The Human Side of Salesforce

By Zach Raynor

Every user and admin has a Salesforce journey, a journey which includes successes and failures, obstacles and accomplishments, lessons learned and lessons to learn. The overarching purpose of one’s Salesforce journey is to grow and develop into a better Salesforce user. 

All human beings make mistakes in our respective lives. We come to forks in the many roads we walk, and often trudge along the more strenuous path. If we are a glass-half-full type, we concede to the perspective that our mistakes are not what define us, but it is the lessons we learn from our mistakes that are a better representation of who we are. 

Our Salesforce journeys are much the same. It is essential to the positive growth trend of our respective Salesforce journeys to learn from our CRM setbacks, to turn our liabilities into assets. Whether we invest in a faulty solution, wreak havoc on our record naming conventions, or alter an essential report with no rewind button, we often lumber down our paths in the wrong direction, before having to retrace our steps and move forward in the right direction. 

Too often companies come to the only wrong conclusion to be made: to diverge from their CRM systems or adopt a new one. Do not be fooled by the temptation to throw your work away. 99% of the time it is more economic, efficient, and aligned with the professional development of an individual or company to learn the lessons from our Salesforce mistakes and apply that knowledge to a better Salesforce experience. Make good on your investment, make better optimizations to your Salesforce org and good habits by learning from your past setbacks.

Here are 4 tips to improve your Salesforce Journey:

1) Simple is better.

Stay away from overcomplicating your processes. Simplicity is the best keystone to your CRM. Start small, and grow from there. It is important to capture the MVP, the simplest and most viable product or value, that Salesforce can offer you. If you must, retrace your thought process back to the beginning: what were you trying to accomplish in the first place?

2) User training and process is a MUST.

More often than not, user error is the cause of Salesforce mishaps. Emphasize user training and adoption. Your processes should develop into good habits. Practice your click paths and do not rush them. Understand the consequence of each click, the purpose of each field, and why these steps are necessary. Teach your colleagues and share your experiences.

3) Clean up and govern your data

In order for Salesforce to be a single source of truth, your data must be accurate and well kept. When in doubt, clean it up! Merge your duplicates, whitespace your accounts and contacts. Update field entries that are obsolete. Your reporting and analytics is dependent on good data! The visibility your Salesforce allows for proper analysis of your business is only effective if your data stays accurate, organized, and up to date.

4) Ask for help!

There are a myriad of software consultants, CRM experts, and Salesforce partners that will offer you the most efficient and economic solutions to any of your business challenges. It is often more cost efficient to hire a consultant than to continue to make the same mistakes. These mistakes and shortcomings accumulate; time and revenue is lost or depleted. Leverage your Salesforce subscription expenses and leave the complex solutions to the experts so that you can spend more time doing your job. Maximize your ROI by asking an expert for help!

Please feel free to share your Salesforce challenges or successes with us here or at saascrm.io. We’re always excited to listen!