Global Manufacturers to Gather in Chicago for Inaugural Manufacturing ISV Cloud Summit 2016
Santa Clara, Calif., March 14, 2016 – Registration is now open for Manufacturing ISV Cloud Summit 2016, the first event dedicated to helping global manufacturers run their businesses in the cloud. The free event will take place on March 23, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, where manufacturing customers and executives will share how cloud solutions enable them to increase customer responsiveness, lower costs and improve product agility. As part of this event, attendees will hear from the Salesforce manufacturing leadership team on the growing need for front- and back-office transformation through development partners. Salesforce manufacturing-focused partners Propel, Rootstock, ICIX, and Tavant are joint sponsors of the event. Discussions and demonstrations are expected to focus on mission-critical business processes, including product development, order fulfillment, product compliance, warranty management and field service. Attendees will learn how a cloud platform can support Product Lifecycle Management, ERP, field service and other enterprise business processes. Scheduled speakers include: Achyut Jajoo, Global Industry Lead, Manufacturing Industry Solutions, Salesforce Bruce Richardson, SVP and Chief Strategist, Salesforce Stephen Simons, EVP and CIO, Direct Energy Solar, part of the Direct Energy family with almost $20B in revenue “Manufacturers have spent decades managing the lifecycle of building products, but their foundational business model is transforming with blinding speed. There’s more value being added after the product ships than ever before, and manufacturers have to learn quickly how to manage beyond the product,” explained Cindy Bolt, the Senior Vice President for Manufacturing at Salesforce. “Brands like GE, Honeywell, and Schneider Electric rely on Salesforce and our partners to reengineer their entire operation and unlock new value across the production and distribution cycle. Our Chicago event brings to life the Salesforce partner ecosystem. We’ll highlight how manufacturers leverage our solutions to unlock their siloed legacy data and bring new value to customers and new opportunities to their brands.” “Modern manufacturers need to look at the big picture of developing, manufacturing, selling, servicing and retaining customers,” said Ray Hein, CEO of Propel. “Because Propel is built on the Salesforce App Cloud, we easily integrate with solutions like Tavant to help everyone in a manufacturing company and all their partners see all the customer, product and service information needed for product innovation and business success.” “Manufacturing companies are always looking for ways to streamline their supply chain, improve quality and lower product costs,” said Pat Garrehy, CEO of Rootstock. “Rootstock and other Salesforce partners like ICIX now allow global manufacturers to continue to lower costs and improve business agility by easily sharing product, customer and business information across people, companies and systems.” Find Tavant Technologies on LinkedIn and Twitter. About Propel At Propel, we make PLM that’s made for everyone. Created by Product Lifecycle Management and cloud veterans, Propel helps everyone connect with your customers, products and services, so you can propel innovation and propel your business. With Propel, you can easily manage all the hardware, software, services, and customer information that help customers embrace your products. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Propel is a modern PLM solution built 100% on the Salesforce App Cloud. For more information, visit www.propelPLM.com. About Rootstock Rootstock Software® is a proven provider of powerful and nimble manufacturing, distribution and supply chain solutions built and deployed on the Salesforce App Cloud(the world’s #1 cloud computing platform). The Rootstock solutions enable real-time management of manufacturing, distribution and supply chain operations from front to back, anytime and anywhere. The company’s manufacturing, distribution and supply chain apps integrate “out of the box” with Salesforce Sales Cloudand other ERP-centric applications written on the Salesforce App Cloud. With unparalleled executive experience in manufacturing and distribution software and an established base of installed and implemented cloud customers, Rootstock offers a better and more reliable way to plan and execute required activities, deliver essential information to all parts of the organization, and improve timely and informed business decision making. The Rootstock apps also provide the control and visibility required to elevate the total performance of manufacturing, distribution and supply chain operations. Rootstock is available on the Salesforce AppExchange, the world’s leading marketplace for business apps. To learn more, visit our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/RootstockSoftware or visit http://www.rootstock.com. About ICIX ICIX helps the retail industry’s leading companies collaborate across trading partner networks to achieve Active TransparencyTM. ICIX solutions enable companies to safeguard consumers, protect their brand, and build trust – all while improving margins. Its cloud-based SaaS platform brings unparalleled visibility and efficiency to the extended supply chain for product safety, compliance and corporate social responsibility. Over 20,000 businesses are active members of the ICIX network, including leading retailers and manufacturers, their trading partners and over 50 testing, inspection and certification companies. For more information about the company and its portfolio of products, visit icix.com. Media Contact: Vibhor Mishra Tavant Technologies [email protected] +1 (408) 519 5400
