THIS MONTH OUR COMMUNITY THE EXCHANGE ROCKS WINTER 2021 Relying on Sales and Inventory Data to Drive Success According to Founder and CEO Katherine Lucey, one of the key ways Solar Sister uses Salesforce is to track sales and inventory data. Though the locations their field agents Alicia Oberholzer work in are scattered across two countries, all of the data feeds into a central data system to give them live, real-time Impact Associate insights into what is happening with their business. Solar Sister “If we didn’t have this kind of insight into the business and how COVID-19 was impacting our entrepreneurs, I don’t think we would have been able to continue to operate and scale in the way that we have,” Katherine said. Solar Sister Impact Associate Alicia Oberholzer added, “Without Salesforce I don’t know how we would be er tracking our sales, or making informed decisions that empower our entrepreneurs. And I think what sets Salesforce apart is that we can do all of this in one Katherine Lucey place, whereas if we went with a different software, Founder and CEO edit: Solar Sist we might have to have four different software Solar Sister o Cr programs to take care of four different processes. t Pho So, Salesforce really helps us have one source of truth for all of our business, customer, and donor data.” BRINGING Enabling Remote Data Entry Salesforce might be the backbone of Solar Sister’s data remotely, without an internet connection. TaroWorks management system, but without AppExchange app saves field agents around two hours per day by CLEAN ENERGY TaroWorks, the team would not be able to have access allowing them to submit data, information, and to real-time insights. reporting straight to Salesforce while working offline in Because most areas of Nigeria and Tanzania do not these completely remote areas. TO MILLIONS have internet access, field agents have to collect data OF AFRICANS Creating a Better Customer and Donor Experience In order to support local African women in creating “Classy for Salesforce has not only made our online How Solar Sister uses AppExchange to sustainable businesses that spread clean energy to their fundraising simple and effective, but it also perfectly empower women entrepreneurs. communities and beyond, Solar Sister is in the process of integrates with Salesforce,” said Katherine. “With this app, deploying we have been able to execute more online campaigns, Mogli SMS, an app that will allow the team to As a social enterprise serving more than 5,000 When the pandemic swept its way across the communicate with their entrepreneurs from anywhere, expand our donor base, and increase the amount of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Tanzania, nations, Solar Sister was able to seamlessly anytime. They hope that in addition to sending their fundraising coming in.” Solar Sister knows what it’s like to manage an transition to working remotely because of entrepreneurs regular encouragement and business tips, Together, Salesforce and AppExchange have allowed Solar ever-changing, off-the-grid customer base. Salesforce and the AppExchange apps it had they can also send out customer satisfaction surveys to see Sister to accomplish in 10 years what would have taken a Prior to COVID-19, previously deployed. Here’s how the team was how they can improve their service experience. lifetime or two to tackle: bringing clean energy to millions Solar Sister had distributed more than 400,000 clean energy products and able to continue through change, even in crisis. None of this would be possible without the donor base in Africa. provided clean energy to more than 1.7 million Solar Sister has been able to build. Recently, the team implemented people in Africa through the entrepreneurs Classy for Salesforce to assist in their online they empower. fundraising campaigns. 25