5 Data Fundamentals to Think About Before Your Salesforce Transformation

A Salesforce transformation can drive growth, enhance customer engagement and streamline your sales and customer service processes.  

It often presents a fantastic opportunity to fix inefficiencies in sales processes, harmonise and standardise processes across geographies or business units, derive enhanced insights and analytics, or even just simplify your technology stack. 

Aside from these opportunities, one of the biggest returns on investment is the chance to implement a robust and strategic approach to managing your operational business data. Therefore to get the most out of your Salesforce transformation, you must first understand and address the five underlying data fundamentals… 

1. Understanding the data

Before you start your Salesforce transformation, it is essential to thoroughly understand the data you use and where it is. This means looking at all your existing datasets to uncover trends, anomalies and opportunities for improvement. Comprehensive data profiling can reveal hidden insights that inform your overall CRM data strategy, helping you tailor your Salesforce processes to enhance or validate data to meet your specific business needs. You will be astounded how much sales data is NOT currently stored in your legacy CRM. 

2. Data ownership

Data ownership defines who is responsible for data accuracy, security and overall management. In the midst of a Salesforce transformation, clarifying data ownership is critical to ensuring accountability. When roles and responsibilities concerning data are clearly established, you have a framework for improving quality, which drives user adoption but also making the critical decisions about what data is important and what is not. ‘All or nothing?’ is a weak question in this context. 

Establishing clear data ownership also facilitates better decision-making and streamlines workflows, as employees know whom to approach for data-related queries. This clarity is a vital component of a robust CRM data strategy, supporting the seamless integration of Salesforce into your operations.  

3. Master data management

Master data management (MDM) is key to an effective CRM data strategy. MDM involves establishing a single, reliable source of truth for all your critical business data and ensuring it is defined consistently across the whole business — whether it is customer information, product details or supplier records. By centralising this information, you can eliminate data silos and reduce the risk of inconsistencies between different technology platforms.  

Implementing MDM can streamline operations; this approach is vital if you want to use Salesforce to drive operational excellence and better customer experiences.  

4. Data quality

Data quality is arguably the most critical aspect of any Salesforce transformation. High-quality data should underpin every decision made within your business as it directly impacts customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Rigorous data cleansing exercises to remove duplicates, correct inaccuracies and address completeness and validity will have an enormous impact on getting the most out of your Salesforce investment. 

A proactive focus on data quality ensures the insights drawn from your Salesforce instance are both actionable and trustworthy. It forms a solid foundation for your CRM data strategy, enabling more precise reporting and improved customer segmentation.  This will also lay the foundations for your business to derive maximum value from Agentforce and the rapid application of AI tools available for your Salesforce platform.  

5. Mapping your data with your own business expertise

Your existing data, if migrated properly, will be the fuel for your Salesforce transformation — but only if it is properly mapped to your new system. Subject matter experts (SMEs) and process owners from your own business are critical for this phase. These individuals need to buy into the vision for the platform whilst understanding the intricacies of your sales, marketing, service, pricing, quoting, billing and compliance processes.  

These SMEs will play a pivotal role in identifying essential data decisions, ensuring unnecessary workarounds are avoided and building the standardisation that are essential to the success of your implementation. Moreover, they act as advocates for the new processes, helping the wider organisation embrace change, understand data decisions and ensure a smooth transition. 

Get your data fundamentals right

A Salesforce transformation is a complex but rewarding process that can redefine how your organisation operates. However, the journey is only as strong as the foundation on which it is built.  

Focusing on these five data fundamentals — understanding the data, data ownership, master data management, data quality and data mapping — is crucial for ensuring a seamless transition and delighting users on day one. When these elements are properly addressed and combined, your data strategy becomes more robust, enabling you to unlock the true potential of your Salesforce platform.   

At Technicus, we understand the critical importance of getting your data right. Our comprehensive data health check, data migration and data management services are designed to support you every step of the way. By partnering with us, you can ensure your Salesforce transformation is successful and primed for sustained operational excellence and growth. 

Contact Technicus today at info@technicus.co.uk to find out how we can support your Salesforce transformation.