Tavant Invited to Speak at Warranty Chain Management Conference
Santa Clara, Calif., March 10, 2016: Tavant, a leading global provider of Warranty Management Software, today announced that it is a co-sponsor of the Warranty Chain Management Conference (WCM) 2016, to be held in Jacksonville, Florida. Tavant will be exhibiting at booth number 3. Tavant will co-present three key papers at the conference on March 16 and 17: 1. ‘Cultural Sensitivities in The Warranty World – A Japan Case Study’ by Anand Subramanian from Tavant Technologies. 2. ‘Customer Satisfaction Through Supplier/Vendor Quality’ by Moshe Devarapalli from Tavant Technologies along with Ken Monroe from Ingersoll Rand 3. ‘Innovation in Warranty’ by Rohit Lohan from Tavant Technologies along with David Christian from MCFA Tavant will be showcasing its industry leading enterprise Warranty Management System – Tavant Warranty and Tavant Warranty On-Demand, its enterprise warranty solution offered on the Salesforce cloud. “Tavant is a pioneer in warranty software solutions space. Tavant Warranty solutions allow customers to capture accurate warranty registration information, automate claims processing, manage part returns and streamline overall warranty operations,” said Vibhor Mishra, Director, Marketing, Tavant Technologies. “The solutions enable you to make informed decisions based on dynamic warranty intelligence reports.” Get an opportunity to meet and learn from Tavant Warranty Management experts at booth number 3. About Tavant Technologies Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Tavant Technologies is a specialized software solutions & services provider that provides impactful results to its customers across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Founded in 2000, the Company employs over 1500 people and is a recognized top employer. Find Tavant Technologies on LinkedIn and Twitter. Media Contact: Vibhor Mishra Tavant Technologies Inc. +1 (408) 519-5400 [email protected] tavant.com
Tavant to Host Webinar on Warranty Management Best Practices for 2016
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 2, 2016 – Tavant, a leading global provider of Warranty Management Software, today announced that it will host a webinar on building a best practices warranty management program with Strategies for GrowthSM (SFG). This exclusive webinar will be hosted on March 3, 2016, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST. Rohit Lohan, Product Manager, Tavant Technologies and Bill Pollock, President & Principal Consulting Analyst, SFG are the key speakers. “The discussion will examine the best practices adopted for warranty management and benchmarking gains from companies who have attained and maintained the best practice status,” said Rohit Lohan. “The 60-minute webinar will explore the specific strategic actions adopted by Best Practices organizations, the technology they use, the KPIs they measure and the key drivers.” “Tavant is a global leader in Warranty Management Software. Tavant Warranty is a globally renowned web-based, full-lifecycle warranty solution that brings together OEMs, suppliers and service channel partners in a real-time environment,” said Bill Pollock, President & Principal Consulting Analyst at SFG. “SFG has partnered with Tavant to share the strategic and tactical insights it has collected from leading Warranty Services organizations with the Warranty Management Community.” Tavant Warranty has proven benefits enabling a reduction in warranty spends, elimination of fraudulent claims, reduction in claim processing time, increase in supplier recovery and the capability to make informed decisions based on dynamic warranty intelligence reports. Tavant Warranty On-Demand is the first end-to-end warranty management solution developed on the salesforce.com platform Find Tavant Technologies on LinkedIn and Twitter. About Strategies for GrowthSM SFG conducts a series of Benchmark Surveys among its global outreach community of service professionals. The firm’s 2015 Warranty Chain Management Benchmark Survey clearly identifies what Best Practices Warranty Management organizations are doing differently than all others to attain the industry’s highest levels of profitability and time-related performance. Media Contact: Vibhor Mishra Tavant Technologies Inc. +1 (408) 519-5400 [email protected] https://tavant.com
Waiting for Complaints to Correct your Manufacturing Process? Foresee and Prevent Them Now
In recent years, software intelligence has lifted the burden off manufacturers by reducing the number of warranty claims they receive. Intelligent software also recovers costs from suppliers accurately and protects you from fraudulent claims. All the data stacked across your systems can be analyzed with advanced intelligence and you can get your departments to collaborate seamlessly. But legacy systems were inept at doing that. Data collation goes beyond warranty-claims data. A thorough visualization of the complete ecosystem of numerous suppliers, assembly systems, processes, sales and service chains, and their interrelationships is important. An advanced system can hunt down the root causes of claims and unravel the intricacies: What products or parts fail more often, if more claims come from any specific geographical area, are there seasonal patterns, is any particular parts supplier responsible for more failures, is the supplier-recovery process timely and efficient… Practically, every bit of data in the