In an ideal world a Salesforce admin would walk into a new dream job and create a Salesforce implementation from scratch. But we don’t live in that ideal world we live in the real world. It’s still the dream job, but perhaps not the dream system. What’s an admin to do? Here’s some tips for how to start your assessment and go on to be an awesome admin for your inherited Salesforce System.
Tip # 1: Status Check.
Before you start to make any changes take a look at where things stand. This will involve conversations with users, managers and executives. Here’s a few ideas of what you’ll need to do and find out:
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What was the original vision for implementing a CRM and what for what business functions was it primarily designed?
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Is there any documentation from the initial implementation?
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Is the system meeting current needs?
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Who is using the system well – who are your power users and who is a reluctant adopter?
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Have users, managers and executives walk you through the modules they use and let you know what they like, what they love, what they never use, what they wish was better and what they absolutely despise.
You’re new! This is your big chance to find out what everyone thinks of the system, how they use it, how they planned to use it, and how they hope to use it in the future. Take great notes, ask a lot of questions. Let them know you care about making this work well, and making their jobs run smoother.
Tip # 2: Technical Status Check
We’re not going to state the obvious here about finding out which edition of Salesforce you own, and how many licenses you have. One of the first things you’ll want to do is look at the system overview to get an “at a glance view” of data usage, licenses, and customizations. Other things you’ll want to check out include:
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What customizations have been made and are they helpful or hindering?
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What standard objects and processes are being used?
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What apps have been installed and are they being used efficiently (or at all)
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Security check! Does every user have the appropriate rights for their needs?
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Map all of the current processes by role and confirm that you have them mapped correctly with stakeholders and end users.
Once you finish your status checks you’ll want to document your findings, go back and ask follow up questions and confirm that you are on the same page as the org.
Now you’re ready to move forward and make the necessary changes for your organization to be the best it can be.
Your organization may be in great shape and need only minor tweaks, or you may be preparing for an overhaul of an obsolete structure. In either case there will be some low hanging fruit you can address right away to make the rest of your process more manageable. Here’s five easy ones you can take care of quickly.
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Confirm your active user list and deactivate accounts that are no longer in use.
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Correct admin rights for all users. Make sure everyone has the rights they need but no more access than necessary for their role.
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Set up a change request process that puts you in the primary role.
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Uninstall Apps that are not in use.
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Address low adoption issues with targeted training.
Need more help and hints? Invest your time in this Salesforce webinar. https://www.salesforce.org/past-webinars/getting-started-inherited-salesforce-org-webinar/
If you’re a relatively new Admin and this is your first time taking over an inherited system this is an excellent overview.
Still need help? Cloud Next Level is here for you. We can help your organization walk through the evaluation steps and help improve your system to make your workplace the most efficient it can be. Get in touch with us to set up an introductory conversation. We’re here to take your admin skills to the next level! info@CloudNextLevel.com
