Read Related Post: If You Build A Social CRM, They Will Use It

This post is intended to inspire business leaders and technologists with 10 Tips on Successful Salesforce Implementation for 'getting started,' integration and development, and training/adoption.

• Tip #1 - Establish A Vision. Do you have a purveyor of that thing called Vision? From the inception of Apple in his parents’ Silicon Valley garage 35 years ago and through 15 years since his return, Steve Jobs kept Apple fresh. The magic of Apple is Jobs’ relentless vision of giving consumers access to the powers of computing technology encased in beautiful ergonomic design. True renewal and change comes with a vision. When Huntington Bank’s CEO Stephen Steinour took the helm in early 2009, his edict was a cultural shift “elevating the value of the customer.” The implementation of Salesforce CRM is one of the factors that helped drive that vision.

• Tip #2 - Gain Executive Support. Validate the vision with your top executive team using visuals, data and dedication. Offer a solid proof of concept that they can bite into. Help them visualize that the success of the implementation will add to their individual success.

• Tip #3 - Define Your Business Processes. During an engagement, after the blueprinting phase, clients have a clearer view of their sales, marketing, customer service and supply chain management. They are armed with information to make the proper decisions around the available technology, process and people.

• Tip #4 - Understand Data Migration and Integration. Before making the shift, know how each piece of data is going to interact with each other, how it is organized and in which formats it is available. Moreover, if your existing data is located in various platforms, a concrete plan needs to be in place to help ensure that data quality and security is not compromised.

• Tip #5 - Form A Governance Board. Create a team or teams of innovation owners who will be the guide and sounding board for rules and guidelines around each implementation. They will serve as oracles of knowledge and wisdom as your organization goes through waves of transition to cloud technology, social crm and mobile.

• Tip #6 - Tip #10 Check out the 10 Tips For An Agile Salesforce CRM Implementation

Do you have a Salesforce CRM implementation story to share? We’d love to hear about it! Write or send a message @mavindigital.