Salesforce is the SaaS pioneer and one of the leading CRM solutions in the world. It serves over 150,000 enterprises of various sizes and occupies a market share of 24% in the global CRM application market.

Enterprises appreciate Salesforce for the following reasons:

There is no doubt that Salesforce is a great value-add for enterprises that want to streamline their sales and operations, improve customer experience, and grow the business.

But despite all the benefits and customizations it offers, many employees resist using Salesforce.

Let’s explore why that is the case and what enterprises can do about it.

Some impediments experienced by enterprises:

1. Data Migration and Mapping Issues

Data migration is one of the major challenges enterprises face during Salesforce implementation. Employees grapple with issues like duplicate data, unstandardized data formats, incomplete data fields, and other errors that complicate migration from legacy CRM to Salesforce.

They also face problems with data mapping during migration. They must map custom IDs, incorporate custom fields, cleanse the database, and manage access control. These activities are complicated and time-consuming. But they need immediate attention to preserve information and ensure successful Salesforce implementation without any hindrance.

2. Customization Issues

Customization is one of the reasons enterprises choose Salesforce. It allows them to customize the CRM according to their business case and achieve their goals. However, employees face difficulties in leveraging the platform to progress in their tried-and-trusted workflows. It is often hard for them to change their way of working to accommodate the demands of the software. Then, they are forced to make UI and functionality changes every time there is an update. This could lead to unnecessary delays, errors and burn the enterprise’s investment in CRM.

Sometimes enterprises also over-customize the platform due to poorly defined requirements, which makes ongoing management and maintenance a nightmare. Without technical expertise, employees cannot discover an array of customizations available for Salesforce or unlock the CRM’s full potential. They must partner with experts to customize the platform and meet business needs.

3. Integration Challenges

Salesforce offers plugins, APIs, and connectors to integrate the platform with third-party systems like ERP, email automation, and more. These powerful integrations help enterprises automate their processes, build a 360-degree customer view, and offer seamless customer experience. But sometimes, these integrations can be complex or incompatible and need custom code-based connectors to synchronize the different systems and ensure seamless data exchange. This can only be achieved with the help of a Salesforce specialist.

4. Post-Implementation Support Challenges

There are various challenges that enterprises could face post-implementation. To begin with, there is a cultural gap and resistance among employees to adopt Salesforce. Many employees need a degree of handholding and guidance that isn’t always easily available. Additionally, the in-house support team may not have experience managing and troubleshooting everyday Salesforce issues.

Without the proper post-implementation support and training, employees may hesitate to use Salesforce in their daily operations, leading to a wasted opportunity to improve business.

5. Maintenance Issues

As mentioned in the beginning, Salesforce releases new versions, updates, and features all through the year. It is hard for in-house teams to keep up with the pace of releases on occasion. To add to that, the usual data quality problems would also arise as the data volume increases. This makes it hard for employees to maintain the Salesforce platform and keep pace with changes. Enterprises need to maintain the data and integrations proactively and monitor security and compliance to minimize technical debt and improve performance.

How Can Enterprises Bring a Change?

Enterprises that use Salesforce report a 34% increase in productivity and 29% growth in company sales. No wonder C-level executives appreciate Salesforce. However, it is crucial that employees love it as much as the management does. The implementation issues, customization complexities, and post-implementation challenges can discourage employees from using it.

One way to overcome these hurdles is to work with specialists who can manage, support, and customize the Salesforce ecosystem for the enterprise. Specialists customize the platform to align with the enterprise’s business goals and provide post-implementation support to maintain and manage the platform.

At i-Source, we understand the struggles enterprises face in implementing Salesforce.

We provide end-to-end solutions, such as:

Advisory

Our consultants come with deep knowledge and expertise in Salesforce implementation. They understand the client’s business needs and guide them during the implementation and customization stages. They share best practices and industry-specific solutions that enterprises can use to implement Salesforce successfully.

Customization

We understand the challenges enterprises face in customizing Salesforce. That is why we use our experience and Salesforce knowledge to create custom Salesforce functionalities that can help enterprises achieve their business goals without any hindrance.

Application Maintenance and Support

Our commitment extends beyond mere implementation and support as we assist businesses in effectively managing customizations and enhancements. We actively promote user engagement to ensure they derive maximum benefit from the system and capture essential business data. Additionally, we undertake activities to minimize disruptions during Salesforce upgrades.

With 20 years of all-around experience across industries, we help enterprises and their workforce adapt to the ever-dynamic business environment.

Get in touch with us to learn more about our services and solutions.

Devendra Vaidya
Senior Project Manager