A complete Salesforce implementation guide on how to implement Salesforce

A complete guide to successfully
implement Salesforce
An Avnet Company

Contents
A complete guide to successfully implement Salesforce 2
1. Executive summary.............................................................................................................................. 4
2. What are the prerequisites of Salesforce implementation?...................................................... 5
2.1 Post-implementation roadmap .......................................................................................... 5
2.2 Prerequisites .......................................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Common Salesforce implementation mistakes ............................................................6
2.4 Salesforce implementation best practices......................................................................7
3. How to implement Salesforce?......................................................................................................... 8
3.1 Step 1: Plan and prepare ..................................................................................................... 9
3.1.1 Build an implementation team.............................................................................. 9
3.1.2 Set metrics for success .........................................................................................10
3.1.3 Design a sophisticated system architecture.....................................................11
3.1.4 Establish project methodology & timeline.........................................................11
3.1.5 Build a clear communication channel.................................................................11
3.2 Step 2: Setup and customize Salesforce CRM.............................................................12
3.2.1 Building a working prototype ..............................................................................12
3.2.2 Decide the right level of customization ............................................................12

3A complete guide to successfully implement Salesforce
3.3 Step 3: Deploy Salesforce CRM.......................................................................................13
3.3.1 Add users..................................................................................................................14
3.3.2 Deﬁne user access and permissions.................................................................14
3.3.3 Import data................................................................................................................14
3.3.4 Prepare for go-live..................................................................................................15
3.4 Step 4: Drive user adoption...............................................................................................15
3.5 Step 5: Maintain the system..............................................................................................16
4. Business beneﬁts of using Salesforce..............................................................................................17
5. Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................................18
6. About Softweb Solutions......................................................................................................................19
Contents

Salesforce is a leading cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform. It streamlines and
optimizes an organization’s business operations on all fronts of sales and customer relationships.
Salesforce renders a tremendous value to myriad industries, from tracking their customer’s activity to
marketing automation. Because of its high-value potential and ubiquitous nature, many organizations have
been scrambling to implement Salesforce within their business processes. However, Salesforce services,
when implemented properly, have shown signiﬁcant returns and improved competitive edge.
Today, several multinational corporations are leading the pack when it comes to utilizing Salesforce for
driving sales, providing superior customer service, identifying and building strategic marketing
opportunities. If your organization has not fully implemented Salesforce services, it may fall behind the
league of competitors in the market. So, it is crucial to evaluate how Salesforce can transform your
organization before implementing it, which should be a carefully thought out process that requires a
detailed execution strategy. Otherwise, it may turn out to be an expensive failure.
In this whitepaper, we will showcase how to leverage Salesforce by effectively implementing it into your
business operations to give your company a competitive advantage.
Executive Summary1

5
What are the prerequisites of Salesforce implementation?2
A complete guide to successfully implement Salesforce
2.1 Post-implementation roadmap
Before building any structure, we normally tend to begin with a blueprint and Salesforce implementation
requires the same approach. For efficient and effective implementation of the world's leading cloud-based
software, building a solid post-implementation plan becomes very crucial. For that, it is imperative to identify
various stages such as exploration, installation, initial rollout and complete implementation. However,
stages of implementation vary from organization to organization, depending on their business goals, ways
to deal with the execution process and extension of tasks.
As Salesforce implementation assists enterprises to digitize the sales, marketing and customer service
processes, they need to be tactful while planning the post-implementation process. To make the most of
Salesforce, organizations should plan a unique procedure with a clear path forward. The
post-implementation plan therefore must not just be about the technology, but about the users who are
going to use the solution. Post-implementation planning not only lets enterprises structure their
implementation, but also carefully review the areas that may be risky or in need of extra attention.
2.2 Prerequisites
Salesforce helps organizations integrate all the business-related aspects on a single platform. Lack of
proper preparation can often make businesses go overboard, leading them towards huge investments.
Consequently, it becomes signiﬁcant for businesses to identify the essentials of a successful Salesforce
deployment. A simple checklist of prerequisites listed underneath will facilitate enterprises to choose the
right technique and methodology for an effective Salesforce implementation:

