It’s a fact that’s almost guaranteed that every business wants to improve its workflow. Whether for profits and team engagement or delivering on unique value proposition and brand integrity, every business wants to improve. Subsequently, Salesforce software is a 21st century business tool that fulfils so much more than customer relationship management (CRM) needs. With every single advancement, Salesforce technology — inclusive of module ‘Clouds’, features, AI, and integrations — continually helps businesses run better. In short, it’s no surprise that Salesforce has been one of the most in-demand business products for 20 years.
Nevertheless, businesses may struggle getting started with Salesforce or make the most of this software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription. Unlike some other IT areas, the issue is not so much with the user-friendliness of the software. Overall Salesforce is actually highly usable for businesses and it’s possible to deploy the platform with limited to no coding.
All in all, if businesses aren’t considering these two reasons then they’re probably not gaining all Salesforce benefits. Likewise they might be disappointed in the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). Thus this might be impacting stakeholders, such as customers, as well.
A proven strategy is to opt for outsourcing Salesforce development in order to get the most out of the software. When businesses do this, they’re not just investing in the product, they’re investing in all areas of their operational workflow:
In this A3logics article, we’ll cover the points above to help businesses understand the outsourcing development process for better workflow.
Before our comprehensive discussion of outsourcing Salesforce development, let’s review the Salesforce SaaS key features. Chiefly, the following areas concern the software components that help businesses move forward with digitization, automation, and intelligent tools. For this reason, Cision PR says that the CRM is suitable across all industries and for businesses of all sizes. Additionally, “With Salesforce, businesses in any sector can go faster with flexible and automated technology built for their particular needs.”
Overall, the Salesforce software features are dynamic and suitable for businesses irrespective of region. Therefore this offers opportunities to work with international developers.
Given these points above, we can now delve into a comparison of in-house configuration or outsourcing Salesforce development. In brief, it’s key that we emphasize how user-friendly and easily deployable Salesforce SaaS is. Moreover, this evaluation is not about features so much as how businesses can approach internal or outsourced Salesforce development.
Surprisingly, there is no definitive answer for the question of whether in-house or outsourced Salesforce development is better. In the long run, it is worth noting that businesses who are outsourcing Salesforce development can swiftly maintain and scale. Since Salesforce is designed to be scaled as businesses grow, this has strategic and operational benefits that cannot be ignored. Additionally, in terms of workflow, this also supports all team members focusing on the business tasks rather than maintaining Salesforce. Nevertheless, it’s important to acknowledge that if businesses have team members with Salesforce experience and expertise, in-house is viable. On the whole, businesses should approach using this SaaS in a highly professional way. Because it’s a business tool and an investment, appraising needs against the factors above will help ensure decisive, informed action.
Following on from the comparison of in-house versus outsourced Salesforce development, let’s look at outsourcing Salesforce development in detail.
Even prior to commencing development, an experienced Salesforce development company will meet with prospective clients for preliminary consultation. Not only does this help to establish the business relationship but also professional developers will fairly assess if their services are required.
After consultation, if salesforce development services are needed, then businesses will work with Salesforce developers for their customization needs. To explain, this will cover all phases of development including research, testing, and deployment preparations. Because businesses are undertaking this with development experts, they will be able to concurrently focus on their own operations. Additionally, the development experts will be working to agreed timeframes that ensure the platform is robust, purpose-built, and agile.
Although this does fall under development services, maintenance is a particularly important value-add for businesses. Due to how comprehensive Salesforce is while also being a central business tool, businesses can’t afford to have problems. Markedly, this is a major benefit of working with a professional company and outsourcing Salesforce development. Notwithstanding the pre-deployment phases, post-deployment Salesforce development services should incorporate maintenance inclusive of monitoring and resolving any problems. Because Salesforce — both CRM and integrated modules — are foundational business tools, monitoring functionalities and resolving issues swiftly is essential. Significantly dedicated developers are able to identify problems and resolve them swiftly unlike in-house IT who have competing priorities. Subsequently this risk manages problems on an ongoing basis without compromising business operations or perpetuating problems that could then compound.
As has been noted above, maintenance as well as scaling are under the development process classification. Nevertheless, scaling is inherently important for businesses that want to grow. Whether it’s continually improving operations or aggressively pursuing business diversification, Salesforce’s scalability is a leading part of the value proposition. Simultaneously, outsourcing Salesforce development to experienced developers — especially those in the Salesforce Partner ecosystem — simplifies processes while expanding scaling options. For example, Salesforce Ecosystem partners are highly knowledgeable about scaling, customization, and emerging software features and offers. Consequently, not only are they able to help businesses scale their Salesforce SaaS, but also maximize platform capabilities. In time businesses gain traction in their operations while deriving more value from investing in outsourcing development and Salesforce subscriptions.
