Salesforce is a powerful tool that can revolutionize the way your organization operates, streamlining processes, enhancing customer engagement, and driving revenue growth. However, achieving these benefits hinges on a successful implementation. Whether you're considering Salesforce for the first time, in the early stages of your implementation journey, or deep into an org overhaul, this guide is designed to help you understand the key stages and avoid common pitfalls.
TL;DR: What You’ll Learn in This Guide
This comprehensive guide walks you through the six critical stages of a successful Salesforce implementation:
Discovery
Design
Build
Test
Launch
Adoption
It highlights key activities, common pitfalls, and best practices for each stage, ensuring your organization avoids costly mistakes and achieves long-term success. You'll understand how to tailor Salesforce to your unique business needs, navigate change management, and maximize your investment. Whether you're starting from scratch or updating an existing org, use this guide as your roadmap to Salesforce success.
The Six Stages of a Salesforce Implementation
1. Discovery
The discovery phase sets the foundation for a successful Salesforce implementation. During this stage, the focus is on understanding your organization's needs, goals, and current processes. Much of this discussion can and should be Salesforce agnostic. The key is to not yet try to think through a Salesforce lens, that's what the solution architect is for. At this stage your implementation partner should be getting "down in the weeds" of your goals and processes and working with you to document them.
Key Activities:
Conducting stakeholder interviews to gather insights, pain points, requirements, desired future-state, etc.
Identifying visibility and security access by user, team, process, etc.
Creating gap analysis where appropriate
Defining project scope, timelines, and success criteria
Best Practices: Whether it's a net new implementation or subtle changes to a workflow, every project should begin with a targeted discovery process. For existing orgs making subtle changes this doesn't have to be hours of conversation and can often be an initial one hour discussion for updates.
When it comes to new implementations with Praxis, we prioritize understanding not just what your team needs today but also where your business is heading, ensuring that your Salesforce solution scales with your growth.
Common Pitfalls:
Overlooking input from end-users - those who will end up using the system daily
Failing to define clear objectives and measurable outcomes
Underestimating the complexity of existing processes
Failing to disclose all aspects of a process or workflow thinking it’s too trivial
2. Design
With a solid understanding of your needs, the design phase focuses on creating a blueprint for your Salesforce solution by your solution architect (unsure if you should engage with a solution architect? check out this article). The solution architect will consider the big picture as they dive into individual requirements to ensure that solutions play well together, and that they can scale with your business.
Key Activities:
Mapping business processes to Salesforce capabilities
Designing customizations, integrations, and workflows
Creating a data migration and management plan
Wireframes created for effective User Experience
Project milestones, timeline and budget clearly defined
Best Practices: Implementation partners should abide by a range of architectural best practices. For the purposes of this article the details aren't important because you are trusting them to implement these on your behalf. However, the architect should be transparent with you about why they are building things the way they are, and explain any tradeoffs or decisions related to specific technologies.
For example, Salesforce provides many native tools that do not require coding knowledge to implement, maintain, and update (aka declarative development). While some solutions require code, if you notice your partner's design includes a lot of code-based solutions - you should not be shy asking to understand the reasons for this choice. The technical skill required to implement, maintain, and update coded solutions (aka programmatic development) could be more costly to you, or simply require more experience resource than you have access to in-house.
Common Pitfalls:
Designing without input from end-users, leading to low adoption
Overcomplicating the system with unnecessary features
Ignoring data quality and governance considerations
Not defining a minimal viable product (MVP)
Not using native Salesforce automation tools in favor of code (unless warranted)
Lack of understanding of Salesforce limitations, scalability, and performance considerations
3. Build
The build phase brings your Salesforce blueprint to life.
Key Activities:
Configuring Salesforce according to the design
Developing custom applications, integrations, and automations
Migrating data into a Sandbox Salesforce environment
Iterate customer feedback into feature refinements
Best Practices: You are investing a lot of money, your solution architect should take a collaborative approach to the build process, keeping you involved through iterative feedback loops. This ensures that the final system aligns perfectly with your expectations. As features are complete, you should receive demos and have a chance to get "hands on." This should give you the chance to provide feedback early, which can be incorporated in feature refinements.
Additionally, all building should be done in a sandbox. You don't want test invoices going out to real clients as new automation is adjusted (trust us).
Common Pitfalls:
Skipping iterative testing during the build phase
Underestimating the complexity of integrations
Not importing real-world data into the sandbox for realistic testing
Building in a production environment
Not being actively engaged as the client in demos
4. Test (End-to-end User-Acceptance Testing)
Testing ensures your Salesforce solution works as intended and meets your business requirements. Testing at this phase should be comprehensive and ensure all functionality matches user expectations and requirements. Nothing is left to chance, every feature is vetted by end users (not just Subject Matter Experts or managers).
