Salesforce may be utilized by all the branches of a business to obtain, retain and fulfill their customers. It is very handy for successful data management which in turn shows the way for finding new windows. When done properly, salesforce will truly change the way you execute your business process by performing tedious tasks by itself, providing you with a complete perspective of your customer and igniting a new spark in your sales. But when implemented wrongly, salesforce can hit hard on your pocket, annoying the sales and be a burden on you with unused features.
Here are some steps and best practices that will help you with your easy and less time-consuming Salesforce implementation.
1. Initiation:
The initial step in Salesforce implementation starts with a deal between various associates of the customer and the Salesforce implementation shareholders. Various project goals, duties of the team members, deliverables, deadlines, business benefits are discussed and brought to a conclusion. The deliverables in the project plan could be altered depending on the features in the product and its requirements in integration.
2. Following an established process:
Neatly outline the scope of work for the complete process like lead flow, customer accretion planning and setting up of campaign before creating a solution. Be detailed in whatever approach you choose as trying to correct the mistakes later will result in a lot of time consumption in the future. Cautious research, design, and planning will aid in executing the further levels of Salesforce implementation go easily and early.
3. Keep a fixed timeline:
After you define the Scope of Work, keep a fixed timeline. Document important points like the project commencement date estimated data transfer completion date and commencement of Salesforce date. The use of any project management system will assist you to be systematic and execute the complete process in a fixed period.
4. Administration:
Discuss with important users of the company and get knowledge about their requirements, business expectations from the new implementation. No matter the size of your organization you’re going to need someone who is a Salesforce expert on your team. Whether you choose to hire a Salesforce admin full time or work with a freelancer is going to depend on your particular situation.
Even if you have a small sales team you need to have a salesforce expert. The principal spent initially will be very less when compared to the period and frustration you will be saving. You should also make decisions on who will pioneer the key decisions from your company. Also, members from all the teams like sales, marketing, IT, customer care and will use salesforce, so you need to assign their roles and responsibilities for the process.
5. Include the end-users in the plan:
The end-users or customers will be the ones who will be using the system every day. Hence you must communicate with them throughout the process after sharing the complete Scope of Work with them. The end-users of the Salesforce will ultimately make this initiative to reach its intended goal. Regular and transparent communication between the core team and the end-user community will let you know the concerns and any comments for correction. Incorporating those practical corrections will support everyone to take responsibility.
6. Data management duties:
Data maintenance responsibility is a huge task. Keeping all the later consequences in mind, data needs to be taken care off and you need a dedicated person for its maintenance. You need to make sure that successful and consistent migration of data is an important aspect to assure data integrity. Without having achieved data integrity, you may end up with your salesforce having a lot of data mishaps like duplicate, inconsistent and missing data. Preparing for these data mishaps early and managing to avoid them from occurring, will assure you of complete system solidarity. With support from solutions by Adaptid, you can be certain of safe, standardized and complete data migration of your Salesforce in the stipulated time frame. This will give you greater confidence about the integration of multiple systems in your organization.
7. Implementing in phases:
It is advised to carry out the salesforce implementation in stages. Both the employees and the end-users may be unsusceptible to sudden changes, so concentrate on each step at once. Salesforce will be of great help and new spirit only if end-users take full advantage of it. If you try to implement the whole process at once, then it is more unlikely that people may digest it. The success of the Salesforce implementation is highly dependent on how people have adjusted to the changes but not the pace at which it can be implemented without success.
8. Have a post-implementation plan:
Now consider that you have your Salesforce solution implemented and completely configured with the routine sales, customer relations, and tasks being automated. You have also trained all your employees to make use of all the features and the new UI, now you may think that the job is done. But the crucial task to complete is keeping your end users stick to you. Hence a post-implementation plan is very important. It should not just be about teaching them the use of technology, but it is also about the concerns of the people who use it. You need to be interactive with your users and respond to their queries and try to solve their issues. Try to Incorporate their feedbacks in your process if they are helpful.
Final Thoughts:
Salesforce offers a transparent and user-friendly interface, which has been crucial in increasing its popularity. Due to this, salesforce projects have now been adopted across industries and companies of different sizes. A properly executed and managed implementation process will allow the extraction of the full potential of the Salesforce solution within the desired timeframe. Choosing the best implementation strategy by campaigners like Adaptid in Salt Lake City will ensure your peace of mind and the best ROI in the future.
