Introduction
Salesforce.com is a successful, award-winning company and a market leader for B2B and B2C cloud-based solutions. The history of its development and growth demonstrates the strategic approach to corporate management, high value for customer feedback, and emphasis on research and innovation (Kotler & Keller, 2015). So far, the corporation is an example of excellence in running an online business venture, yet, future may hold multiple uncertainties for Salesforce as the market is highly volatile and the technology trends are not always predictable (Son, Lee, Lee, & Chang, 2014). Thus, in this paper, the case of Salesforce will be critically reviewed from the standpoint of service long-term prosperity.
Problems
One of the critical issues with online marketing is to attract and retain customers who joined the service recently. The issue has many dimensions such as individual approach, first experience, interface functionality and design, service price, and other elements. A flaw in any of them hampers the company’s potential to maximize the number of customers. Thus, enhancing both the first-time and continuous user experience constitute a crucial problem for a web service.
In terms of first-time sensations, Salesforce seems to leave the client with only positive feelings if the client is knowledgeable of the security that cloud services provide. Yet, Goode, Lin, Tsai, and Jiang (2015) suggest that among the user audience of Software-as-a-service (SaaS), there are sufficient concerns over security. Since the company does not provide within-reach information about its security policy, it might undermine the client’s perception of salesforce.com.
However, the long-term usage experience seems to be hampered by the presence of hidden options and packages that are not evident from the start when a new user decides to purchase the cheapest service package. Thus, Herweg and Rosato (2018) argue that the delivery of a product that lacks transparency causes negativity towards the brand if unexpected financial losses occur. In light of this, the subsequent problem that salesforce.com experiences are the mechanics of advertising and sales. Deceptive model of behavior orients primarily on naĂŻve customers, which limits the audience coverage of the company. While Herweg and Rosato (2018) note that a deceptive framework allows for greater yields, its sustainability is limited and is not superior to a transparent one in the long term.
Solutions and Strategies
The problem of negative long-term user experience is a complex issue that might have several solutions. The resolution of this broader issue seems to be dependent on the underlying problem of obscure marketing strategy. As such, one might assume that developing a more transparent policy of notifying the client of all services included in the package. Hence, the solution would be to transition from a deceptive model to a transparent one. The shift may require the use of change management (CM). The first CM step towards such a transition is to acknowledge the presence of the problem (Salman & Broten, 2017).
For this, the company needs to critically assess the flaws of its package-sale system and pay close attention to the negative feedback concerning the optionality of some services. It is paramount to note, however, that the audit team may be biased against using more transparent models as the current works perfectly for salesforce.com at the moment. Thus, to counter that complication, one may resort to external counsel and audit. As argued by Mole, Baldock, and North (2015), external business advice may indeed reduce prejudice against certain methods and offer a fresh outlook on internal practices and affairs.
Once the problem is acknowledged, the company may prepare for the change by establishing a new vision. Since the problem is arguably fundamental and affects all salesforce.com services, the process might require sufficient resolve from the board and managers. Orientation on long-term client retention and product life cycle continuation should guide the new vision for marketing. The next step is to communicate the vision to the rest of the organization, including managers, chat specialists, web designers, and other personnel (Salman & Broten, 2017).
It will ensure that every member of the team is on board with the new paradigm and recognizes his or her role in the transition process. Initiation of the change will require designing and developing new service plans, prices, website explanations, and other work that will ultimately meet the client’s expectations.
In particular, the company might want to work on publicizing the information on prices and service inclusion as, currently, the website features only a modest description of all the package elements. While adding details to the page directly may clatter the visual perception, it might be a good idea to attach it as a downloadable document. Ensuring that continuation/discontinuation of the subscription to specific services is properly and transparently managed is one of the critical decisions that need to be implemented by the salesforce.com marketing team.
The next step in CM is to sustain change by quick wins and demonstrations of success. That might include extensive feedback gathering and displaying it to all teams. Since the direct consequences of the transition are mostly long-term, there is a necessity to withhold from declaring the strategy as ineffective and let the change mature (Salman & Broten, 2017). As the first reliable indicators of success are evident, integration of the change will make transparency an everyday practice at salesforce.com
The solution for the identified client security awareness problem is to establish a new tab on the web page that details the company’s measures to safeguard the client’s data. In comparison to the deception paradigm shift, the scale of change is rather small but nonetheless important. The use of 8-step CM might not be of use here since the only necessary addition is the development and design of a passage about the service security and adding a tab about it to the web page.
Justification
The intrinsic value of a transparent marketing framework is that of covering a broader audience of clients. Since the deceptive paradigm can work only with naĂŻve clients, knowledgeable ones remain outside their reach. Increasing the quality of long-term user experience and changing the marketing strategy might yield a more transparent, likable, and trustable brand that attracts more clients. While Herweg and Rosato (2018) note that de-biasing clients might prove to be a risky endeavor, opting for a seamless transition might mitigate possible adverse outcomes.
Notifying existing clients of the policy changes might indeed involve explanations, but it will unlikely cause significant damage to the company’s reputation because the client’s loyalty has already been achieved. Usage of Kotter’s 8-step model of change is warranted because the transition is rather fundamental and might involve internal resistance. In addition, it offers the possibility of seamless, gradual, and smooth adoption of a new corporate policy, provided everything is carried out in accordance with the device plan (Salman & Broten, 2017).
The public display of security information and policies is a viable option that will allow swaying the opinion of defense-or privacy-minded clients in favor of the company’s SaaS and PaaS. As noted by Goode et al. (2015), security has a significant effect on customer satisfaction which makes this domain of service especially paramount. Using highly reliable practices, hardware, and vulnerability-free software is a significant advantage that could assist salesforce in advertising their services.
Adding even a small but easily accessible passage on security to a website could significantly and positively affect visitor’s perceptions. Presently, there is an extensive body of customers who do not trust SaaS due to privacy or security concerns, which the new information on a website could help to address (Goode et al., 2015). One might argue that sheer brand recognition and partnerships with huge corporations like Google, Adidas, Unilever, and others could help convince many clients. On the other hand, it might not be enough, and placing a small block of information is a small and cheap endeavor that, while doing no harm, can attract an additional fraction of clients.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Salesforce corporation is an information systems giant and cloud service industry pioneer that still has room for improvement. In particular, the company might need to change its deceptive marketing paradigm that obscures the paid add-ons to a transparent policy that could bring improvement in the long term. In addition, the company could benefit from minor security information disclosure as a sale-point to attract new customers. The effectiveness of these measures is justified by the appropriate research, reason, and logic.
References
Goode, S., Lin, C., Tsai, J. C., & Jiang, J. J. (2015). Rethinking the role of security in client satisfaction with software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers. Decision Support Systems, 70, 73-85.
Herweg, F., & Rosato, A. (2018). Bait and ditch: Consumer naiveté and salesforce incentives. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network.
Kotler, P. T., & Keller, K. L. (2015). Marketing management (15 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Mole, K. F., Baldock, R., & North, D. (2015). Informality, advice and concerns: Business advice as an uncertainty reduction strategy. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015(1), p. 13548.
Salman, Y., & Broten, N. (2017). Leading change. London, UK: Macat Library.
Son, I., Lee, D., Lee, J. N., & Chang, Y. B. (2014). Market perception on cloud computing initiatives in organizations: An extended resource-based view. Information & Management, 51(6), 653-669.