• A robust, scalable architecture
• A team of industry-speciﬁc experts
• Data cleaning and precise data analysis
• Experienced Salesforce implementation partner
• A dedicated in-house Salesforce administrator
• Effective communication plans
2.3 Common Salesforce implementation mistakes
The key to a successful Salesforce implementation is to recognize the biggest mistakes and avoid the
common roadblocks that delay your ROI. Having a planned implementation strategy helps in mitigating the
top issues encountered. Listed underneath are some common mistakes made by organizations during
Salesforce implementation that could be corrected easily with the right strategy.
• Not choosing the right implementation partner
• Devoid of post-implementation plan
• Incomplete and over-complicating requirements
• Failing to receive internal buy-in
• Not investing in Salesforce administration
• Pulling the raw data incorrectly
• Absence of clear business goals and vision
• Focusing on non-mission critical areas
• Failing to clean-up data and migrate it

2.4 Salesforce implementation best practices
In today’s fast-paced world of business, being able to collaborate effectively within an organization is key to
strong business productivity. And organizations can achieve this by deploying Salesforce. Merely
subscribing to Salesforce is not adequate, but implementing it in the right way is necessary.
To make the process as smooth as possible, organizations must know a few best practices and
recommendations for a well-executed Salesforce deployment. Here are a few tips on how to efficiently
implement Salesforce, so that it integrates perfectly with any organization.
• Leverage your force and ensure that they have the right number of Salesforce administrators,
developers and analysts in your organization.
• Customize Salesforce to your unique business processes to get the most of it.
• Plan everything well in advance as the best implementations are meticulously planned.
• Maintain thorough documentation of the complete Salesforce implementation process right from
conﬁguration settings to test plans.
• Diligently review the integration requirements and control integration touchpoints to save on costs and time.
• Organize components according to the needs of your business so that they can be leveraged and
reused across other apps with similar functionalities.
• Determine how clean and precise your data is and create a plan to clean it if necessary.
• Choose an experienced and truly qualiﬁed Salesforce implementation partner for successful
Salesforce deployment.
Salesforce claims that their customers get an average of 37% increase
in revenue from proper implementation of the solution.

How to implement Salesforce?3
Consulting
Plan and
prepare Setup and
customization
Deployment
User adoption
System
maintenance
1
2
3
4
5
6

3.1 Step 1: Plan and prepare
The first step is to define your business objective and project timeline along with building a team of
proficient professionals. Getting the planning and preparing for a right step is pivotal for businesses to
implement Salesforce because then they would no longer have to waste their time in backtracking.
3.1.1 Build an implementation team
To identify the right set of resources is critical for the success of Salesforce implementation. Build a strong
team of proficient industry experts, project managers and administrators for a smooth implementation
process. It is not essential to have a massive team, but having the right set of key personas is adequate to
bring the working operational structure in action.
• Executive champion - An executive is the one who participates in every business process from
beginning to end i.e. from participation in the process implementation to going live and beyond.
• Project manager - Project managers are the subject matter experts who work with the implementation
partners to make sure that organizational feedback is executed by managing the project line as well as
budget. Make sure to choose someone with a deep understanding of the platform.
• System administrator - System administrators are essential for the daily management of Salesforce
operations and administration of the system after deployment. While appointing a system
administrator, ensure they possess expertise and capability to take ownership of the system.
• External support - An external support could be someone who may have the proficiency to access the
system and whose feedback must be collected during the implementation process or in advance.

3.1.2 Set metrics for success
The ﬁrst step also involves setting up realistic business objectives and deﬁning metrics for delivering a
tangible approach to gauge the overall success of Salesforce implementation. Before deciding upon the
implementation strategy, it is imperative to articulate business goals, which refers to:
Specific
Measurable
AchievableRealistic
Time-based

