As a Salesforce Einstein Champion I field a lot of questions about “just what it is, exactly?” and how artificial intelligence fits into the Salesforce Platform and, while I’m always happy to chat about it, I figured I’d take a moment here to address the Qs I hear most often!
So, from most frequent to least, let’s run through the list of everything Einstein!
What is Salesforce Einstein?
According to the official documentation, “Salesforce Einstein is the first comprehensive AI for CRM. It’s an integrated set of AI technologies that makes Salesforce Customer 360 smarter and brings AI to trailblazers everywhere.” Let’s break it down a bit more simply, though.
Salesforce Einstein is artificial intelligence, built right into the Salesforce platform. Composed of multiple tools, each completely integrated with its corresponding Salesforce product (Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Analytics Cloud, etc…), Einstein offers functionality-specific features designed to improve your work life and your business. From building predictions about customer behavior, recommending next steps in the sales process, improving forecasting accuracy, and more, Einstein takes the existing data in your org and looks for patterns, trends, and relationships that might not be readily apparent on the surface!
The easiest way to think about it as part data analyst, part business consultant, and part “extra set of hands and eyes to take care of some heavier lifting and make sure nothing slips through the cracks”!
How Much Does it Cost?
It’s no surprise that “How Much?” is the next most-common question, after all, it’ll probably be your boss’ first as well when you bring up Einstein down the road. And, while it does get a bit technical, depending on which product(s) you’re looking to roll-out Einstein on, how many users you expect, etc… you can make some rough estimates on your own and then call your Salesforce Account Executive to get the full details.
When it comes to Sales and Service Cloud, Einstein starts at about $50/user/month. For Marketing Cloud, it depends on the application — AI audience segmentation is actually included with professional edition, but the Einstein Engagement functionality around Email and Mobile Journeys or Einstein Vision for Social Studio will start at a flat $1,250/month. Einstein Prediction builder starts at $75/user/month, and Next Best Action starts at $50/user/month.
There’s actually quite a few different applications of Einstein, and they’re all priced to be competitive in the spaces they excel in, but that means you’ll want a clear vision of how you’ll be using the AI so you can choose the plan that’s right for you! That’s why it’s so important to touch base with your implementation partner and/or your Salesforce AE to help make sure you’re spending your budget in the right spots. So, if you’d like to have a quick chat about your business processes and your vision for adding AI to your org, feel free to give us a ring! And for a full list of Einstein starting prices, you can check them out right here.
What Do We Need for a Successful Einstein Rollout?
This is a frequent ask and it makes sense, for many organizations this will be their first foray into AI and so there aren’t the usual clear lines around ownership, responsibility, management, etc… but the good news is you don’t really need anything too special to start!
Because Einstein is integrated directly into your Salesforce org, you don’t need to prep data, manage models, or build algorithms — just plug and play. If you’re brand new to Salesforce you’ll have to get some data into the system initially, so that Einstein has something to work with, but if you’re rolling out Einstein into an existing org, that info’s already in there, ready to be analyzed! That makes it a great tool for overcoming performance plateaus, allowing it to look for opportunities to improve, while you can keep focusing on your day to day.
Can You Show Me?
Last up, it’s no surprise that most folks really want to see Einstein in action. And they’re in luck, because there are several ways to take a peek at the features and functionality, depending on which aspect you’re most interested in.
There are Trailhead trails and they’ll let you spin up your very own Einstein demo org, there are webinars and events that can be found on the Salesforce events calendar, and of course we’d be happy to give you a more-personalized demo ourselves! Drop us a line, tell us what Salesforce product you’re interested in exploring the AI for, and we’ll set up a call. Or, if you’d prefer to just talk through your existing processes, we can help you find opportunities for improvement and make suggestions if and where Einstein might be a good fit for your org! We’re experts at configuring and customizing Salesforce to fit business’ unique needs, so whether Einstein is right for you, we’ll likely still find some ways to improve your operations.
And now you know! As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and, until next time, keep working hard, smart, and happy. We’ll see you in the cloud.
