. Sales agreements are automatically updated with changes, thus providing a single source of truth. Account teams can now manage the full sales agreement cycle with clear visibility into promised and actual order volumes. They can also view the performance of the agreement vis a vis the forecast and other metrics. Account-based forecasting provides insights across the business to allow operations, sales and finance teams to get more accurate forecasts. Account teams can easily update changing customer needs based on market demands, which in turn allows the productions team to adjust plans and estimates in real time, thus making transactions, profits, and revenues more predictable. Many manufacturers also sell their products through a fleet of distributors and dealers who have feet on the ground and true knowledge of changes in customer demand. Manufacturing Cloud integrates them into the forecast process with a pre-built collaboration driven community template.  With this revolutionary capability, manufacturers now have an opportunity like never before to get real-time insights into product and customer performance, and the agility to translate these insights into action.  That’s the hallmark of an agile business. Intelligence at the core Manufacturing Cloud is a key part of Salesforce’s design philosophy – Customer 360, which allows manufacturers to deliver smart field services, channel management, B2B Commerce, and much more, on a single platform across their business. One new feature of Manufacturing Cloud is Einstein Analytics for Manufacturing. Account managers can now get intelligent analytics with KPIs across important data sets like account health, market penetration, price information and demand insights. By unifying and analyzing these data points, account managers can proactively engage with customers to grow the relationship. Also, by identifying these key trends, account managers can recommend upsell and cross-sell opportunities. The analytical ability is integrated directly into the business process of the account teams that provides real-time insights into sales agreements, forecasted performance, and customer interactions to predict the overall health of the business relationship. In the past, account teams obtained this information in chunks from different sources and in various formats, and often outdated. With Manufacturing Cloud, manufacturers now can embed it into their entire business process. With Einstein Analytics the platform is flexible and adaptable to cater to changing business needs. The insights around products and customers, will drive forecasting accuracy. Manufacturers today need to navigate greater complexity and the disconnected manual systems of the past won’t work in todays connected world. Leading manufacturers are Manufacturing Cloud enables all manufacturers to do capturing, integrating, and analysing data from across their organization to drive better business outcomes. All that with a single platform for unifying, exchanging and acting on information. It’s the force driving digital innovation and the next generation of manufacturing leaders. How can Manufacturing Cloud help my business? Unify the digital journey on a single platform. Build a unified view of your entire business, transform service experiences, simplify partner engagement, and make data-driven decisions with Customer 360. With Manufacturing Cloud you can strengthen partner engagement, streamline and monetize service, unlock data for greater impact, and increase employee productivity and agility. MODERNIZE COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS. A unified platform will accelerate your sales cycles makes it easy for customers to do business with you: Manage recurring business on a single platform that is designed for manufacturers Track performance against sales agreements Forecast demand SIMPLIFY PARTNER ENGAGEMENT. Suppliers and partners are key elements of the manufacturing value chain. Improve performance with: Streamlined and collaborative business processes Shared visibility of agreements, orders, cases and forecasts Channel incentive programs TRANSFORM THE SERVICE EXPERIENCE. Manufacturers need to offer unified experiences to customers, partners, and employees. Transform your experiences by: Automated service processes and self-service to Improving satisfaction Improve field service performance while minimizing disruption Discover new service revenue streams on a unified platform ENABLE THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE. Attract top talent and empower them by providing employees with the tools to do their work from anywhere: Deliver productive, collaborative experiences on a single platform Scale expertise through knowledge and information access, analytics, and AI Ensure compliance and drive efficiency with business process automation UNLEASH YOUR DATA. Unlock disparate data and make faster, smarter decisions with AI-driven intelligence: Deliver data when and where it’s needed across your business Acquire insights with integrated analytics and AI Transform insight into action by engaging on a unified platform Key Features of Manufacturing Cloud                 Forecasting Frameworks Get a complete view of predicted volumes and demand.   Sales Agreements Build a source of truth for your business.   Manufacturing Data Model Loaded with prebuilt objects, frameworks and processes for manufacturing.                   Embedded Analytics Make quick, informed decisions with out-of-the-box dashboards     Digital Process Automation Deliver manufacturing centric experiences and automation.     Rebate Management Grow trusted relationships with channel partners with powerful incentive programs.     Want to know more about Manufacturing solutions from Salesforce? CONTACT AN EXPERT

