6 Common Salesforce Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Yes, Salesforce is a powerful tool that can transform and streamline your business processes. But it’s not a magic wand. Purchasing the Salesforce software won’t solve your business problems if it’s not implemented properly.
Adopting Salesforce for the first time is no easy task. When companies call us for Salesforce help, it’s often because they need help fixing what went wrong. Avoid these 6 common Salesforce mistakes to save yourself lots of time, hassle, and money:
Mistake #1: Underestimating what you need for implementation
It takes a lot of resources to properly implement an “out of the box” Salesforce solution, and it takes even more resources to implement a highly customized solution. There’s a reason Salesforce has training programs, communities, and MVPs. Assuming you can just do it yourself without having expertise is one of the biggest mistakes you could make.
Your team will need to devote a significant amount of time to the implementation process – even if you hire someone to help. Beyond what it takes to set up the software, you’re going to need to create a plan, document your business processes, and train your staff. Expecting all that to happen in two weeks is going to bring lots of headaches. Establish realistic expectations from the beginning, and there will be fewer tears later on.
Mistake #2: Not choosing the right partner
If you plan on hiring a professional to help with implementation, make sure you do your research. Knowing how to use Salesforce does not make someone the right partner for your Salesforce project. Whoever you choose should have a deep understanding of business processes. They should be able to understand what your business needs are, what your pain points are, and what solutions Salesforce can offer for you.
Implementing Salesforce before understanding your processes and developing a strategy to solve your pain points is a huge waste of a powerful tool. You’ll end up with a solution that’s not actually a solution, just a clunky piece of software that no one wants to use.
READ: What We Do: Salesforce Implementation
Mistake #3: Not investing in your Salesforce Admin
Every successful Salesforce solution has a well equipped Salesforce Admin. Your Salesforce Admin is an internal team member who will champion your Salesforce efforts. They will keep up with the day-to-day maintenance of the organization and will ensure that all departments are successful.
Salesforce Administrator is an extremely important role. They need to be trained properly and supported with continuing education. This mean investing in Salesforce Premier Support with access to classes and training modules.
Mistake #4: Not having support from your executive team
Buy-in on the executive level is extremely important. Your executives need to be engaged throughout the entire implementation process to ensure that you have the budget you need. Their leadership is essential to set the expectation that everyone on the team is unified.
Mistake #5: Deciding to implement CRM without knowing why
Never do anything in business without a plan. Before you implement Salesforce, you need to understand, from a business perspective, what problems you’re solving. Why do you need CRM? What are pain points in your business processes? How will Salesforce solve those? Without a plan, you’ll never realize the potential – and the ROI – of Salesforce.
Mistake #6: Moving your data over incorrectly
One of the great things about Salesforce is the ability to pull all your data into one, unified dashboard. As wonderful as that sounds, pulling all your data requires expertise. First, you need to inventory all your data sources (AKA “wrangle it”). Next, you’ll need to integrate it with your other data – basically weave it together. Finally, you’ll need to format it. Formatting means making sure all the raw data you’re pulling in is in the same format. Not properly preparing your data could result in losing out on the big picture.
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Investing in Salesforce is a huge step – one that should be met with proper planning, so that your business benefits from proper implementation and long-time usage. Avoid these 6 mistakes and you’ll be on the path to Salesforce success.
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