Insights on

Custom Development

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Empower Your Business with Salesforce Custom Development

Introduction:In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, it is essential to harness the power of technology to stay ahead of the competition. Salesforce has emerged as a leading platform that enables organizations to manage their customer relationships effectively. However, to fully unlock its potential and address your unique business challenges, off-the-shelf solutions might not suffice. This is where custom development comes into play.

At Relay, we specialize in crafting tailored Salesforce applications that align precisely with your business requirements. Our team of expert architects and developers combine their extensive knowledge of Salesforce and AWS to create innovative solutions that help you solve the most complex problems. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of Salesforce custom development and how it can revolutionize your business.

  1. Tailored Solutions for Your Unique Needs:One of the most significant advantages of custom Salesforce development is the ability to build applications that are tailored specifically to your business processes. Unlike generic applications, custom apps integrate seamlessly with your existing Salesforce CRM, utilizing the data you have painstakingly collected. By aligning the application with your workflow, you can enhance operational efficiency and gain a competitive edge.
  2. Supercharge Your Operations:Custom apps have the potential to supercharge your operations by providing specialized functionalities that address your organization's unique pain points. Whether you require an internal tool to streamline processes or a product to sell that runs on the Salesforce platform, our experts can transform your vision into a reality. By leveraging the power of Salesforce and AWS, we ensure that your custom app is powerful, scalable, and future-proof.
  3. Expert Guidance at Every Step:Embarking on a custom development project can be daunting, but with Relay by your side, you can navigate the process with confidence. Our Salesforce developers and consultants will guide you through every stage, from concept to execution. We bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the table, ensuring that your custom application not only meets your business needs but also provides long-term value.

Conclusion:In today's dynamic business environment, staying ahead requires innovative solutions that are tailored to your specific needs. Salesforce custom development offers a powerful avenue for transforming your operations, streamlining processes, and unlocking new opportunities. At Relay, we are passionate about helping businesses thrive by creating custom Salesforce and AWS applications that empower and drive success.

If you're ready to take your Salesforce project to the next level, contact our team of expert architects today. Contact us to get in touch and embark on a journey of transformation.

Remember, it's not just about having a custom application; it's about having a valuable app that meets your business needs. With Relay as your partner, you can confidently navigate the Salesforce custom development process and achieve remarkable results.

Contact us now and let us help you unlock the full potential of Salesforce for your business.

Insight
Tailoring the Real Estate Journey with Relay's Custom Client Portals

The landscape of real estate is rapidly evolving, and client expectations have grown far beyond traditional property showings and paperwork. Modern clients crave a seamless, digitized, and interactive service that harnesses the best of technology. Relay stands at the forefront of this revolution, designing custom Salesforce-integrated real estate client portals tailored to your business needs.

Streamlining Online Applications

Relay's strength lies in developing real estate client portals that optimize online application processes. Every step of the journey, from the expression of initial interest to the final leap into ownership, is thoughtfully crafted to deliver a delightful and efficient experience for clients.

Harnessing Technology for Comprehensive Verification and Fraud Detection

In the digital era, manual verification of income, employment, and bank account details can slow down the transaction process and leave room for potential fraud. To combat this, Relay integrates its client portals with advanced technologies like Plaid. This enables quick, secure verification of critical financial details, significantly accelerating the approval process while mitigating the risk of fraud.

Delivering Custom Portals for Unique Real Estate Needs

Relay understands that every real estate business has unique needs and processes. That's why we don't offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, we design and develop custom Salesforce-integrated portals that streamline your business operations while elevating the client experience.

By choosing Relay, you'll be empowering your clients with a user-friendly platform where they can effortlessly navigate their real estate journey. At the same time, your team will benefit from a streamlined, efficient system that's integrated with Salesforce and tailored to your unique operational needs.

Are you ready to revolutionize your real estate process? Contact us today to see how Relay can design and develop a custom real estate client portal that not only meets your business needs but also delights your clients at every step of their journey.

Insight
Working with a Custom Salesforce Developer
What should you expect when working with a custom Salesforce developer?

You may be asking this exact question as you’re reading this post. We’re glad you're searching for answers when it comes to working with a custom Salesforce developer. We know you’re most likely curious about what we at Relay can offer your company. Throughout this post, we’ll be answering your questions, and so much more.

Why Salesforce Development is Growing More than Ever Before

Salesforce is a great tool and can be used for almost any industry or use case. You can use it right out of the box, get a license and start entering your data. But if you want to get the most out of Salesforce and use it to its fullest potential, consider custom development so you can set it up for your workflows, use cases, processes, and things you and your business find most important.


What is Custom Salesforce Application Development?

Custom Salesforce application development is quite simply what it seems to be: a customized approach where an app is developed to accomplish specific tasks or processes unique to the goals within your organization. At Relay, we have worked with numerous industries to best leverage their Salesforce environment. Through our combined years of experience, we have learned rapidly what works and what does not work.




Clean Up Your Data Sets

When working with a custom Salesforce developer, you want to make sure your data is tidy and well maintained. If there is one thing that can push a project back is messy, unhinged data. When we create a custom Salesforce solution for your business, we set it up in a way which makes sense to your users, collects key data and doesn’t overwhelm them with un-necessary fields, pages, rules and clicking. We will arrange pages, required fields and validations to collect the required data with the least hassle. Possessing clean data and utilizing that clean data is what will help you stand apart from your competitors.


Truly Custom Platforms

The beauty of customized Salesforce platforms is that it’s catered towards your every need as a company. The integration possibilities are there for the taking, the workflows can be modified to meet your needs, and the processes involved within data analysis can be anywhere from granular to macro-level. We can help integrate with back-end systems, setup a mobile app, or integrate your email. It’s completely up to you how far you want to take everything and what your end goals are within the overall custom Salesforce development experience.


Self-Serviced Applications

One of the advantages of working with a custom developer is being able to fine-tune and create self-service apps for your organization. Self-service apps allow you to blend customer interaction with your organization's features and services; all the while not having to place extra stress on your customer support team. It’s an ideal way to go if your team is small and rely on efficiency.


Salesforce Development Services We Provide Here at Relay

Below is a brief overview of the custom Salesforce development services we provide here at Relay and what you can expect when we work together. With so many features and customizations available all throughout the world of Salesforce, we’ve realized the best way to determine which route to take is to ask you where you want to see your organization thrive. From there, we will often apply the following in some way, shape, or form.


Custom Salesforce Development

Here at Relay, we want a custom Salesforce development to enhance your organization, not drag it down with unnecessary features. We’ve optimized our workflow to improve your workflow. This means we’re able to precisely identify which features and customizations for Salesforce will work best for your organization, and your organization only. A truly customized Salesforce approach is defined as truly customized to your organization, exclusively.


Mobile Development

A key part to any successful Salesforce implementation is mobile development. You staff is mobile, their CRM should be as well. With a mobile-first development strategy whether users are in the office or on the go, they will have access to the info they need, when they need it. We address any and all factors within the development process to further optimize your mobile-first experience for your users. Additionally, nearly all of this can be built upon your existing digital infrastructure in most cases.


Lightning Enterprise Development

Automation, integration, and customization are the main components of Salesforce Lightning Enterprise Development. Lightning helps us bring your Salesforce to the here and now. You users aren’t on Blackberries anymore, don’t hold them back with an old out of date CRM. Through Lightning, we’ve elevated many organizations to new heights by customizing solutions which focus on the user-experience and your experience.


Salesforce Integration & Migration

Do you need to integrate orders from an on-prem system? Do you want to get current pricing from your SAP system? We can integrate those. Just need to see your Gmail conversations in Salesforce? We can help with that too. Integrations big and small, we’ve done them. Are you new to Salesforce and have data here, there, and everywhere? We can help migrate that data from the old databases into Salesforce.



Choosing Relay for Your Custom Salesforce Development

Feel free to contact us using the form below and we’ll be sure to respond to your message as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you soon and working to help your company grow, achieve, and succeed!

Let's get in touch!

The History of Custom Development on the Salesforce Platform

The Salesforce platform has come a long way since its inception in 1999. In the early days, the platform was focused primarily on customer relationship management (CRM) and didn't offer much in the way of custom development. But as the platform evolved, it began to support custom development, opening up new possibilities for businesses to build custom applications on the Salesforce platform.

In 2005, Salesforce introduced the AppExchange, a marketplace for third-party applications that could be integrated with the Salesforce platform. This was a major step forward, as it allowed businesses to access a wide range of pre-built applications that could be tailored to their specific needs.

