With Salesforce overtaking SAP as the world’s most powerful enterprise customer relationship management (CRM) platform, there has never been a more competitive marketplace for hiring Salesforce talent. With the platform underpinning your sales, operations, marketing and customer connection, the right expertise is crucial to ensure you’re getting the most out of your investment.

Whilst organisations have traditionally been reluctant to outsource core functionality, outsourcing your Salesforce team brings many benefits. When you factor in recruitment and retention costs, outsourcing is often cheaper, reduces staff turnover and frees you from technical team management.

However, despite the advantages outsourcing Salesforce development and administration can bring, it is imperative that for a platform so crucial, you choose the right outsourcing partner for your organisation.

Regardless of whether you choose an onshore, offshore, or hybrid partner; we would recommend considering the below criteria when making your selection:

Make sure they possess the expertise you need.

Not everyone who says they are an expert is, and the Salesforce community is no different. It is essential to look past the marketing spin and look for partners that possess the following attributes:

  • Have they demonstrated work on a similar project before?
    If the partner does not have referenceable examples of work they’ve performed, this should be a red flag in your search.
  • Is the organisation a Salesforce partner?
    If they are a partner, they will certainly advertise the fact, which should give some surety since it means Salesforce works with them and is comfortable with their team and outputs. If you need to check for yourself, a simple search on the Salesforce App Exchange will show if they are listed.
  • How many Salesforce certifications do they have?
    When looking for Salesforce consultancies on the Salesforce App Exchange, clicking on any organisation’s record will show you how many certified professionals they have and a breakdown of each certification type.

Asking questions like those above takes away the marketing spin and allows you to be sure that your partner has the skills, experience, and certifications to implement best-practice solutions to take your business to the next level.

Ensure they understand your industry or have the capacity to learn

Proven Salesforce expertise is good, but proven Salesforce expertise in your Industry is even better. One of the best things about Salesforce’s scale and reach is the size of the supporting community. There is a diverse range of consultancies out there, both onshore and offshore, so finding one that understands the pain points of your industry will result in faster deployments and fewer surprises.

If a consultancy does not have relevant industry expertise, it is not necessarily a deal-breaker, but you will need to factor in higher costs at the start of the project to account for the learning curve they face.

Ensure they are a cultural fit

Given the importance of Salesforce within your organisation, it’s likely that your partnership will be a long one. For this reason, their vision, values and culture must align with yours. It is also essential to ensure that they can align with your processes and ways of working.

This is especially important with offshore teams, given cultural and time zone differences. If they aren’t working your hours or communicating the way your staff do, then minor issues and fixes will take more time, resulting in projects taking longer, growing staff resentment and costly reworks.

Take the time to read reviews of the organisation, look at their Service Level Agreements and make sure that their engagement and support mechanisms align with what you envisage.

Ensure they have the right set of skills

Even with the proper certifications, industry experience and culture, it is vital to ask the right questions to ensure they have the specific Salesforce and Project Delivery skills to meet your needs. Some key things to look for include:

  • Project delivery methodologies
  • Data management capabilities
  • Data cleansing and ETL skills
  • Best practices when customising Salesforce
  • Integration know-how with leading platforms
  • Automation experience
  • Quality assurance experience
  • Project reporting and incident management

These skills are born through project experience and are crucial to ensuring high quality in Salesforce operations. Whilst the skills might change slightly in priority to address your specific needs, they will all be required in some form and should form part of your discussions.

Their support and accessibility

The support levels provided by your provider need to match the demands of your business. For example, If you require a project delivered in a few months that involves a lot of work, then a Salesforce partner with only a few qualified consultants will not meet your needs.
In the same vein, if your selected partner is offshore, but their time zone doesn’t align with yours, and they do not provide after-hours support, the relationship will be frustrating.

Conclusion

Outsourcing your Salesforce work, whether as part of a transformation project or your daily administration, can ensure that you are utilising the platform to its fullest. Finding the right Salesforce team to cater to your specific needs is crucial to reap the benefits. If you are looking for a Salesforce partner that can provide onshore and offshore support to help you go further, get in contact with us, and we can give you obligation-free advice to ensure your needs are met.