You know that smartphone you carry in your pocket? What percentage of time do you actually use it as a phone anymore? The iTunes Store or Android Marketplace have literally redefined what a smart phone is and what it can do. Your phone is now so much more. It’s a web browser, restaurant finder, flight tracker, GPS, note taking social media conduit that is barely even used as a phone any more.
Exciting New Opportunities in Association Software
One thing we have noticed is that the Salesforce AppExchange is similarly redefining what an association management system is and how it is being extended. The Salesforce AppExchange has over 2,600 Apps and those apps have been downloaded close to 3 million times.
The AppExchange includes native apps that are added directly to your Salesforce / Nimble AMS instance, or integrations to many commonly used tools such as email marketing solutions.
Real World Example from ASCRS
In the discovery phase of our Nimble AMS (our enterprise Association Management Software built on the Salesforce CRM platform) implementation at ASCRS (American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery) a request was made to have a configurable pop-up alert when a staff member was on a member record. For example, ASCRS wanted to have Nimble AMS pop up an alert if the member had an outstanding balance. (Related: ASCRS and Nimble AMS Success Story).
In our previous days we would have had to start the process of building out requirements and tech specs and enlisting a developer to build such an extension. It would likely be costly and take a good amount of time and effort to complete.
With the AppExchange, the approach was completely different and revolutionary in the association technology space. Adam, the senior implementation consultant, went to the AppExchange and did a search like this. There were a number of pop-up apps to choose from and Pop-up Alerts looked like a great fit – and it was free!
Adam installed it in the customer’s sandbox environment (something that is also unique to Salesforce), built a quick workflow, tested it with some real data, showed it to ASCRS and then pushed it into their production site. Time elapsed: 30 minutes. This is one of a myriad of benefits that an AMS built on the Salesforce platform brings to the table.
Bottom Line
Salesforce CRM based Association Software like Nimble AMS can offer tangible cost and functionality benefits that are unmatched by legacy systems.
From Pop-up utilities to Email Marketing apps, we have implemented a wide variety of AppExchange apps into our customers’ organizations – here is just a small sampling of some the apps used by our customers.
How will you extend your association software to better accomplish your important mission?
