LinkPoint Connect: Works So Well I Don't Even Know it's There
Pros
- Setup is pretty seamless, at least from an end-user point of view. Essentially you open both Outlook and Salesforce, and then click on the LinkPoint Connect button in Outlook. You are then asked to sign in (provide username/password) to Salesforce. That's all--once my login information was accepted it was set up and syncing emails and calendar items from Outlook to Salesforce. Pretty painless!
- Recording/syncing emails to client records is, from my standpoint at least, the core functionality, and LinkPoint does this pretty much flawlessly and with little to no effort or input on my part. This is incredibly important to me as it creates the documentation record I need in Salesforce to provide excellent service to my clients as well as for compliance reasons.
- The LinkPoint interface also makes it very easy and efficient to perform additional actions in Salesforce without ever leaving Outlook. New Salesforce tasks, events, follow up reminders, etc. are all easy to set up from the LinkPoint sidebar directly in Outlook with just a few clicks of the mouse. And, in those cases where you need to go a little deeper there is a link in the sidebar that will open up the client record directly in Salesforce in a single action, bypassing the multi-step process normally required (i.e. open the program, search for the client, select and open the record, etc.). This ease of interaction between the two programs has removed barriers and has helped me be more consistent in fully utilizing what Salesforce has to offer. No longer do I move on to the next item on my to-do list with scribbled note that will hopefully remind me to update Salesforce later, when I have a chance...
Cons
- I don't really have any areas where I think LinkPoint as room for improvement. Perhaps this is because I've only been using it a couple of months and haven't yet experienced anything problematic.
Return on Investment
- As mentioned before, LinkPoint's seamless interface and ease with which I am able to enter Salesforce items directly from Outlook has led to my being much more consistent (as well as timely and accurate) in my utilization of Salesforce in complete and wholistic way, and reaping the benefits that result.
Other Software Used
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Zoom, Cisco Webex Meetings, Microsoft Teams, PDF Xchange Viewer and Editor, Adobe Acrobat DC, OneNote, GoToMeeting, Evernote, Streamlabs, LastPass for Business, Skype for Business (formerly Lync), Sibelius, GarageBand, Remember the Milk, Epic MyChart, Citrix ShareFile, Dropbox Business, Audacity, Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition
