The Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) platform is easily one of the most powerful enterprise tools on the market. It’s a robust software that allows deal teams to source, manage, and close opportunities all in one place. And it’s only made more effective when paired with the right Salesforce automation tools.
From features available within Salesforce to third-party applications, automations can help your private capital team manage their time better, unlock more deal insights, and even accelerate pipeline growth.
We’ve compiled this comprehensive guide to Salesforce automation tools so you can better optimize your investment process through automation.
Key takeaways
- Salesforce automation tools streamline dealmaking processes by eliminating repetitive tasks, with capabilities ranging from automated record creation and data enrichment to lead routing and relationship management.
- Key automation functions within Salesforce include record management, network engagement, and reporting and analytics. These help private capital teams improve productivity, boost data accuracy, and accelerate deal velocity.
- Organizations can choose from native Salesforce automation solutions or third-party tools available through the AppExchange, including Affinity for Salesforce, which stands out for private capital teams by combining CRM automation with relationship intelligence.
What are Salesforce automation tools?
Salesforce automation tools use technology to streamline and improve your dealmaking process by eliminating tedious, administrative, and repetitive tasks.
These automation tools integrate directly with Salesforce, enhancing your investment process and allowing dealmakers to be more productive and focus more on what matters most—building relationships and closing deals.
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What functions can you automate within Salesforce?
69% of business leaders say their team spends four or more hours updating their CRM every week, making automation a logical decision when it comes to improving productivity and efficiency.*
With a platform like Salesforce, there are many use cases for automation in the investment process—from deal sourcing to portfolio management. More often than not, the functions you can automate are only limited by the tools that you have to build them.
Here are some common functions in Salesforce that can be automated through native and third-party automation tools.
Record creation, upkeep, and access
Access to up-to-date and accurate data is critical to helping dealmakers effectively manage their pipeline. According to Affinity’s 2025 private capital predictions report, almost half (46%) of respondents believe that data can be used to make their deal sourcing more efficient.
Instead of leaving dealmakers to sort through multiple data sources, automations can pull data in from external sources, so deal teams have access to real-time, enriched data right within the Salesforce CRM.
For example, automations can be used to scan your team’s inboxes and calendars to surface deal-relevant activity and insights. They can also cross-reference data with third-party data enrichment tools to consolidate insights and build a more complete dataset.
Many automation tools can take it a step further, pushing this data into the tools your team already uses in their workflows, so they can access this critical data at the click of a button. The result? Faster and more effective pipeline management.
Network engagement and experience
How you manage your relationships with companies, founders, and investors can make or break a deal. And when closing complex deals can be a lengthy process, consistent follow-up is key to staying top of mind and keeping your pipeline warm.
However, when VCs are responsible for balancing multiple deals in the pipeline, staying on top of every relationship is often easier said than done.
Automations make engaging with contacts more effective and efficient. For example, email campaign automations can help dealmakers get in touch with potential investors at pre-determined intervals, without the need to manually trigger emails.
Automations can also help dealmakers quickly pull accurate data into templates and streamline proposals, emails, and other client documentation. This improves the level of personalization in the deal process, helping deal teams build better relationships and connections with prospective companies.
Reporting and analytics
Reporting is vital to understanding pipeline performance and identifying areas for improvement. However, it can also be time-consuming.
Automations expedite the reporting process by pulling in a diverse range of metrics from various sources. They can also automatically populate data in dashboards and pipeline analytics reports. This automated process provides dealmakers with an accurate and up-to-date view of individual, team, or industry win rates, so they know if they’re on track to reach their investment goals.
Similarly, data can also be pushed into deal sourcing insights to help teams better manage and maintain their deal pipeline.
Lead routing
Turning leads into winning deals requires connecting them with the right dealmakers at the right time.
While many private capital leads come from outbound sourcing or network referrals, lead routing can help qualify and assign inbound prospects to the right person on your team. By creating custom rules and criteria, lead routing tools can divvy up prospects based on anything from rep availability to industry expertise.
Automated lead routing and lead management reduces the amount of time leads spend in limbo and ensures dealmakers connect with founders at the right point of inflection. Pairing lead routing with other automation tools—such as email outreach or scheduling software—can speed up and streamline the deals process even further.
The benefits of automation for your private capital team
Relationships are critical to dealmaking success, which is why private capital teams tend to fall back on human-driven processes.
