Key Steps for Successful Salesforce Implementation

A very powerful platform with exceptional and unlimited capabilities, this is what Salesforce is all about. The businesses who are interested in Salesforce implementation would be more likely interested to read articles about Salesforce. Salesforce Implementation Project Manager would be the person who would be responsible in successfully implementing the Salesforce CRM process and thereby ensuring the successful completion of the project. Salesforce Implementation Project Manager should understand the relevant business processes of the company and should be able to communicate effectively with the staffs and customers of the company including the Salesforce professionals.

infographic 7 Strategies for a Successful salesforce implementation

Here are the key steps that are required in implementing the Salesforce successfully:-

Search for an Executive Sponsor
The project would be influenced the most by an Executive Sponsor and would be responsible in ensuring the success of Salesforce CRM implementation. The executive sponsor would be involved in complete support and participation beginning from the planning stage to the implementation stage and until the project is completed and delivered to the client.

The need for a clearly defined Process
Prior to creating a solution including lead flow, customer acquisition planning along with campaign setup, the CRM process should be clearly defined. It is desirable for the professionals to be thorough irrespective of the method being chosen by them for getting the best results. To ensure the remaining steps in Salesforce implementation are smoother and without any problems, a careful preparation, as well as planning, is required.

Building a Timeline
The timeline should be carefully built based on the Scope of Work and the workflow. Ensure the most relevant milestones are included such as the start date of the project, switch date of the estimated database and the Salesforce go-live date. Make use of project management systems such as Trello, Basecamp or Smartsheet while creating a timeline.

Key Players has to be identified
Communicate with the users that matter the most within the company for understanding the business processes, requirements and expectations from the new system. Determine the individuals who will be involved from the company and the list of key decision makers. The most important people would be the general users, key decision makers and Salesforce admins. Similarly, the marketing teams, IT, Sales and customer service teams would be also more likely be responsible in using Salesforce most of the times. Thus create a list of all the key players that are more likely to make use of Salesforce.

Coordinating with end users such as Customers by sharing the plan
The end users such as customers would be responsible in determining the success or failure of the new CRM system. As they are the ones that are going to make use of the new system every day, ensure the work flow and Scope of Work are shared with them right on time. Ensure that you involve them and communicate with them effectively all along the project. It is desirable to include those customers within the Salesforce implementation process as it can offer a deeper and real insight for the companies. Try encouraging enhanced support and feedback by establishing frequent communications between the project team as well as larger user community. Much of the success relies on how far the company was able to incorporate those feedbacks that encourage almost everyone including the customers to take ownership. The more the users are involved, the more they are likely to be satisfied with the customer service offered by the company.

Own the Data
The data maintenance responsibilities should be defined clearly and ensure the data is owned by the business. This is because the data integrity could be achieved only by the successful merging of the data and the consistency is important in maintaining the data integrity. The lack of data integrity can result in the Salesforce system consisting of duplicate data followed by missing data and the data that are inconsistent. Therefore having a clear preparation before such problems takes place and implementing tools for cleaning as well as preventing of the data from happening, companies can ensure the integrity of CRM system. The presence of enhanced consistency from system-to-system is very important in ensuring a stronger user adoption.

Gradual roll-out in Phases
It is desirable to launch the Salesforce in stages as the employees might not be supportive and would be resistant in the beginning as they have to go through a major change in the work procedure once the Salesforce CRM is implemented. The real value of Salesforce can be utilized only when users are actually willing to make use of it effectively. However implementing all the changes at once can even lead to the failure of the project, therefore ensure the changes are introduced slowly so the users can adopt it with respect to time. More than the rate at which it is implemented, the rate at which Salesforce CRM is adopted will be what is going to make the difference.

The need for a Post-Implementation Plan
Maintaining the consistency of users in Salesforce is very important once it has been introduced for them to make use of it effectively. Ensure the post-implementation plan covers more, rather than restricting itself to mere technological aspects. Ensure the users are included in the post-implementation plan. An instant feedback or response should be initiated to the questions and challenges being posted by the users and provide them with continued support in real-time unless and until their issues with the Salesforce CRM Implementation is resolved. If the questions or challenges faced by the users are something new, ensure it is being documented and such questions should be included within the feedback list if not addressed before.

Conclusion
The above mentioned eight steps are considered to be the key steps in implementing Salesforce. Ensure all these requirements are fulfilled so as to provide the best experience for users and staffs with Salesforce CRM.

Check Important Checklist For Successful Salesforce CRM Implementation