Left my Heart in San Francisco

I know, I know. I’m late to the game, and you have probably already read your fill of Dreamforce recap posts. But since I’ve been

“The Internet of Customers” — Catchy tagline for the 11th annual event, and noteworthy in my opinion. Yes, Benioff has been preaching the value of customer-centric companies for awhile now, but I find this phrase particularly interesting. We’ve all been hearing and reading a lot about “The Internet of Things” lately, and personally, I find this concept fascinating. Just about a month ago, I was in Disney World and was able to have a true IoT experience using the new MagicBand RFID technology along with my smartphone. Not

MagicBand at Disney World

only was it my Park Pass, room key and credit card for the weekend, but I was able to view photos of me from rides and around the parks. I could adjust FastPasses for myself and my travel companions on my phone (which is a major upgrade from having to visit a ride in the park to collect a paper ticket). We were even able to use the app to add one person’s pass to their MagicBand while on the monorail & it worked seamlessly when we got to the gate. This is the Internet of Things.

So what is “The Internet of Customers” all about? Marc actually made it pretty clear. Take the same idea – all of your devices connected all of the time – and start thinking about your customers in the same way. Between our smartphones and tablets, with wifi and LTE (or whatever is next) being widely available, there is now rarely a time when you are not connected. And what we as businesses need to do is adjust to this shifting dynamic. Not only do we need to meet our customers where they are, we need to get there first and guide them through the new Internet of Customers.  This message, unlike some messages of Dreamforce Past, really resonates with both B2B and B2C companies. No matter what you’re selling or who you are selling to, empowering every one of your employees to wow every one of your customers is key to being successful in business today.

As always, the week was filled with seeing old friends, meeting new ones and not having enough hours in the day to do everything I wanted. Attending for the first time as a partner, I got to spend time at my company’s booth & watch my co-workers wow our customers and prospects. I got a new headshot and played some corn-hole, thanks to the Success Community Zone. I even got to steal my face off a wall! Overall, it was an amazing week. Only 310 days until we do it all again!