supply-production-quality-warranty chain needs to be analyzed. Every bit of data can be seen from all possible angles using software. This extends to a daunting variety of data sources—supply chain, bill of materials, product life cycle records, dealer-distributor-service networks, CRM records, call center records… the list can just go on. Predictive warranty intelligence systems analyze these data and help you do at least three key things with tremendous business impact: Forecast potential issues early enough to prevent them from causing heavy losses Prioritize issues according to magnitude and urgency for the system Identify factors that cause recurring failures so that you can focus on eliminating them By nailing the problems, you will be able to reduce the financial burden coming from warranty claims, continuously improve product quality, and build up customer satisfaction. The correctly implemented warranty intelligence system should let you get real-time information on warranty KPIs (key performance indicators) in easily understandable graphs, charts and other visuals. All of that comes with a few clicks on a very intuitive graphical user interface. In such a system, dashboards can be integrated with complete qualitative and quantitative information on critical performance metrics with respect to suppliers, factory processes, product lines, models, dealer, service centers, customers, geographies, etc. This provides a robust and informative reporting framework that covers: Warranty expense Claims turnaround time Processing efficiency Parts return efficiency Supplier recovery rate Supplier quality Cost drivers analysis Reliability analysis Reserves The money you lose on warranty is nothing compared to the goodwill and opportunity you lose by not using warranty intelligence solutions. Warranty intelligence can help you find and eliminate root causes of situations pertaining to warranty claims. That helps to improve manufacturing practices and unprofitable supply contracts by identifying repeat claims. Warranty costs and time spent on processing claims can be reduced in the long run. Powerful analytics can convert raw data into actionable insights and aid data segmentation. Early-warning systems are implemented to track error patterns, and thereby generate inputs to improve product quality and reliability. Proactive measures for improved product quality, higher reliability, and reduced downtime enhance customer satisfaction and retention. Data-driven IT implementation improves the accuracy of reserves forecasting with accurate historical warranty data and trends. This helps you plan the cash flow easily. All in all, the latest systems can transform your organization into a new profile with a higher level of customer esteem.
Streamline Your Supplier Recovery Process
Many industries have been able to overcome their challenges by using the recent developments in data technology. It has helped organizations by providing them access to real-time data and streamlining most of their communication channels. Warranty service is one of the significant areas to have improved due to such developments. Manufacturers now depend on the cloud, real-time data, extensive databases, and interactive technologies. Customers expect quick turnarounds and zero hassle when they need a vehicle part replaced through warranty. Manufacturers earlier felt unprepared to meet such expectations because recovering the cost without occasional misses was difficult. Missed opportunities in supplier recovery result from sluggish processes. Although protocols and contracts between suppliers and manufacturers exist, customer often feel neglected due to disputes. This difficulty can be resolved with an IT implementation that puts the manufacturers in an interactive mode with their suppliers. To support such a system, accurate verification and rules-based algorithms are necessary. Sourcing history is an important data set in warranty technology used by manufacturers. Machine and vehicle parts can be assigned unique codes and mapped to specific suppliers for accurate identification when the need arises. Although this process can be automated, the system can be complemented with an interactive dispute management system. It will help the two parties resolve exceptions in real time. As soon as a warranty claim is raised, the verification process can take into consideration if a supplier needs to be charged or penalized for low quality products according to the contract. This is possible if a complaint is recognized and mapped to its root cause analysis. With an automation system designed to perform checks, manufacturers can reduce their supplier recovery turnarounds to days, or even a single day, in spite of accurate and rigorous verifications. Even now, many manufactures are riddled with tedious methods of supplier identification and managing inventory risk. They can be the biggest hurdles to delivering prompt warranty service, especially with the kind of consistency that will help the brand value. Manufacturers need to avoid the rigmarole of supplier recovery and also avoid delays and disputes so that turnarounds are under control and superior warranty service results from streamlined supplier recovery management. Technology plays a key role in making a difference. Warranty management systems are required to facilitate manufacturers with adequate data so that they can identify failure and standards violation patterns and never incur a loss due to their suppliers. To avoid blurry interpretations of contracts, a rules-based, interactive cloud system can help resolve issues quickly when warranty claims are being processed.
