A Heart-to-Heart with Manufacturing Leaders during Dreamforce

Discussions at Dreamforce 2023 underscored the pivotal role of data and analytics and how Salesforce Data Cloud can be used to reshape manufacturing.

Manufacturing leaders from around the world gathered at Dreamforce, the biggest Salesforce conference of the year, to discuss how technology and innovation are reshaping the industry’s future. 

Coastal hosted a peer-to-peer Dreamforce session focused on Data Cloud, with attendance from respected industry leaders like Gulfstream Aerospace, Jet Aviation, and Altec Industries, as well as Michael Janney, Vice President and Industry Advisor of Manufacturing at Salesforce.

Key Takeaways and Your Questions Answered

The Manufacturing session highlighted the growing importance of leveraging data to drive innovation and improve customer journeys.

1. What major trends are you seeing in manufacturing, and how are you addressing them?

Manufacturers need to be more customer-centric. High-quality products used to be enough, but now it’s all about the customer journey—engagement, experience, service, etc. Data is the way to achieve a better customer experience.

Tim Hale, Executive Vice Chairman of the Coastal Board, discusses how a recent Salesforce implementation enhanced the customer experience.

2. How do you leverage data to better engage and serve your customers?
Act on the data you have to determine what is most important to your customers. Avoid siloed and outdated information by connecting data from disparate systems, ensuring you have reliable information to drive those enhanced customer experiences. That builds brand loyalty and trust.

3. What are the biggest advantages of Salesforce Data Cloud?
Data Cloud is a game changer because it does not require perfect data, which facilitates simpler integration, faster access to the data, and increased speed to market. Many platforms used in manufacturing are beginning to focus on the customer journey; Data Cloud unites them all.

4. What are the challenges of getting a data project started? How do you go about it?
Figure out what use case you want to solve first by pulling in stakeholders from across the business. Allow them to inform what business processes can be improved and what data is needed to develop a better client experience.

From a technical perspective, focus on finding the best available data source and begin from there. Remember that your data doesn’t need to be perfect; it needs to be useful and actionable.

What use case do I want to solve first – because I could solve a hundred of them. If I try to solve a hundred of them, I’m not going to solve any of them. – Michael Janney, Vice President and Industry Advisor of Manufacturing, Salesforce

5. When it comes to the customer experience, what is that one infinite benefit that you’re looking to promise and elevate these days?
Manufacturers interact with so many different entities, from the manufacturing process to the sales process to service after the sale, and each of those experiences is different. If you can drive a consistently positive experience every step of the way, that’s the best scenario for a customer.

Chris Lewis, Senior Manager of CRM Operations at Gulfstream Aerospace, discusses the company’s approach to enhancing customer experiences.

If you missed the session during Dreamforce, let us offer you a personal recap.

If you’d like to speak with one of our manufacturing industry experts 1:1 to hear their perspectives, please reach out and we’ll get you scheduled. As a top-tier Salesforce partner with a 5/5 Customer Satisfaction Rating, we’re here for you.

Let me use this opportunity to tell you a little bit about a recent data project use case we experienced—a customer wanted to know how they could previous customers to buy more product?  – Erik Dunnigan, CRO, Coastal