Welcome to a fresh perspective on the revolutionary journey of digital transformation. A journey Salesforce has been part of for years to amplify customer experiences. We all know that the recent pandemic triggered numerous organizations to embark the digital transformation journey, as the shift to remote work and widespread customer touchpoints became the norm. However, often gets overlooked in this narrative is the human factor – the actual agent effecting this change.

The technology by itself won’t magically resolve issues or drive transformations; it’s the human factor behind technology that truly makes a difference. One of the most vital among them are Salesforce Administrators who bridge the gap between technology and functionality. They possess a thorough understanding of business operations and are adept at employing Salesforce to architect solutions which deliver superior experiences.  Salesforce Admins are indeed the key catalysts powering this digital transformation, taking technology beyond performance to true transformation, ensuring all business units get the most out of their Salesforce investment.

In this blog post, we’ll investigate various ways a Salesforce Admin can impact an organization, supported by use cases for each strategy.

THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION

Meeting Alice, the Salesforce Admin

Meet Alice, a successful Salesforce Admin. She’s known for her excellent communication skills. She understands that listening is the first step towards effective communication. Alice listens to her organization’s leadership, understanding their objectives and priorities. She also attentively listens to users, understanding their workflows, preferences, and pain points.

Her organization has a clearly defined mission statement, which Alice has mastered. But she goes a step further, engaging with leadership to gain deeper insights into their goals. This dialogue helps her design solutions that create the most impact.

LEVERAGING SABWA (SALESFORCE ADMINISTRATION BY WALKING AROUND

Alice’s Walkabouts

Alice uses a technique known as SABWA – Salesforce Administration By Walking Around, a concept introduced by Mike Gerholdt, the original ButtonClick Admin. She regularly strolls around her workplace, observing users as they interact with technology in their day-to-day roles.

During one of her walkabouts, she learns about certain frustrations her users’ experience. Taking note of these issues, Alice realizes she can streamline these processes using Salesforce solutions.

THE POWER OF PITCHING

Alice’s Salesforce Vision

After identifying potential solutions, Alice then sets out to pitch her ideas to the organization. She doesn’t view this as a daunting task. Instead, she sees it as an opportunity to sell her vision and secure buy-in from her peers and superiors.

Alice carefully crafts her story, aligning it with the organizational goals and the user needs she has identified through her listening and SABWA sessions. Her pitch is met with great enthusiasm. She receives the necessary support to implement her vision, a testament to her excellent communication skills.

DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING

Alice’s Dashboards

To track organizational goals, Alice starts building custom reports and dashboards on key performance indicators (KPIs) that deliver real-time insights. Once she identifies the KPIs that align with the company’s goals, she uses Salesforce to create insightful reports.

From a sales target report for the leadership team to a case response time report for the customer service team, Alice builds a range of reports that help each department track their performance. She takes this a step further by creating a comprehensive dashboard of these KPIs, accessible on their homepage and Salesforce mobile, showcasing real-time sales data, trends, and forecasts.

The result? An immediate impact. This allowed the sales team and leadership to make informed decisions, boosting the efficiency of the sales process, and leading to increased revenue. The organization’s leadership can now easily visualize their performance and progress towards their goals.

PUSHING THE SALESFORCE PLATFORM

Alice’s Creative Solutions

Alice is not afraid to push boundaries and explore all corners of the Salesforce platform. She uses her creativity to combine different Salesforce features to solve complex problems.

For instance, she replaces an entire call center with an efficient solution combining Experience Cloud, Scheduler, and Flow. In another instance, she uses Service Cloud, Flow, and Experience Cloud to replace a suite of old legacy apps. With these innovative solutions, Alice makes an enormous impact, not just in one business unit, but across the entire organization.

FACILITATING SEAMLESS INTEGRATIONS

Most organizations use a plethora of applications beyond Salesforce, such as email marketing software, ERP systems, or customer service platforms. A Salesforce Admin can ensure these applications are seamlessly integrated with Salesforce to provide a unified view of the customer across different platforms, leading to better customer understanding and enhanced personalized marketing.
But how Alice is going to do it for her Salesforce instance, that we will explore in our next blog.

For now,

The key takeaway from Alice’s journey is: Salesforce Administrators hold immense potential to create a substantial impact in any organization. They are the backbone of Salesforce implementation in an organization and plays a diverse and dynamic role in driving business value. Their role is not just limited to technical aspects but extends to strategic communication, user engagement, and business transformation. By investing time in developing their Salesforce knowledge and strengthening their skills, Salesforce Administrators like Alice can help any organization get the most out of their Salesforce investment as they continue to leverage the ever-evolving Salesforce features and capabilities, redefining digital transformation along the way.