Is your IT letting you down?

One of the saddest sights we ever see in business is when a great company has invested a lot of money on a new digital solution, with high hopes of a fantastic ROI – and then, several months in, they realise it’s not delivering for them what the sales people told them it would.  This kind of let-down is depressingly common. And if it sounds familiar, read on…

First of all, do not feel you’re alone. According to management consultants McKinsey, some 70% of all digital projects fail. And even in the world of Salesforce, where the technology is powerful, user-friendly and perfectly suited to almost all small and medium-sized businesses, it appears that a similar proportion of organisations struggle to integrate the software, according to research by the Everest Group.

However, the 30% that get it right with Salesforce can quickly find themselves on the road to becoming an ‘intelligent enterprise’, with well-managed data that delivers a clear 360-degree view of their customers and even the ability to use it to spot new revenue streams – which is increasingly important in these challenging times.

There are countless reasons why companies find themselves in the 70%, which can range from not correctly defining the business problem the technology is meant to solve, right through to a failure to manage the changes required to ensure your employees are extracting the best value from their new tools.

But one common trait we frequently find is a lack of the necessary expertise and experience to ensure you get the maximum return from your investment – and this is hardly surprising. Why, for example, should the leaders or employees of a specialist business be well-versed in the finer details of installing, integrating and making the most of Salesforce’s CRM system?

It would be like asking a Formula One driver to tune his car’s engine to give it an edge against his opponents’: he may well have an idea of what should be done – and he’ll definitely know the outcome he’s looking for – but it’s a job that’s best left to the experts.

That’s why many of the businesses that are getting the most out of Salesforce rely on third-parties to help them. With the right partner on board, you can focus on what your company does best, while letting the experts take care of the digital systems you need to deliver that competitive edge.

And if you’ve already embarked on your Salesforce ‘journey’ and are finding it’s not quite panning out as you hoped, do not despair: turning things around can be quick and relatively easy.

If you’d like to get an idea of how we can help you do that, or just want to talk through your challenges, get in touch and we’d be happy to share our knowledge.