Does Your Business Really Need a Salesforce Consulting Partner? 

Did you know?                           

Every one out of three CRM projects tends to fail. The actual reported number, however, varies between 18% and 69%. It means that the chances of your CRM’s project failure are as high as 69%. And even if you have a powerful CRM platform like Salesforce in your arsenal, your project still has a chance of failing. Irrespective of your industry and journey, whether you’re planning to make the switch to Salesforce CRM or you’ve been using it for a while, top Salesforce consulting companies can be your closest ally. By leveraging the expertise of a Salesforce consultant, you can ensure a smooth implementation, customization, integration, and optimization of your Salesforce solution.  

In this blog post, we’ll talk about the importance of Salesforce consulting services and a certified Salesforce consultant for your business growth. So, let’s dive right in! 

What Happens When Your Business Don’t Have a Salesforce Consulting Partner?

A wonky or DIY Salesforce implementation can be disastrous for running a long-term software solution or when you want to scale your business. From the top, it might seem easy to set up your Salesforce instance, but it is not. Here are some common challenges that you may encounter if you don’t have dedicated Salesforce consulting services or a partner. 

• Confusion About Which Salesforce Product to Choose 

Salesforce offers a myriad of products to meet your unique business needs across industries. While the idea of implementing the Salesforce product suite can be exciting, the process of choosing the right tool that can actually solve your challenges can be a tough cookie. That’s where an experienced Salesforce consultant can be your knight in shining armor. 

• Technical Complexities

Salesforce is a giant platform that comes with plenty of features and configurations. Without the right expertise and experience, you might not be able to make the most out of these capabilities. Additionally, like any other CRM tool, Salesforce integration solutions have certain technical requirements, and some projects may need custom development of the integration tools or customization of the existing applications provided by AppExchange, such as CTI integration with Salesforce.  

• User Onboarding Challenges 

The effectiveness of any Salesforce solution is as good as its user onboarding experience. If you don’t have dedicated Salesforce consulting services at your disposal, you might face challenges like a lack of understanding of crucial functionalities, insufficient training, and reluctance to adopt the platform. Without proper expertise and training, creating, modifying, and deleting user accounts securely can pose a threat to your business data. 

• Difficulty in Understanding Salesforce Data 

The most prominent feature of the Salesforce CRM is its ability to offer detailed reports. However, most businesses struggle to interpret the data in that report. If you are one of those businesses, you might lack insights into customer data and experience a drop in sales and satisfied customers. 

• Integration and Customization Roadblocks 

For Salesforce to work on its A-game, it should be integrated with your existing tech stack seamlessly. If you don’t have a Salesforce consultant, you might encounter challenges like data mapping, managing duplicate records, and maintaining data integrity. Also, customizing workflows and automating processes can be complex.  

Now that we have established what you will be missing out on if you don’t have dedicated Salesforce consulting services or a Salesforce partner, let’s talk about how to choose the right one.  

Steps to Choose the Right Salesforce Consulting Partner to Ensure Success

When choosing a Salesforce consulting partner, it is essential to look for several factors to make sure that they align with your business needs. Here are the six essential steps that you can follow. 

1. Do Your Research Or Ask Salesforce 

You can start your research by looking for Salesforce implementation case studies related to your business or industry. Approach your peers from other industries who have recently implemented Salesforce. In addition to that, you can connect with your designated Account Executive, provided by Salesforce, to help you with a list of certified partners both in Salesforce verticals and also, especially, those who have experience with the process or use case you are focused on. 

2. Ensure That Your Vision Aligns 

Knowing how your Salesforce partner conducts business is crucial. You can start by reviewing their mission statement, case studies, and public communication to gauge their beliefs and decision-making processes. Also, you can go through their client testimonials on AppExchange, community involvement, and engage in open, in-depth discussions where you can share your long-term goals and challenges and inquire about specific examples of how they have navigated complex projects while staying true to their core values. 

3. Look for Industry, Technology, & Solution Expertise 

The right Salesforce consultant should have an in-depth understanding of your business challenges and best practices for your unique industry so that they can provide riveting insights on how to structure processes or roll out changes. Also, it is very important to consider technology expertise and dig deeper into the partner’s business experience. You can check if your partner specializes in specific Salesforce products or modules essential to your business requirements. 

4. Check Out Their Partnership Level & Team Expertise 

While partnership levels offer some insights into expertise, Salesforce actually defines them through robust technical certifications and the achievement of customer success metrics. Team size is another key factor that the partner’s organization has adequate resources to deliver your project on schedule, while Salesforce certification confirms they possess the necessary expertise and hands-on experience for a successful implementation. 

5. Consider the Level of Support They Offer 

Salesforce is continuously evolving; therefore, having a partner that offers solid support is crucial. Salesforce offers three releases in a year, which are summer, spring, and winter, so staying up-to-date is crucial. Also, you can inquire about the partner’s support and maintenance services after implementation. A good partner should be ready to fix problems, improve Salesforce functions, and offer user training when needed. In addition to that, review their service level agreements (SLAs) to see how quickly they respond, how available their technical support is, and how soon they resolve issues, so you can be confident in ongoing system reliability. 

6. Assess Total Value Beyond the Price Tag 

Salesforce implementation costs vary based on your business needs, scope, and partner expertise. While cost affects ROI, it’s just one factor. Consider how much customization, integrations, and add-ons you’ll require, and ensure your partner delivers quality that meets your long-term needs. Plan a flexible budget that adapts as your requirements evolve to maximize overall value and success. 

The Bottom Line

To ensure success in the Salesforce ecosystem, partnering with the top Salesforce consulting company is crucial. They can amplify your team’s CRM expertise and help set clear, actionable objectives. You need to find a partner you can trust. If possible, meet all the stakeholders who will be on your project because consulting is a people business. 

Looking for Salesforce Consulting Services in the USA? We Can Help! 

Rely on a Salesforce Summit Partner to make the most out of your Salesforce investment. Just drop us a line at contact@360degreecloud.com, and we will take it from there.