Best Idea Apps To Be Used in Salesforce

Staying ahead often means listening closely to your customers’ needs and ideas. For companies utilizing Salesforce CRM, the quest for innovation and improvement has found a powerful ally in idea management. With over 150,000 companies worldwide using Salesforce to manage their customer relationships, the potential for gathering valuable customer feedback is immense.

According to a recent survey by Salesforce, 92% of customers say they would be likely to make a repeat purchase from a company that has made it easy to suggest improvements. This shows just how important it is for businesses to encourage feedback and new product feature ideas.

Whether for product managers or businesses who want to tap into their customers’ knowledge, adding idea management to their Salesforce Experience Cloud site can make a big difference. But with so many apps to choose from, it can be hard to pick the right one. That’s where this blog comes in – to help you find the best idea app tailored for Salesforce users to drive innovation in your organization. This innovation management software can assist you in learning from your customers and making real changes to your products and services.

Understanding Idea Management in Salesforce

Idea management in Salesforce refers to the process of collecting, organizing, evaluating, and implementing product or service suggestions or innovative ideas from customers, partners, or other stakeholders within a Salesforce org. Salesforce offers tools and features to create a structured system for generating, reviewing, and prioritizing new ideas or innovations. This is where the Idea object comes into play. It allows users to submit, discuss, and vote on ideas. By using the Idea object in Salesforce, product managers and businesses can gather feedback and collect ideas, then categorize, prioritize, and track them through various stages of development, ultimately leading to their implementation or rejection.

While Salesforce’s native innovation management features provide a reliable starting point for some organizations, they may not offer the level of flexibility and advanced functionality needed by all users. Limitations such as restricted customization options, a lack of advanced features, potential user interface constraints, integration challenges, and scalability issues could impede their effectiveness. In scenarios where organizations have unique or intricate requirements, considering third-party applications or investing in custom app development becomes essential to enhance Salesforce’s idea management capabilities.

Limitations to keep in mind

At present, the Ideas object lacks support in Salesforce Lightning and is solely accessible through the Classic user interface which make you switching between interfaces to manage new ideas within the Salesforce org. Nevertheless, a third-party solution, Salesforce ideas app AC Ideas Ultimate, fills this gap by aligning perfectly with Salesforce Lightning Experience. This is the best idea management software for ideation in Salesforce as it provides the functionality to manage product ideas in LEX. With AC Ideas Ultimate idea management tool, you can establish your own Ideas community, enabling customers or partners to provide valuable insights, product feedback and propose new features for brainstorming. This integration establishes a streamlined innovation management process within the Lightning Experience interface.

Salesforce Experience Cloud for Idea Generation and Management

Salesforce Experience Cloud is a DXP platform that allows you to build stunning sites on top of Salesforce connected to your CRM data.

With Salesforce Experience Cloud, you can establish an interactive community, whether for customers or partners, for collecting ideas and establishing a robust innovation management system in your Salesforce org. On this platform, users can submit their ideas, engage in discussions, vote on their favorite suggestions, and track the progress of ideas through various stages of development. This platform provides a structured environment for idea generation and collaboration, ultimately leading to the implementation of innovative solutions.

It offers a user-friendly interface, customizable features, and seamless integration with other Salesforce tools, it is an ideal solution for organizations looking to establish an idea management platform to utilise the collective intelligence of their community for driving business growth and success. You can always opt for user experience services in case the out-of-the-box customization capabilities are not enough for your design needs.

Salesforce Idea Management: How To Turn An Idea Into A Product

For all successful and growing companies, innovation is the key to staying competitive. They are constantly seeking new ideas and solutions to address market demands and improve their offerings. However, the process of generating, evaluating, and implementing ideas can be complex and challenging.

Criteria for Selecting Idea Apps

When looking evaluating innovation management software applications for your organization, it’s essential to consider several key criteria to ensure you choose the most suitable solution. Here are some important factors to keep in mind when looking for the best idea management tools for your Salesforce instance:

Integration with Salesforce

Ensure the app seamlessly integrates with Salesforce and Experience Cloud. It should synchronize data, such as user profiles and idea submissions, with Salesforce’s CRM system to maintain consistency and accessibility.

User experience

Evaluate the app’s user interface and experience. It should offer intuitive navigation, easy idea submission, and robust collaboration features to encourage engagement from users, including customers, partners, and employees.

Customization

Look for apps that allow for customization to align with your organization’s branding and workflow requirements. Customizable features enable tailoring of the idea management process to specific business needs and preferences.

Scalability

Consider the scalability of the app to accommodate growth in user volume and idea submissions over time. The app should be capable of handling increased data loads and user interactions without compromising performance or user experience.

Idea workflow management

Assess the app’s capabilities for managing ideas lifecycle, including submission, review, feedback, prioritization, and implementation. It should provide tools for tracking ideas through various stages of development and facilitate transparent communication among stakeholders.

