If your organization hasn’t yet made the switch to Salesforce, there’s a good chance you’ve at least considered it. I get a lot of inquiries from nonprofits and small businesses, especially, that are wondering if it’s worth making the transition to Salesforce, how much work it involves to set up, and what I suggest as best practices. I’d like to share some of my recommendations for anyone who is considering implementing Salesforce (or any CRM, for that matter):
Which CRM Should I Choose? Your CRM is your business’s core. It stores everything you need to ensure that your customers, donors, partners, vendors, staff, and key stakeholders are happy. Choosing the right CRM is very important because your ability to run your business is tied to your CRM’s ability to store and process your data in a usable way. A few things to consider when choosing your new CRM:
1. Are you a nonprofit? Salesforce offers its Nonprofit Success Pack for very low rates, or sometimes for free.
2. How many users do you have? If you have 5 users or less, you can purchase the Salesforce Essentials Package for $25/user/month.
3. How many different business processes do you have? Does your organization provide services or manage a ticketing system? Do you have a sales division? Do you work with grants and donors? Do you need to track program participants and outcomes? Do you run mass email marketing campaigns? Do you have a lot of unique processes and assets? The Salesforce Enterprise platform provides a foundation of functionality and you can purchase additional packages to enhance that. It all depends on what your business needs and simpler is cheaper.
I personally believe that Salesforce is the best CRM available today, and I’m happy to see that they’ve finally created a product with a price point that works for small businesses. Whichever CRM you choose, you should always prepare yourself for the transition by determining and documenting your company’s security policy, business processes, data structure, and priorities. Read on to learn more of my tips and tricks for preparing to transition to a new CRM…
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