What is a Salesforce champion, and why do we love them?

You might hear the terms "super user" or "Salesforce champion" when you first start using Salesforce or when your company already uses it and wants to improve its processes.

Salesforce champions are key to making sure a Salesforce project is successful. These end-users promote the system and help get their team members to agree with it and use it. The best part is that you are already using the resources you have.

In this post, we'll look at what a Salesforce champion is, what it takes to be one, and how to harness their power for project success.

What exactly is a Salesforce champion?

The key to a Salesforce project's success is solution adoption by the team(s) it will benefit. Depending on the size of your company and the Salesforce program, the roles within your internal Salesforce project team will vary. A typical implementation team will contain:

• Salesforce Admin : Salesforce admins help maintain users and support systems after the launch.
• Project manager (PM) : A PM will help to manage the project plan, budget and timelines. PMs can also streamline communication between stakeholders and teams.
• Subject matter experts (SME) : A SME provide day-in-the-life knowledge that helps shape the solution and test that the solution is fit for purpose.
• Senior Stakeholders : Stakeholders in senior leadership positions across business and IT provide guidance and set priorities.

A well-defined project team with the right experience can maximise Salesforce ROI.

The Champion's Role

While everyone on the team plays a part in driving adoption, champions are the driving force that excites their teammates while supporting them through the change. As a result, they become the internal expert for their team on a particular Salesforce process, explain the solution's value, and help their teammates with day-to-day process questions.

• Becoming the internal expert for their team on that particular Salesforce process
• Being able to explain clearly the value of the solution
• Supporting their teammates with day-to-day process questions

Smaller, more streamlined projects may require team members to take on multiple roles, which means a champion becomes a member of the project team. However, this is only required on rare occasions. Other champions will relieve the pressure on the project team in cases where the rollout is to a large group.

What does it takes to be a Salesforce Champion?

Champions are easy to spot. They'll be a keen advocate for change within the business. They'll be curious, ask questions in meetings, engage with their teammates, and get excited about fresh ideas. Unlike a subject matter expert, your champion can be familiar with the overall business or be the most experienced team member. The best champions have the right attitude rather than the right knowledge.

How to engage your champions?

Sneak previews

The best way to excite your champions is to give them a first look at the system in the execution phase of the project before the go-live. Playback demos focused on their processes will help prepare them for the change and as a result give an early gauge of any red flags to the project team. The previews should be short and focused. There's no need to resource your champions on all project calls. Just give them an idea of what's to come.

Train them up

The easiest way to enable your champions is to introduce them to trailhead as early as possible. Trailhead is a free tool that champions can use to level up independently. Your Salesforce partner project team can offer advice on which trails are most appropriate.

Identify them

Once your champions are happily confirmed, introduce them to the team. Ensure everyone knows who they can go to for assistance. Detail their role as a Salesforce champion on their Salesforce user page. Adding a banner to their profile picture is a fun way to identify them within the system.

Pay attention to their voices

After the project goes live, utilise your champion's knowledge to gather proactive feedback for future enhancements and optimisations of the system. Setting up a quarterly feedback meeting with your champions to discuss the Salesforce roadmap will keep future planning in touch with your end users' pain points. A Salesforce champion chatter group will keep the conversation stoked.

What are the benefits of having a Salesforce champion?

Adoption

The most crucial benefit of a Salesforce champion is driving user adoption. Having an advocate who is prepared and committed to following the new process from day one will lead the team by example. Teams with solid champions are more likely to experience a smooth transition. Your Salesforce administrator can use Salesforce's free adoption dashboards to monitor adoption across teams and jump in to help the champions if required.

Admin Reduction

By teaching your Salesforce champion how to create reports and dashboards, your team will be able to obtain the information they require on their own. Salesforce champions with additional permissions can also assist in managing folders or creating useful list views. Giving Champions knowledge and permissions will ease your Salesforce administrator's workload and give them more time to work on other projects.

Actionable Insights

When you listen to your Salesforce champions, you'll get feedback from those using the system. Robust and consistent feedback informs quick wins that you can implement to make the team more efficient, but also big ideas that might shape the future of your Salesforce org. Remember to define a process for gathering this feedback in a controlled way that works with your optimisation and release cycles.

Finally, Salesforce champions are critical to the success of a Salesforce project. Project teams can maximise the impact of their Salesforce investment and achieve the best return on investment by engaging and utilising their power. Consider consulting with experts in the field if you need assistance in supporting your champions.

Do you need assistance in assisting your champions? Why not speak with one of our expert teams?

Ignyto delivers Salesforce Sales Cloud for organisations across the UK and Ireland, as a Salesforce Summit partner with 115 certifications.