If you’re going to invest time and money in purchasing Salesforce licenses, plan for potential pitfalls so you can avoid them.

Salesforce is often abandoned by organizations that claim it was too complicated and they didn’t get a return on their investment.

Here are 5 common pitfalls to avoid when implementing Salesforce ensuring a successful implementation:

1. Avoid trying to self-implement Salesforce. Work with experienced Salesforce consultants who can guide you through the process and help you avoid costly mistakes.
2. Start simple and build smart. Don’t be tempted to buy several Salesforce add-ons at once that you may not use. It’s better to start with the basics of Salesforce Sales & Service Clouds to allow for scalability and user adoption. You can always add on features later.
3. Gather input from the people who are actually going to use the system. This may seem obvious but frequently people leading the implementation don’t have a clue about the end user experience.
4. Executive Support is vital for the success of Salesforce implementations because it provides the leadership, resources, and strategic direction needed to ensure that the project aligns with the organization’s goals and overcomes the challenges associated with change and technology adoption. Implementing new software often faces resistance from employees who are comfortable with the old way of doing things. Executive support can help overcome this resistance by emphasizing the importance of the change and setting the tone for the organization. Executives are interested in the results and return on investment (ROI) of the Salesforce implementation. They can set up monitoring and reporting mechanisms to track progress and assess whether the project is meeting its goals.
5. Avoid Garbage in Garbage out and allow time to clean your customer data before you import it into Salesforce.

Being aware of these common pitfalls, you can ensure a successful implementation of Salesforce CRM. With the help of experienced partners like Kiwi Group, you can overcome any challenges and take full advantage of the benefits that Salesforce has to offer.  If you’re interested in learning more about working with Kiwi Group, please get in touch.

Full time Salesforce Administrators can cost upwards of $125,00 per year (plus benefits!), which is a completely unrealistic outgoing for most small to medium sized businesses.  So how can these smaller organisations acquire skilled administrators without the huge outlay?  Simple.  They work with a business, like Kiwi Group, for a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee!

We provide a team of expert Salesforce administrators who can provide real-time support and who are always available to jump on a call, especially handy for any fire drills that may arise with end users or the management team.  (We’ve all experienced those before!)

Clients may hire a full time Salesforce Administrator but these do not always possess the development expertise required to make Salesforce simple for end users.  We offer a team approach where you not only get a Salesforce Administrator but also a Developer and a Project Manager.  And once your team is assigned you will always work with the same people (rather than having your work distributed across different people and/or departments).  We also only charge our hourly fee as stated on our website, not our hourly fee x 3 for each of the 3 people working on your account.  So essentially you are getting 3 for the price of 1!

Salesforce is really just a tool kit, and our job is to help you get the most out of your investment, solve real business problems and save you time. Creating great business solutions, leveraging industry best practices and giving you a swift timeline for your project completion.  We offer large agency support at small agency prices.

Interested in working with us?  Email hello@kiwigroupinc.com for further information or to schedule a discovery call.

As the amount of free time consumers have continues to decrease in quantity, it becomes exponentially more valuable. In the market place, we’ve seen businesses successfully move towards creating a sales cycle that improves ease of use and fits effortlessly into consumers busy lives. Companies like Amazon have experienced unprecedented success by meeting customers where they are. A successful Salesforce system will offer this same ease of use to employees within organizations.

Here are four necessities in any easy to use Salesforce implementation:

It’s an excellent wingman. Salesforce that is easy to use serves as a salesperson’s right-hand man. It will help them to stay on top of leads, manage current clients and save face by guaranteeing that nothing falls through the cracks. When designing Salesforce to serve in this way, its crucial that it is created by someone who understands the day in the life of a salesperson and what their needs truly are, rather than someone who simply understands the technical, backend, components of CRM software.

It saves time.  Everyone wishes they had more time. An easy to use Salesforce implementation will help to speed up mundane business processes. This creates value to salespeople in both their personal and professional lives. At work, they’re able to close more deals and function at a higher level of efficiency and while at home, they can be fully present without worrying if they are missing something.

