Why do customers fail to get ROI on their Salesforce implementation?

It felt like a slap in the face. I had just asked a customer’s CEO for participation in the customer success story program of the company I worked for. The customer had refused. “The implementation is just finished, now I am waiting for the Return on Investment. I am quite happy to testify when I know how I can measure the value.” I was in shock: why does it happen so often that customers are not recognizing the value they get from this type of project?

Let’s face it: CRM implementations are often costly affairs: a lot of time and effort is put into them by both the customer and the service provider. Yet, as research from Salesforce shows, between 40 and 70 per cent of CRM implementations fail. Sometimes it feels as if people bought an expensive sports car, but it just sits in the garage for lack of a driver and a purpose. With our boutique consultancy company UPEO, we see it as our mission to maximise the value of existing implementations and get the most out of new projects. We want to make sure you can drive that sports car. There’s a good reason why we called our company UPEO, which is the Swahili for ‘maximum’.

What most Salesforce projects still lack in 2021

But before we get to that, let’s take a look at the reasons why implementations have failed in the past. The most cited reasons are the following:

• Lack of good foundation: not getting the foundation right from the start will haunt you throughout a project and limits your options going forward.
• Lack of coherent strategy: if you don’t know where you are going, it’s impossible to chart the course.
• Focus on technology, not on processes and people: technology is not the differentiator, it is the way this technology serves the company strategy and improves processes. And above all, the user adoption.
• ‘Hit & Run’ partner: have you seen consultancy companies come and go? Implementing Salesforce should be an enduring partnership, not a one-night stand.
• No follow-up of projects after implementation: the long-term success of any software implementation lies in continued maintenance and care.
• Lack of integration: do you still need manual work to bring data from one Salesforce cloud to the next, or from other applications (e.g. ERP) to your CRM? Perhaps the foundation is not solid? Or you lack the integration tools and skills? Or the ERP system is not correctly interfaced with CRM front-end tools?
• No single source of truth or customer master data. We all agree that data is our biggest asset, but without a real data strategy, we are steering blind. And if data are not embedded end-to-end in the architectural landscape, we risk making the wrong decisions, based on the wrong data.

Long-term commitment to the success of your Salesforce implementation

These are exactly the things we do differently. Here’s what you get when you work with us.

• Our co-creation methodology focuses on the processes and on getting everything right from the start. From the outset we focus on the value that a project will deliver. We work together with you to design and build a solution that is tailored to your specific needs. During these co-creation sessions, business outcomes and business value are top of mind, not the technicalities and features of the solution. We also define the scope of the project when we co-create. And we stick to that scope: you want a good implementation of what you really need, and not a mediocre implementation of a lot of bells and whistles. Making sure you have a well thought and defined scope, helps to maximise your investment as well. By the way, ‘scope’ is another meaning of UPEO in Swahili. We are convinced that maximum value comes from defining the right scope.
• We view CRM as a strategy that is embedded in our IT landscape. We focus on how the customer data flows from one system to another so that we preserve a single source of truth, a master record. This is essential if you want to see things from the perspective of customer experience.
• When an implementation is done, that is not the end. We will work in sprints, but we don’t see the go live as a finishing line and relax after we crossed that line. No, we are running a marathon with you. We will urge you to set up a Center of Excellence (CoE), to turn the implementation into a success in the long run. In this CoE, we want to secure the solution by providing updates where necessary, training new employees. The CoE is also the place where we continuously look to add value to the project by identifying and solving value leaks.
• UPEO brings experienced people to your table. We have worked in different industry segments and have delivered Salesforce Clouds for sales, service, marketing, commerce,… Often in a multi-cloud environment. We believe that multi-cloud is where the biggest value can be achieved, by streamlining entire processes and using a single version of truth throughout your business functions. That is when you really put your data to work.
• You may not always like us for it, but we are brutally honest and will not compromise on quality. If you ask us for a solution that we think will not work, we will tell you. Bluntly and openly. But we will show you how an alternative WILL work and bring value. Remember, we want you to drive that sports car, not have it sat in a garage.
• UPEO acts as a long-term partner. We commit to your success after the go live. To continue the metaphor of the sprint and the marathon: we will run a never-ending marathon with you. By committing to the long term, you can rest assured of our engagement and our continued quest for maximum value.