A colleague of mine was discussing an issue he has with a new Salesforce client.
During meetings, the client doesn’t respond to most questions. They don’t seem to want to understand business requirements, agile, sprints, sign offs, etc. In fact, they show very little interest in the project at all.
When pressed why this is, my colleague explained that the client hired an external consultant to help them grow. The consultant told them the only way forward and upward is to purchase and migrate to Salesforce.
Obviously someone very high up hired this consultant and trusts their advice. But literally everyone else doesn’t care one bit. They are happy with their current systems and processes, and don’t see an advantage with Salesforce.
This doesn’t sound like the project will have a very happy ending. Even if my colleague’s agency builds the most amazing Salesforce environment ever, the client won’t care. And I am willing to bet adoption will be extremely low.
When the consultant was confronted with this opinion, they said, “Don’t worry. I’ll ram it down their throats!”. Not a very inspiring message, indeed.
In this situation, what’s the best approach for success?
The takeaway
Before starting a Salesforce project, be sure your client actually wants your services. Buy-in from all major stakeholders is an underappreciated but vital element of a successful delivery.
Another good strategy is to build excitement. The anticipation of something positive can be a strong motivator.