Avoid Salesforce Implementation Mistakes and Get the Most Out of Your Platform

Salesforce fatigue. It’s real. You’ve spent a significant portion of your budget to get the latest and greatest technology for your company. And your team has spent countless hours setting up the company’s Salesforce platform, only to realize it is more complex than you ever imagined. You’re not seeing results, and the thought of your competitors utilizing similar technology to capture business is keeping you up at night. 

In this industry, most banks have Salesforce CRM implemented in their business model. The good news? Most of them are not maximizing the use of this platform, meaning YOU can use technology to meet the needs of your customers and the goals of your organization.

Meeting the needs of consumers in the digital world

The Ipsos-Forbes Advisor U.S. Weekly Consumer Confidence Survey found that many Americans (78%) with bank accounts prefer to do their banking via a mobile banking app or on a bank website. This proves it is critical for banks to invest in software that meets the needs of consumers if they wish to stay relevant in the industry. 

And many banks are putting this at the top of their to-do list. Boosting efficiency seems to be a common theme and strategic priority, especially for community banks.

When implemented correctly, these digital banking tools can provide a plethora of insight and information to the company itself, allowing them to make smarter business decisions with an already captive audience.

Where do banks go wrong?

In our experience, the number one mistake Salesforce implementation providers make for financial service customers is failing to design and implement functionality aligned to an organization’s business process, such as:

• Customer onboarding processes
• Loan origination processes
• Account opening processes
• Compliance processes

This leads to the bank not receiving the most out of their investment in Salesforce. Bank executives, like yourself, are frustrated by not knowing how to achieve their business goals with Salesforce. Taking time to optimize the platform is the first step to making this tool work for you. 

Optimizing your Salesforce platform—easier said than done

Why don’t banks optimize from the start? Well, it’s more complex than many realize. This is what one of our customers said about implementing Salesforce:

“My team purchased Salesforce and hired an implementation partner. We tried to use Salesforce in the way it was recommended, but we did not realize the extent of the available functionality during our first go-around. I am worried we’re not getting much value out of Salesforce because we’ve barely scratched the surface of what it can do.”

This is a common feeling among bank executives. In-house teams lack knowledge on Salesforce to know what’s possible, whereas implementation partners can sometimes lack knowledge of banking business processes. Additionally, banks have resource restraints, either budget or manpower, that can lead to poor implementation.

Even with limited resources, there are fundamental steps you can incorporate to set up your platform and avoid Salesforce implementation mistakes.

4 ways to get Salesforce back on track

If you’re not getting the results you want from Salesforce, it’s time to evaluate your goals and how you’re using the platform. Take a look at these suggestions to get your Salesforce platform back on track.

• Assess current business processes. Evaluate each business process implemented on the Salesforce platform and identify which are working, which ones need help, and where the gaps are. 

• Create a business process map. Define how the end-to-end business processes should flow. Include roles and responsibilities for employees or consultants involved. Think of this as designing your ideal state.

• Test your newly designed business process. Build a “Proof of Concept” in Salesforce to test out early iterations of your refined business processes. Start by testing just one idea before adding more complex functionalities into the process, utilizing an agile delivery methodology.

• Execute a live test with real end users. Implement and test—from end-to-end—the functionality of the business process. Include real users and customer scenarios to give you a clear picture of how consumers will engage with your product. 

Updating and testing broken business processes is one of the best ways to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction with your banking programs. 

Time to call the experts

Evaluating and testing take time and resources. If you’re like many of our clients, you needed a Salesforce implementation plan yesterday. Now’s the time for you to call in an expert who understands the banking industry, its consumers, and the technology challenges you face. 

As financial services specialists, Core10 leads digital transformation initiatives for banks, credit unions, SaaS firms, and capital markets. We understand industry challenges and can help you get the most out of your investment in the Salesforce platform without overcomplicating it. 

It’s time to optimize your Salesforce platform. Need help? Schedule a free consultation to learn more about Core10’s Salesforce customized solutions.