Companies of all sizes are transforming the way they do business digitally with innovation in technology, in an attempt to engage customers in a new way. Enterprises are adopting a go-digital first approach with best in class out of the box software. Salesforce CRM happens to be one of them. Educating yourself about Salesforce is one thing. Understanding which products, applications best suit your unique business needs is another matter. Which is why almost most Salesforce customers turn to Salesforce experts to seamlessly enter the Salesforce eco-system. These experts are called Salesforce Implementation Partners. Over the last decade, Salesforce has nurtured a vast network of it’s implementation partners across the globe that help businesses achieve their business goals. Here's a look at some of the typical questions early adopters have about working with a Salesforce implementation partner. What is an implementation partner? To put it simply, an implementation partner is an firm that has been vetted and approved by Salesforce to implement their solutions for businesses on their behalf. Every implementation partner specialises in certain areas of technology, industry, or application. Which means, there are Salesforce implementation partners to address every need, business, industry and product. Why engage an implementation partner? Salesforce CRM solutions cover the complete spectrum of business operations. These include but are not limited to sales, marketing, service etc. Each product can be further expanded by third party add-on applications and cross-platform integrations. To put it in a nutshell, the Salesforce ecosystem has endless capabilities. The challenge is of aplenty – to select the right product with the features and functionality that best suit your needs. A larger organization may already work with multiple technology-based solutions because of larger budgets and diversity in lines of business. They may need guidance in understanding how a particular Salesforce product, say, Sales Cloud, can seamlessly integrate with their existing systems without causing any conflict. A smaller company on the other hand may be scaling up rapidly and will quickly realise that continuing to work with spreadsheets will not support their growth objectives. They would soon realize that they would need to automate some of their processes, and/or develop more personalised and engaging customer experiences. Implementing a CRM solution for the first time can feel intimidating. It is almost impossible for your internal teams or staff with no prior experience with Salesforce to consider all the variables involved in an implementation and also be able to implement a new instance of a highly configurable CRM platform. Hiring full-time resources to embark on the implementation process can also prove be an expensive option. These are some of the operational reasons that most of the Salesforce customers depend on Salesforce Implementation experts. Bringing in a partner late in the game may prove to be detrimental to your growth plans. For you to derive maximum benefit of such a powerful and configurable platform requires close collaboration not just internally, but also with your implementation partner.  The best way to do the implementation is when the journey begins together. When is the right time to hire an implementation partner? As early as possible. As is true with any big investment, first you need to do your due diligence. Understand what needs should be met, gaps to close, or issues that need to be addressed. Establish a vision of what you want to achieve with the Salesforce implementation. Next, determine how would you execute your vision with Salesforce, which is where the partner comes in. As soon as you estabish your goals, it’s time to bring in a partner. The right Salesforce implementation partner won’t just expedite the how, but they will also help you to sharpen your vision. They’ll help you get a clearer understanding of success metrics, establish realistic goals, and provide guidance on appropriate products. Finally, they’ll chalk out a sound project timeline for your entire implementation journey. Meet with multiple prospective partners. Assess them on key parameters like industry experience, certified consultants, years in business, reviews, number of successful implementations, their post-implementation training and support strategy. Get a sense of who they are and how they work. This is a crucial relationship for your business, so don’t compromise. How do I know which is the right partner for me? Some Salesforce Implementation Partners have generalised Salesforce capabilities. And some would specialise in particular areas or functions of the Salesforce platform. Some might specialise in Sales Cloud and Financial Services Cloud. Others might have expertise in harnessing the combined powers of Marketing Cloud and Einstein. Here are some pointers to guide you on what to look for in a Salesforce Implementation Partner: Industry expertise Does the Salesforce partner have experience working in the same industry as yours for other customers? Can they offer customer testimonials or case studies from similar projects? Salesforce expertise Does the partner have enough experience with the specific Salesforce solution that you wish to implement? Technical expertise Does the partner have the necessary technical capabilities to implement your Salesforce solution through customization, third party app integration or integration with other business systems within your organization? Proven Methodology Does the partner have a proven process methodology for Salesforce implementation and training? Do they implement using an Agile framework evolving with every iteration using a collaborative approach? Ongoing support What level and type of support are they providing to their existing customers? Do they provide 24/7 support? Pricing and Budgets What is their pricing model? What is the average size of the projects they have executed? Do they fit into your long-term budget? What a Salesforce Implementation Partner Does? Here are some of the things your Salesforce Implementation Partner will do as a part of their overall implementation: Work with you closely to establish your long-term and short-term goals for your implementation Document your existing business practices and make a detailed note of your specific requirements Assess your existing systems and business operations and recommend any changes that may help you to achieve your goals and improve the efficiency of your workflows Work closely with key stakeholders, adopting a collaborative approach to integrate Salesforce with your existing systems Train your teams on the new platform Salesforce implementation partners have extensive experience on the Salesforce platform across industries solving unique challenges in varied business environments. They know what it takes to execute and deliver a successful Salesforce implementation. A qualified partner can help you to avoid common pitfalls and get you up and running quickly. What challenges might I encounter during implementation? Salesforce has been around for decades now and it’s a known fact that bringing in a partner early in the game mitigates may of the implementation risks and challenges that may emerge along the way. What is also important is to be clear on what you want to