Salesforce implementation services and guidelines
Salesforce implementation is the delivery of Salesforce products into the designated environment together with configurations, migration, and setup activities to ensure the solution’s maximum value. Itransition has certified consultants, architects, developers, and admins on board to help companies with Salesforce implementations of any scope and complexity and provide post-implementation support upon request.
About Itransition
10+ years Salesforce consulting services provider
In-house Salesforce Center of Excellence
Recognized among Top Salesforce Consulting Companies by Clutch
98 Salesforce certifications
Experience with Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, CPQ, and more Salesforce products
Our Salesforce implementation projects
Salesforce implementation roadmap
Here’s how our certified Salesforce experts approach a typical Salesforce implementation project to ensure its efficiency and eventual success.
1
Planning
We conduct kick-off meetings with the customer to plan the project and determine what Salesforce products they should implement. Based on this, we select the tools we will need for this Salesforce implementation project and select specialists for the team.
2
Discovery
At this stage, we analyze the customer’s business needs in more detail and use them to elaborate on Salesforce implementation requirements as well as the project’s goals. We can also develop PoC for features without established requirements and provide a demo to validate the suggested approach.
3
Design
Our Salesforce developers configure the solution’s UX/UI, objects and fields, reports, business rules, and other aspects to better tailor it to the customer’s operations. When out-of-the-box settings can’t provide the desired modifications, we can perform Salesforce customization through custom development.
4
Integration
We integrate the future Salesforce platform with other business software in the customer’s IT infrastructure, like ERP, document management solutions, marketing tools, etc., with pre-built connectors or custom modules and ensure seamless data flow and collaboration between them.
5
Validation
When we’ve finished modifying the Salesforce solution and preparing it for implementation, we deploy metadata to a testing environment to perform user acceptance testing, load testing, and staging. If needed, we make necessary changes to the solution afterward.
6
Roll-out
We follow deployment best practices to deliver the Salesforce solution to the customer’s selected environment, ensuring minimal interruptions to the company’s operations. Then, we migrate all the necessary data from legacy CRM and other systems to Salesforce.
7
Support
After the successful Salesforce implementation, we can help the customer with user adoption, getting target users acquainted with the new solution’s features and capabilities. Our team can also provide ongoing support and maintenance services on demand.
Salesforce products we implement
Service Cloud
Marketing Cloud
Community Cloud
B2C Commerce
CPQ Salesforce
Hire a certified Salesforce implementation partner for your project
Team composition for a Salesforce implementation project
Project owner
Project owner
Defines the project scope and supervises all implementation stages.
Project manager
Project manager
Understands the company’s processes and can map them out in the Salesforce system. Communicates with different teams and oversees the implementation end-to-end.
Salesforce consultant
Salesforce consultant
Helps stakeholders select Salesforce products and determine the requirements, set up the system, and perform necessary configurations.
Salesforce developer (upon request)
Salesforce developer (upon request)
Designs and builds Salesforce customizations and integrations.
Data lead
Data lead
Takes care of data preparation for migration into Salesforce and ensures the migration goes smoothly.
System administrator
System administrator
Manages the implemented Salesforce system on a daily basis.
Power users
Power users
Customer employees from particular departments that provide feedback at each project’s stage and become the solution’s first users.
Salesforce implementation best practices
Learn nine best practices to ensure the Salesforce implementation project goes smoothly and brings the expected results.
Successful Salesforce Implementation
Salesforce implementation cost
A Salesforce implementation budget can range from $10,000 to $100,000+. Such a significant difference is due to a large number of cost factors that impact the final price. Here are the most important ones:
Salesforce license
Salesforce products typically come in four editions, each with different features and capabilities, with the cheapest at $25 per month and the most expensive at $300. Additional feature licenses or managed packages will cost you extra.
The number of users
Since Salesforce charges companies per user, the more users you plan to have, the more money you’ll need to spend.
Consulting
Salesforce implementation fees vary depending on whether you hire a consulting company or a freelance specialist, as well as their location and certifications.
Customization and data migration
The scope of custom development and the volume costs will depend on your data set size for migration to Salesforce and customization ambitions
User training
Salesforce user training is relatively inexpensive. However, if you plan to have Salesforce system admins or developers on board, you’ll have to invest thousands of dollars.
Support
After Salesforce implementation, you’ll need someone to supervise your Salesforce journey, delivering updates and improvements and fixing emerging errors. Whether you hire third-party support specialists or appoint someone from your IT staff will also impact the final cost.
Benefits of Salesforce implementation
Cost cutting
-25%
IT costs reduction
Salesforce
-28%
customer acquisition costs reduction
Salesforce
Better performance
+26%
employee productivity improvement
Salesforce
Streamlined business processes
27%
aster process automation
Salesforce
Accelerated decision-making
+29%
faster insights
Salesforce
Looking for an expert Salesforce implementation services provider?
Salesforce implementation challenges and their solutions
Challenge
Solution
Poor compatibility with existing systems
Some outdated or homegrown software can prove hard to connect to Salesforce and ensure seamless data exchange between them.
Companies should first validate that Salesforce integration with this software is indispensable. If it is, stakeholders should consider developing custom APIs or other integration solutions to connect Salesforce and other business software.
Low user adoption
Due to the lack of understanding, employees can resist using Salesforce.
Before Salesforce implementation, stakeholders and managers should start promoting the platform’s value and employee benefits. Companies should also conduct specialized Salesforce training programs for various departments.
Overcustomization
By adding too many unnecessary customizations to Salesforce, companies risk going overboard and making the solution cumbersome and hard to use.
Companies should draw up the scope of initial Salesforce customizations and workflow automation based strictly on current business needs and target users’ wishes. After you get used to the platform, you can come up with other, more specific and meaningful improvements to cater to emerging business goals.
Lack of qualified support specialists
Ongoing Salesforce support requires specific knowledge and skills that not every company has on board.
To keep implemented Salesforce CRM running smoothly in the future, companies should take care to hire Salesforce support specialists or train in-house IT staff way in advance. Another viable option is to outsource Salesforce support to certified Salesforce developers, preferably ones who have performed the implementation.
FAQ about Salesforce implementation
Why is Salesforce implementation important?
Salesforce is a leading CRM platform with rich features for streamlining and improving sales, marketing, and customer support processes. Depending on the specifics of their Salesforce implementation, companies can considerably improve sales agents’ productivity, craft more personalized marketing campaigns, build better relationships with customers or partners, and help support agents work more efficiently.
Is Salesforce easy to implement?
Implementing Salesforce is not easy, as it involves many complicated activities like Salesforce customization or configuration, data migration, or even custom development. So, if you don’t have any experience with the platform, it would be best to enlist the implementation services of experts, at least for the most challenging parts of the project.
What does a Salesforce implementation partner do?
An implementation partner helps companies choose suitable Salesforce products and services, work out an implementation strategy, and successfully carry it out. A Salesforce partner can also complete other related tasks on demand, for example, migrating legacy data, integrating Salesforce with business software, or tailoring it to the company’s processes and needs.
How long does Salesforce implementation take?
The implementation timeline heavily depends on the scope of features you plan to introduce. If you need to automate some of the existing processes, it can take just several months. However, it can easily take a year to prepare extensively for Salesforce implementation and then make significant changes to the out-of-the-box solution.
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