Key Activities:
Conducting scripted user acceptance testing (UAT)
Identifying and resolving bugs or issues
Validating data integrity and system performance
Best Practices: Tests should be written by both the solution architect and you, the customer. If you have a business process that does X, Y, and Z and then Z triggers A, B, and C to happen, then you need to document what your expected results are (hint: that's a minimum of seven tests: X, Y, Z, Z trigger, A, B, C). Your implementation partner should have been testing their work and you should feel comfortable requesting their testing logs.
You can use a format similar to what's below to get you started writing test:
Test Story | Test Criteria | Expected Result | Status | Failed Comments | Date Tested | Tested By |
Editing opportunity line items | from an open opportunity select a line item to update change the sales price on the line item save | When an opportunity's line item's sales price changes, the total value of the opportunity should reflect the adjusted value (line item's quantity x price) | PASS | N/A | 12/31/24 | Bart Simpson |
Editing opportunity line items | from an open opportunity select a line item to update change the quantity on the line item save | When an opportunity's line item's quantity changes, the total value of the opportunity should reflect the adjusted value (line item's quantity x price) | FAIL | I was unable to adjust the quantity. Given error I did not have correct permissions | 1/3/25 | Bruce Wayne |
Common Pitfalls:
Rushing the testing phase to meet tight deadlines
Not involving end-users in UAT
Overlooking edge cases and system integrations
5. Launch
The launch phase is where your Salesforce system goes live, and your team begins using it in real-world scenarios.
Key Activities:
Executing the launch plan and ensuring a smooth go-live
Migrating final data into your Production Salesforce environment
Providing real-time support to address initial issues
Monitoring system performance post-launch
Best Practices: You want to ensure that part of the support your solution architect provides is go-live and post go-live support. Depending on the size of the implementation it can also help to align schedules and block off large sections of the calendar when you start flipping the switch so that you and your implementation partner have time allotted to support issues as they arise and can be responsive in the moment in case anything needs immediate updates.
Common Pitfalls:
Launching without adequate user training
Failing to communicate the launch plan to all stakeholders
Migrating poor-quality data without proper cleansing
Underestimating the need for immediate post-launch support
6. Adoption
The adoption phase ensures that your investment in Salesforce delivers long-term value through consistent use and continuous improvement. You're now out of spreadsheets and living in Salesforce!
Key Activities:
Providing training and resources to end-users
Gathering feedback for ongoing enhancements
Monitoring usage metrics and adoption rates
Best Practices: Setting up trainings and post go-live internal support should have been planned and scheduled before this point. Ideally, you and/or your implementation partner helped create a plan for supporting end users once the design came to life. It's also suggested there is some way for users to provide feedback for things that aren't quite right, need immediate updating, future enhancements, or just general "how-to."
This is also where your solution architect can help you put in place governance related to data integrity. You'll want to bring this up earlier (see pitfalls of design stage above) because this can have a life of its own and requires ongoing review.
Common Pitfalls:
Neglecting ongoing training and support
Ignoring user feedback
Letting the system become outdated due to a lack of governance
How Praxis Ensures Success at Each Stage
Customized Solutions: Every organization is unique, and so is every Salesforce implementation. Praxis tailors its approach to meet your specific needs, ensuring a solution that fits your business like a glove.
Collaborative Partnership: We view our clients as partners. The entire implementation process is collaborative and transparent. We design and build implementations with the mindset of what would we do if this was our company?
Focus on Long-Term Value: Beyond the initial implementation, Praxis offers managed services, admin training and coaching, and system audits to help you maximize your Salesforce investment.
Key Pitfalls to Avoid During Implementation
Each stage in a Salesforce implementation has its own areas to be on the lookout for. However, there are a few items that, at a high level, can derail an implementation no matter what stage it's in. Watch out for these before and during your implementation.
Underestimating Change Management: Implementing Salesforce isn’t just a technical project; it’s a cultural shift. Engage your team early and often to ensure buy-in.
Failing to Plan for the Future: A solution designed only for your current needs will quickly become obsolete. Think ahead and design for performance, growth, and scalability.
Neglecting Data Quality: Poor data in means poor results. Invest time in cleansing and standardizing your data before migration.
Relying only on Out-of-the-Box Functionality: While Salesforce’s out-of-the-box features are robust, customization can unlock its full potential for your organization.
Skipping Training: Even the best-designed system will fail without proper training. Equip your team with the knowledge and resources they need to succeed.
Final Thoughts
A successful Salesforce implementation is a journey, not a destination. By following the structured stages of discovery, design, build, test, launch, and adoption, you can set your organization up for success. Partnering with an experienced implementation firm like Praxis Solutions ensures that you not only avoid common pitfalls but also unlock the full potential of Salesforce for your business.
Ready to start planning the future state of your business with Salesforce? Click the button below.
Comments