It is time to find a Salesforce Partner. Or not? This checklist will help to find out

Salesforce Partners offer specialized services like consulting and customization for better customer relationships and efficient business processes. But is it always necessary to find a Salesforce partner to adopt Salesforce CRM properly? Let’s put aside all the advertising brochures of the Salesforce Partner network and look at the objective signs of when you should and should not look for a Salesforce implementation partner.

When you DON’T NEED a Salesforce Partner

You have a small business 

If you run a small business or are just starting out, you likely use simple and straightforward processes for sales, marketing, and service. Salesforce, with 20 years of customer management experience, offers powerful out-of-the-box features. These are designed to meet the needs of most small and medium-sized enterprises, making it a valuable solution for streamlining business processes. 

It’s your first CRM ever

If it is your first time to set customer relationship management on digital rails, invest time in exploring what Salesforce has to offer. Their products are easy to use and ready to go, making it a great choice for getting started with CRM:

1. Sales Cloud: Manages leads, opportunities, and customer interactions.

2. Service Cloud: Enhances customer service with personalized support.

3. Marketing Cloud: Automates targeted campaigns and lead nurturing.

4. Commerce Cloud: Creates seamless e-commerce experiences.

5. Community Cloud: Builds branded online communities for collaboration.

6. Analytics Cloud (Tableau): Provides robust analytics for data-driven decisions.

7. Pardot: Streamlines B2B marketing and sales processes.

8. Quip: Integrates with Salesforce for collaboration and document sharing.

Your business processes are typical for your industry

If your business is complicated due to specific industry needs, don’t rush into coding. Salesforce’s out-of-the-box solutions cover even complex requirements based on some domains’ peculiarities, like FinTech, Healthcare, Retail and more. Let’s have a look at some of the examples:

• Financial Cloud: Streamlines client management, ensures compliance, and provides a clear view of portfolios for personalized service.

• Health Cloud: Enhances care coordination with a complete patient view, improving engagement and patient care outcomes.

• Consumer Goods Cloud: Boosts field team efficiency, optimizes retail operations, and fosters collaboration for improved sales and market responsiveness.

Your business is capable of growing, supported by the same business processes

If your growth plan implies an increase in volume regarding the same business processes, standard Salesforce offerings still work for you. The fact is, Salesforce is good at helping you expand what you’re already doing well. Therefore, as long as you don’t implement major changes like diversification, scaling your Salesforce to fit higher sales volumes will not be a problem.

You have no need for third-party software integrations

Salesforce Clouds and features have an impressive variety of tools: sales pipelines, pricing and quoting tools, process automation applications, chatbots… So, if you are just starting your digital journey, it will take much time to outgrow standard Salesforce features and applications and have a need for third-party software integrations.

You don’t plan to diversify your product or service lines

As long as your business processes are simple and straightforward, be sure Salesforce covers you back. Looking at additional tools only becomes necessary when considering a strategic choice to diversify product lines and services. And only when such diversification brings major changes in customer service approaches, operations, channels, legal requirements, etc, it is time to consider custom development supported by a Salesforce partner.

Your business has outgrown out-of-the-box features

Simply saying, if Salesforce is becoming one of the software solutions your teams switch between, it is a clear sign you need to bring your software ecosystem to a new level. Switching solutions, growth of manual work volume, and regular errors in new or existing business processes are symptoms that your Salesforce environment doesn’t cover your changing needs and has to be fitted to your business strategy.

Your work on a new product and its GTM

If launching a new product is your response to changed or new customers’ expectations, or you are expanding to new markets, in most cases, it would require new business processes. And the more innovative is your new product, the more likely you would need custom Salesforce adjustment. 

You are building an operational advantage to differentiate from your competitors

The secret of winning people’s hearts and market shares often lies in the ability to make services more approachable and easier to buy and the post-purchase experience outstanding. Meeting customers’ true desires often requires innovative sales and service process architecture, and here standard Salesforce features are helpless.

You are building a multichannel funnel, smoothing marketing-sales-service transition

Custom features, like unified customer profiles and automated lead nurturing, facilitate smooth operations. Tailoring the platform also enables real-time communication tools and personalized dashboards, enhancing coordination.

You have important legacy software or data

If your current challenge is to migrate data from legacy systems or upgrade outdated software, custom Salesforce development is the case. Customization enables the harmonious integration of Salesforce with existing infrastructure, maximizing operational efficiency and preserving valuable historical data.

You need to comply with legal requirements 

Bringing business to a new level often means complying with diverse legal requirements. Tailoring the platform allows integration of specific features like data encryption, audit trails, and industry-specific reporting, ensuring alignment with various regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or financial reporting standards.

You diversify product or service lines

If you venture into new markets or sales channels, you will most obviously need new CRM features or even business processes to serve new customer segments: new promo tools, pricing and discounting logic, customer service steps and artifacts, etc. You will most likely find standard Salesforce features not enough anymore, which means it’s time for custom development.

You need to ensure smooth cooperation between large departments or offices

Making things work smoothly between big teams or offices is a big challenge. If you expect Salesforce to be a common environment, custom development is essential. It helps by adding tools for better communication, shared reporting, and specific workflows for each department. For instance, it can help sales and marketing teams collaborate by sharing customer data seamlessly. It might also streamline communication between customer support and product development, ensuring quick issue resolution. Customization tailors Salesforce to specific departmental needs, promoting effective cooperation and streamlined workflows.

You need to optimize costs and, hence automate low-value routines

Custom Salesforce development is key for businesses wanting to automate and cut costs of sales and service. Automated flows, lead scoring, and customer chatbots are examples of tailored features that optimize time and prevent sales and service departments from growing by leaps and bounds.

You need to move from in-house Salesforce maintenance to outsourcing 

Partners help with Salesforce custom development, digital advisory, and ongoing support. Moreover, Salesforce talent acquisition and team composition are mostly included in the scope. It lets businesses focus on their work and avoid growing internal Salesforce expertise, which is not a piece of cake.