Top 3 Salesforce Apps for iPad
Everyone pretty unanimously loves Salesforce when it comes to their CRM needs. There are very few people who, even if they use something else, will argue that Salesforce isn’t a damn good solution. So, there’s very little schism in the CRM community regarding this.
However, there is a big divide between people when it comes to their mobile platform of choice, the two big groups being iOS (Apple) people and Android (Google) people. However, since the one thing both of these warring factions can agree on is the excellence of Salesforce, we’ll be taking a look at the best apps for both platforms, starting with the best Salesforce apps for the iPad/iPhone.
Now, let’s be perfectly honest here. I’m not a big fan of Apple’s system designs, and I never really have been. But given that their systems are designed to be extremely easy to learn (which results in them being frustrating for more computer-inclined people), they have an understandably large following.
I will usually discourage the use of Apple systems in work environments, because that’s not what their systems are really geared for. However, given that a solid half of the mobile market was occupied by Apple before that device genre was taken seriously for work use … it’s inevitable that people will need to perform work with them. So, fortunately, some strong Salesforce apps for iPad/iPhone do exist, though not nearly so much as Android for the reason above – Apple systems are meant for casual use.
#1 – Images for Salesforce (iOS Version)
One of the bigger functions that you wind up needing after you unbox any given CRM system is a way to upload evidence of various outcomes of campaigns, leads and the like in the wild. Traditionally, this involved data and screen captures obtained erstwhile, and then uploaded through a lot of doctoring into CRM databases that really didn’t want that kind of data.
Images replaces the awkward data capture element, allowing quick capture of all kinds of visual and technical data from the web, and linking it directly to leads and records without any complication or protest from databases not designed to handle such obscure forms of information.
The iOS version works well enough, on iPad and iPhone.
#2 – RocketSales
One of the bigger problems with SaaS on iOS (which even the most devout Apple fan will not argue) is that the browser, Safari, is very fiddly. It will randomly be incompatible with otherwise standard web technologies for no apparent reason, making support for the device difficult. Apple is attempting to remedy this, but for the meantime, the problem is present. RocketSales is an answer to this problem to an extent.
It’s basically a fast access portal to various components of your Salesforce data, such as records, leads, tasks and contacts. For what it is and the problem it’s intended to address … yeah, it works. Relevant information is available on salesforce import leads page.
#3 – Square
Finally, we all remember what a pain integrating credit/debit card systems into CRM and other frameworks used to be. Well, one thing iOS had really shined in is making working with this pretty easy on a consumer end. But how does it fare with the business end?
Square, an app for integrating these transactions directly with Salesforce, works splendidly. It works with Visa, American Express, MasterCard and Discover, with a 2.7% flat rate fee, and integrates the transaction data smoothly into Salesforce. The app itself is free.
So, while iOS is notorious (even among Apple aficionados) for being kind of dodgy for business and third party development, the power of Salesforce prevails even here. There are some good Salesforce apps for iOS, but not nearly so many as for Android, which is next on the list.