The ultimate guide to implementing Salesforce — Part 1
Salesforce prides itself as the world’s most complete CRM solution, and rightly so
There are solutions for every industry, and company size.
This article is a guide to help you understand the steps involved in implementing Salesforce for a company. Sole entrepreneurs and small businesses may carry out implementation by themselves, but for larger companies, we suggest assigning this task to a certified Salesforce implementation company like RIBERATEC. This will help you get the most out of your Salesforce implementation.
There are solutions for every industry, and company size.
This article is a guide to help you understand the steps involved in implementing Salesforce for a company. Sole entrepreneurs and small businesses may carry out implementation by themselves, but for larger companies, we suggest assigning this task to a certified Salesforce implementation company like RIBERATEC. This will help you get the most out of your Salesforce implementation.
Module 0 - Pre implementation
Before implementing Salesforce, there are important questions to answer. For example, What departments will use the CRM? What features will each of these departments need? What is the total number of employees that will use the system?. How much is the company willing to spend on the project?
All these questions need to be answered carefully. We’ve broken them down for you.
All these questions need to be answered carefully. We’ve broken them down for you.
Define Business Goals, KPIs, and Objectives
The success of your Salesforce implementation largely depends on how well it aligns with your company’s goals. Therefore, it’s important to determine what the company’s goals are. What problems do you want to solve using Salesforce? What benefits should this implementation bring to the company?
Having clear documented business goals, KPIs, and objectives provides clarity during the implementation process.
It helps you set priorities to tasks, and keeps you on track and focused during the implementation process. It also enables your Salesforce implementation partner to better understand your needs.
Having clear documented business goals, KPIs, and objectives provides clarity during the implementation process.
It helps you set priorities to tasks, and keeps you on track and focused during the implementation process. It also enables your Salesforce implementation partner to better understand your needs.
Define Stakeholders
CRM implementation is not simply the installation of a piece of software that solves a set of problems. Your CRM system is implemented to support the processes of your employees. So how well your implementation works ultimately depends on if it meets the needs of the people it is meant to serve.
This makes determining who your stakeholders are and involving them in the process as early as possible important.
Think about all the departments in your company, the users in each department, and what the needs of each stakeholder are.
Not all users will log into the system - partners like suppliers and distributors, or customers. But you may need to get data from their systems, or give them access to data on yours. And then there are, of course, your internal users.
This makes determining who your stakeholders are and involving them in the process as early as possible important.
Think about all the departments in your company, the users in each department, and what the needs of each stakeholder are.
Not all users will log into the system - partners like suppliers and distributors, or customers. But you may need to get data from their systems, or give them access to data on yours. And then there are, of course, your internal users.
Collect Existing Data
Salesforce works using data. To get the best results, and accurate reports later on, you have to put in clean, relevant , high-quality data.
Take enough time to review and clean existing data, to ensure that it is ready for your CRM implementation. This can be a time-consuming, painstaking process, but it will yield dividends in the long run.
Where’s your data saved? Is it still relevant? Are there duplicates? – Clean your data to ensure there are no inconsistencies.
Take enough time to review and clean existing data, to ensure that it is ready for your CRM implementation. This can be a time-consuming, painstaking process, but it will yield dividends in the long run.
Where’s your data saved? Is it still relevant? Are there duplicates? – Clean your data to ensure there are no inconsistencies.
Decide what Reports stakeholders will need
Give some time to determine what reports all your stakeholders need. This will help you easily ensure that the implementation will meet each user's specific needs.
Your marketing team might want to track leads better across email, mobile, social media, and the web in a unified process. Sales reps might need to quickly access customer data from different platforms in order to anticipate their needs and effectively cross- or upsell. You might want to better coordinate your order, invoicing, payment, and supply chain systems.
Your marketing team might want to track leads better across email, mobile, social media, and the web in a unified process. Sales reps might need to quickly access customer data from different platforms in order to anticipate their needs and effectively cross- or upsell. You might want to better coordinate your order, invoicing, payment, and supply chain systems.
Assess the cost of the implementation
Once you have a clear understanding and documentation of the points listed above, the next step is evaluating the cost.
In the step where you determine stakeholders and their specific needs, you may realize that you need to install extra modules that do not come with the Salesforce solution you have in mind.
Working with a Salesforce expert helps a great deal here, as they can give you the best advice on what solutions can meet your needs within your budget. RIBERATEC would be happy to help with your project.
You can find the rest of the guide here:
In the step where you determine stakeholders and their specific needs, you may realize that you need to install extra modules that do not come with the Salesforce solution you have in mind.
Working with a Salesforce expert helps a great deal here, as they can give you the best advice on what solutions can meet your needs within your budget. RIBERATEC would be happy to help with your project.
You can find the rest of the guide here: