As a longtime moviegoer and overall film enthusiast, the annual Oscar-mania that is already taking place has me hyped as well! The delicate politics, heartfelt tributes and the sheer power of watching artists in their prime receive the ultimate honor from their peers is just a captivating thing to watch. Pumped up with the Oscars^tm vibe, I decided to write this week’s post in the same vein- so here are my top 7 Oscar^tm worthy Salesforce apps. Much like the Academy Awards, each category has its own winner, only difference is that here, there are no politics or honorary mentions- only pure quality and efficiency. To present the awards, please welcome the wickedly talented….. (Insert your Travoltified name)

Categories & Winners:

Best Data Quality & Management- DemandTools

The whole issue with data quality is that it’s kind of like your appendage: you don’t really feel it until it swells up and starts to hurt, and having it blow up can be a fatal blow to your business. Keeping clean records is a sisyphic task, and your employees will probably never feel any “good” consequences from it, but boy oh boy will they feel the wrath of a neglected record base. DemandTools is probably the best, most efficient and most advanced tool for data clean up and data loading – it’s, quick easy to use and flexible as it can get. Truly a must have. DemandTools on AppExchange  

Best Marketing and Sales Automation- Marketo

Marketo works so well I’ve actually considered changing this category’s name to “best lead scorer”. It lets you employ marketing automation to create better campaigns and eventually, generate high-quality leads. Creating landing pages, nurturing leads and streamlining your email marketing becomes effortless, but the true ace in the hole is Marketo’s built-in lead scoring ability, that helps you sort out prospects and find the ones worth acting on- all with a fresh, easy to use approach. The system is intuitive and fully integrated with Salesforce and the ability to add fields in Salesforce and have them instantly appear in Marketo is absolutely terrific. Marketo on AppExchange  

Best Plugin- Cirrus Insight

Honestly I can’t imagine a world in which my Salesforce and Gmail accounts aren’t integrated. What a breath of fresh air this app was! Cirrus Insight also integrates Salesforce with Google Calendar, Office 365 and Outlook. It lets you enter contact information to Salesforce from Gmail and vice versa. Additional features include email tracking and the ability to see when, where and on what device they’ve been opened. Cirrus Insight was also a tough contender in the productivity category, but I felt it’s a better fit in here. Cirrus Insight on AppExchange  

Best App for Small Businesses- Timba Surveys

Honestly there are many obvious ‘must haves’ for small businesses, but I chose to focus on a slightly different aspect. Customer feedback is the soft spot for every SMB, and yet it’s often overlooked or worse- ignored because of the human need to keep pushing forward instead of searching around for areas of improvement. As you try new products, services and approaches, you need to stay ‘on the beat’ with what your customers think. Positive feedback will echo around and attract more attention- eventually, more customers. Negative feedback is even more important, as it’ll help you better understand what not to do in the future. Oftentimes, customer feedback is neglected due to the constant care and attention it demands, that quickly translates to more work hours… well no more! Timba lets you send surveys to Salesforce contacts and leads and even non-Salesforce contacts, and analyze the results quickly and efficiently. Timba on AppExchange  

Best Productivity Booster- MyDay

My pick for top productivity boosting app- MyDay lets manage your team with ease, assigning tasks and allowing them to have an easy to-do list built into their Salesforce. Sure, there are many task management apps for Salesforce, but MyDay walked the extra mile in terms of UX and usability- You can sort tasks by categories like date and status, perform bulk actions and much more. A real gold standard in time-saving. MyDay on AppExchange

Best Learning Tool- WalkMe

WalkMe creates a personalized, customized and experiential training environment that provides context, relevance, flexibility and just-in-time learning. This powerful training tool overlays onto the user’s screen and helps them learn how to use Salesforce and perform the tasks you want them to in real time, boosting productivity and employee skill level. Check out WalkMe here  

Best “Feel Good” App– Quote of the Day

 What can I say, I’m a sucker for inspirational quotes… (that’s basically why I’m still using Pinterest!) and for me, the best way to start a busy work day is with some clever words by people that mastered their craft to perfection. Quote of the Day by MintCRM posts a different inspirational quote each morning to a public Chatter Group- and members of that group can comment, like, share etc. Good vibes! Quote of the Day on AppExchange