Implementing a Salesforce CRM will help you in integrating all the business related aspects on one platform. It will also help you in deriving business intelligence with ease. Salesforce implementation is not an ad-hoc activity. It requires careful planning and detailed execution.

1. Top Ten
Checklist For
Successful
Salesforce
Implementation

2. Salesforce implementation is essential for driving your
business seamlessly.

3. Implementing a Salesforce CRM will help you in integrating all
the business related aspects on one platform. It will also help
you in deriving business intelligence with ease. Salesforce
implementation is not an ad-hoc activity. It requires careful
planning and detailed execution.

4. Smallest mistake in planning the implementation could lead
to major business impact. Lack of planning can often make
you go overboard and lead to unnecessary expenses and
delay in implementation.

5. Here is a quick checklist that could help you for successful
Salesforce implementation.

6. Planning Preparation Organizing A
Team
Set SMART
Goal
Data Clean-up Decide Your
Approach
Freeze Your
Priorities
Customize The
CRM
Add Users To
The System
Enable The
Users

7. Planning

8.  Planning the implementation is the basic activity that needs
to be done prior to beginning of the project.
 Planning stage would involve writing down your business
goals, vision of your business, mission of your business, your
area of expertise, and all the resources at your disposal.
 You must also write down your performance metrics as they
will be key parameters in deriving business intelligence.
 In other words, planning would involve data collation.

9. Preparation

10.  Next step for successful implementation is to use the
available data for preparing the blueprint of implementation
activity.
 You would need to understand the availability of your
resources and the outcome that you expect at this stage.
 Planning requires you to take consensus from all
stakeholders to ensure that everybody is on the same page.

11. Organizing A Team

12.  Selecting the right team is half the battle won when it
comes to Salesforce implementation.
 Every Salesforce implantation team would need to key
members like executive sponsor, system administrators,
trainers and sample users.

13.  Executive Sponsor: an executive sponsor needs to be the
guiding star right from the inception of the ideas, to
mobilization, go live and other stages of the process. An
executive sponsor is the head of the business.
 Project Manager: a project manager is your single point of
contact for project updates. The role of the project manager
is to oversee the entire implementation process and ensure
that all the tasks are being achieved as per the set deadline.

14.  System Administrator: System administrators play an important
role in effective implementation. They need to understand the
back end process and should understand the criticality of the
application. They should be able to come with best possible
solutions for any user challenges with regards to Salesforce
implementation.

15.  Trainers: Trainers are essential for creating reference materials
and manuals for users. Trainers can help in identifying
potential areas of learning and then create relevant training
materials for the same.
 Users: test users are essential for checking the operational
efficiency of the program. They are the first point of reference
in identifying user based challenges.

16. Set SMART Goal

17.  It is but natural that sometimes we may set unrealistic goals
for implementation.
 It is ideal that all your goals are specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic and time bound.
 Such goals are known as SMART goals. Smart goals allow
you to divide the project into smaller goals and then track
the implementation as per the deadline.

18. Data Clean-up

19.  Many users neglect this step and directly upload the data
in CMS.
 It is essential that you take time to analyse your data and
clean it up.
 Data cleaning will provide you with an opportunity to
check if you are tracking all the business critical data.
 It will also help view in reviewing additional data that can
be tracked for better performance.

20. Decide Your Approach

21.  Conventionally Salesforce implementation can be carried out
via two different approaches.
 The first approach is the conventional “waterfall” approach
where the project is implemented in a sequential manner.
 Another approach is the “Scrum” approach whereby all project
members meet once a week to monitor the performance.
 All the activities are carried out simultaneously and are
monitored on a regular basis.
 It is important that you define your approach to
implementation.

22. Freeze Your Priorities And Associated Time Lines

23.  It is important that you decide a broad based timeline for
Salesforce implementation.
 It is important that you set your priorities correctly.
 It is a good idea to make a list of all the features that are
essential for Salesforce implementation and then divide
them into must have and could have options.
 Your choice of approach for each implementation approach
will affect your project timeline.

24. Customize The CRM

25.  Once you have chalked out the implantation plan, listed
down your resources, your approach and your time bound
goals, it is time to set up the CRM and to customize it to
suit your specific need.

26. Add Users To The System

27.  Once you have set up the CRM, it is time to add users to it.
These users will provide you continuous and consistent
feedback on the system

28. Enable The Users

29.  Last step in the successful Salesforce implementation is to
train the users and enable them to use the CRM with
ease.

30. Following this simple checklist can help you in ensuring
swift and successful Salesforce implementation.

31. Read more on Salesforce:
1. How Social Media Integration With Salesforce Drives More Business
2. Top 10 Salesforce CRM Apps To Supercharge Your Business Productivity
3. Know Why Salesforce Is An Unparalleled Platform For SMB’s

32. Thank you for Reading!
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