3.1.3 Design a sophisticated system architecture
The next step is to design an appropriate, well-architected data model that defines the relationship between
various kinds of data in an easily accessible way through an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD). Without a
well-structured system architecture, it becomes challenging for organizations to bring automation in a
business or create scalable solutions. To create a well-orchestrated data model, organizations require to
enact the right mix of custom objects and standard to store data from business processes. You must also
create robust strategies that utilize all your data to deliver the right recommendations to your customers
with the help of Salesforce Einstein, which is an added artificial intelligence that is built right into Salesforce.
3.1.4 Establish project methodology & timeline
One of the important steps is to establish a strategic project methodology and define a timeline for the
same. There are usually two types of widely used methodologies - 'Waterfall' and 'Scrum'. For successful
Salesforce implementation, choosing an efficient implementation approach is not adequate, as defining a
timeline is equally essential for different phases including designing, building and deployment. However,
building a project timeline depends on the type of a business approach and prioritized requirements of an
organization.
3.1.5 Build a clear communication channel
Salesforce implementation is a team effort, rather than an individual task. To oversee the implementation
process and address the ever-evolving concerns, project managers require to build a persuasive
communication channel amongst team members. However, teams require to communicate often internally
and with executive/project managers, so that executive sponsors can know about the upcoming changes in
advance.

3.2 Step 2: Setup and customize Salesforce CRM
After choosing an implementation approach, building an implementation team, designing sophisticated
system architecture and establishing a project timeline, the second step is to set-up and customize
Salesforce CRM. Customization is itself considered as a miniature project and hence figuring out the right
mix of out-of-the-box custom developments and configuration features becomes incredibly essential for
businesses. For an efficient Salesforce CRM set-up, organizations must build a robust working prototype
and decide upon the right level of customization.
3.2.1 Building a working prototype
The next step is to build a working prototype and execute the preparatory system architecture. A powerful
prototype assists an organization to keep its user base engaged during the entire business process review
and when the product goes live. Prototyping is usually referred to as 'User Acceptance Testing (UAT)'. The
testing process facilitates businesses to incorporate more functionalities into the existing solution for which
feedback has already been received.
3.2.2 Decide the right level of customization
Apart from its many out-of-the-box configuration features, Salesforce supports customizations through its
flexible framework, which can be considered as the underlying support system for all custom requirements
of an organization. It is imperative to build an event-driven architecture, provide a runtime environment,
out-of-the-box components and libraries for building custom components that businesses can use to meet
modern-day technical and management needs and deliver new applications faster. An organization can
customize different Salesforce CRM components, however, following are some of the common components
that can be customized:

• Custom objects - Custom objects are a big part of Salesforce for most companies. Businesses can
easily create custom objects and setup automation between those custom objects and other object
data with the help of workflows or custom code.
• Customize the application – Design page layouts, custom tabs, custom objects, rules, custom fields
and other application customizations based on modern-day business needs.
• Customize reports – To keep track of the information defined in the planning process, customize the
reports by adding the required information in it.
• Customize layouts - Salesforce layouts are easy to change and manipulate to suit the fields that an
organization would like to display to its users. Thus, the Salesforce platform includes page layouts that
an organization can create on its own.
3.3 Step 3: Deploy Salesforce CRM
The timeline for deployment and the associated schedule is already rationally defined by the project
managers during the planning stage. So, the third step is the deployment of Salesforce CRM. In this phase,
the deployment team must carry out the following processes:
• Loading the intact production seed data.
• Putting the system in the live mode in production.
• Providing support in the 'go-live' stage as per the production plan.
• Finishing system production transformation activities.
• Examining the production feedbacks and reviews of the customer.

3.3.1 Add users
Adding users in Salesforce CRM is imperative to enable them to log in and access the data suitable for
them. It is one of the simplest yet crucial processes. Adding users into Salesforce CRM serves two
significant objectives:
1. Ensures that they are linked to the correct roles before going live.
2. Mapping all organization-wide user-profiles/roles and associating them to the system facilitates the
sales team to determine how they see the data.
3.3.2 Define user access and permissions
Salesforce offers a more user-centric design approach and implementing it within a business model
prompts collaboration between teams and possess the power to break down silos. That being so, for many
people having access to the system, it is imperative to define user access and permissions to create a
robust internal security model. The next generation of the Salesforce model optimizes speed and increase
workforce productivity. However, the Salesforce security model is highly complicated, hence it becomes
essential to choose the right Salesforce consultant.
3.3.3 Import data
Most organizations already have contacts and account information stored somewhere in spreadsheets, in
the heads of their sales reports or their email accounts. Getting that data into Salesforce CRM is one of the
most important steps of the implementation process. To walk an organization through the process of
importing account and contact information along with leads, Salesforce offers a step-by-step data import
wizard.

