by Jack Bailey-Grundy It’s really easy to read a lot of information and decide your business needs to change, but effective change takes more than desire. The best Salesforce implementations we’ve seen have resource dedicated to them – both in time and personnel; firm-wide buy-in (especially from senior management), and perhaps most importantly a thorough analysis of the business requirements, existing processes and what’s important to the company. Spend time analysing your processes, your corporate vision and company engagement. Look at how things are done, and how they can be improved. Do your due diligence on a range of tools and make sure you choose a solution that fits your needs – not just for now but for the long term.
Once the solution has been chosen, find end-users who can drive the project and adoption within the company – don’t leave it to external resources or senior managers to enforce usage.
Truly investing in a process of change is such a key element of a successful implementation – and that doesn’t just start when the contract is signed or end when the tool is in place.
Formulating a case for change requires honest introspection about ‘how things are done’ as well as where you want to go. Vigorously questioning how your firm co-ordinates client interactions; how well you listen to clients; how you collaborate internally and so on, goes a long way in understanding the inherent client focused culture in the firm. It’s important to realistically judge the firm’s genuine readiness before investing time and money in a new system.