achieve over time and how you measure success over that journey. Most often, confusion or dissatisfaction arises from a lack of understanding on part of the customer on clear goals and measurable metrics. If both you and your partner are not on the same page, its opens doors for unnecessary assumptions, and confusion and misunderstandings on timelines and system features can arise. This only complicates the process of achieving objectives and reaching success benchmarks that your set out with. Salesforce implementation is an expensive roll out and it’s a two-way street. Both you and your partner need to be transparent and work in close collaboration to make it a success. Never hesitate to ask the same questions. The Salesforce implementation process can be highly technical and it is only natural to seek precise clarification. Just as you place your customers at the center of your business, partners place you at the center of theirs. They measure their success by your satisfaction levels. Customer success translates to partner success. As it true with any successful relationship in life, this implementation partnership too thrives on open, honest communication from day one. Girikon is a Gold Certified Salesforce Consulting Partner that provides expert guidance and support throughout the client’s growth journey. Get in touch with one of our experts today to know more about how we can help you. Questions? Our reps have answers. CONTACT AN EXPERT

Customer relationships are the cornerstone of an organisation's growth, and you need to nurture and manage them efficiently and smartly. Salesforce is the world’s No1 CRM platform for businesses of all sizes. Salesforce provides out-of-the-box solutions that let growing businesses implement cutting-edge technology with minimum effort and connect all of the systems that are important to them. And has been recognised by leading user review organisations and industry analysts and as the market leader in CRM technology, Before we go deeper into what CRM technology can do for you, let us answer the basic question – Does my business need a CRM solution? If any of these is true for you, then the right CRM solution could make your job a whole lot easier. 1.You don’t have a single source of customer information. Does your company have customer and order information in multiple locations? If yes, then that's one glaring reason why you need a CRM. A CRM brings together all of your customer data from sales, marketing, service and support into one place allowing you to access, track, analyse, and act on it straightaway, from anywhere. If you store customer data in spreadsheets, then not just your sales reps but anyone who interacts with your customers is at a disadvantage. When information is modified in one system, other systems do not update automatically. There is no holistic, unified view of all of your customer data such as contact information, purchase info, and communication logs. 2. You have very limited visibility of customer interactions. Do you have a complete, single view of all customer information? If not, then you don’t have insight into what your salespeople and customer support teams are doing. It’s hard to help your sales and service teams be successful and accountable if you’re not sure what they are doing. 3. Reports are tedious and painful. Does your team go through the arduous process of creating reports manually? If that is true, your performance-tracking capabilities are extremely limited. You should be generating reports automatically and view real time analytics of your sales team’s progress versus their targets. 4. You’re losing valuable customer data. IF you are not sure what you’re following up on, it is going to be very hard for you to schedule follow-up interactions with customers and prospects. If your interactions across touchpoints aren’t being tracked, important details get lost through the cracks, especially if a key staff member leaves your organization. 5. It’s challenging to stay in touch on the go. Can you sales reps quickly and easily find the information they need to close a deal when they are in the field? When they are meet prospects and come across valuable information, does the rest of your organization have access to it? Information captured in handwritten notes and on PCs is a potential gold mine.  6. Every customer is treated the same. Are your customers and prospects getting similar types of messages and offers from you? If that is true, you’re missing out on potential opportunities. You want the to be able to target prospects based on their industry, geography, and the value they can bring to your business to make the most of every interaction. 7. Can you scale fast? If you company grows rapidly, can your business processes scale just as quickly as the demand? You cannot afford to let your own processes be the impediment to your success. What can you do with Salesforce? Focus on customer success. Salesforce was founded on one simple principle: to help customers be more successful. This one philosophy has been the driving force behind a culture of constant innovation on the platform. Salesforce has built and fostered an entire ecosystem around customer success and packed it with a vast network of partners and independent software vendors, and a vibrant digital community. Augment your sales, service, and marketing initiatives with solutions tailored specifically for small businesses. Salesforce provides cutting edge tools that help small businesses find and attract new customers, earn their business, and keep them happy for life. Salesforce allows you to easily connect your existing systems so you can build more engaging relationships with your customers and grow your business faster than ever. By virtue of being cloud-based, Salesforce has no upfront costs as compared to on-premise software. It completely eliminates the need for expensive hardware or IT support, so you can get up and running on fast. Maintenance and upgrades happen automatically on the Salesforce platform, and issues are resolved in a matter of minutes, not days or weeks. This translates to far less downtime, and lower maintenance costs, and you can spend more time on what matters most which is growing the business. According to Salesforce, their CRM customers have seen 38% faster decision-making, a 25% jump in revenue, and a 35% increase in customer satisfaction. Adopt the platform that grows with you Small and medium-sized businesses need to be sure that the technology that drives their business will scale with the organisation’s growth. With Salesforce, the