SalesforceIQ pairs with Desk.com so small businesses can better manage sales and customer service

Two months after it launched a sales solution for small businesses, Salesforce has introduced an integration that will bring customer service and sales together. Users will find that data can now be shared directly between SalesforceIQ and Desk.com, allowing both sides of the customer relationship cycle to know what’s going on, and helping small businesses play on a more level field with large companies.

“Customers expect and deserve a cohesive experience every time they interact with a company,” said SalesforceIQ chief executive Steve Loughlin in a statement. This echoes what Hana Mandapat, Desk.com’s marketing director, told VentureBeat in a phone interview, when she said that customers don’t care about what channel companies are on — it’s more about their own needs. “Having instant and multi-channel experiences is table stakes for a company these days,” she added.

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Smaller businesses are not really equipped to manage high expectations and must work to gain a competitive advantage. SalesforceIQ is specifically geared toward this market, so now it’s time to expand its offering. Prior to today, it’s said that 80 percent of SMBs were using Excel uploads and custom code to connect their data to apps. This means that they’re still missing out on the intelligence needed to build a smarter sales service: If you don’t know who your customer is, how can you properly service their issues?

The Desk.com-SalesforceIQ relationship will probably break down the silos within a company to make things more transparent. But in order to use this service, Mandapat said that you must be a customer of both solutions. Data can be shared between the two systems — you also have the flexibility to designate what specific information is shared.

An integration between the two Salesforce products makes sense, but it’s not common to see this kind of pairing, due to the different audiences and sizes of the company involved. Remember that SalesforceIQ is an SMB focused solution while Desk is perhaps more useful for slightly bigger entities. And because SalesforceIQ has only been around for two months, it’s still getting its footing when it comes to integrations.

This offering is available for desktop use only, but a mobile integration is said to be in the works.

It’s available free of charge for customers with Desk.com pro and business plus editions and SalesforceIQ growth and business plans.