Episode 465: Turning Salesforce Into a Growth Engine: Scalable Systems, Smarter Data & Real Adoption with Marcus Smith

Marcus Smith 00:00
It’s about being somebody that other people will trust to do business with. At this point, people know when you’re coming. They know what you’re coming for, most of the time if you come that way. And I think people are overwhelmed with it.

Intro: 00:12
Welcome to the Making Sales Social podcast, featuring the top voices in sales, marketing, and business. Join Brynne Tillman and me, Bob Woods, as we bring you the best tips and strategies our guests are teaching their clients so you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. Enjoy the show.

Brynne Tillman 00:39
Welcome back to Making Sales Social. I’m Brynne Tillman, and my guest today is Marcus Smith, CEO of Cloudtrails, a Salesforce consultancy based in Atlanta. Marcus has been in consulting since 2010 and has led Cloudtrails since 2021. With a background in Industrial and Systems Engineering, his work centers on helping businesses design scalable, system-driven solutions that let them truly maximize their Salesforce investment—not just use the platform, but turn it into a growth engine. Marcus, welcome to the show.

Marcus Smith 01:12
Hey, thanks for having me.

Brynne Tillman 01:14
Oh, thanks for being here. We had some tech problems in the beginning, so I’m kind of playing off of that. Well, Marcus, I am so excited to talk with you for many reasons. One, you are such a genius at making Salesforce more productive inside companies, and I can’t wait to dive in because probably 75% of our listeners and the clients I work with have Salesforce, and about 95% of them are not leveraging it effectively. So, I’m thrilled to explore your expertise. But before we do, I’ll start with the question we ask everyone: What does Making Sales Social mean to you?

Marcus Smith 02:10
For me—and this is actually a big transformation inside our company—it’s about being somebody that other people will trust to do business with. At this point, people know when you’re coming and what you’re coming for most of the time. People are overwhelmed with it. I remember the day I changed my title on LinkedIn, and I was immediately deluged by bots. I don’t buy that way. I want to know who you are, if you solve my problem, and if you can do what I need in the way I need it. For me, this means being somebody that people want to buy from. You do that through how you handle people, how you talk to them, and how you deliver.

Brynne Tillman 02:59
I love that. It’s about showing up in a meaningful way. As a salesperson, a lot of what we’re trained to do is work to KPIs and commission numbers. You’re flipping that, saying, “I’m a solution-based consultant. I’m out here to solve problems, and the commissions will follow.”

Marcus Smith 03:25
Exactly. There are people looking for solutions, looking for us. Everybody who’s bought from us this year has said, “We like the way that you do this.” I can’t charge people by the hour—it bugs me. I’ve seen too many people charge hours because they have to, but not actually do anything. That misaligns incentives. One of my earliest consulting memories was joining a firm where the bonus was based on working 48 hours. Once I figured out the work, I no longer got the bonus, because it didn’t take 48 hours anymore.

Brynne Tillman 04:19
That reminds me of the story about Picasso drawing on a bar napkin. Someone asked for it, and he said $10,000. “It only took 30 seconds!” “It took me 30 years to get this good.”

Marcus Smith 04:35
Exactly.

Brynne Tillman 04:37
Let’s dive into some fundamental questions for sales leaders. Many invest heavily in Salesforce—it’s not an impulse buy. It’s the core of the business, yet few ever get full ROI. What are the biggest misconceptions about what Salesforce can and should do versus what it actually does?

Marcus Smith 05:41
The biggest misconception is thinking a project will take off like a rocket. The project is really laying your initial foundation for what you think should happen in the system. We just finished reviewing 2,100 tickets from customers. The number one question is, “How does this part work?” These are people who have already invested in Salesforce, often $100–$130k, and they still ask basic questions. Projects don’t magically succeed after implementation; if no one is around to support it, you get stuck.

Brynne Tillman 06:38
So Salesforce is not “set it and forget it.”

Marcus Smith 06:44
I call it like a garden. You have to nurture it continuously. Your business changes. Someone sees something on YouTube. You’ll want to report differently. Without someone skilled with Salesforce, IT people will make poor versions of standard functionality. A lot of consultants sell it that way because they need ongoing work, but your sales process doesn’t change that drastically every month.

Brynne Tillman 08:27
Interesting. They’re tinkering, but not necessarily adding value.

Marcus Smith 08:31
Exactly.

Brynne Tillman 08:33
Sales leaders rely on Salesforce data for decisions—time and territory management, AB tests, outreach touches, KPIs. How do you help teams get accurate data?

Marcus Smith 09:37
Only ask for data that you absolutely need to move the business. Be ruthless. Every touchpoint is work someone might not want to do. Minimize it to what is essential, make it show up in reviews, and manage it closely. Incentives are different—your incentives aren’t theirs. Too many things in Salesforce leads to low-quality data entry. Keep it simple.

Brynne Tillman 10:57
Exactly. I taught bankers last week on Sales Navigator. Managers often check metrics like saved searches, leads, or profile visits. But I care about how many touches turned into conversations and how many conversations turned into opportunities. Nothing else matters.

