November 19, 2014
We are very excited to announce Bluewolf’s first UK-focused State of Salesforce annual review. Launched today, this report distills the data from over 150 UK Salesforce customers, and was collected in collaboration with the MIT Sloan School of Management [Press Release].
What is the report and why do we produce it?
For three years [2013, 2014] we have produced this report to shed light on how the best companies are using Salesforce and lay out the major trends we are seeing amongst Salesforce customers globally. This year The State of Salesforce Report has been expanded to feature a specific United Kingdom Edition.
As a world leader in both mobile adoption and internet usage, the UK has a unique opportunity to lead Europe in the delivery of superior digital experiences. Through the report we found that leading British companies—those that are providing their customers with experiences that drive engagement—are utilising industry-driven approaches, embracing marketing, service and mobile technologies to empower customers and employees, and dedicating resources to ongoing innovation. 
Here is what you will also learn from this year’s report:
Adoption of Salesforce is yielding results. 74% of companies in the UK will increase their Salesforce budgets in the coming year. [Twitter, Linkedin]
Bluewolf has been advising leading companies for more than 14 years. Over that time, we’ve seen Salesforce mature into a robust engagement platform—helping companies in the UK not only increase productivity and operational efficiencies, but also improve their ability to quickly organise around customers and adapt to changing markets.
Organisations in the UK are transitioning from leveraging Salesforce solely as a sales application to leveraging it as a platform to engage customers. Budget owners see Salesforce’s products as critical to this mission, as 73 percent of UK respondents say Salesforce is more valuable to their company than one year ago.
37% of companies in the UK are invested in Marketing Cloud, compared to 17% globally [Twitter, Linkedin]
62% of companies in the UK are invested in Service Cloud, compared to 44% globally [Twitter, Linkedin]
Above average investments in both Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud indicate that companies in the UK are rethinking customer experience and making customer engagement their top priority.
- Marketing is leading digital transformation strategies: Traditionally we have thought about the role of the marketer as someone who pushes out content, but that has changed. Now, it is about listening and interacting with customers in the correct forum, rather than broadcasting mass communications. Brands are combining Salesforce, mobile and platforms like Marketing Cloud, to use data to better understand their customers’ needs, shape the direction of their messaging and tailor their interactions with their customers.
- Service Cloud is the command center of the customer voice: Based on responses, Service Cloud has emerged as the second most adopted cloud and is helping to transform customer service departments and revolutionise the way agents interact with their customers.
Data is key to improving customer experience. 65% of companies in the UK will increase their investments in Analytics in the coming year. [Twitter, Linkedin]
Data is at the center of all of the trends above. As Salesforce expands within enterprises, multiple Salesforce clouds are adopted, and more data and channels are integrated, demand from every department for data is increasing. The companies that will become digital leaders will be those able to achieve a holistic view of their customers and deliver relevant, actionable data, from disparate systems to employees and customers. Companies in the UK are responding by increasing their investments in analytics, data integration, and data governance strategies to cleanse, enhance, and back-up their critical data.
For more insights and takeaways download the report or benchmark yourself, then let us know what you think by commenting below.
Register for our upcoming webcast on January 28th to see how leading UK companies are using Salesforce.
