Cadences and Cadence Builder in Salesforce: The Complete Guide

Salesforce Cadences and Cadence Builder allow sales teams to automate and track structured outreach campaigns to leads and contacts. Cadences provide a way to nurture leads and contacts by sending them a series of emails, tasks, events, and phone calls over a period of time. The Cadence Builder makes it easy for sales reps to create customized cadence flows without code.

What are Cadences in Salesforce?

A cadence in Salesforce refers to an automated sequence of steps – such as emails, tasks, events, or calls – that are sent to leads or contacts over a period of time. Cadences allow sales teams to deliver consistent and timely follow-up to leads and move them through a sales workflow.

Cadences provide the following key benefits:

• Lead nurturing: Cadences automate lead follow-up so sales reps don’t drop leads due to lack of manual outreach. The cadence provides a structured approach to nurture leads.
• Increased productivity: Cadences eliminate the need for manual lead follow-up, freeing up sales reps to focus on selling activities.
• Improved sales metrics: Cadences ensure leads are contacted at optimal times leading to more sales-ready leads and opportunities.
• Enhanced customer experience: Cadences deliver a structured, personalized and timely buying experience for leads.

With cadences, sales teams can scale lead engagement efficiently. Leads that might slip through the cracks with manual follow-up are systematically nurtured with automated cadences.

How Cadences Work in Salesforce

Here is an overview of how cadences function in Salesforce:

• Cadences are created using the Cadence Builder and can include a sequence of emails, tasks, events and calls.
• The cadence steps are defined along with step durations like “Send Email 1 day after lead created”
• Entry criteria determine which leads/contacts enter a cadence flow. This could be based on lead source, record type, etc.
• Optional criteria further filter leads if needed. For example, send cadence only to IT manager contacts.
• Cadence steps are assigned to queues so the right sales reps own the tasks and activities.
• Once activated, a cadence will automatically trigger actions for entering leads based on entry criteria.
• Sales reps are automatically assigned follow-up tasks and activities per the cadence schedule.
• Emails are automatically sent to leads directly from Salesforce based on cadence sequence.
• Leads and contacts can be manually enrolled or removed from cadences as needed.
• Cadence metrics and reports provide visibility into cadence effectiveness.

With this automated, criteria-based approach, cadences ensure structured nurturing and follow-up at scale across the lead and contact database.

Benefits of Using Cadences in Salesforce

Cadences provide the following important benefits for sales teams in Salesforce:

Automated Lead Engagement

Cadences remove the need for manual lead follow-up by sales development reps (SDRs). Lead outreach happens automatically based on the cadence criteria and schedule. This saves huge amounts of SDR time while ensuring structured nurturing.

More Qualified Leads

The structured, multi-touch follow-up of cadences helps convert more leads to marketing qualified or sales qualified stages. Key nurturing actions are automatically executed per the cadence schedule.

Enhanced Sales Productivity

With cadence automation handling bulk lead engagement, SDRs and sales reps can spend time on more valuable selling activities like calls with qualified leads. Overall sales productivity increases.

Improved Sales Metrics

Cadences ultimately help generate more pipeline and closed revenue by consistently nurturing leads until they become sales ready. Comparing lead stages before and after cadence launch shows measurable improvements.

Personalized Lead Nurturing

Each cadence can be fully customized for sending relevant content to leads based on attributes like role, industry, etc. This level of personalization enhances the buying experience.

Consistent Follow-up

Human sales reps may drop leads or delay follow-up due to multiple priorities. Cadences ensure every lead gets systematic attention based on an optimal nurturing schedule.

In summary, cadences generate better sales results by automatically driving structured, personalized and consistent lead engagement at scale.

Cadence Builder Overview

The Cadence Builder provides an easy way for admins and sales managers to create cadences in Salesforce without needing technical resources. Key highlights of Cadence Builder:

• Graphical cadence designer with drag-and-drop steps
• Library of editable templates to accelerate cadence creation
• Cadence types for leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities
• Variety of possible cadence steps
  • Email alerts, tasks, events, calls logged in Salesforce
  • Wait steps like “Wait 2 days”
  • Criteria steps to check attributes like lead score
  • Engagement steps to check if a lead clicked an email
• Entry criteria builder to define which records enter cadence
• Queue assignment so cadence steps route to proper sales reps
• Cadence metrics and reports within Salesforce

With these features, Cadence Builder enables sales teams to quickly build multi-channel, automated engagement flows for different lead and customer scenarios. No coding or technical skills are required to create and activate cadences.

Cadence Best Practices

Here are some best practices to follow when designing and implementing cadences for optimal results:

• Map cadences to buyer journey: Align cadence content and flow to how leads actually progress through awareness, consideration, evaluation.
• Ensure cadence relevance: Personalize cadence content based on lead attributes so they receive relevant messaging.
• Set proper entry criteria: Be selective in which leads enter cadences to avoid sending generic sequences.
• Include multi-channel touchpoints: Combine email, calls, events in cadence for more effective nurturing through different means.
• Follow-up promptly: First cadence actions should occur within minutes or hours of a new lead. Early engagement is key.
• Build in engagement criteria: Check if a lead clicks your email link before sending the next email to ensure relevance.
• Set proper wait steps: Don’t follow-up too frequently. Include 3-4 day waits between steps to avoid overwhelming leads.
• Limit cadence length: Keep cadences focused on first 3-5 early touches. Don’t let them run for months.
• Measure and optimize: Review cadence metrics regularly and tweak flows to improve results.

Using Cadence Builder along with these best practices will drive better lead nurturing and sales performance. The ability to quickly build cadences also supports experimentation and optimization.

Cadence Use Cases

Here are some common use cases where Salesforce cadences deliver value:

New Lead Nurturing

Automated cadences that engage new leads with timely and relevant follow-up are extremely effective at lead nurturing. Key early touches at the start of buyer journey will convert more leads.

Event Follow-up

Cadences make it easy to follow-up with event attendees after the event is over to keep conversations going. Event-specific content can be delivered via cadences.

Customer Re-engagement

Drawing inactive customers back is easier with cadences that deliver personalized content and offers based on interests, activity history, etc.

Renewals Touch

Timely renewal reminders and offers delivered through automated cadences reduce customer churn and increase renewal conversion.

Customer Winbacks

For customers who discontinued service, customized winback cadences help convert them back by addressing the specific gaps.

Upsell/Cross-sell

Deliver timely and relevant offers for upgrades, add-ons, complementary products using personalized cadences.

Campaign Follow-up

When launching nurturing campaigns, cadences provide structured follow-up at scale across all campaign recipients.

These are just some common scenarios where cadences have delivered stellar results. The more personalized and relevant the cadence content, the better the outcome.

Create Responsive Cadences Faster with Cadence Builder 2.0

In Summary

Salesforce Cadences and Cadence Builder enable sales teams to scale personalized lead nurturing and deliver consistent engagement with key contacts. Building the right cadences helps convert more leads into sales opportunities. Cadence Builder makes it easy for sales teams to define automated engagement flows without relying on technical resources. To maximize cadence success, follow best practices like mapping to buyer journeys, prompt follow-up, relevance-based entry criteria and multi-channel touches. With an organized cadence strategy, sales teams can nurture leads effectively and drive more pipeline and revenue.