But here’s the thing: when implemented correctly, automations don’t take away from your firm’s ability to nurture relationships and personalize outreach. Rather, automation helps you do it better, more efficiently, and at scale.
Taking advantage of automation functionality allows your firm to:
- Improve productivity: While most tasks can be performed manually, technology often enables them to be performed faster. This not only eliminates tedious administrative tasks from your team’s workday but also allows them to find and close more high-quality deals.
- Boost data accuracy: When dealing with large amounts of data and information, automations can reduce the likelihood of error, delivering results with much higher levels of accuracy. For example, manual contact management often results in duplicate records, data errors, or even missed data fields.
- Accelerate deal velocity: When dealmakers have access to the right information when they need it, they’re able to make deal decisions faster. Eliminating time-consuming tasks from their workday also allows dealmakers to prioritize tasks that move deals forward, such as building relationships with the founders, investors, and subject matter experts in their network.
- Improve the fundraising experience: When dealmakers have access to the info they need in real-time, they can show up better for founders and LPs—whether that’s answering their questions faster, conducting due diligence, or simply coming to meetings with all the available context.
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6 Salesforce tools to streamline your investment process
The right automation tools for your Salesforce CRM depend on the functionality and benefits that you want to achieve. Fortunately, there are a wide range of automation solutions available to support general workflow operations as well as specific private capital functions.
Here are 6 of the most popular automation tools for Salesforce to help accelerate deal velocity and close more deals.
1. Affinity for Salesforce
Affinity for Salesforce is a CRM automation tool that elevates your existing Salesforce CRM by automating the input and enrichment of key deal data. Affinity stands out from other automation tools by layering network and relationship insights on top of your existing Salesforce data, so dealmakers can prioritize the right opportunities and uncover warm introductions that close deals up to 25% faster.
Pros:
- Automated record creation and upkeep save each user up to 200 hours of manual data entry every year.
- Access to Affinity’s relationship intelligence insights and proprietary data enrichment.
- Inbox and browser extensions and simple-to-use integrations with Salesforce make it easy to add Affinity insights into your existing workflows.
- Implementation does not require complex coding.
- Designed with relationship-driven industries in mind, particularly venture capital, private equity, and asset management.
Cons:
- Affinity is not a native Salesforce tool. However, it is easily available through the Salesforce AppExchange.
Top automation features:
- Automated activity capture: Affinity analyzes your team’s emails and meetings to automatically create and update contact records in Salesforce.
- Elevated deal analysis: Easily incorporate valuable performance metrics such as team activity and relationship scores, and more into your Salesforce reports.
- Extensions that drive deals: Get access to Salesforce in the tools you use every day, from Google Chrome, to Outlook, and LinkedIn, so investors can easily edit and update CRM records and get the information they need without constant context-switching.
- Relationship notifications: Set triggers and reminders to stay up-to-date on any critical company changes or if a relationship score drops below a specific threshold, so you can manage key relationships effectively.
Pricing:
- Affinity for Salesforce starts at $49 USD per user per month.
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2. Salesforce Flow
Native to Salesforce, Flow is a workflow automation tool that helps organizations create rules and logic that automate certain tasks and workflows within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Flow is widely considered to be the successor to Salesforce Workflow Rules and Salesforce Process Builder, both of which were sunsetted in 2023.
Pros:
- Out-of-the-box, low-code solution that is available with most Salesforce plans and easily implemented by Salesforce admins.
- Support for complex logic branches and workflows.
Cons:
- There is a learning curve for most new users.
- Complexities in the Flow builder can make errors difficult to troubleshoot.
- Limited to the flow starts and triggers that are provided within Salesforce Flow
Top features:
- Templates and pre-built flows to build automations faster and more effectively.
Pricing:
- Included in Salesforce Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer.
3. Apex
Apex is a programming language that has been developed specifically for the Salesforce platform. Apex on its own is not an automation platform. However, organizations can use the power of Apex to unlock more complex instructions and triggers for their Salesforce workflow automations.
Pros:
- Enables teams to access the backend structure of Salesforce, unlocking highly customizable automations and processes.
Cons:
- Salesforce Apex requires development support or skills to use, making it difficult for investment teams to easily and quickly make the most of the automation benefits.
Top features:
- Add logic to almost any Salesforce system event to trigger actions and improve existing workflows.
- Java-based programming language that is relatively easy for experienced developers to use and write.