Before and after scaling, businesses will also gain platform insights through outsourcing Salesforce development. In addition to consultation and maintenance, the Salesforce platform combined with the development team’s expertise gives businesses extensive data insights. For instance, development teams will configure the SaaS for operational reporting as well as evaluating performance. In that case the developers can report back to businesses about opportunities for scaling plus how they can improve workflow. For that reason then businesses are making informed decisions and will consistently audit their macro and micro activities.
Lastly, outsourcing Salesforce development also incorporates staff training. Despite how user-friendly the UX and UI is for staff, training is essential to ensure best practice and performance. In any event, this will help cultivate team buy-in and promote a positive attitude to new business tools. Furthermore, Salesforce is a core system so for businesses to truly get the most out of the SaaS, training matters. Due to experience and product knowledge, Salesforce development teams can help with training while also guiding the internal deployment phase.
Undeniably workflow is part of successful modern businesses and there is pressure to be digitizing simultaneously. Besides the immediate benefits of using robust Salesforce software, the fact remains that outsourcing development positively boosts operations. Therefore it’s relevant for businesses considering outsourcing Salesforce development to understand how this supports their individual employees, and entire organization.
Although we’ve explored the platform customization advantages of outsourcing Salesforce development in terms of strategic benefits, workflow is highly specific. Overall how this impacts on organizational workflow on key levels is important to discuss for daily operations, deployment, and training.
Firstly, how individuals work is always going to have a cascade effect. Subsequently, when businesses outsource development they can take the time to invite all employees to provide software feedback. Because employees can speak freely they can share about their individual responsibilities, workflow, and any current issues with business tools. With development, Salesforce is highly configurable and offers a user-oriented, personalized UX and UI. Altogether when development teams are ideating and engineering businesses’ Salesforce SaaS, they can incorporate all levels of employee input. In short these custom solutions target individual problems that then benefit entire businesses.
Secondly, the collation of individual workflow feedback as well as development teams undertaking data analysis helps build effective Salesforce infrastructure. In order to configure and deploy a professional platform, developers will consider all different operational input. Thereafter every businesses’ Salesforce platform is purpose-built for all different teams across organizations. Thus this ensures that all teams — with their wide range of roles and responsibilities — are using SaaS designed for them. Not only does this streamline and elevate their workflow but also it helps with collaboration between teams. Because it’s hard for internal developers to objectively engineer comprehensive solutions, outsourcing the Salesforce development process considers every business area.
Thirdly, observing businesses as a whole workflow is the final aspect of workflow that outsourcing Salesforce development will incorporate. Since a software development company will parse all business areas including macro and micro workflows, this achieves top-down development. Neither the individual nor the team nor the business is ignored with this type of Salesforce development process. With this purpose in mind, businesses can review their organization-wide workflow during consultation and evaluate this strategically. Once the ideation, engineering, and testing is underway, certified salesforce developers will review workflow objectives with businesses to check efficacy. Accordingly this leads to businesses thoroughly checking the SaaS well before deployment and confirming all operational needs are met.
Now that we’ve reviewed the three workflow areas that benefit from outsourcing Salesforce development, we’ll review some bonus benefits. Both the native platform scope and the options for customizing mean there is endless evidence of businesses transforming their operations. In like manner, these benefits are levelled up through outsourcing Salesforce development to expert teams and Salesforce Ecosystem Partners.
During the development process, businesses should be appraising the wide-reaching ways their Salesforce platform will contribute to their organization. Furthermore, these are the fundamental areas to consider to ensure that workflow is protected. For instance, businesses should review their technical resources, workplace culture, deployment support systems, and stakeholders at the very least. Accordingly, in this section we unpack how to focus on six workflow-centric areas that benefit from Salesforce with strategy.
Above all, when businesses get ready for outsourcing Salesforce development they will definitely need to review strategic goals. At any rate, this will also hone in on their business processes and therefore their workflow levels. In order to properly benefit in this area, businesses should itemize exactly what is and isn’t working with existing tools. Afterwards they can review how they can improve their business processes using the Salesforce digitization pathway. Although a Salesforce development company will ask these questions during consultation, businesses should be ready with their own needs analysis.
