1. What is Catalyst?
Catalyst is a customized Data Platform designed for your Customer Support (CS) team, which integrates with Salesforce, Data Warehouses, and ticketing platforms.
When using Catalyst, it’s essential to clearly understand the questions you want to answer and the data required to obtain those answers.
This template will assist you in:
- Identifying the specific fields you need to create.
- Generating ideas on how to collect the necessary data from your team.
- Understanding how to present the information and implement automation for efficient action by others.
This content serves as a foundation for further development of your Catalyst instance. The focus will be on driving behavioral change, specifically transitioning from a reactive approach to a proactive one. An effective starting point is standardizing the early identification of renewal risks in the customer journey, leading to improved retention and reduced time spent on reactive problem-solving.
02. Catalyst Basics
Catalyst is a valuable data source for your teams, so it is important to understand its data structure before diving into the user interface.
In Catalyst, records of objects imported from Salesforce are stored, along with native objects called Notes and Tasks. Each object has fields that can be mapped from existing data or created within Catalyst to capture important information.
When records are imported from Salesforce, customizable pages are provided in Catalyst. These pages allow you to design layouts that meet your team’s specific needs. You can organize data in a way that makes sense to you and explore relevant details as needed. These layouts can also be used to create aggregated dashboards.
Layouts in Catalyst are made up of modules, which are powered by segments. Segments are filtered groups of records in Catalyst based on the specific data you want to view. To include fields in your segments or display them on layouts, they must be mapped from your data sources or created directly within Catalyst.
03. How to use the Catalyst UI
Now let’s explore the user interface (UI)!
The left bar serves as your main navigation, with icons for:
- Home
- Notifications
- Data
- Templates
- Email outbox
- Playbooks (Admin only)
- Settings (Admin only)
The left bar also provides access to supporting resources, such as functionality guides and inspirational content for your projects. On many pages, you will find a collapsible sidebar that offers additional navigation options.
The top left corner of each page displays your current location, and you may encounter breadcrumbs that allow you to navigate back or explore associated records.
In addition to the main pages you will visit, Catalyst utilizes mini-forms for notes, tasks, and detail pop-ups. These mini-forms enable you to minimize distractions and smoothly navigate between different pages when gathering information from various sections of Catalyst.
We understand that often your primary objective is to find a specific record. The top search bar serves as a convenient shortcut, allowing you to search for records by name, keywords, or even email for a contact.
The Create button empowers you to create a note, task, or segment anytime inspiration strikes, from any part of the platform. We even provide keyboard shortcuts (N, T, and S) to quickly access these options from any page.
Lastly, in the top right corner, you will find a user icon. Clicking on it allows you to manage your profile and Catalyst notifications. By adjusting your notification settings, you can minimize email clutter and rely on Catalyst notifications to stay updated.
04. How to connect Catalyst and Salesforce
Before you start building processes or visualizations in Catalyst, you must integrate your data sources in Catalyst. Start by importing foundational data from Salesforce, including accounts, contacts, and opportunities.
Connecting Catalyst and Salesforce
This integration process requires assistance from your Salesforce admin to set up the integration user and handle authentication.
Walkthrough
Here are the steps to connect Catalyst and Salesforce:
1. In Settings, navigate to the Integrations tab.
2. Click Add next to Salesforce.
3. Click Authorize Connection.
4. You will be prompted to log into Salesforce with a Username and Password.
5. Click Allow.
6. Setup the Salesforce account, opportunity, and contact filters.
- 💡 TIP: Use the filter to initially pull in “customer” accounts, so any irrelevant accounts do not sync over. Common fields customers use to filter are “account type” or “account status”.
7. Click Save and apply and your accounts will start populating into Catalyst.
8. From here, a Yellow Banner message may appear prompting you to reach out to your Catalyst POC to complete a Final Sync.
9. You can always go back and adjust or add to this filter if there are additional accounts you decide you want to bring in or accounts you do not want to bring in moving forward.
- 💡 TIP: Log out of your current Salesforce session before authorizing the integration with Catalyst.
05. Mapping Salesforce Fields in Catalyst
Once authenticated, as the Catalyst administrator, you can map the most crucial fields from Salesforce to meet your team’s needs on the Object Configuration Page. Navigate to the Settings tab to find the Object Configuration Page.
Walkthrough
Creating New Synced Fields
- Navigate to Settings, then Object Configuration.
- From here, click on the one of your Objects (for example, Accounts).
- Click + New Field.
- A popup modal will appear prompting you to select Synced Field.
- From here, you will be prompted to select from a list of available Salesforce fields.
- You can edit the field name that will be visible in Catalyst and add a description to the field.
- Click Create at the bottom when you are finished or Created & Add Another to continue adding new fields.
Additionally, each object (Accounts, Opportunities, Contacts) will have some Core and System Default fields already available within the platform. You will be able to map Salesforce fields to these existing Core and Default fields.
Mapping Salesforce Fields to Core and System Default Fields
- Navigate to Settings, then Object Configuration.
- From here, click on one of your Objects (for example, Accounts).
- Click on one of the Core fields (ie. Customer Success Manager).
- A popup modal will appear, prompting you to select from a list of available Salesforce fields.
- Click Update when you have finished.
06. How to use the Journey Builder in Catalyst
The customer journey guides customers toward success with clear goals and milestones for CSMs. It’s an actionable tool that offers flexibility through customized playbook workflows. The three key configurations in every customer success organization are Journey Builder, Playbooks, and Health.
