As a Salesforce administrator or manager, you hold both enormous power and responsibility within your organization. You must wield these two in equal balance by ensuring that you are following through with only the most effective Salesforce best practices. Otherwise, you will be creating a disconnect in your organization’s key intelligence network. To ensure that you and your co-workers are able to get the most out of Salesforce as possible, here are some strategies and practices to consider.
1. Keep Your Ear to the Ground for Changes
SaaS platforms are constantly evolving by nature. Whether big changes are coming down the pipeline from the actual vendor or if creative third-party vendor coding has led to new disruptions that will change the way you could be using Salesforce, it helps to stay on top of these developments.
Check out blogs and other news networks within the software community. Follow key developers on Twitter, or create a Google Alert for when “Salesforce update” news comes along. For example, VentureBeat does an excellent job of staying on top of new developments in the Salesforce world. Twitter users like Natalie Gunther and the official Salesforce dev handle frequently post new ideas, upcoming changes and insightful articles to improve your Salesforce chops.
By paying attention to these sources, you can adjust your strategies as needed while optimizing your organization’s use of the Salesforce platform. The best admins are anticipating such disruptions rather than reacting to them.
2. Do Your Research
In addition to news about new things coming along, there are plenty of ideas out there that can already add value to your Salesforce operating environment. Apps are one such resource. The Salesforce AppExchange has hundreds of cloud computing web applications that could transform the way you implement your CRM or integrate it with other systems.
DupeCatcher, for example, is a simple, free app designed to eliminate redundant account entries into the system. Another well-regarded app named LinkPoint Connect beefs up Saleforce’s ability to integrate with Outlook, including being able to specific syncing preferences.
Search out App reviews, link up with other admins or frequent message boards and dedicated sites that share your goal of improving Salesforce practices.
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3. Hone Your Reporting Skills
Salesforce administrators and management teams are much more than support. They are also journalists, giving sales teams and other people in the organization key actionable insights that drive incremental improvement or outright innovation. The data Salesforce produces provides invaluable feedback so that current practices can be assessed or improved.
Learn how to make the most of Salesforce’s reporting tools so that you bestow your fellow workers with the data they need to succeed. Metrics like closure rates, cost per lead and others can help teams pinpoint exactly where their strengths are and where bottlenecks in productivity occur.
If you feel like the analytics or reporting capacity of the software is limited for your goals, search out for other solutions that can integrate more robust reporting from Salesforce data sources. For instance, Tableau is an extremely-popular BI reporting program that imports Salesforce data and “excels at visualization and data discovery,” according to TrustRadius CEO and co-founder Vinay Bhagat.
4. Audit for Quality Data
Every once in a while, admins must make sure that the data they are entering or working from is of the highest quality possible. Set out standards from the beginning such as whether or not clients from California will be designated by “CA,” “C.A.,” “Cal.,” “Calif.” or any other variation, and then audit practices to ensure that these standards are being upheld. Inconsistencies can quickly dilute reports and analysis, especially if they are ongoing problems.
5. Connect with Other Levels of Your Organization
Insights do not always have to come from people who share your job title. Ask around your organization for pain points or problems to which you could potentially find a solution. Also communicate with them so that their own practices can make your job easier, such as creating a more standardized client profile to make data input and retrieval simpler.
By holding yourself and your department to these best practices, you can harness the full potential of the Salesforce community and use it to drive real growth and ROI within your company.
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