Smartphonization is a recent trend that emerged in the 2010s and only continues to evolve. Now, every generation, starting from toddlers to elderly people, knows how to use a smartphone. Moreover, the sales for Samsungs, iPhones, and other mobile devices tend to increase.
Thus, app development sees its rise and prosperity, involving new technologies and approaches. One of them is the customization of services for each and every client through mobile apps. But how to implement that? The answer is the integration with Salesforce as the most powerful and widely used CRM system.
Table Of Contents 👉
Understanding Salesforce Data
Salesforce’s primary objective is to store and operate data of prospective and current customers. It contains CRM records with contact information, orders, emails, contracts, quotes, etc.
Integrating such data in app development can provide valuable insights to companies and develop data-driven decision-making. It also can nurture user interactions and enhance user experience.
Methods of Extracting Data from Salesforce
Modern technologies allow app developers to connect apps easily, even without any coding. When it comes to Salesforce data export, there are at least 5 methods for extracting data and integrating it into your application.
Data Export Wizard
This is a built-in tool inside Salesforce for manual data export in CSV or XML file format. You can export any object, including the Account list, Companies list, etc.
To retrieve data with the Data Export Wizard, go to Setup in Salesforce and type Data Export in the Quick Find/Search box. Then, click Data Export and select either manual or automatic data loading to get the data instantly or on schedule respectively.
This method could be useful for operation with Salesforce data in the offline mode. However, it might not be the best option for data integration in app development.
Salesforce API
The more appropriate way to work with Salesforce data in third-party applications is to rely on its API. Salesforce offers REST API, SOAP API, and Bulk API for developers to query and retrieve data.
Developers have to explore API documentation and write code to set up data integration. This is a tedious process, requiring lots of debugging and testing, so it naturally takes plenty of time and effort.
Skyvia
An easier and more convenient way to integrate Salesforce data in app development is by using specific tools, such as Skyvia. It’s a modern universal cloud platform designed for working with a wide scope of data-related tasks: data integration, ETL, Reverse ETL, data warehousing, workflow automation, etc.
Skyvia offers a visual wizard for setting up all the integrations with no coding, which greatly simplifies the process for developers. Moreover, it provides clear error descriptions, helping to make any corrections right away.
Integrating Salesforce Data into App Development
Let’s look at the example of how to set up integration between Salesforce and your app database, MySQL Server, for instance.
1. Open Skyvia and log into your account.
2. Select Integration -> Import from the menu.
3. Set Salesforce as a source and your app database as a destination.
4. Click Add task to set up all the integration details.
5. Select the Salesforce objects to transfer to your app.
6. Configure the target and define the mapping settings.
7. Save the task.
8. Define scheduling parameters to perform data integration automatically.
As you see, the entire process takes several minutes. Meanwhile, it could have taken hours or even days to set up integration with custom coding and APIs.
Salesforce Data in Action
Thousands of companies use Salesforce on a daily basis, and hundreds of them have already made the most of Salesforce data integration in app development. Here are some popular industries where Salesforce data is frequently used for developing mobile applications:
- Financial services
- Retail and e-commerce
- Healthcare
- Management
- Nonprofit organizations
One of the success stories related to Salesforce data use in a proprietary company app is reported by Coca-Cola Germany. They have developed a service mobile app with real-time data synchronization with Salesforce. That gives customer support agents instant access to customer history, which greatly enhances user experience and brand loyalty.
Conclusion
Providing personalized customer experience is the priority of many companies these days. Consumer data from Salesforce could ensure that, but each company needs to select the most suitable method for that.
APIs for Salesforce data load are widely common in app development but those are rather complicated. Speed matters, so finding alternative solutions for integrating Salesforce data makes sense.
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