Written By:
Sarah Burt | Director of Consulting
Why Salesforce?
Salesforce is the most robust, scalable customer relationship management platform on the market, and can be customized to meet the business needs of literally any business type from healthcare to real estate and everything in between. And with thousands of certified architects, Salesforce developers, and consultants, there are countless Salesforce gurus ready to help you build a solution that is perfect for the business you run.
What Are Salesforce Consulting Firms And How Are They Related To Salesforce?
Also called Salesforce Consulting Partners, they are companies that employ certified Salesforce professionals, or Salesforce Consultants. These Firms likely specialize in implementations related to Industry, Salesforce Product, or Company Size.
Salesforce Consulting Firms are related to Salesforce like a local dealership is related to a vehicle manufacturer. You own a Ford vehicle, but you rely on your local dealership to service and maintain your vehicle or make further customizations, like window tint.
While Salesforce is a user-friendly and highly documented CRM solution, sometimes it is best to leave things to the professionals. Engaging with Salesforce experts instead of attempting to DIY your Salesforce database can not only streamline the process but save money as well.
“At The CRM Firm, 75% of our engagements are re-working or optimizing a previous Salesforce implementation that did not produce the intended results.”
Why Hire a Salesforce Consultant?
Salesforce Consultants are often passionate, tech-forward, and creative individuals that thoroughly enjoy finding ways to leverage technology to solve problems and improve business inefficiencies. Not only are they certified Salesforce experts, but they are also individuals who take personal pride in the relationships developed and databases produced throughout their Salesforce implementations. They have chosen the career path not only for creative problem-solving but also to help others less familiar navigate the large Salesforce Ecosystem.
Would you consider hiring your accountant to paint your house?
Salesforce Consultants implement dozens of systems – they serve as hands-on, problem-solving business analysts throughout your implementation. They take the time to understand your business requirements to bring an outside perspective and improvements that you might not have originally considered.
Whether you are implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud, Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Financial Services Cloud, Experience Cloud, CPQ, or any other Salesforce product, a Salesforce consultant will provide the most effective approach to solutioning on the Salesforce Platform.
Four Ways a Salesforce Consultant can Improve your salesforce implementation
1. Construct a solid foundation
Salesforce Consultants have the unique ability to see the “big picture” from the very beginning of your engagement. They will help you identify current pain points and business needs that Salesforce should solve for now, but also start to collect requirements for long-term growth. There are considerations that can be made at the very beginning of your Salesforce implementation that can impact future scalability and allow for your Salesforce CRM to be prepared for growth.
2. end-to-end technology roadmap
Salesforce Consultants are also often called Solution Architects. They create a technology blueprint for your organization that considers your organization’s entire tech stack. Are you using MailChimp, Formstack, AWS, NetSuite Jira, or other tools? Salesforce Consultants will design the end-to-end roadmap that encompasses all products that are needed to run your business, what each is responsible for managing, and provide integration best practices if any of them are intended to integrate with Salesforce.
3. data migration best practices
Chances are, if you are moving to Salesforce you are moving off of (migrating away from) another database. To ensure your Salesforce CRM has the best version of the data you are importing, a Salesforce Consultant can help assess historical files and provide recommendations to ensure the data nightmare you might be running from is not re-created.
4. experts in user experience
Salesforce Consultants have years of experience in understanding end users and the perception of daily users who might not be Salesforce experts. They can not only create a system that will meet all of your business needs and requirements but also a Salesforce solution that your users want to work in to ensure an effective user adoption for your new investment. Not to mention, your expert can offer a slue of automation opportunities to make your project management easier than before.
how to find the right salesforce consultant
- Check out their Salesforce AppExchange Listing! Salesforce Consulting Firms often use the Salesforce AppExchange to collect client reviews and share information about their past projects and skillset. Here, you can find featured resources like Case Studies, the number of Salesforce projects completed and certified team members, years of experience, and highlights of the company. Check out The CRM Firm’s HERE.
- Check Salesforce Certifications HERE for any individual you are working with. Note: Salesforce Certifications are named to an Individual, not a Consulting Firm.
- Ask a Friend – Reach out to someone within your network who uses Salesforce. This will be raw, unaltered feedback of their experience with a Salesforce Consultant if one was used. Here are some questions you could ask to prompt the right details to find out if their hired hand could also be the right fit for your project.
- Did they deliver the intended solution that was presented in the sales process (including functionality and timeline)?
- How did they handle changes within the project (change management)?
- Were you provided a full-time resource, or do you work with different Consultants in different areas?
- Were they able to involve the right stakeholders in the project appropriately?
- Industry and Product Experience – Matching your Salesforce Consultant to your project’s product and your company’s industry is often the best recipe for success. This enables you to work with Salesforce experts who have implemented solutions for similar companies, likely doing similar workflows or business processes. Similarly, if you are looking to implement the Nonprofit Cloud, working with a Salesforce Consultant who has successfully implemented that product in the past will bring efficiency to your implementation.
We often hear customers say, “I don’t know what I don’t know” when talking about what they need out of their customer relationship management system. Well, leave it up to someone who does know. With the right Salesforce Consultant, your Salesforce implementation will be fun, and engaging, and leave you wanting to find more ways to integrate Salesforce into your day-to-day operations and project management.
If you are looking for a Salesforce Consultant to guide your team through the implementation process and deliver a custom solution for your business, contact The CRM Firm at sales@thecrmfirm.com. Or check out our core services to better understand how we can serve you!