Pricing:
- Salesforce Apex is included in Performance Edition, Unlimited Edition, Developer Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Database.com.
4. Docomotion
Docomotion is an automation tool that integrates with Salesforce to help dealmakers streamline document generation. Private capital firms can use Docomotion’s technology to design, generate, and deliver personalized documents to prospects, speeding up the deal process and improving the user experience.
Pros:
- Easily integrates with your existing Salesforce technology and automations, including Flow and Apex.
- Seamlessly updates your Salesforce CRM with data collected from contacts in your Docomotion documents.
Cons:
- Automation benefits are limited to document generation and eSignature solutions.
Top features:
- Generate thousands of personalized documents for multiple recipients in one click.
- Easily create and edit documents from scratch or using a template through Docomotion’s no-code, drag-and-drop functionality.
Pricing:
- Docomotion starts at $10 per user per month with a minimum of $3000 per annum.
5. Qualtrics
Qualtrics uses automations to improve the deal and investment process by combining user and contact experience data with deal insights right within Salesforce. With access to Qualtrics’ interaction insights, private capital teams can better engage with their network and personalize the investment experience to boost win rates.
Pros:
- The Qualtrics-Salesforce extension makes implementation and data sharing easier and faster.
Cons:
- Similar features are already available within Salesforce through tools such as Salesforce Surveys.
- Requires additional Qualtrics software to unlock full functionality.
- Primarily geared toward sales over private capital.
Top features:
- Collect survey responses in real-time with integrations that trigger surveys directly from a Salesforce event.
- Web to Lead feature turns Qualtrics survey responses into Salesforce leads.
Pricing:
- Qualtrics pricing is not publicly available on their website. However, the Qualtrics App on the Salesforce AppExchange starts at $1 per user per month.
6. Zapier
Zapier is a popular third-party automation tool that is used to automate tasks and connect apps that do not have native integrations. Users can select from a library of triggers and actions to build workflows that enhance their workflow.
Pros:
- Easy to use and no developer resources or custom code necessary.
- Zapier offers API integrations with over 6000 leading apps and tools.
Cons:
- Limited to triggers and actions that are supported by Zapier.
- Complex Zaps can be difficult to troubleshoot.
Top features:
- Clear, visual editor with drag-and-drop functionality that allows anyone to easily configure automations.
- Enterprise-level data encryption and security to protect your business data.
Pricing:
- Salesforce integration starts at $19 per month. A freemium version is available with limited integrations.
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Salesforce automation tools FAQs
What is an automation strategy?
An automation strategy for private capital teams is a structured plan that uses technology to reduce manual tasks throughout investment and business processes. The goal is to reduce—or even eliminate—tedious and time-consuming administrative tasks. The right automation strategy improves dealmaker productivity and boosts deal efficiency so you can close more deals and focus on business needs.
What is the purpose of automation tools in the Salesforce platform?
Automation tools should be used in your existing Salesforce workflow to help deal and sales teams accelerate deal velocity and drive more deals through the pipeline.
Automation tools can help:
- Improve the access, availability, and accuracy of data in your Salesforce CRM platform by updating records.
- Personalize the investment experience for prospects and LPs.
- Reduce the need for manual administrative tasks.
The best automation tools enable dealmakers to spend less time on manual tasks and more time building relationships and winning deals. Tools like the Process Automation Tracker in the AppExchange can even help your team understand how much time your team has saved through automations.
How many automation solutions are there in Salesforce?
There are currently two native automation solutions that Salesforce offers: Flow and Apex. Prior to 2023, there were two additional automation tools known as Workflow Rules and Process Builder. While existing rules and processes are still supported by Salesforce, any new automations need to be built through Flow or using Apex.
Organizations can also extend their automation solutions in Salesforce with apps available through the AppExchange. For example, Affinity for Salesforce is a tool that automates record creation and enriches existing CRM data so private capital teams can move deals forward more efficiently.
Which tool is best for Salesforce automation?
Affinity for Salesforce is one of the best tools for Salesforce automation.
Affinity brings together the best of automation and relationship intelligence to help dealmakers improve their sourcing process. Teams who use Affinity have access to industry insights and robust relationship intelligence right at their fingertips. The automated, AI-powered insights help deal teams work faster and more effectively to identify high-quality opportunities and close more deals.
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* Data from Affinity’s 2024 survey of 250+ business leaders across investment banking, media and communications, real estate, professional services, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and enterprise technology.
