Starting over with Salesforce: 8 questions to ask your business to get the most from Salesforce

Salesforce is the number one customer relationship management (CRM) platform across the world. This is probably the reason why many choose to have it implemented in the first place. There are so many benefits associated with this platform. You can automate everyday tasks, improve communication, enhance informational organisation, analyse data more effectively, and ultimately, improve customer service. However, this is only going to be the case if you use the platform to its full potential.

What are the signs that you have not implemented Salesforce CRM correctly?

There is no denying that managing relationships is one of the most difficult elements of running a business, and this is probably what made Salesforce so appealing. Sadly, a lot of business owners invest in this platform, but without the correct strategy or approach, it is doomed from the beginning. Here are some of the key signs that you should hit the reset button on your Salesforce relationship:

• You don’t know what is next for your business.
• You keep going back to Excel.
• You have lost confidence in your ROI figures.
• Everyone else seems to be using Salesforce more effectively and having greater success.
• Your chatter feed has dried up.

These are just a few of the signs that you have taken a wrong turn with Salesforce (or that you were never on the right path to begin with). If this sounds familiar, here are some of the questions you need to ask yourself to turn things around…

1. Do you know what you want Salesforce to do?

Firstly, you need to determine what you want from Salesforce. What business objectives are you hoping to achieve by having this solution in place? “Improving your business” or “enhancing customer relationships” is too general. You need specific targets so that you can make sure Salesforce is working for you. For example, one of these targets may be to automate certain tasks so that you have more time at your business. Another target could be to improve your understanding of your consumers with analytics so you can personalise your marketing approach.

2. Have you got a handle on your business processes?

If you don’t understand your existing business processes, or you haven’t perfected them, how can you expect Salesforce to fit in? Salesforce is designed to enhance your existing business processes, whether through intelligence, automation, or communication. Knowing your processes and ensuring they are efficient is critical if you want Salesforce to be a success.

3. Have you got the right people in place to run your Salesforce org?

Who runs Salesforce at your business? Do they have the experience? Do they know what they are supposed to be doing?

4. What went wrong previously?

They say that we should view failure as an opportunity to learn, and that is certainly the case here. You need to get to the bottom of why Salesforce has not worked for your business so far. Talk to your employees. They are the ones who can provide you with the right insight. Perhaps they feel like they were not given enough training? Or, maybe you half-heartedly went about the implementation?

5. Is Salesforce working with the other tech running your business?

Most businesses today use a number of different tech solutions. You need to integrate all of these so that your company runs seamlessly. This is where a Salesforce partner proves beneficial, as they will be able to ensure all of your tech runs in tandem so that you don’t experience any hurdles.

6. Have you trained your team?

One of the biggest mistakes that business owners make when it comes to software implementation, in general, is failing to train their staff. They invest in a product and they simply expect their employees to get to grips with it. Instead, you need comprehensive Salesforce training. You need to make sure that everyone at your business knows how to use the platform correctly so that you are deriving true value from it.

7. What does adoption look like across your user base?

You also need to think about what adoption looks like. Are you going to adopt this software across your entire business, including multiple offices? Are you merely going to roll this out in a department or two? What clouds and modules will you use? How will this scale as your business scales?

8. Do you have an internal admin supporting the Salesforce environment?

Finally, what about Salesforce support? Who are you going to turn to when something goes wrong or you need some assistance? If you don’t have this capability in-house, it is worth aligning with a Salesforce partner who can provide it.

Click here to discover if you’re making the most of Salesforce with our Salesforce Spot Test

Here at We Are 4C, we have many years of experience in the industry when it comes to Salesforce development. Our team of management consultants boasts more 50 Salesforce certifications between the 15 of them. These certifications span seven Salesforce clouds, from Community Cloud to Sales, so you can be sure you won’t find anyone better for Salesforce implementation.

All you need to do is look at the success we have had so far. We have a renewal rate of over 90 per cent, as well as an NPS of 70+. Please do not hesitate to give us a call to discuss your needs further.