How to Create a Winning Salesforce Roadmap

About Nuvem• Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska• We bring together multiple technologies to build and execute your

complete Salesforce Roadmap so you have a complete 360-degree view of your customer at all times• AppExchange solutions: Cirrus Insight, Steelbrick, ServiceMax• Implementing solutions like Service Cloud, Communities, Wave,

Pardot• Integrating with nearly any app or system through the open API

Does your organization’s experience with Salesforce match your original vision?

Vision vs. RealityVision

• Quality data empowers your employees• Meaningful reports• Streamlined processes• Growth and profitability

Reality• Low adoption• Disparate data systems; inconsistent & incomplete customer profiles• Difficulty keeping up with new releases and products• Only using Salesforce as a basic contact management system• Weak or no sales and profit growth

Why are we seeing a gap between the original vision and reality?

More than likely, these organizations don’t have a plan.

In order to win you have to have a strategy.

Behold the Salesforce RoadmapA Salesforce Roadmap is a strategic plan that guides how your organization will use Salesforce 1, 3 and 5 years into the future. It’s a living document that ensures users, admins, executives and other stakeholders understand the vision for how they will meet business goals with people, process and technology changes.

A missing or incomplete Salesforce Roadmap is a major pitfall that may cause low adoption, decreased ROI and even customer attrition.

We don’t want that! Salesforce is a big investment. It needs to be handled carefully.

So where do we start?

Always start with a goal. Why did you implement Salesforce in the first place?

1. Specific2. Measureable3. Actionable4. Realistic5. Timebound

STEP I: SMART Goals

Common Salesforce Goals• Revenue Growth• Increase deal size by 20% in 2016• Increase close rate by 30% in 2016• Increase cross-sell, upsell sales by 15% in 2016

• Customer engagement and loyalty• Delightful customer experience – improve customer satisfaction score

by 10 points in 2015 per customer survey• Profitability• Streamlined processes – Improve configure quote time from 4 days to 1

Step II: Discovery

The starting point of any technology implementation is always a thorough discovery or deep-dive analysis of:

• ALL systems (not just CRM; not just Salesforce)• Business processes• People

Food for thought: Would you want a doctor giving you a prescription before a diagnosis?

Businesses who are winning with Salesforce are using it to run multiple areas of their business – not “just CRM.”

Understanding the Discovery Process

• Needs, challenges, goals• Aligning timelines to project requirements• Process and data diagrams and analysis• Systems analysis• Reports required to manage the business effectively

Discovery Process Sample Insights• Custom triggers, Objects, Visualforce Web pages necessary• Strategy to maximize out-of-the-box functionalities• Data migration and integration strategy• AppExchange products and ROI vs. custom build• Other Salesforce Clouds that may benefit you• Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Pardot, Wave, Communities, Mobile

• Other software products that may not be Salesforce but can connect to Salesforce• For example: native iOS/ Android mobile apps

Woah. I don’t have time for that!

Step III: Build a Support Team

• Your Salesforce Rep• Salesforce Consulting Partner• Internal Salesforce Steering Committee• Salesforce admin, end user champion, sales

manager• C-suite leaders

Your Center of Excellence1. Salesforce Admin = The Most Powerful Tool in Your Arsenal

1. Hire right number of admins to users2. Invest in their training3. Manages three releases a year; new functionality roll-out

2. End User Champion (s)1. Interview them on needs and goals2. Involve them frequently in order to gain buy in

3. Executive Stakeholders1. Drive Salesforce adoption from the top down2. Create the vision along with other leaders

4. Salesforce Consulting Partner1. Look for a partner with industry expertise2. Certifications and experience in multiple products and technologies

Remember – your success with Salesforce is largely dependent on the people in your organization steering it’s success with the right Roadmap. Invest in your people!

Step IV: Managing Innovation

Your Roadmap needs to be flexible in order to adapt to changes in the Salesforce platform and product innovation.

• Attend Dreamforce and regional events to get a step ahead of new features and products

• Join and attend local user groups

Step V: Managing Timelines

Everything doesn’t need to be done all at once!• Use multi-phase project plans• Get quick wins in smaller, more manageable efforts

• Delay “nice to have” features for future releases• As you create and execute your Roadmap, new ideas

and wish list items will inevitably creep into your plans but manage these changes in a controlled manner.

Case Study: Nox-Crete Products

1. Pre-Implementation Salesforce Roadmapping takes a holistic view:• Business goals and challenges• Processes• People• Systems

2. Post-Implementation Roadmapping describes continuous improvement:• New releases and how they’re managed • Process changes based on reporting & analytics• Products and apps that will solve new or existing problems

We already implemented Salesforce but we didn’t build a Salesforce Roadmap. Is there hope for us?

YES! Roadmapping is a continuous improvement process.

Case Study: Hudl

Pre-Implementation• Initially self implemented with no strategic Roadmap• No admin, “owner” or steering committee• No data integration strategy or understanding of options• No strategy other than basic contact management

Post-Implementation Experience• Low value in helping the business reach its growth goals

• What are we getting for our money?

Case Study: Hudl

1. Developed an integration strategy2. Built a support team3. Exploring options to improve other

areas of their business with Salesforce products

SummarySalesforce Roadmap OverviewThis big picture analysis is crucial to identifying challenges and opportunities that enable you to build the best solution for your business needs.

1. Start with a business goal2. Conduct a complete discovery on your needs and avoid assumptions3. Invest in your people and lean on the support of the Consulting Partner

network4. Continuous improvement and innovation is the hallmark of success5. Manage timelines optimistically but realistically

Questions?