3.3.4 Prepare to go-live
After a successful Salesforce implementation, if an organization is confident about the architecture, solution
and testing, then they should start preparing for the 'go-live' stage. For seamless implementation, develop
a go-live checklist, which should include all the data to be transformed, integrations required to be rebuilt
in the production environment and a few other configurations. The go-live checklist should also recognize
the process of deployment, an organization intends to adopt. There are a lot of dependencies in Salesforce
and some configurations cannot be deployed before others. Thus, it is advisable to prepare an order list so
that when the time comes to deploy the implementation, everything is deployed in the correct order.
Moreover, before entering into the 'go-live' stage, it is essential to identify and fix potential issues such as
runtime errors, latency, downtime, etc. For this, businesses need to move their entire configuration to a
sandbox environment and examine how it operates under a large chunk of data.
3.4 Step 4: Drive user adoption
The most critical step is to get the users on board. To ensure user adoption and set the business up for
exponential growth, it is essential to support end-users and measure adoption. User adoption starts with
executive sponsorship. Measuring adoption is crucial, both instantly after the 'go-live' stage and in the
future.
For the initial deployment, the sponsor must communicate precise and clear expectations to the team.
To track the progress right from the beginning, executive sponsors must ask to setup user adoption
dashboards and usage reports.

Three demanding characteristics that must be in play for successful sales operations are:
• Sales operations must be precise, formal and dynamic.
• Customer relationships should reﬂect salespeople as trusted partners or strategic advisors.
• Sales methods need to be embraced by the organization’s sellers.
3.5 Step 5: Maintain the system
As Salesforce helps an organization to take its marketing, sales and customer relationship management
activities to the next level, the last and one of the most signiﬁcant steps is to maintain the system. It is
essential to support the users in real-time and resolve their queries more effectively and rapidly. Once
Salesforce CRM is live, a fresh cycle of planning commences for the subsequent phase, as the business
makes new functionalities available to add more value and respond to user requests.Release management
should begin as soon as possible after the initial deployment. This approach will also let end-users know
which of their needs and requests the business is addressing.

17
Business beneﬁts of using Salesforce4
A complete guide to successfully implement Salesforce
There are numerous advantages of utilizing Salesforce for your business operations, so let us see some of
the outstanding beneﬁts of Salesforce.
Sales Marketing CRM
• Accurate sales
forecasting
• Maximized ROI
• Boost productivity
• Streamlines business
process
• Ubiquitous access
• Better visibility
• Drives steady growth
• Shortens sales cycle
• Business automation
• Customized and
targeted customer
• Targeted CTAs
• 360-degree view of
customers
• Better data for smarter
decisions
• Time management
• Personalized customer
experience
• Enhanced user
engagement
• Improved customer
service
• Stronger client
relationship
• Less client attrition

Conclusion5
By leveraging the best Salesforce implementation methodologies, organizations can make their
Salesforce deployment process a huge success and thus transform their business. This helps them to
easily identify the areas of productivity improvement, automate their everyday tasks and make the right
customer contact information or feedback always available to the sales team for improved customer
service.
Although Salesforce implementation requires proper planning and preparation, it is essential to choose
the right partner for a successful Salesforce implementation. It is crucial to choose a partner who can get
business objectives achieved through the deployment of Salesforce CRM at optimum cost.

Softweb Solutions Inc. is a tech consulting and development company with offices in Chicago and Dallas. It works with organizations across the world to
implement the best-of-breed solutions and processes to help them meet their business challenges.
Over a decade of experience with the world’s leading companies has given us the expertise to offer strategy, design, engineering solutions and R&D services to
companies in every industry. Our clients are able to stay ahead of the curve by leveraging our expertise in all the tech areas – from IoT systems to data science
projects and mission-critical apps, we never fail to deliver.
ABOUT SOFTWEB SOLUTIONS
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Call Us
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A complete Salesforce implementation guide on how to implement Salesforce

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