However, the reality of what works and doesn’t work when offering a Salesforce service comes down to a basic fact…the scope of a Salesforce implementation is staggeringly broad. A single Salesforce instance is a center of excellence (COE), handling core functions across sales, support, operations, and clinical departments. Salesforce is not just a core service – it’s often the lifeline of every core organization’s function.
With nearly two-thirds of companies using managed services for at least one function, perceptions about Salesforce managed services (and their expectations) are challenging to change.
Here’s our bold claim.
A successful Salesforce managed services team isn’t just fulfilling an essential service. They need to be involved in strategy as well. Most successful managed service relationships depend on an outsourced partner having the following seven competencies.
1. Salesforce Managed Services Must Have Implementation Expertise
Sure, a managed services contract generally means you’re not implementing a new org. However, implementation experience can ensure you’re getting the most from your Salesforce license investment. A seasoned managed service consultant will leverage experience from years of implementations to ensure products are tailored to your strategies, tactics, and goals. Furthermore, make sure they’ve worked with your specific platforms, whether it be Health Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Experience Cloud, or other Salesforce products.
2. Salesforce Managed Services Must Have Development Expertise
Some of the best features in an implementation must be created with APEX and Javascript by a Salesforce developer. A great services consultant will ensure your implementations continued success with custom code, components, and flows that support your business goals.
3. Salesforce Managed Services Must Have a Critical Eye for Improvement
The best Salesforce managed service partners bring a fair, yet critical eye for change. Existing environments are often full of Salesforce technical debt. The right partner will ensure your processes are efficient, and could even reduce your license costs through an app rationalization activity. They’ll probably even utilize a survey process that gathers feedback from your end-users, stakeholders, and executives to ensure real-world data is informing actionable improvements.
4. Salesforce Managed Services Must Have Integratation Expertise
Salesforce can become a source of truth capable of unleashing actionable insights between connected sales, marketing, clinical, operations, and IT teams. Expert Salesforce managed services teams will bring solutions for integrating your data, including ERP, EHR, and accounting platforms.
5. Salesforce Managed Services Must Have a Strategic Component
A Salesforce implementation touches most of an organization’s core functions across sales, marketing, and clinical departments. As a result, managed service partners need to know not just about the nuts and bolts of how Salesforce works on a technical level, but how that aligns with the goals of each business unit.
6. Salesforce Managed Services Must be Industry-Focused
Working with a Salesforce Managed Services partner that understands your industry is critical to success. In the past couple of years, even Salesforce acknowledged this when they started emphasizing the importance of understanding product knowledge, business goals, and regulations for streamlined implementations. That’s why partners with industry experience can save you time and money. Faster setup and more best practices mean lower costs the short and long term.
7. Salesforce Managed Services Must be Tailored to Your Needs
Managed services are not a one-size-fits-all solution. The best partners offer defined plans that serve different needs, whether optimizing an existing environment, maintaining an existing implementation, or working with an existing internal Salesforce team. Additionally, you should have resourcing options and the support of a project manager, and in some cases a success manager to oversee your ongoing Salesforce roadmap.
Our Final Take
The scope of a Salesforce implementation means that choosing the right partner is crucial not only to specific business processes, but the success of the business as a whole. If you’re considering looking for a partner to help with your org, check out our healthcare-focused Salesforce Managed Services packages.