In 2009, Salesforce introduced the Force.com platform, which was specifically designed for custom development. This platform allowed businesses to build custom applications using a variety of languages and tools, such as Apex, Visualforce, and Lightning. This opened up the Salesforce platform to a wider range of developers and made it possible to build more complex and sophisticated custom applications.

Over the years, the Salesforce platform has continued to evolve and expand, adding new features and capabilities that make it easier and more effective to build custom applications. Today, the platform is used by businesses of all sizes to build a wide range of custom applications, from simple tools to complex, mission-critical systems.

The history of custom development on the Salesforce platform has been one of steady growth and evolution. From its early days as a CRM platform to its current state as a powerful and flexible development platform, Salesforce has come a long way. And with the continued support and investment of the Salesforce team, the future looks bright for custom development on the Salesforce platform.

The Process of Designing and Developing Custom Business Software Using Salesforce

Designing and developing custom business software using Salesforce can be a complex and involved process. But with the right team of experts, it can also be an incredibly powerful and effective way to streamline your operations and improve your bottom line.

The first step in the process is to assess your business needs and goals. This involves conducting a thorough analysis of your current operations and identifying areas where custom software can help. This will provide the foundation for the design and development process and ensure that the final product is tailored to your specific needs.

Next, the design phase begins. This is where the user experience and overall look and feel of the software are developed. The design should be intuitive and user-friendly, with a focus on making the software as easy to use as possible.

Once the design is finalized, the development phase begins. This is where the software is actually built, with the help of experienced Salesforce developers. This phase can be complex and time-consuming, but it is crucial to the success of the final product.

Throughout the development process, regular check-ins and testing are important to ensure that the software is meeting the original goals and requirements. This also allows for any necessary adjustments or changes to be made along the way.

Once the development is complete, the software is ready for deployment. This may involve training for your team, as well as ongoing support and maintenance to ensure that the software continues to meet your needs and evolve with your business.

The process of designing and developing custom business software using Salesforce may seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. With the help of an experienced team like Relay, based in Philadelphia, you can streamline your operations and achieve your goals faster. So why not reach out to the experts at Relay and see what they can do for your business?

The Benefits of Hiring a Salesforce Consulting Team Like Relay

As a business owner, you know that staying competitive in today's market means constantly striving to improve and streamline your operations. One way to do this is by using custom software tailored to your specific business needs. This is where a team of expert Salesforce consultants, like Relay, can help.

Custom software, as opposed to off-the-shelf solutions, is designed specifically to meet the unique requirements of your business. This means that it will be more effective at helping you achieve your goals and will be easier for your team to use. It also allows for greater flexibility and scalability as your business grows and changes.

But why choose Relay, a specialized Salesforce consulting team, over other options? The simple answer is experience and expertise. A team that has worked with Salesforce for years, like Relay, will have a deep understanding of the platform and how to customize it to meet your specific needs. This means that they will be able to deliver solutions faster and with fewer setbacks.

Working with an experienced team like Relay also means that you will have access to their wealth of knowledge and best practices. They can provide valuable insights and guidance throughout the development process, helping you make informed decisions that will benefit your business in the long run.

In addition to their expertise, a team like Relay can also provide a level of flexibility and scalability that may not be possible with in-house development. As your business grows and changes, they can quickly adapt and modify your custom software to meet your evolving needs. This means that you won't have to worry about outgrowing your software or having to start from scratch.

Overall, the benefits of hiring an expert Salesforce consulting team like Relay are numerous. From their expertise and experience, to their flexibility and scalability, they can help you streamline your operations and achieve your goals faster. So why not take the first step and see what a team like Relay can do for your business?

Insight
How we craft robust solutions on an growing platform

Today, hundreds of thousands of excited Salesforce consultants, customers, and App Developers take over the Moscone Center in San Francisco for Dreamforce 2019. During the week-long conference, Salesforce will share significant updates to the platform roadmap, and expert consultants will share their approaches, best practices, and solutions. The large scale nature of the event alone is indicative of the size of the Salesforce Platform.

When you buy Salesforce, you're not just buying a CRM; you're buying a business process automation and development platform that grows more extensive and advanced every year. Salesforce releases three major updates a year - every Winter, Spring, and Summer.

