Evaluating a Salesforce Ecosystem: An Independent Verification and Market Analysis
An international religious organization had been using Salesforce as its primary customer relationship management (CRM) platform for over a decade. However, the organization was not sure if Salesforce was still the best option for its current and future needs, especially as it faced increasing challenges with data quality, user adoption, and system integration. The organization wanted to evaluate the viability of Salesforce as a continued solution and explore potential alternatives that could better support its mission and vision.
The Challenge: Assessing the Current State and Future Potential of Salesforce
The organization had invested heavily in Salesforce, but it was not clear if the way that the platform was configured and utilized could meet the needs of an expanding group of internal stakeholders. The organization also had multiple legacy systems and databases that were not integrated with Salesforce, resulting in data silos and the potential for duplication. These issues hampered the organization’s ability to effectively manage its relationships with constituents and understand the diverse ways those constituents chose to engage.
The organization needed a trusted, and independent, partner who could help them assess their current CRM ecosystem, identify potential improvements, and compare Salesforce to other CRM platforms in the market. The organization also wanted to ensure that the staff were engaged and consulted throughout the process, and that any CRM decision was based on evidence and best practices.
The Solution: An Independent Verification and Market Analysis
In addition to identifying areas for improvement, the organization needed to know: Was Salesforce the right solution for them? They trusted Build Consulting because of not only our deep experience, but our passionate independence.
Build partnered with the organization to conduct a comprehensive, and independent market analysis. and request for information (RFI) process. The RFI process involved researching the CRM market, shortlisting potential vendors, developing and scoring RFI responses, and facilitating vendor demonstrations and reference checks. The evaluation and RFI process ran in parallel and informed each other, ensuring that the organization had a holistic and objective view of the CRM landscape and its options.
The Outcome: Choosing Salesforce as the Enterprise-Wide CRM Solution
Based on the results of the CRM evaluation and RFI process, the organization decided to stay with Salesforce and to migrate all of its constituent data into the platform, so that it could serve as the enterprise-wide CRM solution.
RFI process identified systems integrator who was a cultural fit for the organization, who had a proven track record of success, and understood the value of change management throughout the CRM implementation. Build facilitated the contract negotiation and transition between the organization and the systems integrator, ensuring a smooth handover and alignment of expectations. Build also provided ongoing strategic guidance and oversight to the organization as it embarked on its CRM transformation journey.
The Impact: Enhancing CRM Effectiveness and Efficiency
By choosing Salesforce as its enterprise-wide CRM solution, the organization was able to enhance its CRM effectiveness and efficiency. The organization was able to consolidate and integrate its data sources, resulting in a single source of truth and a 360-degree view of its constituents. The organization was also able to streamline and standardize its processes, resulting in improved data quality and user adoption.
