4. The quality of your data matters. Period.

To avoid a “garbage-in-garbage-out” scenario, you will need eternal vigilance. But first you’ll need to build in the smarts: required fields, selectable drop-downs rather than free-form data entry, minimalist, but smartly designed workflows, and so on. These requirements will help prevent bad data or incomplete data and you won’t have to worry about data clean-up downstream.

5. Don’t overdo customization. You will pay for it many times over.

This is advice that you might have already learned the hard way. It is very easy to add, difficult to subtract and easy to get carried away modifying Salesforce. Many times what starts as an optimistic desire for completeness of data with ideal workflows ends up being complex, unused or misused. I’ve seen too many forms with way too many fields. It’s a lot to ask of a prospect to add his or her Twitter profile if even making the address field mandatory scares a customer away. I can also assure you that if your system is complex enough, and enough years elapse, “back-to-basics tech refresh” and “complete overhaul” will be in your future. Your best defense against over customization is an adherence to Salesforce best practices, mentioned earlier. If others can be profitable without hitting the limits for custom code, so can you. But going beyond lip service to best practices is by no means an easy sell. Your business processes will likely need to be simplified, probably as a mandate.

6. You need governance. Stop accommodating those who yell loudest.

Demand will always exceed your ability to meet it. There will be a huge range: from wanting a few fields added to a form, to wanting electronic data interchange (EDI) integration with suppliers. You will have configure, price quote (CPQ) demands that will make your product quoting needs feel as complex as building a Boeing 777. True governance will ensure the right prioritization for your limited resources. You want what is best for your company as a whole, not to waste resources to meet the goals of one person or group.

7. You are locked in. Stop crying about it.

If your Salesforce project is even half-successful, chances are it is a long-term commitment. You can negotiate all kinds of clauses to get your data out, but there is a difference between the house you lived in versus receiving a few truckloads of brick and mortar. Salesforce, and any complex Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, needs clear long term planning and understanding of risks, pros and cons. However, turning back will be painful; going forward might also be painful, especially when it is time to renegotiate contracts. Once you commit, you’re all in.

Salesforce adoption can be complex, but following the above advice will help you get through it. When in doubt, follow my Salesforce motto: Simplify!