It seamlessly becomes part of the team. We all have experienced that awkward, painful, transition that takes place when HR screws up and hires someone who completely goes against the current company culture. They never really fit in and end up causing more work. Salesforce should not do this. It must be strategically designed with the business procedures and processes in mind. You want Salesforce to be the employee of the month type that everyone wants to talk to at the company Christmas party not the co-worker they’re secretly hoping wont show up.

It doesn’t lie. Trust is easy to lose and difficult to gain back. It’s crucial that data is entered into Salesforce accurately and deliberately. If the data is bad, so is Salesforce. It is not easy to use if it is full of errors and false information. Salespeople will quickly revert back to their old ways of selling and closing deals if they can’t trust the system they’re working on.

For more information on easy Salesforce solutions, contact Kiwi Group today.

An organization’s sales culture is one of the most important components to consider when implementing a CRM focused on Sales Force Automation. Like any family, each business approaches problems, tasks and daily activities in their own unique way and with their own sentiment. It’s critical to identify the ways they conduct business and any barriers to the sales cycle, from both a process and culture standpoint, before you begin customizing a CRM system.  Investing time upfront to identify these barriers will ensure the CRM is supportive rather than disruptive.

What exactly is organizational culture?

According to Google, organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations. These shared values have a strong influence on the people in the organization and dictate how they dress, act, and perform their jobs. Basically, it is the way in which business is conducted based on the norms within any organization.

CRM and Culture

A career in sales is not for the faint of heart. Successful reps can quickly sniff out processes that waste their time and keep them away from selling. When being asked to change their methods they will ask, “What’s In It For Me?” If a CRM system is not designed from the perspective of supporting sales people, it won’t be embraced. Out of the box CRM solutions rarely work because they aren’t able to support the unique culture of an organization or how its employees conduct business. The main purpose of a CRM system is to increase sales. So, don’t waste your time implementing an out of the box solution people won’t use.

To sufficiently understand a sales culture, the person designing and implementing a CRM must immerse themselves in a company and gather candid feedback from both management and end users. When end users are confident in management’s commitment to remove barriers in the sales cycle, they are more trusting and likely to adopt the new CRM.

CRM and Organizational Change

Once implemented, a CRM program can become a tool that sparks organizational change. By its nature, CRM brings to light business processes, increases efficiencies and exposes any stoppages. In this case, the CRM has been designed and implemented around the companies existing culture. However, as the CRM brings to light inefficiencies the culture will then begin to shift with the CRM to improve and grow the business. If leadership fails to recognize or support this shift, CRM user acceptance will plummet and employees will return to their old processes.  Implementing a successful CRM is not an easy task. It is important to go into the project wide-eyed and willing to adapt with the new knowledge the system exposes. If executed correctly, a CRM will have a positive impact on any business that far outweighs the scope of the implementation project.

Questions? Contact Kiwi Group.

When a sales team is consistently able to meet their monthly quotas, the entire organization benefits. However, sales success seems to be beyond the reach of many organizations. Is your company suffering from any of these common sales-stopping culprits?

1. Lack of Marketing Support: When a sales team has to create demand for their products and secure deals, they waste time pursuing unqualified leads. This creates frustration and tension within organizations and leads to high turnover rates and low sales margins. Often times, it’s hard for management to pin point this problem. A sure sign of insufficient marketing support includes sales people creating their own email marketing campaigns and incoming call volume that is consistently below target.
2. Inadequate Tools and Manual Processes: It’s crucial sales teams are provided with the tools they need to efficiently create price quotes and receive approval. Slow processes that don’t move at the same speed of the market place frustrate customers and cause business to be lost to more agile competitors.
3. Impersonal Performance Reviews: Performance reviews should be viewed as a coaching opportunity in which management invests time and resources into the sales team. This approach creates an environment that is conducive to personal growth, leading to business prosperity. Generic reviews are ineffective, waste organization time and are a missed growth opportunity.
4. Absence of Personal Standards: While organizations can create an environment that makes it difficult for sales teams to meet their goals, becoming a successful sales professional takes time and personal investment. The ability to sell is a skill set that needs to be developed and nurtured. Thriving sales teams include individuals who are disciplined and committed to professional advancement (Pros “Stop Wasting your Sales Team’s Time”).

For more information or to get your sales team back on track, contact the Kiwi Group today.