When there’s a lot to do and you’re pressed for resources, sometimes, your only option is to roll up your sleeves and take care of it yourself. Many organisations, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are forced to embrace the DIY ethos in their CRM implementation to make ends meet.

Salesforces is the #1 CRM platform in the world, providing consistent ground-breaking innovation, and giving all your departments (marketing, sales, commerce, and service) a single, shared view of every customer. But as with most, if not all, CRM implementations, not even a Salesforce implementation is without its pitfalls and challenges.

When implementing new technologies, or optimising existing ones, it can pay off to have a subject matter expert close by. We’ve found this especially true when it comes to adopting business technology such as CRM platforms, including Salesforce.

The risks of a DIY implementation

Very small businesses just getting started with very limited resources might be able to, or be forced to, DIY their Salesforce implementation. However, if you’re a large or growing business with one or several systems already established or have workflows and integrations specific for your industry to consider, you’re going to want to customise your Salesforce CRM in a way to make sure it supports your business and keeps up with the pace of your business growth.

Even though Salesforce offers a tempting admin-friendly back-end interface right out of the box, you run the risk of implementing a solution that works for today but does not account for the future in a scalable way. When your business grows, you will then have to rebuild existing functionality, which in turn can result in other components not working anymore.

The risk of a DIY project often lies in the limitations of your own business and technical knowledge in implementing and designing your Salesforce CRM. In the end, most DIY CRM implementations fail, resulting in disjointed and inefficient processes where the users tend to start operating outside of the system.

When do I need a CRM implementation partner?

If your Salesforce CRM is not properly implemented and configured for full utilisation, it will become a hindrance rather than an asset. That’s when calling a CRM implementation partner can help you optimise your existing solution and create value across your whole organisation. A Salesforce implementation expert possesses both the business and technical knowledge you need to make the most out of your Salesforce CRM and align it with your business and the way you work.

New implementations

To get the most out of your Salesforce CRM, it needs to be configured according to the specifics of your business, your processes, your current needs, and potential growth in the future from the get-go.

Failed implementations

While most would associate hiring a Salesforce implementation expert with new implementations, there’s also a large market for already implemented systems. Because, as previously mentioned, ~90% of all CRM implementations are deemed failures. A failure being that the customer is not fully satisfied with their system where the CRM hasn’t been properly implemented and needs to be better aligned to the company’s needs, requirements, and business processes.

Benefits of a Salesforce CRM implementation partner

A CRM is a big investment in the future of your business, and the implementation work is a lot more than just signing the licensing agreement and creating accounts. It’s about understanding a business inside and out and designing workflows and processes that fit how your company works. A Salesforce implementation partner is a vital factor if you want to ensure you get the most value from your CRM platform; an implementation partner will:

  • Ensures a successful Salesforce CRM implementation. With tons of experience across different industries, deep knowledge of best practices, and the know-how to set up your organisation for successful adoption of the system, they have the skills to customise according to your needs and business requirements – regardless of if it’s implementing a new system or optimising an existing one.
  • Saves you precious time. CRM implementations are both complex and time-consuming processes, especially if you’re not familiar with Salesforce. Working with a Salesforce implementation partner, you get instant access to their expertise, helping you implement Salesforce CRM quickly and correctly.
  • Helps you optimise your business processes and functions. Salesforce allows you to build your business on a single, secure, flexible, and scalable platform that’s easy to customise and upgrade without anything breaking. However, the great flexibility of Salesforce has a backside: the insurmountable number of possible app and system integrations and configurations. An implementation partner guides you through this jungle and helps you identify what you need to add value across your organisation.
  • Increases ROI. The three biggest obstacles to capturing returns are efficiency (both implementation and execution), adoption, and understanding. A Salesforce implementation partner helps you overcome all three, making sure you can achieve a positive ROI on your CRM investment.
  • Teaches you the skills to manage your Salesforce CRM platform. Implementation partners can provide system administrator training and documentation to make sure a business can manage and extend its system long after the project is complete.

Need help with your Salesforce implementation?

We are one amongst a very few Salesforce implementation companies that provide end-to-end Salesforce implementation with integration to SAP ERP. Our Salesforce implementation consultants have delivered complex digital CRM transformation programmes for several organisations in the UK in various industries. Gauri has been accredited as a Salesforce Partner UK with expertise in ‘Manufacturing’ by Salesforce, more details can be found on the Salesforce AppExchange here.

Gauri’s unique approach to Salesforce implementation

We have implemented several successful CRM solutions for more than a decade. Through this experience, we have developed several Salesforce implementation best practices that ensure multi-track activities which are key to the success of a project. These are always shared with our customers right at the inception of a project. These include Salesforce implementation best practices for all their core solutions, be it Salesforce Sales Cloud, or Salesforce Service Cloud but also data, deployment, integration, testing, change management, user training, Salesforce Reporting and project/programme management.

A unique Salesforce implementation methodology. We use a hybrid agile methodology using a right shore model which we have been perfecting over the last 15 years since our inception. This allows us to reach the project inflection point early in the project thereby greatly reducing project risk and cohesive and joint-up approach of the project team. We achieve this by ensuring our customers have early visibility of their solutions through show-and-tell sessions and Salesforce solution demos.

Deep product and domain expertise Our Salesforce consultants and solution architects have deep product and domain expertise. This enables us to quickly focus on the unique functioning of the customer businesses. This ensures a solution designed and built to support the organisation’s vision of hyper-personalised customer engagement resulting in improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

A proven track record. Every project delivered is unique and despite all the planning and best of intentions of both parties involved there are surprises. When the true mettle is tested, we have time and again proved ourselves by adapting to these situations backed firmly by Gauri’s senior leadership and a highly motivated Gauri team. We are proud of the fact that our customers are our biggest advocates and we have achieved more than 95% customer retention in our 15-year history.

Fast-growing team of Salesforce implementation consultants. As a fast-growing Salesforce implementation company, our Salesforce practice has been built on a solid foundation for implementing and supporting several CRM solutions in SAP over the past couple of decades.

We have brought in this experience to build a team of Salesforce implementation consultants with expertise and experience with Salesforce, middleware like Mulesoft and Talend, and SAP ERP, a key skill to achieve a truly integrated CRM solution.

We help our customer reduce their Salesforce Implementation Costs by 3-fold as compared to our competitors. Our Salesforce implementation services are delivered through the right-shore model. This helps us devise a team structure best suited to our customer needs and the complexity of the Salesforce implementation. It can be a team completely based in the UK or a hybrid between UK and India (our offshore centre is based in Pune, India). This model provides flexibility in costs and scaling quickly to the demands of the project.

We offer innovative commercial engagement models which none of our competitors can provide. This unique model is based on the principle of transparency, fairness to ensure that we deliver true value for your Salesforce Implementation costs.

What our customers say

“From a billing point of view, it’s all based on the true value of effort. So transparent that it’s amazing. Never seen any programme being so transparent”

In one of our recent projects, on completion, a study was carried out which made it clear that we were 3 times more cost-effective in Salesforce implementation costs as compared to our competitors. The major factors driving this were doing things right the first time, continuity of the team throughout the project, motivated team working in close collaboration with the customer team to achieve one common objective – customer success.

Watch this webinar to learn how we helped Ideal Heating with their Salesforce integration with SAP.

Contact Gauri

If you are embarking on a Salesforce CRM journey or want help or advice or assistance with your existing Salesforce CRM solution, then please contact us now.