How to Sell More HVAC Units through Warranty Changes?
The primary goal of a manufacturer is to enable more revenue, through product sales, and whenever possible, through services and service contracts. With standard quality products, dependable service is always a winner in the manufacturing sector. Selling more products becomes easier when your company builds the reputation for reliable, cost-effective services for the products. This is true especially for HVAC products, which need servicing almost every year. Opportunities in the HVAC sector The HVAC sector has huge aftermarket opportunities. Service is required frequently. If you supply heating and ventilation products to offices and homes, you are part of a market growing at 3.8% annually since 2010. That is a trend expected to continue till 2020, during which the US GDP will be growing at 2.2%. Market experts unanimously say the demand for service from HVAC companies is likely to go up very noticeably. There is no doubt 2010-20 is an important time to elevate your brand image by providing efficient services besides quality products. Where do you stand now? Long-term service contracts, especially with businesses, might be fetching you service opportunities and product sales regularly. However, it is important that you improve your service and its efficiency to increase your reliability. It is not beneficial that some customers get repairs done through independent mechanics and choose another brand when they want a new HVAC system. Most domestic HVAC owners prefer to call neighborhood maintenance services, because they are quicker. The question that every business should ask itself is, “Are we positioned to address that gap?” If you want HVAC customer to use your warranty system, you have to position it locally and closer to customers. You then need to have an online system accessible to customers. That will surely improve revenues, especially with the support of localized marketing channels. Can you feasibly improve your warranty services? Improving your warranty service usually seems unfeasible. Estimates tend to discourage manufacturers from taking steps to improve service turnarounds and revenue opportunities. However, customer experience is the crux. It is essential to build your system around customers to meet all their needs. Overheads can be reduced with the help of a technology-driven solution, which verifies claims accurately and facilitates cloud-based mobile communication between your service teams and headquarters. This can mitigate the very cost required for quick and dependable aftermarket services. Solutions that technology can offer Reduction in service delays and overheads are important to achieve for HVAC manufacturers to ultimately sell better. The total warranty-service cost incurred can be reduced by technology through automation of claims-validation and cross-functional integration. Long-term savings can be achieved through continuous improvement with the use of system data. Parts replacement and repair turnarounds must shrink to allow better customer experience for HVAC users. Cloud-based warranty systems will help manufacturers as customers increase. Cloud-based systems have many advantages: They are easy to scale up or down according to business fluctuations. You just need to pay according to the volume of use. You don’t have to invest heavily in infrastructure or tools. The vendor takes care of them. You will get access to the latest technology without having to invest heavily on R&D. Your vendor will take care to provide the newest technology. Cost-effective service can be provided when you have local service units, seamless connectivity with them, real-time updates, lower travel overheads, and integration with sales, service, and management. This also helps in achieving better understanding and evaluation of performance. An example of how warranty technology can reduce costs In 1992, warranty costs at our company for replacement, IAQ, and accessories installation work were about 2.5% of installation revenue. Beginning in 1993, we implemented a comprehensive installation quality control process for our retrofit work and realized immediate and dramatic improvement in our retrofit installation warranty costs, as well as in all of the areas noted above. By the end of 1994, we had reduced our installation warranty cost to just over 0.5% of revenue and had added a full percentage point to the bottom-line profitability of our retrofit installation work. – Jackie Rainwater, writing for Peachtree Heating and Air Conditioning Cost-effective implementation of technology The warranty technology or system should have low implementation cost and quick deployment turnaround. Implementation of ‘surround-not-replace’ and agile development practices have made IT implementation affordable. The already-existing software systems with HVAC manufacturers need to be “surrounded” with features and resources that enable cost-effective and high-quality warranty improvements; they need not be replaced. That is the first step to making warranty improvements feasible. Once better service is easier to provide, brand value and sales will see quick improvements Note Register for our upcoming ‘Building a Best Practices Warranty Management Program for 2016 – And Beyond!’ webinar by Bill Pollock and Rohit Lohan to learn how to manage your warranty costs better.
