Future-Proof Salesforce: Critical Errors to Dodge in Activity Capture Setup

In this webinar, Philipp Stelzer, Co-Founder of Weflow, shares his deep knowledge of Salesforce activity capture, offering practical advice on best practices, common pitfalls, and advanced techniques. He delves into the importance of automatic activity logging, the pros and cons of using Einstein Activity Capture, how to select the right vendor, and the complexities involved in activity logging within Salesforce. 

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This session is a must-watch for RevOps professionals aiming to streamline processes, maintain accurate CRM data, and make informed decisions based on robust activity reporting.

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Introduction to Activity Capture

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Activity capture involves automatically logging customer and employee emails and events to Salesforce and syncing them to the related records. It can only work though if you have automation set up. This is essential for eliminating data gaps and reducing the administrative burden on sales teams. In Philipp’s experience, manual logging captures only 10% to 15% of activities.

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By automating the process, companies can focus on strategic activities rather than administrative tasks, eliminate manual data entry, reduce errors, and allow sales teams to concentrate on building customer relationships rather than updating records.

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Activity capture serves multiple functions within RevOps:

• Tracking Seller Activities: Provides visibility into sales team performance and productivity.
• Maintaining Customer and Prospect History: Keeps a comprehensive record of all interactions for better account management, personalized communication, and successful handovers from SDR to AE to CSM.
• Monitoring Account Health: Helps identify engagement levels and potential risks by analyzing response rates and interaction frequency.
• Optimizing Sales Processes: Enables data-driven decisions to refine sales strategies and improve overall efficiency.
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Ultimately, activities matter when it comes to understanding the customer journey and improving pipeline management and forecasting. Outside of customer relationship tracking, some companies even use activity capture to help calculate commissions.

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“I am a fan of Salesforce. I think it's a great ecosystem because of all the customization you can do. But all that customization can also be the downfall of any good Salesforce setup.” - Philipp Stelzer

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Jump to the clip for a hard-hitting question: why does activity capture matter?

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Pros and Cons of Einstein Activity Capture

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Philipp provides an unbiased evaluation of Einstein Activity Capture, Salesforce's built-in solution for activity logging that’s free for the first 100 users.

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Pros:

• Quick, easy to set up, and straightforward to implement
• Tracks activity automatically
• Automatically captures emails and events from Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
• Admins can control user access and settings from a single point.

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Cons:

• Users cannot customize dashboards or reports extensively and there’s no option for building automations or flows
• Activity storage may be limited to 24 months, affecting long-term data analysis
• Activities aren’t stored in Salesforce and there are no options to migrate data into other systems 
• There’s no support for email aliases, a big problem for organizations with multiple email domains or aliases
• Logging activities to opportunities can be challenging

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While Einstein Activity Capture is convenient for basic needs, its limitations in customization, data retention, and reporting can drive organizations to seek alternative solutions. Still, some people find value in using Einstein Activity Capture selectively. 

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For instance, Einstein can help sync calendars and contacts, even if you use other methods for email logging. This approach allows RevOps teams to benefit from Einstein's strengths without being hindered by its limitations in email activity capture.

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“There's no option to migrate most of the Einstein Activity Capture data because it's not actually stored in Salesforce on the Salesforce core server.” - Philipp Stelzer

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Jump to the clip to learn all about the pros and cons of Einstein Activity Capture.

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Vendor Selection Checklist for Activity Capture

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Philipp stresses the importance of thorough evaluation when choosing an activity capture vendor. He recommends:

• Running a pilot program: Test the solution in your environment to assess compatibility and performance
• Understanding the business logic: Ensure the vendor can clearly explain how their solution logs activities and integrates with your CRM
• Using standard Salesforce Objects: Avoid custom objects that can complicate data migration and reporting
• Balancing automation and control: Select a solution that offers both automated logging and manual controls for flexibility and privacy concerns

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He provides a detailed checklist of questions to ask potential vendors, covering aspects like data storage, customization options, and support for complex CRM structures.

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“If you don't understand the logging, that's a risk for your business continuity.” - Philipp Stelzer

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Jump to the clip to hear why you need a solution with automation and manual control.

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Complexities of Activity Logging in RevOps

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Philipp introduces the concept of the CRM graph model, which maps out the relationships and connections between different CRM entities. By leveraging strong ties (like email addresses and contact roles) and understanding weak ties (like indirect associations), organizations can improve the accuracy of automated logging. This model aids in determining where to log activities within Salesforce for optimal data integrity.

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“You have to have a solution that not only looks at the opportunity contact role and the lookup but also the stage and custom fields and gives you a way to do manual logging.” - Philipp Stelzer

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Jump to the clip for an explanation of how most logging solutions work within your CRM.

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