Marcus Smith 11:44
People naturally orient toward what you emphasize. If you focus on three things, that’s what they prioritize. Too many tasks dilute effectiveness.

Brynne Tillman 12:24
Adoption is tough because it’s time-consuming. Keep it simple, and friction reduces.

Marcus Smith 12:36
Yes. When a project rolls out, there’s the team who bought it and those who have to use it. Misalignment can create adoption challenges. Success comes when leaders are flexible and understand the process will evolve.

Brynne Tillman 13:35
How important is it that Salesforce aligns with the sales process?

Marcus Smith 13:49
It depends on leadership. Leaders who demand rigid adherence have 0% success. Flexibility increases adoption. Salespeople are here to get things done. The process must allow adaptability.

Brynne Tillman 14:42
So you implement, train, and acknowledge the process will need refinement.

Marcus Smith 14:54
Exactly. We give clients 30 days after go-live to test, break, and submit issues. We fix these for free. There’s a difference between theory and real use. 100% of clients find adjustments once they start using the product. This approach comes from my product management experience—it’s about putting a product in front of users and iterating based on real usage.

Brynne Tillman 15:51
Wow, yeah, it’s a mess. Very low adoption.

Marcus Smith 16:00
Yeah, “very low” is gentle.

Brynne Tillman 16:03
No adoption. That’s great. I love this part. To me, this is one of the big mistakes sales leaders make. What are some other mistakes that cause the system to become more of a burden than a benefit?

Marcus Smith 16:27
There’s a desire to have the system manage people. You see certain people try to dummy-proof Salesforce with tons of validations, error messages, and pop-ups, but they don’t realize it’s demoralizing to the users. A new process rolls out, and someone says, “I need a 10-page guide to do this?” For example, we had a client who wanted field reps to identify gaps and communicate new product opportunities. The team wanted to dummy-proof the process so much that it was almost impossible to use.

In one meeting, I asked, “Do you want these people to recommend products or not?” There was a pause. Then they said yes. I suggested reducing validations from about 60 to 4 or 5. The goal was to let the salespeople see opportunities and the impact on their paycheck. They followed my recommendation, and now they create 10–15 new product opportunities per month. You have to trust people; the system can’t manage every step.

Brynne Tillman 18:33
Got it. Managing the process without overcomplicating it. Next, Salesforce has hundreds, if not thousands, of plugins and automations. One I’m familiar with is the Sales Navigator integration. How should a company handle it? What should IT do, or what would you do if called in?

Marcus Smith 19:50
There are two approaches. Sales Navigator has a negotiated connection to Salesforce. You can install it via AppExchange and it usually works well. The key is understanding how Salesforce and the third-party app work together. If you want functionality beyond the standard connection, you need a developer to manage it. People are often scared of this extra work, but if you want non-standard features, you have to value them at $1 or more because you’ll pay to maintain them.

Brynne Tillman 21:15
Do you think integrated pieces like this are worth it?

Marcus Smith 21:51
It depends. If the integration provides information you don’t already have in Salesforce, it’s absolutely worth it. But sometimes companies try to jam every system into Salesforce unnecessarily. For example, Jira is often better left as-is rather than forcing it into Salesforce. Salesforce is a tool to make money; focus integrations on augmenting revenue and insights, not simply centralizing everything.

Brynne Tillman 23:42
That makes sense. When working with a client, how do you identify whether challenges are due to process, people, or the platform itself?

Marcus Smith 24:12
We start by asking about goals, not technical issues. What are you trying to achieve? That guides the process. Many clients say they don’t have a process. Then we show them out-of-the-box functionality and adapt from there. We also use open-ended questions, like in NPS surveys. We ask them what they struggle with and use that to guide intake and implementation.

Brynne Tillman 25:58
That’s great. I have two quick questions. First, how can sales leaders ensure that their systems enhance team effectiveness rather than create busywork?

Marcus Smith 26:53
Ask yourself: Does the activity put you in front of the prospect? If not, why are you doing it? Remove ego from the equation. Only keep activities that drive productive meetings.

Brynne Tillman 28:01
I love that. I tell teams, if you’re not hitting goals, ask yourself whether each activity works toward or against that goal.

Marcus Smith 28:41
For a team of 60+, we have a frank conversation. Identify what they’re struggling to adopt, what’s essential, and solve it from a system perspective. Then focus on change management internally. Find champions and tie changes to personal benefit—like a better paycheck or improved quality of life. People adopt change when it benefits them, not just because the company wants them to.

Brynne Tillman 30:10
Mic drop.

Marcus Smith 30:19
Exactly. People need to understand what’s in it for them.

Brynne Tillman 30:32
I love this. Marcus, what questions should I have asked that I didn’t?

Marcus Smith 30:38
No, these were perfect.

Brynne Tillman 30:42
Last question: How can people get in touch with you?

Marcus Smith 30:46
Our website is www.cloudtrails.com. My email is marcus.smith@cloudtrails.com. Those are the best ways to reach us.

Brynne Tillman 31:00
Thank you, Marcus. This has been a great eye-opener for me and for our listeners. Don’t forget to make your sales social.

Outro 31:17
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