Once businesses are beginning the Salesforce development process they will be deciding what systems to keep and third-party integrations. Being that these feed directly into workflow, businesses should therefore consider these systems and software in terms of efficacy. Eventually this will lead to establishing if these are still suitable for operations and if not, how Salesforce fills gaps. In view of making the most of the Salesforce investment and outsourcing development, businesses shouldn’t stay with unsuitable tools.
Following on from evaluating infrastructure, processes, and software tools, businesses need to look at how they will care for staff. In truth, businesses can mistakenly think that training and supporting staff is a late-stage development priority. Even though it will require more energy, it’s highly worthwhile to prioritize the needs of these key internal stakeholders. Whether it’s asking staff for input early in the development process or preparing Salesforce training modules, engaging staff pays dividends.
For instance, during the initial Salesforce development outsourcing businesses should ask staff to explain any workflow problems they currently have. When this approach is taken businesses commence support, implementation, and training rollout early on and developers can offer insights on this. Equally, senior management in businesses can positively show their staff they will be taken care of and manage stakeholder expectations.
The end-to-end development process incorporates everything from consultation and research to ideation and long-term scaling. In order to deliver high-impact Salesforce customizations businesses should consider workflow in each area and step in the process. Accordingly this means working to smoothly manage each step and collaborating effectively with the outsourcing Salesforce development team.
When businesses approach each step in terms of these workflow and strategic needs they communicate productively while preparing for scaling. In particular, preparing for scaling helps businesses to keep moving ahead and getting the most out of their SaaS investment. Thus having clearly ideated goals for a Salesforce customization and preparing for development, development, and scaling results in better developments.
In like fashion to training and supporting staff stakeholders is planning to build a better business environment and engaging staff. Surprisingly or not, this can measurably lead to business growth including staff retention and more productive workers. With a focus on using Salesforce development to improve how teams operate, how staff work, and businesses’ culture change happens. Specifically this revision and redesign of the staff UI results in more engaged teams who can enjoyably complete their jobs. Both the business brand and the customer experience are helped through these workflow benefits as well.
In the same fashion, outsourcing Salesforce development revolutionizes customer experiences and nurtures sales processes. Undoubtedly custom Salesforce developments elevate customer experience and the sales conversions due to the all-in-one CRM module. Concurrently businesses can drive sales and scale up customer experiences even more with Salesforce Service Cloud and Sales Cloud integrations. When businesses choose these integrations during development outsourcing they equip staff to better service customers, manage leads, and track data. In due time businesses see growth through staff performance, customer satisfaction, and sales growth.
In conclusion, thought leaders explain that most of all outsourcing Salesforce development helps organizations run effectively in countless ways. In particular, this means better business. Accordingly, one LinkedIn Pulse article says, “Instead, this will allow you to focus on your core competencies and invest time in other important tasks that drive your business growth.” Notwithstanding business’s individualized requirements that may require a proprietary solution, Salesforce understandably remains the go-to all-in-one CRM.
Starting the outsourcing Salesforce development process involves meeting with an expert software company who can oversee and fulfil custom configurations. When businesses are starting the outsourcing journey, they should first meet with a Salesforce development team for a preliminary consultation. Overall this establishes initial needs and knowledgeable developers should appraise and advise what businesses need. In order to make the most of this type of initial consultation businesses should provide key strategic information including objectives.
Generally speaking, there is no exact time guarantee for Salesforce configuration although it is possible to deploy without customizations. Furthermore the time differences for outsourcing Salesforce development or choosing in-house configuration depend on internal resources available. For the most part, outsourcing development to professionals results in dedicated services that oversee all configuration steps including integration. In order to gain an insightful overview of development, businesses can book an A3Logics consultation to evaluate their Salesforce needs.
Notwithstanding a business’s individual preferences, businesses investing in development services will receive a custom Salesforce platform. In detail, this means that the configuration, module integration, and all features are entirely consistent with business needs and specifications. Unlike in-house configuration, outsourcing Salesforce development to experienced developers who are Salesforce Ecosystem Partners leads to comprehensive SaaS deployments.
When businesses invest in outsourcing Salesforce development they are benefitting from end-to-end development with expert software developers. These developers will guide and manage development over the following development process steps:
Additionally, these developers will be qualified and experienced Salesforce developers who are Salesforce Ecosystem Partners. Specifically, this means that they can swiftly configure new features and scale the platform as businesses need.