Analytics and reporting

Look for apps that offer robust analytics and reporting functionalities. These features enable insights into idea trends, user engagement metrics, and the impact of implemented ideas, empowering informed decision-making and continuous improvement.

Security and compliance

Ensure the app adheres to industry-leading security standards and compliance regulations, especially regarding data privacy and protection. It should provide robust access controls, encryption, and auditing features to safeguard sensitive information.

Community support and updates

Consider the vendor’s reputation for providing ongoing support, updates, and community resources. Regular updates ensure compatibility with Salesforce and Experience Cloud updates, while active community support fosters knowledge sharing and problem-solving.

Idea Management in Lightning Experience (LEX)

Compatibility with Lightning Experience user interface is one of the most significant criteria for the best idea app to be used in Salesforce and Experience Cloud.

In Salesforce Lightning Experience, innovation management faces certain limitations, primarily centered around the functionality and compatibility of the platform. Currently, the Ideas object is not supported in Salesforce Lightning Experience, meaning users need to switch to the Classic interface to manage ideas. One workaround is to utilize the Classic interface specifically for idea management tasks until Salesforce provides full support for the Ideas object in Lightning Experience. Alternatively, you can explore third-party solutions that offer seamless integration with Lightning Experience for idea management. This is where AC Ideas Ultimate steps in. The app is LEX-native and totally compatible with Salesforce Lightning Experience user interface allowing you to gather feedback and product ideas through your Experience Cloud site and manage all data in Lightning Experience internal interface without the need for switching to Salesforce Classic.

Best Idea Management Software Solutions for Salesforce

Alright, let’s dive into this part of my blog where we’re going to check out some of the most popular idea management software solutions made specifically for Salesforce users. Whether you’re running a small startup or a big company, it’s super important to find the right tool to make the most out of your customers’ feedback and brilliant ideas. We’ll take a look at what each solution offers, so you can figure out which one fits your business needs best. So, let’s get started and find the perfect match for you!

Ideas for Community (Lightning component)

This is a free, simple app by Salesforce Labs that offers basic idea management functionality to be implemented in Salesforce Experience Cloud. It’s a user-friendly solution designed to facilitate seamless idea exchange among community members. With intuitive features, community members can submit new ideas, vote for their favorites, leave comments, and like others’ contributions. This package installs a comprehensive set of Lightning components, empowering community administrators to create a dynamic platform for idea generation and collaboration.

The app is simple and may have areas that need improvement for enhanced usability and performance.

Innovation Hub

Another free Innovation management solution by Salesforce Labs. The app is designed to boost collaboration among partners and customers. With Innovation Hub, users can pitch ideas, vote for favorites, and receive feedback through comments. This tool nurtures innovation within organizations and empowers users to drive transformation. It accelerates the ideation funnel and promotes cross-zone knowledge sharing. Innovation Hub enables customers to bring ideas from concept to reality within the Salesforce platform.

Ideas Component Lite for Experience Cloud

Ideas Component Lite for Experience Cloud is a free idea management application by Advanced Communities, designed for use in Salesforce Experience Cloud. With a 4.75 app rating and 76 positive reviews, it stands as the most popular and reliable idea management solution on AppExchange. Being 100% native to Salesforce, the app seamlessly integrates with Salesforce, providing robust idea management functionality to help you gather feedback from your customers and partners to shape new product innovations.

However, Ideas Component Lite for Experience Cloud is a limited version with restrictions on the number of ideas, capped at 100 per community.

AC Ideas Ultimate

Another idea management app by Advanced Communities is the enhanced version of the previous app, Ideas Component Lite for Experience Cloud. This app is an unlimited version with full LEX support and comprehensive field management in the Lightning Experience interface, which were not available in the Ideas Component Lite for Experience Cloud app. AC Ideas Ultimate is an unlimited app version with an unlimited number of ideas per community. The app offers some additional functionalities exclusively available within this package:

• Jira Integration
• Idea Matrix
• Moderation rules
• Idea list views and filters
• Multi-level categories
• Full Chatter support
• Custom idea posting form
• Separate detail page for related ideas, discussions, and attachments
• Idea Pre-Moderation
• Unlimited status auto-update levels
• Full support of idea reports
• Merge ideas
• Time-limited idea campaigns
• Out-of-the-box email notifications
• Ideation dashboard
• Add attachments to ideas
• Ideation manager for specific zones or campaigns
• and much more

Why AC Ideas Ultimate is Your Best Idea App for Salesforce

In this part of our blog, I’m highlighting the evident challenges many companies face in the innovation management process within Salesforce and demonstrating how they can be overcome with the AC Ideas Ultimate ideation tool for Salesforce Experience Cloud.