The speed at which the platform grows presents significant value and opportunities, but it also can present challenges. With an ever-growing platform comes shifting solutions target. It is not uncommon for features that require custom development today to become a native feature in only a couple of releases. Likewise, solutions that use poorly constructed workarounds today may find their approach unreliable in future releases. Even though Salesforce is known for its focus on backward compatibility, a poorly designed solution rarely stands the trailblazing speed at which the platform evolves.


Guiding Principles for Crafting Solutions That Last

Follow best practices, and it won’t break on the next release.

We strictly follow Salesforce best practices. They are the product of our team's efforts to combine guidance issued by Salesforce, experts in the community, and through our research and experience. They ensure that the solutions we implement today still work in the future and that we deliver consistently across our projects. With major releases a year, this is one of the best ways to ensure your solutions will last.

Native first, then custom.

Our expertise lies in designing solutions for complex business problems using the Salesforce Platform. We're always eager to create new, custom, and innovative solutions on the platform. We prioritize native solutions because we know that they will carry the highest degree of stability in the future. When native features don't meet the need, we use Salesforce's advanced development framework to create highly customized applications using Apex, Lightning Web Components, and APIs.

Learn and train often.

We meticulously review release notes every year to remain up-to-date on new features and changes to existing functionality. We often gain meaningful insights into future releases, helping us anticipate future changes in the platform. You can find all the release notes here. Our team also dedicates significant time to the Salesforce learning ecosystem, using Trailhead and hands-on exercises to train and increase our knowledge of the platform.

Our team members have delivered Salesforce solutions for complex business problem across many years, and we've seen the benefits of following these principles. As we listen to all the announcements, sessions, and speakers at Dreamforce this year, we'll focus on extracting learnings that will help us craft innovative solutions that grow with the ever-evolving Salesforce Platform.

How Relay Uses Notion to Organize Anything and Everything
Turning chaos into order -- how Notion helped Relay structure everything from notes to projects.

When you’re starting a business, whether it’s large or small, preparing your team for success is a daunting task. With the amount of SaaS tools on the market, it’s easy to get inundated by offers and promises of “immediate success” and “best in class” but really this just leads to a fractured tech stack, confused employees and a wasteful subscription bill in the thousands each month.

That’s why at Relay we turned to Notion very quickly to serve as our main hub for everything. When I say everything, I really mean everything. HR, IT, Project Management, Development, Design, Marketing and Business Operations all live and breath within Notion. Instead of hopping from application to application, we can now have one source of truth for all our current projects that everyone can reference.

So what is Notion? Think of Notion as Excel, but if it was designed in 2020 instead of 1985. Even then that might be selling it short. At the heart of Notion, it’s really a Wiki. All your notes, documents and designs can all live in Notion and it can be as standard as a word processor. But if you think of Notion more as a workspace instead of an application, that’s where the power comes in. Product Roadmap? Task List? Design Repository? Content Calendar? That can all be built in Notion. It’s as powerful as your imagination.

At Relay, creating custom Salesforce applications takes focus and streamlined communication. That’s exactly what we focused on when building out our Notion workspace.

Each “page” is a different department. This is work in 2021. No longer do you have to walk over to each department to ask a question. It’s all there in one space. For new employees, this makes onboarding simple as can. All the information they could need is at their fingertips in one place without hopping applications wondering how to do something.  Efficiency is paramount to our projects and to our success.

What gives us confidence that Notion is here to stay is their robust community. Whether it’s the bustling hubs of Gumroad or aNotioneer or even the Notion official template gallery, finding a template that will fit your company's needs could not be easier. This will save you hours of build time, and could even save you lots of money over monthly subscription fees. That’s how we replaced Jira with aNotioneer’s Jira replacement or replaced Confluence with NuttLab’s fantastic Project Management Template. Thousands of dollars a year saved by migrating our processes to Notion.

At Relay, we build Salesforce solutions that just work. Solutions that save you and your company time, money and wasted effort over the course of months or years. That’s exactly what Notion did for us. If you’re looking to organize the chaos of your small business, look towards Notion and never look back.

or do you still have some questions...
How can I make the most out of Salesforce?
How can I make the most out of Salesforce?
How can I make the most out of Salesforce?
What are Relay’s Services and Capabilities?
Why is Custom Development right for me?
How can I make the most out of Salesforce?