How to Run Your Salesforce Customisation Project?

The need to customise and tailor your CRM is an essential part of starting a business operation. The out-of-the-box solutions that come with Salesforce are not very effective when it comes to keeping the data well organized within a CRM, as well as getting good customer satisfaction. To this end, Salesforce Customisation is the ultimate tool needed to keep your business up and running smoothly.

Properly organizing the customisation process is necessary if you want to have a customised Salesforce solution that caters to your live business process needs. Even though this is not very difficult to achieve but there is still a certain amount of effort required for a suitable customised Salesforce solution.

So what needs to be done to run a customisation project? To ensure that your efforts reap you the highest benefits, take into account the following steps:

1.       Include Feedback From Your Users

Ask your employees about the CRM challenges they face so you can take the future customisation projects’ scope into account, and understand the specifics of the requirements. This will not only improve your customisation planning for the future but also point out the functionality gaps that need to be bridged with respect to customisation.

2.       Get a CRM Manager on Board

An expert CRM manager can outline the scope and planning of the customisation process and prioritize the delivery of custom features for your business. With such a qualified party on board, you will also get assistance in the supervision of in-progress support of customised solutions. If you can manage an in-house CRM manager or someone who is familiar with your workings, they can also provide you guidance for achieving the right balance in responsibilities among third-party experts, including Salesforce developers of a customisation services provider as well as any other in-house specialists such as Salesforce administrators.

3.       Choose an Appropriate Cooperation Model

This decision requires some deeper thinking since this is where you decide how big your project is, what is its scope, as well as if any changes are expected. There are two ways to approach this, Fixed Price contract and Time and Materials contract.

A fixed-price contract, also called FP contract, is the process whereby you go with one-time delivery of a fixed scope of custom features. If you choose this option, you will agree on the total cost of the customisation procedure before starting the project. This certainty on the cost is one great argument in favour of this approach. However, this approach works best when you have decided on the detailed requirements of your customisation or when you have a fixed budget.

Time and Materials contract, or T&M contract, comes with iterative development and works in a way that the baseline services of custom functionality are delivered first followed by other more detailed custom features complimenting it. The payment method here also corresponds to the procedure whereby the overall cost to the customer to the customisation provider is decided once the work is completed. Here the biggest argument would be the flexibility offered by the operational process. So, if your requirements are not pre-decided or you are yet unsure about all services you may require, this is a better option for you.

4.       Find a Trustworthy Service Provider for Your Salesforce Customisation

Appropriate consulting and development skills are what you should be looking for when choosing a certified Salesforce consultant.

Consulting skills are necessary because they clarify the methods that are actually efficient in achieving solutions to your business challenges. Any Salesforce consulting service worth their salt would have insightful business analytical skills as well as relevant experience in the line of business you operate in and will, therefore, have the expertise in receiving and interpreting the directions from their potential vendors.

As far as development skills are concerned, they are a necessary requirement to make your Salesforce solution appear and perform just as you require it to. If you want to be sure that your chosen IT vendor can come through with both your technical and business operations sides, you need to take into account their domain experience, testimonials from other customers, any relevant certifications, case studies pertaining to similar businesses as yours as well as any other pertinent information providing credibility to their competence.

5.       Putting a Lid Over Costs

It is not a difficult process to accurately prioritize the custom features you require, but it is extremely important. You need to take a rational approach towards your customisation processes and that means the configuration of default features, ensuring the extent to which customisation will meet your business requirements, as well as putting in place measures that prevent excessive code-based customisations.

Unless these steps are taken, there is a chance that you will introduce code-based changes even though simple configurations might have been sufficient. This will only mean more complications in the customisation process as well as higher than the necessary need for third-party support services.

How Can We Help?

When it comes to customisation services, RT Labs provides the best possible solutions to its clients. In every step highlighted above, RT Labs can play a role to help you navigate the Salesforce Customisation in a way that benefits the user.

From getting a CRM consultant, to employing their customisation and integration services, we can assist you in every way possible. Following the above steps would lead to a seamless, customised CRM well-tailored to suit your business needs.

RT Labs, being an Official Salesforce Partner firm, is an expert provider of services including Salesforce Customisation, Integration Migration, and Support.Contact Us now by filling out the Contact form. We will be glad to assist you!