Tavant to Host Webinar on Impact of Connected Home on Warranty Management
SANTA CLARA, Calif., January 13, 2016 – Tavant Technologies, a leading global provider of Warranty Management Software, today announced that it will host a webinar to share insights on how data from connected home can help control warranty management expenses and improve customer service. The 60-minute webinar, ‘Connected Home – Warranty and Service’ will detail as to how data from the different appliances in connected home will help optimize the usage, maintenance and after-sales service of these appliances. This exclusive webinar will take place on Thursday, January 21, 2016, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST. Eric Arnum, Editor, Warranty Week, Achyut Jajoo, Global Industry Leader, Manufacturing & Automotive Industries, salesforce.com and Rohit Lohan, Product Manager and Solution Architect, Tavant Technologies are the key speakers who will be sharing their views and knowledge on the impact of connected home on warranty and service. “Tavant is a pioneer in warranty software solutions space; Tavant Warranty is a globally renowned web-based, full-lifecycle warranty solution that brings together OEMs, suppliers and service channel partners in a real-time environment. Tavant Warranty On-Demand is the first end-to-end warranty management solution developed on the salesforce.com platform,” said Rohit Lohan. “Tavant Warranty solutions allow customers to capture accurate warranty registration information, automate claims processing, manage part returns and streamline overall warranty operations.” Find us on LinkedIn and on Twitter
How to Ensure Customer Satisfaction with Technology in the Warranty Business
Software development efforts are usually directed at reducing overheads and increasing ROIs, but when technology is used to improve the value chain through better customer satisfaction, the approach required is essentially number driven. The need to improve customer satisfaction can be met if operational complexity was lower and measurability was easier for manufacturing personnel. Technology can make business performance measurable. The improvement brought about by such technology has to be persistently felt across the warranty chain. The need for measurability Experience improvement across the value chain occurs as the result of integration and transparency, which can be brought about by a user-friendly and integrated technology. However, without KPIs or measurability in it, personnel will remain in the dark about improvements. Error-free and time-effective processes involving dealers and special-parts suppliers are necessary as well. Manufacturers should detect inefficiencies and production defects, and consequently, make modifications that improve customer experiences. What are the software requirements? 1.OEMs first need an integrated system in order to obtain relevant data from the value chain. Access to data that lets managers use customer satisfaction as a KPI is only possible when a real-time system involving telematics, simple user interfaces, and the cloud can update the warranty system at the manufacturer’s end. 2.A capable technology must also use warranty data for internal calculations. Warranty intelligence helps identify patterns and leads to higher measurability, easing the process of operational control and performance scoring. When the data is real-time, pre-emptive corrections can lead to long-term profitability and brand value. 3.Warranty spends are contained within appropriate limits as the result of fraud detection. Data intelligence can help detect frauds by identifying customers’ behavior over time, and create transparency between OEMs, dealers, and suppliers on fraud issues. The need for agile software development Imitating the dynamism in any given business environment is understandably a difficult challenge in enterprise software development. IT suites for warranty management should feature user-friendly interfaces, which can be used by OEM personnel without technical expertise. While they should be able to set their warranty rules without the assistance of a software developer, algorithmic changes should be available from a software provider instantly. A capable provider should be able to deploy the changes within days or weeks by the virtue of Software as a Service (SaaS). Similar changes from legacy system providers can take months and overheads easily eat into profits. A vast scope of improvement lies in warranty intelligence. As your system gathers a massive source of cumulative data, algorithmic refinements can identify profitable distribution points, unproductive policies, scopes of fraud, supplier-recovery risks and let you score them regularly and accurately. Remember, refinement in algorithms helps organizations to improve continuously. In a nutshell Your warranty management system must drive your organization towards being better informed, so that you can avoid misunderstandings, take the right decisions, and deploy the right investments after quantifying performances. Moreover, a good software system is one that enables clarity and predictability in the value chain with ease.
