Why You Need a Salesforce Implementation Partner

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Top 7 reasons why you need a Salesforce Implementation Partner
Why You Need a Salesforce Implementation Partner

Salesforce is an exciting, capable tool that can help promote your business forward like never before. Salesforce is more than just a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool and can not only improve your internal functions, but can also help improve the customer experience, as well. The benefit of Salesforce can go wide and far, depending on your needs.

However, utilizing Salesforce is much different than implementing Salesforce. Salesforce really is great as an “out of the box” solution, but there is more to it than just flipping a switch. There are best practices to be followed, and repercussions to be had for not implementing Salesforce correctly.

A partner that offers Salesforce consulting services will have a team to support your needs and help you avoid any pitfalls you could slip into when trying to save money or time by implementing Salesforce yourself. 

A Salesforce Implementation Partner will help identify your requirements & set up your Salesforce for Success with expert implementation, configuration, data migration, and more. Here are our Top 7 reasons why you need a Salesforce Implementation Partner.

Provide a Salesforce Implementation Plan

A Salesforce partner that knows the ropes will be able to provide you with a proper Salesforce implementation plan. This plan would be assembled after discussing your needs and pain points and would outline the responsibilities of each party, and the timeline where each milestone will occur.

A professional who offers Salesforce implementation services has seen the ramping up associated with Salesforce, and can also advise you on realistic expectations, as well. Plus, they will keep in mind any data that should be manipulated before being migrated over, and can also advise on considerations before transitioning from your previous platform.

Bringing in a Salesforce implementation partner will help you build the right solutions for your specific business needs and train your users and leaders to use Salesforce to its full capacity.

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Understand Salesforce Best Practices

Believe it or not, there is a wrong way to implement Salesforce, and this is not a situation you want to find your business (or data) in the middle of. A Salesforce implementation partner has spent time learning Salesforce best practices and can make sure you avoid traps for which you may not be aware.

They can help organize your order of operations, and point out issues that may occur with certain field choices or other requirements. A great partner will also help to make sure your implementation is flexible for years to come, so you can get the most out of such a great tool.

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Knowledgeable about the Cloud

A proper Salesforce implementation partner will be knowledgeable about Salesforce in general, but may also have their strengths. You may be solely focused on Sales and Services, and thus would want someone certified in Salesforce Service Cloud or Salesforce Sales Cloud. Search for a partner with past work experience in these areas, as well.

Even if they are specialized, a good partner will help you look at other Salesforce products that may meet your needs and should be able to direct you towards resources to learn more or dive in with you. It is important to do your research, but trust their expertise in this field.

Salesforce Application Development

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There may be times when custom solutions are necessary for implementing your Salesforce instance, and a good partner will offer Salesforce Application Development as a skill in their toolbelt. They will be able to utilize “clicks plus code” to create exactly what you need.

You may need someone with a Developer or Architect certification to help with this, but it is also important to ensure you have the means to continue the work once the implementation is complete. Make sure you have the right team members on your staff that can make future changes, or you maintain an ongoing relationship with your implementation partner to assist down the road.

Salesforce Customization Services

It is also important to find a partner that offers Salesforce Customization Services to get the most flexible solutions to meet your requirements. This means they can help you develop the right solution that will make Salesforce more user-friendly for your business, and one that can help promote growth instead of hinder it. The better a solution fits your needs, the more your users will adopt the solutions and help you get the most out of Salesforce. A good partner should have previous examples of Salesforce customizations that they have assisted other clients with and can demo those examples to help you get a better idea of the visions and expectations you have with custom work.

Provide Training for Salesforce

As great of a tool as Salesforce is, there still needs to be end-user training for Salesforce. Even if your company has employees that have used Salesforce in the past, it is important to understand that each instance can be different, and there should be training provided that can help make their time more efficient as they work day-to-day.  A Salesforce implementation partner should have experience in rolling out documentation and live demos, along with hands-on sessions for end-users to become comfortable with the tools they’re using. Best practices for user adoption should be followed to ensure that everyone has multiple avenues to learn the platform, as well as address any questions or concerns they may have.

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Testing, Testing, Testing!

Even if you are implementing Salesforce from scratch, it is crucial to run through a myriad of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure the org is performing as expected. Running into surprises once you’ve launched your instance live is a mess for everyone involved. A Salesforce implementation partner understands that quality testing is an important step that should not be ignored.

Not only do they understand that testing should be performed, but they also understand the different roles that should test different scenarios. Knowing how the system performs when an Admin takes an action, compared to a Sales representative (for example) is worth the time it takes to run through those scenarios. This should be a part of your Salesforce implementation plan and should not be missed in haste.

It is important to remember that the years of combined experience a Salesforce Implementation Partner has, along with combinations of certifications, contribute to a holistic view of Salesforce that cannot simply be matched by reading a few articles online.

Reach out today to find out more about our services and how we can help you have a smooth, seamless Salesforce implementation.