CRM company boosts operations in Visayas

CEBU, Philippines — Aiming to help more companies in the region in its operations, a US-pioneered company that specializes in providing premier customer relationship management (CRM) recently launched its operations in the Visayas.

Salesforce is a CRM platform that automates a company’s operations, by providing powerful and connected products that improves ones marketing, sales, commerce, service, IT, and a lot more.

Geda Fernandez, the chief executive officer of Lytblue, which is supporting Salesforce in its implementation, shared how eager they are to further introduce Salesforce in Visayas especially with the good reception they have received so far.

In Cebu in particular, several companies are already on Salesforce, said Fernandez. She said a bank that has been lauded for its highly efficient mobile banking app has been on Salesforce. Other big companies in Cebu are also following suit.

“If you want to automate your business, Salesforce is the way to go. There are so many competitors but Salesforce is your one stop shop,” said Fernandez, adding that it’s not only for companies but also for non-profit organizations.

Countries like Thailand have even incorporated Salesforce in its government operations. She explained that with the automated system provided by Salesforce, it provides transparency in governance. This system, if adapted by the Philippines, also hopes to bridge the gap of the different regions.

By adapting to a new system though, the fear of companies to invest money in automation is one of Salesforce’s challenges.

“People would always perceive it as expensive. There’s going to be an investment on license and an investment in setting it up,” Fernandez said.

But she explained that this is one of Lytblue’s responsibilities.  “We are here to educate people that it may seem expensive but if it’s the only one you’re using, it’s not actually expensive. Example for the media, you use Messenger, you text, you use google drive. Salesforce can be used as your one stop shop and can be cost-effective.”

This is also why even with a lot of competition in the industry, Fernandez said they are confident with Salesforce since it’s hugely customizeable, depending on the needs of the client.  “There are many companies that are CRMs. There are some who are messengers. But Salesforce has everything. It’s like Lego, it is like building blocks, you can shape it the way you want it. You can use it the way you want it. There are no limits on how you can use it.”

Apart from the cost, she said they hope to ease apprehensions of business owners who are used to doing things manually.

“We are used to doing things manually. There’s a certain form of comfort in that. We want to write everything on paper. Salesforce digitizes everything. The problem in writing in paper is it could get lost Salesforce is on cloud. If you want to grow your business, Salesforce is the way to go,” Fernandez said. 

Apart from helping companies, Salesforce also helps individuals through talks and discussions that guide them to be high-paid salesforce professionals.