Improve your Outlook: How integrating your inbox with Salesforce will change the way you work forever

Here’s the deal: I’m a dedicated Salesforce user, but I spend most of my work life in my email inbox doing the usual--sending emails, responding to emails, and scheduling stuff. While I could go into Salesforce to send emails to my clients, if I can avoid flip-flopping between systems, I most certainly will. This is the beauty of email integration solutions; by connecting your inbox to your instance of Salesforce, your life will be easier and you will be transformed into a lean, mean, emailing, and activity-tracking machine.

What is email integration?

Imagine a world where every email you send from your inbox gets automatically logged in Salesforce and you can add new contacts and leads from emails without ever having to leave Outlook or Gmail. That’s email integration! Because it’s easy to use and great for low-tech users who are more comfortable in their inboxes than they are in Salesforce, email integration is a game-changer for many businesses and nonprofits. Email integration is to Salesforce as Google maps is to your cell-phone: many of us have no idea how we managed to get around prior to their invention.

Is email integration for you?

Like every technology recommendation; it’s not for everyone. You’ll want to make sure you’re a good fit for email integration prior to purchasing a solution. We’ve put together same basic requirements to help you determine if it’s a good fit:

1. Your email platform can integrate with your CRM. Most widely used email platforms, like Gmail and Outlook, can integrate with widely used CRMs like Salesforce. But if you run your email off an internal server or less-common system, it’s likely that most email integration solutions won’t work for you.  
    
2. The email integration solution integrates with your operating system. The vast majority of us are on a Mac or Windows computer, in which case you won’t have any problems finding an email integration solution that works. Outliers like Linux may have a harder time.
    
3. You have enough storage space in your CRM database. For cloud-based solutions, be aware that you might have to pay for data at a certain threshold. Some email integration solutions automatically transfer emails to their corresponding accounts in your CRM, while others allow you to pick and choose which emails are logged. Any emails you store in your CRM will take up space and might end up costing you down the road.
    
4. You don’t mind if your emails are viewable to others in your organization. Make sure the email integration solution you choose fits your privacy needs. If you choose one that automatically logs your emails in Salesforce, be aware that emails associated to your contacts and leads will be saved in Salesforce under their record. Sometimes those emails may contain information and content you may not want available to your colleagues. 

Three of our favorite email integrations

We often recommend email integration solutions for our clients, so we’ve developed a list of three go-to products and services that have really nailed it. Some solutions even offer nifty add-ons like calendar scheduling and analytics on email open rates. Below are a few of our favorite email integration solutions.

Salesforce App for Outlook

As you can probably tell by the name, this email integration specifically speaks to the needs of Salesforce and Outlook users.

Pros:

• It’s free!
• You can view Salesforce data, like contacts, leads, and accounts, in Outlook

Cons:

• It only integrates with Outlook, sorry Gmail users
• It’s in beta testing, so it’s not the most reliable solution. We’ve heard reports of the plugin dropping out of service for some users
• It’s currently only available for Salesforce Enterprise or higher

Cirrus Insight

Cirrus Insight works for both Gmail and Outlook (both cloud and locally hosted) integrations with Salesforce

Pros:

• You can configure the settings to automatic or manual email tracking in Salesforce, which means private emails can be kept confidential
• Additional tools include an automated calendar scheduling hack through your email, basic email analytics, and scheduling emails
• NPO discount of 50%

Cons:

• There are some limitations to system integration, for example Gmail has to be run on Chrome or Mozilla
• It’s not customizable, so you get what comes out of the box (which is still a lot)
• It was originally built to support Gmail users and added Outlook later, so Outlook is less robust than Gmail integration

Linkpoint360

Linkpoint360, unlike the previously listed solutions, works with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Infor CRM. It also has an integration for IBM notes.

Pros:

• Relatively low cost at only $48 per user, per year
• It’s highly customizable
• It has a manual “Record to Salesforce” button that allows you to choose which emails you want stored in your CRM
• It has a de-duplication feature that will prevent you from logging the same email twice

Cons:

• It was originally built to support Outlook users, so other integrations are catching up
• You may need a consultant to configure it for you

Email Integration is for Everyone

No matter which email integration solution you choose, it will likely turn into your favorite app solution that you rely on alongside your CRM. If you’d like to learn more or if you are a nonprofit organization and are interested in learning how to get a discounted version, make sure to let us know.

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