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What to Expect From an Ecommerce Salesforce Consulting Partner

Filed Under: Ecommerce

Consider these five principles for success in ecommerce with a trusted Salesforce Consulting Partner.

You have advanced your brand to the world’s #1 CRM for retail, Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC). Now is the time to choose a Salesforce Consulting Partner with a Managed Services team to align your platform’s capabilities with your business goals. This can be difficult, as not all Managed Services teams are created equal. It takes experienced experts with solid collaboration to guide your business forward in a Salesforce Consulting Partnership.

PRINCIPLE #1

Fluid and Flexible Work Processes

Outstanding customer service stems from a portfolio of expertise. Choose a Salesforce Consulting Partner that has a multi-faceted Managed Services team model to put clients first, including dedicated client success managers, case managers, project managers, technical leads, and subject matter experts in digital marketing and user experience. This team should work in synergy to accomplish the following:

  • Establish ecommerce goals.
  • Offer strategic guidance to drive maximum site performance.
  • Cooperatively develop a site strategy and a prioritized work plan.
  • Continuously work to improve conversion rates.
  • Ensure ecommerce experiences remain best-in-class.

PRINCIPLE #2

Dedicated Managed Services Team

More than support, a solid Managed Services team will provide proactive and strategic guidance through meaningful team collaboration. They should be an extension of your in-house talent and offer industry insight expertise to navigate and build on SFCC cloud-based applications with your business goals in mind.

Find a Salesforce Consulting Partner that offers a dedicated team with 360-degree coverage of the following:

  • Account planning & strategy to maximize the value of SFCC.
  • Technical issue management, new releases, and resource planning.
  • Technical leadership for quality product management and architecture harmony with strategic objectives.
  • UX Developers to structure the user experience so that customers find what they need, when they need it.
  • Digital Marketing experts to strategize a conversion and engagement strategy.
  • Project management to deliver implementations that bring the big picture ideas to life, on time and on budget.

PRINCIPLE #3

Commerce Cloud Certified

Salesforce Consulting Partners often try to deliver technical expertise on many platforms. Finding a partner that is solely focused on Salesforce Commerce Cloud can offer many advantages:

  • Concentration on one platform can make your support budget go further with more precise expertise in planning, programming, and execution.
  • Commerce Cloud certified experts have the knowledge for what and how custom applications can be implemented, on time, and on budget.

PRINCIPLE #4

Clear Communications

A Salesforce Consulting Partner should have full transparency. You should expect frequent meetings and reporting from their Managed Services team, with clear roadmaps of current work, future work, and results from past work. Some partners have online customer portals that give clients a real-time view of active projects and their progress. A good partner will always keep you in the loop on what is happening with your business.

PRINCIPLE #5

Rapid Issue Resolution

Time is money in ecommerce. If your site is down, or not operating at peak performance, it can affect your bottom line. It is vital to have a Managed Services team who is available to address and resolve issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Having this flexibility and dedication can separate the good Managed Services teams from the great.

BONUS

One More Important Thing

Expect Solid References. Every company operates differently. Be sure you start a relationship with a Salesforce Consulting Partner that has customers willing to speak well on their behalf. Ask lots of questions and be sure that they are a fit for your business.

Some example questions:

  • What made you choose the SFCC platform?
  • Does your SFCC Consulting Partner have a dedicated Managed Services team?
  • Do they understand your long-term business goals and short-term technical needs?
  • Do they use a proven release process?
  • Is your site being monitored to ensure platform performance optimization?
  • Do they offer recommendations for user interface elements that successfully elevated your conversion optimization?
  • Were your projects delivered on-time and on-budget?
  • What is the protocol for issue management and questions?
  • In case of an emergency, does your SFCC partner have 24/7 phone, email, and web customer support?
  • Do they have merchandising and digital marketing teams focused around SFCC?
  • Download these questions below ↓↓↓

Print-Friendly List of Reference Questions

Download our recommended reference questions for when you are looking for your Salesforce Consulting Partner.