Integrate Salesforce documents with Microsoft 365: collaborate and store in SharePoint

Nearly 70% of sales reps say they’re overwhelmed by the number of tools they need, according to a 2022 Salesforce study. It also found that consolidating tech stacks was the key priority for 9 out of 10 sales organizations. 

For example, many sales teams are accustomed to using Salesforce and the Microsoft 365 suite in their daily work. With all documents stored in and opened from SharePoint, this setup is common and familiar, but wouldn’t it be much better if these two productivity tools would really work as one?  

Well, yes, and now that’s possible – with the combination of Documill Dynamo document generation solution integrated with Microsoft 365. This allows also using SharePoint as the document repository – and fully overcoming storage limitations on Salesforce. 

Why such integration of software solutions? Because without it, there is unnecessary cut-and-paste and application hopping. Add to that the burden of creating every sales document manually, be it a quote, proposal, contract or report.

How does pairing Documill with Microsoft 365 help? 

These tasks are both time-consuming and repetitively boring, leading to lower productivity and morale that come with frustration. They can consume a significant portion of the salespeople’s workday, leaving less time for focusing on customer relationships and sales strategy. Indeed, another Salesforce study found that sales reps spend 9.4% of their time generating just quotes/proposals and gaining approvals (and just think about how much time is going into creating other documents on top of that). 

However, using Documill Dynamo for integrating Salesforce with Microsoft 365 saves a lot of salespeople’s time, so they can better focus on what really matters. As a bonus comes better file version control, improved compliance – and freedom from Salesforce’s storage limitations. 

So, let’s break down how this powerful combination helps salespeople. They can: 

• Access and work on documents stored in SharePoint securely and easily via a direct link within the appropriate salesforce record. 
• Automatically generate documents quickly, accurately, and consistently out of the company’s Salesforce data. 
• Rely on predefined, customizable templates with optional inherent editing capabilities  
• Continue working on the generated document in Microsoft 365 in formats such as Word, PowerPoint or Excel. 
• Looks too good to be true? It isn’t, so keep on reading. 

Challenges of sales document creation 

Let’s take a closer look at what makes work on sales documents so time-consuming for many sales teams. This is because sales reps and account managers frequently have to: 

• Manually create and customize every document.
• Continuously enter and re-enter the same data, such as client names, project details and pricing. 
• Manage and update multiple document templates. 
• Ensure document accuracy and compliance with industry regulations. 
• Incorporate the necessary legal clauses and amendments into each document 
• Be careful to avoid mistakes, which can become utmostly costly. 

With Documill Dynamo document generation and SharePoint integration, sales teams can overcome these challenges. They can create and manage business documents with ease with Salesforce as the hub.

The solution and how it works 

The process with the Documill solution starts in a Salesforce record, which can be an Opportunity, Account or any custom object. There, the salesperson clicks on a Generate Document button to create a customized document on a ready-made template. When complete after a few seconds, the new document is automatically saved to the relevant SharePoint folder and linked back to the Salesforce record. This ensures that the most up-to-date version is always at hand. 

If the document needs further editing, it can be done in Microsoft 365 with its full feature set. When sending the document to a customer, the salesperson can easily email it directly from Salesforce in either one of the Microsoft 365 formats or a PDF. With a click of a button. Documill Dynamo launches the email editor and fetches the document from SharePoint. It then converts it into a PDF, if this is a business requirement, and attaches it to an automated, personalized email.  

If necessary, the salesperson can edit the email as needed, before sending it out to the customer.

What’s the best use of this powerful combination? 

Our customers use Documill for a wide range of purposes: from sales documents to field service reports, complaint responses, invoices, to even packing lists for shipments.  

For Documill Dynamo’s SharePoint integration, the most powerful use cases are:  

• Sell-side contracts: producing personalized contracts with data merged from different Salesforce objects. 
• Detailed proposal documents: generating comprehensive proposals with set layouts, where  dynamic sub document templates, standard clauses and attachments are stored in SharePoint and automatically merged into a main template. Storing these content snippets in SharePoint allows updating and managing them without accessing Salesforce. 
• Integrated quotes: creating complex quotes with advanced calculations and multiple ways to display product tables and product bundling 
• Recurring reports of different kinds: account plans, timesheets and so on. 

However, these are just some examples. Both the Documill products and Microsoft 365 suite are highly flexible. They leave space for a lot of new innovation.

Wrapping up the benefits 

By integrating Documill Dynamo, Microsoft 365 and Salesforce, sales teams enjoy: 

• Increased efficiency: automated document creation allows salespeople to focus more on strategic tasks and customer engagement. 
• Improved accuracy: automated data population reduces errors and ensures consistency across all documents. 
• Streamlined compliance: automated inclusion of the correct legal clauses and attachments ensures that documents meet regulatory standards. 
• Better version control: the most up-to-date version is always at hand via a link in the appropriate Salesforce object. Also, multiple versions of document templates can be maintained with ease. 
• Seamless workflow: Salesforce integrated with the familiar Microsoft 365 suite and SharePoint ensures a seamless workflow. Teams can use the tools they know and love for the best effect. 
• Freedom from Salesforce storage limitations. All documents can be saved in SharePoints, accessible via the appropriate Salesforce object. 

Do you want to see how you can best benefit from this powerful combination? Feel free to book a bespoke demo and see it in action.