Limited support for Ideas object

As mentioned above, the Ideas object is not supported in Salesforce Lightning Experience, meaning users need to switch to the Classic interface to manage ideas. AC Ideas Ultimate idea management software perfectly works in Lightning Experience!

Restricted customization options

Salesforce Lightning Experience may offer limited customization options for innovation management compared to the Classic interface. By considering third-party apps like AC Ideas Ultimate or custom development, you can address specific customization requirements and establish a platform right in Lightning Experience interface that perfectly matches your specific business needs.

Potential integration challenges

Integrating idea management processes with other Salesforce modules or third-party applications may pose challenges due to compatibility issues or limited integration options. AC Ideas Ultimate idea management software is a Salesforce-native app, designed to seamlessly integrate with the Salesforce ecosystem, including Salesforce CRM, Experience Cloud, and other Salesforce products. This is what ensures data consistency, reduces duplication of efforts, and streamlines workflows by allowing users to access and interact with the app directly within Salesforce.

The app seamlessly integrates with Atlassian Jira for simplified idea tracking so that users are kept informed about the status of their ideas, reducing manual effort and increasing engagement in the ideation process.

Scalability concerns

As organizations grow and the volume of ideas increases, scalability may become a concern in Salesforce. AC Ideas Ultimate is an app that helps you overcome all scalability issue you may face. The app helps you to regularly evaluate and optimize the performance of idea management processes all within Lightning Experience to ensure scalability as the organization expands.

Poor flexibility

Establishing an innovation management system in Salesforce can be challenging due to limited flexibility in customization options. Standard Salesforce features may not provide the necessary flexibility to tailor the ideation process to specific products or target audiences, leading to a lack of customization and adaptability.

AC Ideas Ultimate idea management software addresses the challenge of poor flexibility by offering robust customization capabilities. With custom fields support, organizations can tailor the information they collect by setting up custom fields and fieldsets for creating ideas in Salesforce Lightning and on their site. This allows for the collection of specific data points relevant to their unique business needs and objectives.

Besides, AC Ideas Ultimate idea management software introduces zone-based ideation, enabling organizations to tailor the ideation process to specific products or target audiences. By organizing ideas and feedback into distinct zones, each with its own unique set of ideas, suggestions, and questions, organizations can ensure that the ideation process is tailored to the specific needs and preferences of different user groups. This includes separate settings, categories, and statuses for each zone, providing flexibility and adaptability in managing ideation across various contexts.

Poor resource allocation

You may feel overwhelmed by the influx of ideas from your customers or partners and get lost, unsure of where to start. This can ultimately lead to poor decision-making and ineffective resource allocation. Most idea management software solutions for Salesforce lack the functionality to evaluate ideas, which sets our AC Ideas Ultimate app for Salesforce Experience Cloud apart. With its Idea Prioritization feature, you can assess ideas submitted through your portal and prioritize those with the greatest impact. Rank and prioritize innovation and implement ideas based on factors such as votes, development effort, or monetary value, ensuring that your resources are directed toward the most impactful initiatives.

Conclusion

Selecting the right idea management app for your Salesforce instance is crucial for using customer/partner feedback and driving innovation within your organization. Whether you’re aiming to streamline idea submission, enhance collaboration, or prioritize initiatives based on impact, there’s a solution tailored to meet your specific business needs. From the seamless integration of Salesforce-native apps to the advanced features offered by third-party solutions, each option brings unique benefits and functionalities to the table. By using the power of these idea management apps, you can empower your team to generate, evaluate, and implement ideas that bring your products and services to new heights of success. So, take the time to explore the options available and find the perfect fit for your organization’s journey towards innovation and growth with Salesforce.

Q&A

What is an idea management software?

An idea management software is a tool or platform designed to facilitate the collection, organization, evaluation, and implementation of ideas or suggestions from various sources such as employees, customers, partners, or stakeholders. It provides features for submitting, discussing, voting on, and tracking ideas through different stages of development. These platforms often include functionalities like idea categorization, prioritization, collaboration tools, and analytics to support decision-making processes.

For instance, if you’re brainstorming “innovative app ideas,” or “food donation app,” an idea management software would help gather, assess, and refine concepts related to mobile applications. It could involve features tailored to the mobile app development process, such as user interface design, functionality suggestions, market analysis, and feasibility assessments specific to mobile platforms.

What are the objectives of idea management?

The objectives of idea management are to gather, evaluate, and implement ideas, suggestions or proposals from various sources, such as employees, customers, or partners, with the goal of driving innovation and improvement within an organization. By encouraging the submission of ideas and providing a structured process for review and implementation, idea management aims to foster creativity, identify opportunities for growth, and ultimately, develop innovative solutions to address challenges or meet customer needs. In the context of “innovative mobile app ideas,” the objective would be to collect and assess creative concepts for mobile applications that offer unique features, enhance user experience, and provide value to customers.