Millions of businesses have already subscribed to Salesforce.
If you are considering becoming one of them, it is important to take time to think about what an ideal implementation looks like for your business. Working through a few simple questions helps you evaluate the needs of your business and leads to a greater chance of success if you decide to use Salesforce.
What are Your Salesforce Goals?
Think about your company’s vision and how launching a community will further that vision, then create a set of specific goals that support the vision. By identifying specific problems you are trying to solve with a Salesforce community, you can help you establish your goals. Make certain you and your team understand the problems you face and the ways you expect each community to address them.
Once you have a clear set of goals for a successful community implementation, communicate them with your team to make sure that everyone understands and is working toward same end goal.
Do You Choose a Template or Custom Approach?
Consider your goals when deciding whether to use a Salesforce template or create a custom designed community. The functions and features of the templates vary, but if you find one that works for you then it is the easiest way to go by far. You will also receive constant improvements and enjoy easier maintenance of your community with a template.
However, if the templates do not fit your exact needs and will not help you meet your goals, then a custom approach is probably a better choice.
What Do You Want Community Members to Do?
The way you want community members to be able to use the features may influence how you will want to set up your community. Think about what features and functions your community members will need to use as well as what information will be available to them. Some users may need more access to records than others, and you want to set up your community in such a way that members have access to what they need and not anything more. You also should consider how many features you want to be available initially.
While it is exciting to launch everything at once, starting with just a few features and building on them gradually is a great choice for companies with limited resources. This allows you to get feedback from community members about what is working and any additional features that would be helpful.
How Will You Train Salesforce Community Users?
The complexity and type of your community will impact the amount of training required, but take time before implementation to decide how you want to provide training. Webinars and tutorials are great options for training or hold an on-site training.
When creating a training plan for users, it is helpful to focus on the following areas:
- Overview
- Expectations
- Terminology
- New processes
- Benefits to users
- Step-by-step instructions
- Hands-on training
- Questions and answers
- Takeaways
What Happens After You Go Live?
Some companies have a team of people who manage their Salesforce community, while others work with a certified Salesforce partner or combine the two options. Decide which approach your business will take to maintain your community. Communicate with your staff to make sure everyone knows their role to help keep the community running smoothly. Determining how you plan to evaluate the community is also important.
Tracking how consistently users are accessing the community and using the tools helps you evaluate your community and decide if you need to make changes or provide additional training.
As the world’s most popular CRM, there are countless advantages for your business looking to implement a Salesforce solution, but it is not the best option for everyone. Considering these questions helps you determine the best approach for your company to take. Planning and preparing beforehand also makes implementation go more smoothly if you decide to join the Salesforce community.