Publish date:

• 30th November, 2023

Deployment of Salesforce in a business for the first time or revamping your engagement with the world’s number 1 CRM requires experience, expertise, diligence, and best practices. This is where great Salesforce partners come in and make all the difference. Otherwise, between 20 to 70% of CRM implementation projects crash land due to many reasons, one of which being the project being executed by the company itself, with no prior experience or knowledge.  It’s like the blind leading the blind.  

Today we are putting some tips on how to go about selecting the best Salesforce partners:  

• Research – Use the power of the internet to do your own research for short-listing Salesforce Partners. Visit their websites and look for eBooks, case studies, vision statements, and videos. Use the Salesforce Chatter groups and Trailblazer community for the same purpose. Check with them if they have prior industry experience for your specific domain.   

• Salesforce certifications - Check with the shortlisted Salesforce Consulting Partners about the number and levels of certification the company team enjoys. More certifications per person mean you get more for your money.    

• References – You can check with the Salesforce corporate office to match you with some potential partners. They are happy to do so. Secondly, get references from your social and professional networks for details of companies they may have used or heard good stories about. Thirdly, Salesforce AppExchange has details of various consultants for you to choose from. Use the in-built filters to narrow your search via this medium. Review the testimonials and reviews for each potential Salesforce partner.  

• Employee professional diversity – A support partner should have more than adequate strength to handle all your needs on a daily basis. Besides the numerical strength, it is also important that they have certified personnel who perform different roles such as Business Analysts, Consultants, admins, etc.   

• Values and visions match yours - This may be on the philosophical and ethical side of the business, but it is always good to align with a support partner whose values and visions match yours. You both are in sync and harmony. This can be achieved by reading their mission statement, and customer testimonials, research involvement in the community, and always asking pertinent questions. 

• Partnership level – At the very outset of your checklist for selection Salesforce partners should be a company that enjoys a good level of partnership with Salesforce. So, check the Salesforce Consulting Partners' level of partnership as well as how long they have been partnering with Salesforce.   

• Compare quotes – Get quotes from various Salesforce partners and see which come close to your intended budget. Don’t accept the first proposal or the cheapest. Good Salesforce partners come with a price just as all good things in life do. Check if they have onboarding charges for meetings & presentations, and so on. Be alert and check quotes carefully.   

• Geographical location – It’s good to have Salesforce partners close by physically or at least in the same time zone for smooth functioning on a daily basis. Face-to-face meetings etc are ideal and allow for regular interactions thus eliminating any scope of misunderstanding/ambiguity. 

Also Read: THE VALUE OF SALESFORCE CONSULTING PARTNERS IN ATTAINING BUSINESS GOALS