possibilities are endless, and you can add functionality with just a few clicks. Why would you not grow your business using a secure, and scalable platform that is surprisingly easy to customize and upgrade without any downtimes? Salesforce is the world’s only true Customer Success Platform. With Salesforce, you can connect every part of your business and get a single, unified, 360 customer view you need to deliver success to your customers, at every stage of your growth journey. Get access to cutting-edge technology and innovation Not only is Salesforce focused on delivering true customer success, but also to re-define the way business is conducted across industries. Salesforce’s superior and secure cloud technology allows it to automatically roll out new features, product upgrades, and path-breaking technology to all users simultaneously, three times every year without any additional costs. With Salesforce your business can grow faster than ever. Here's how CRM technology from Salesforce can empower you to be more connected with your customers, augment business performance, and fast track your company’s growth: 1. Find the right customers. You have spent resources and time on attracting and generating new leads, but now what? Are they getting passed on to your sales team, and if so, are your sales reps aware which are the hottest opportunities? Time is critical for small businesses who want to grow fast. You can make the most of your marketing tools such as email, social media and marketing automation software by connecting them to Salesforce with minimum effort. Give your sales and marketing teams a unified 360 view of leads and prospects, allowing them to create and target effective and engaging campaigns to convert prospects into real customers and facilitate faster decision making. 2. Foster sustainable relationships. Develop a deeper understanding of your customer’s business starting with a holistic view of their engagement history with your organization build a strong and lasting relationship based on trust and mutual success. Salesforce CRM can help you in the following ways: Explore customer challenges: Find out what matters to customers such as business goals, preferences and challenges with every interaction and ensure regular follow-up action. Record notes in Salesforce so that in your next interaction you can start from exactly where you left off after a quick review. Engage with relevancy: Once you understand a business challenges and goals of a customer, you can recommend appropriate products that are relevant to their business interests, at the right time. With Salesforce, you can keep a track of what products or services they have purchased and how they're using them, so you can push the most relevant content and information. Scale your 1-to-1 relationships: As a small business, your customers love you for the personalised experiences you deliver; but as you grow, it becomes more and more challenging to know the details of every activity of every customer. This makes following up with them all the more daunting, especially when to follow up with them when growth kicks in. Salesforce allows you to host a vast template library of email, set up reminders, and enable phone calls from within Salesforce to help you connect with customers easily and quickly. 3. Reduce the cost of sales New customers are a key constituent of continued growth, and they don’t come easily or cheaply. The good news is that with Salesforce CRM, you can offset customer acquisition costs through sales to your existing customer base. Salesforce comes loaded with tools and resources that provide greater visibility into the upsell, cross-sell, and renewal opportunities in your customer portfolio. With Salesforce CRM you will see an increase in repeatable sales because of the trust you’ve already established. Salesforce CRM can help you augment business performance by: Improving sales efficiency: Give precedence to leads and opportunities that are most likely to close based on customer interactions. Improving sales effectiveness: Get visibility on which customers are engaged with you and determine what is the right time to reach out with an optimal response. Increasing upsell and cross-sell opportunities: Get a 360 view of opportunities that are a good fit for deals already in progress. Uncovering referral business: Discover untapped opportunities in existing relationships Reducing time to close: With a 360-degree view of your customer, align your teams on the next steps to close a deal. 4. Increase employee productivity Adopting the right technology frees up your teams from process-heavy tasks and gives them more time to do what matters most – connecting with customers. Manual tasks like searching for contact information or entering data can be automated or even eliminated from customer-centric processes. Automation across sales, service, and marketing will enable your sales reps to spend more time interacting with prospective customers and strengthen relationships with existing ones. Give your teams the tools they need to maintain focus on selling. Salesforce CRM allows you to automate mundane repetitive tasks, so your sales team can sell smarter and faster. 5. Offer better customer service A product is only as good as the service that comes along with it. Don't flood your prospects inbox with multiple marketing promotions that will annoy or scare them away. If you flounder after a sale, you would have wasted the time and effort that went into acquiring a valuable customer. When your teams can get access to a customer’s complete history instantly, everyone can quickly deliver personalised messages and solutions, using the right resources. Smoother interactions help build trust and facilitate repeat business. 6. Improve customer retention 360-degree visibility of all your relationships allows teams to proactively address at-risk accounts and offer new opportunities at just the right time to a satisfied customer. When you have a clear view of customer history, case history, and campaigns, you can deliver more satisfying purchases and service experiences that compel them to keep coming back for more. If you invest your time wisely today, the resulting strong customer relationships will pay rich dividends for years to come. We at Girikon understand that great technology alone is not enough to ensure success. Our Salesforce Consultants will support you throughout your journey of digital transformation to ensure that you become a company that clients love to work with. Questions? Our reps have answers. CONTACT AN EXPERT