Tavant selected to Exhibit in the Customer Showcase Pavilion at Dreamforce 2015
SANTA CLARA, Calif., September 9, 2015— Tavant, a leading global provider of specialized software solutions, today announced that it has been chosen to exhibit in the customer success showcase area at Dreamforce 2015, September 15 – 18. As a key Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance and AppExchange partner, Tavant Technologies enables its customers to get the maximum out of their cloud investments. You can meet Tavant at Kiosk 57, Level One, Moscone West or in meeting room WMR 20 during the duration of the show. “For years, we have delivered great value to Salesforce.com customers in media, manufacturing, financial services and consumer lending industries, combining customer satisfaction and domain experience with technical expertise to increase efficiency and improve ROI,” said Vibhor Mishra, Director of Marketing at Tavant Technologies. “We’re looking forward to sharing our customer success stories and inspiring others with new ideas for growth at Dreamforce ‘15.” With its custom software solutions, Tavant is a one-stop shop for Salesforce.com customers, offering a range of services and products. At the event, Tavant will showcase its consulting services, including Cloud advisory services Sales, service and marketing cloud implementation services Custom application development Tavant will also demonstrate Warranty On-Demand, the first end-to-end warranty management solution developed on the Salesforce.com platform. The solution provides a quick and easy solution for manufacturers to keep track of their assets and corresponding warranties, and automate their warranty claim lifecycle. If you’re attending Dreamforce, please stop by Kiosk 57, Level One, Moscone West, or visit Tavant in meeting room WMR 20. You can also email [email protected] to schedule a meeting. Find Tavant Technologies on LinkedIn and Twitter. Media contact: Vibhor Mishra Director of Marketing, Tavant Technologies T: +1 408-519-5400 E: [email protected]
No More SFDC Training at the Bottom of My Bucket List
Are you having a really slow start on your SFDC management or development training? Up until summer 2014, if you wanted SFDC training, you could officially take a class, buy a 3rd party book, or use the online SFDC help and training articles. (BTW, there are other un-official free resources, such as sfdc99.com). Honestly, I don’t personally know anyone who enjoys using the standard ‘Help & Training’ to learn about SFDC. However, lucky high rollers on Unlimited or Performance editions get exclusive access to additional interactive Help & Training content. Having been aboard one such high rolling ‘whale’, I can testify that interactive training makes a ton of difference. If you’re on any such organization and didn’t know, you’ve been missing out big time! Classroom training suits me best. I’ve been a trainer. There’s just no substitute when you’re easily distracted – but then again, not all trainers make their classes fun. Reading books will do the trick as well, but it’s definitely not as fun as attending a good class. I haven’t heard of any must-have SFDC books though. Enter Trailhead. SFDC’s challenging and innovative approach to Web2.0 training. Yep, that means real social & interactive training. [I promise to add ‘fun’ as soon as they add -tangible- perks to it]. Trailhead is still in the beta stage, and hosts 7 training trails as of August 2015, up 4 since June 2015: Beginner admin – about 9 hours’ worth of content and 10,200 points earning potential CRM admin, about 1.5 hours’ worth of content, and 2,200 points of earning potential Beginner developer, about 15 hours’ <minimum> and up to 19400 points worth Intermediate admin, about 6.75 hours’ long, with up to 8500 points to earn Intermediate developer, about 10.75 hours’ worth of content, and 8400 points to earn Mobile SDK Developer, near 7 hours’ long, and 3000 points of earning potential Dreamforce ‘15, only 30 mins and 300 points -Late August Update- There are now 11 trails, after the addition of: Admin Lightning Experience – 3.5 hrs, 1100 points Developer Lightning Experience – 10.5 hrs, 5800 points Admin Trail, starting with the Lightning Experience – 3 hrs, 1000 points Sales Rep Lightning Experience, 2 hrs, 600 points I’m figuring the ‘Lightning Experience’ will be well received by SFDC at Dreamforce ‘15 You may select to just chopper in and drop into the middle of any trail or challenge. You are not forced to follow the recommended sequence. You are required to use a developer org and an admin login to complete some of the goals. Each trail consists of a number of topics, each within an independent page. Within each topic, you are challenged to complete a short test or a developer org configuration task. Your success will be rewarded with X points. If you fail; “no soup for you!” (Google up ‘Soup Nazi’ for that reference). Retries will earn you half the points of the previous attempt’s reward level. Interestingly, the trailhead is capable of checking whether the configuration (metadata) you were challenged to complete exists within your developer org. In addition to points, you are rewarded with ‘virtual badges’ for completing challenges and reaching point thresholds. There are links for related articles within each topic and links to SFDC forum discussions. If any such article or discussion picks your interest, you may take the long way for your trail. So what do you do with those badges and points? Back in January, you’d get a free t-shirt for completing the existing trails. These days, points and badges will only get you bragging rights (what? I can’t write that?) – a-hem! I mean ‘community recognition’. So what are you waiting for? Do you want any additional motivation to start your free trailhead journey? Register for the SFDC IDEAS Community, and vote up “SWAG for Trailhead Points”! https://success.salesforce.com/ideaView?id=08730000000wkRxAAI