Catalyst’s Journey Builder simplifies the configuration and iteration of a standard customer path. It offers several components to enhance your Customer Success interactions:
- Clear goals for each stage of the journey that are visible to all users and can facilitate automatic transitions to the next stage.
- The option to add further automation to any stage through playbooks, which can provide more guidance on the next steps for internal stakeholders.
- The customer’s journey stage, recorded on the account and/or opportunity, can be utilized in data segments.
Most customer journeys follow a similar path towards ensuring customers are seeing value using your products and services with versions of the following 4 stages: Foundation, Activation, Value Realization, Continued Success.
Walkthrough
To configure the foundation in Catalyst, follow these five steps:
- Map in or create your customer journey stage field in the Object Configuration.
- Go to Journey Builder and choose your customer journey field.
- Add descriptions, expected duration, and at least one stage goals for each stage.
- Select the method to move the customer to the next stage. It is recommended to choose an automated option.
- Don’t forget to save.
You can attach plays to each stage, creating customized action plans to achieve goals. In our Playbook training, we’ll delve deeper into building playbooks and integrating them into the customer journey.
07. How to use Playbooks in Catalyst
After configuring the customer journey in Catalyst, the next step is to drive automation through playbooks.
Playbooks in Catalyst drive automation for workflows, allowing you to create tailored action plans and automate tasks and emails. They can be attached to journey stages or used independently.
- Consider desired outcomes and the user experience when creating playbooks.
- Limit task overload and start with 2-3 workflows.
- Playbooks can be applied to various workflows, such as automated emails or tasks for specific actions.
Types of Playbooks:
- Account
- Contact
- Opportunity
- Additional Objects
Here are some common use cases for Playbooks:
- Accelerate Implementation and Onboarding: Use customized communications to drive adoption among new customers or users.
- Mitigate Churn Risk: Automatically engage customers when there are significant drops in usage, helping to identify and address potential risks.
- Strengthen Adoption: Monitor changes in customer health and alert Customer Success Managers (CSMs) to investigate further.
- Standardize Renewal Management: Re-engage customers before their renewal dates and automate essential CSM tasks throughout the process.
- Maximize Account Growth: Automatically engage customers when they add users or reach usage limits, allowing for identification of upsell opportunities.
- Customer Journey Action Plans: Implement automated action plans that streamline critical governance tasks at each phase of the customer journey, maximizing target attainment.
These Playbooks use cases aim to enhance customer success and drive growth throughout the customer lifecycle.
08. How to Create Playbooks in Catalyst
Experience efficient automation with Catalyst’s Playbook Sequencing. Leverage various data sources to create automated tasks and personalized emails. Playbooks support flow builders with delays and branching for customized paths and steps. You can trigger two types of actions from a Playbook by Tasks or Emails.
You can use 2 types of logic within Playbooks
1. Delays: Delays create intervals between actions and branches in a sequence.
2. Branches: Branching in playbooks offers the flexibility to guide customers along different paths.
- Delays: Delays create intervals between actions and branches in a sequence.
- Branches: Branching in playbooks offers the flexibility to guide customers along different paths.
- Playbooks support two types of branches:
- Customer: Ability to create branches using the object’s data via the query builder.
- Action: Ability to create branches using data from previous actions within the playbook.
- Customer and action branches cannot be combined, they can be stacked to achieve the desired outcome.
Walkthrough
1. Go to the Playbooks tab.
2. Click Create Playbook.
3. Add a Name and optional description.
4. Select the type of Playbook (Contact, Account, Opportunity, Additional Object).
5. Define entry conditions by adding filters or duplicating a segment (e.g., Health is At Risk).
6. Preview qualifying records in the upper right corner.
7. Add tasks, emails, delays, or branches using the + button.
💡 TIP: Use task templates for repeated tasks.
8. Add more actions or logic with the + button.
9. Click Settings to edit the name/description, objective, additional eligibility, re-entry, or exit settings:
- Do not allow re-entry: participants can enter this playbook once per lifetime, even if conditions are met more than once.
- Allow continuous re-entry: select a specific number of days after which the participant can re-enter the playbook.
10. Enable the Playbook by clicking Enable in the upper right corner.
11. Define launch logic:
- Run the Playbook now for qualifying customers (current and future).
- Only run the Playbook for future qualifying contacts. (Cannot be changed after enabling).
09. How to use the Health Score in Catalyst
The last part of building your Catalyst foundation is configuring a live health score. A live health score takes several inputs for the account and outputs a score that can help anyone in the business understand, at a high level, whether a customer is Health, Neutral, or At Risk.
- A Weighted Health Score can be created in the Settings tab by any Admin user.
- You can create up to five different Groups of health data
- Within each Group, you will be able to select Account-level fields and define your Healthy and At Risk criteria for that specific Group
- Any Healthy or At Risk criteria that is not met will be considered Neutral
Weighted Scores will populate at the Account level as a number between 1 and 10 where:
- 1 – 3 is considered At Risk
- 4 – 7 is considered Neutral
- 8 – 10 is considered Healthy
Once configured, the health status and score can be displayed and automated within the Catalyst platform, providing data points for triggers and quick reference. With these skills, the foundations of Catalyst can be built to operationalize workflows effectively.
