Why your business needs a Salesforce Implementation Partner, and how to choose one

It’s been said that having the right Salesforce implementation partner by your side will allow your business to achieve its full potential. A Salesforce partner provides the right solution that capitalizes on opportunities and solves business bottlenecks.

One common question arises among new Salesforce customers: Can I self-implement Salesforce for my business? Of course, you can if you have a solid technical background and plenty of time for the implementation. But what if you don’t have a technical support team? Then, it’s advisable to hire a Salesforce implementation partner.

What is the role of a Salesforce implementation partner?

Before diving into the topic, let’s articulate the definition of Salesforce implementation.

Salesforce implementation is a multi-stage process that involves Salesforce platform deployment, data migration, design, and adoption throughout an organization. The implementation also involves app integrations, employee training, and data cleansing. A Salesforce implementation process covers all the significant steps to ensure your team uses your Salesforce platform to its fullest potential.

The roles of a Salesforce implementation partner

• They provide end-to-end guidance on how to choose the ideal Salesforce products that precisely match your business requirements.
• They give a brief understanding of Salesforce pricing to cut down on costs and eliminate the functionalities and features that aren’t required for your business operation.
• They ensure that your existing software can handle multiple operations and reduce challenges you might experience in future updates, such as security, over-customization, and data modeling.
• The implementation partner analyzes the Apps in AppExchange instead of investing in custom development. (if required)
• They will suggest, support, and address changes in operations if there’s a necessity for user adoption.
• They also help reduce the risks related to the implementation timeline, budget, and scope.

How well could it benefit businesses like yours?

• The partners are experts who have done several implementations in the past. Their experience will ensure the implementations are done faster and with higher quality.
• With deep expertise, they can anticipate risks and mitigate them promptly.
• The partnership focuses significantly on ROI, which is the ideal objective for any business.
• The partnership enables customers to access resources, training, and support that help them adapt the Salesforce platform based on their organization’s needs.
• The partnership provides significant business benefits to customers, from productivity to exploring new revenue streams.

Regardless of the scenarios, whether you have already started your Salesforce implementation or are considering it, partners will always help you leverage maximum benefits from the Salesforce platform.

For example, in our Service Cloud Quickstart implementation case study, we helped a client streamline customer support operations, achieving faster adoption and measurable ROI within weeks.

A typical Salesforce implementation process consists of several factors:

• It starts with understanding your business goals and objectives and how Salesforce fits into all of them. A series of discovery sessions will be conducted to understand the goals and gather the business requirements.
• It follows with Architecture and Design Documentation– A significant step that sets the stage for the rest of the project. A business analyst and Salesforce-certified consultant will arrange working sessions with your team to understand the challenges in business operations.
• Next comes Custom Development – In this stage, an experienced Salesforce developer will determine the design specification that requires customization and ensure that complex configurations are applied.
• Data migration– Any system is only good if the data is streamlined. Before the implementation starts, migrating your data from legacy software to a new Salesforce platform can take time and effort. The Salesforce implementation partner will handle the heavy lifting of mapping data from legacy systems to a new platform.
• Quality Assurance –A solid quality assurance team will back up the Salesforce implementation team to test the new integrated environments. The team drives several test cases to ensure the implementation functions according to the design and custom requirements.
• Next comes the Training, Deployment, Project Management, and Phase II explorations. Salesforce implementation partners can provide end-to-end implementation services with ongoing support and help you determine the configuration required for future updates.

Now that we have identified the implementation process, approach, and business benefits you will get with a Salesforce implementation partner; the next crucial factor is how to find one.

Top 5 Factors to consider while choosing your ideal Salesforce implementation partner for your business 

1. Should have relevant industry experience

Ensure that the partner has the relevant industry-standard experience and the capability to solve complex problems. The partner must have extensive experience working with your relevant industry or on similar projects. Their knowledge of industry trends can help you stay ahead of the curve and save time and costs required for discovery.

2. Should have sufficient resources

It’s always a good practice to ensure that your Salesforce implementation partner has adequate resources to handle the project on all levels of complexity. To successfully implement the project, make sure your Salesforce partner has the required infrastructure support, technical skills, and team strength to support a project like yours.

3. Should have the relevant technical expertise

Ensure the partner has certified Salesforce specialists such as administrators, developers, consultants, and marketers. At a minimum, your implementation partner should hold both Developer and Administrator certifications. Salesforce implementations can be an expensive investment for an organization, so the best option is usually to go with a Salesforce partner who has certified Salesforce professionals and understands Salesforce’s technological nuances.

4. Should provide a scalable solution that gives long-term results

The success of a Salesforce implementation is dependent on the long-term strategy and the willingness and capability to stick with the plan. Examining the partner’s ability to scale up their resources, technology, and automation capabilities is essential based on your fluctuating business requirements. Every Salesforce implementation partner offers a different strategic approach, so make sure the partner you choose has the potential to meet your business goals.

5. Continuous Support 

Another significant aspect to consider is ongoing system support for your implementation. Ensure your implementation partner provides support, training, and documentation-related support to gain continuous support. Ensure the implementation partner provides Salesforce support and maintenance services to improve the scalability and management of the practice.

LevelShift – Your ideal Salesforce implementation partner to maximize ROI

LevelShift is a preferred Salesforce implementation partner with over 200+ Salesforce projects completed across multiple industries. LevelShift provides on-demand services for Salesforce consulting, implementation, integration, development, and customization. We also have 30+ strategic partnerships with tech giants like Workato, Mulesoft, Tableau, and Jitterbit to deliver the utmost business value for your Salesforce investment. We provide cost-effective Salesforce implementations for businesses of all sizes with our customer-centric approach. It’s your turn now. Partner with us and kickstart your Salesforce implementation journey today.

Talk to our experts today!