Quick-Start Packages for Salesforce Implementations

What if there was a “one size fits all” approach to Salesforce Implementations? Would it be possible? Well, you’re not the first one to think about that. Several organizations have offered, or continue to offer, quick start packages within their organizations. They come from all different shapes and sizes, but the general concept is to offer customers a “pre-packaged” approach to a Salesforce implementation.

Let’s take a minute to discuss what is a quick-start, what are the pros and cons of it, and what you should consider if you want to offer quick start packages in your Salesforce practice.

In this video, we go over Quick-Start Packages. So, stay tuned if you want to learn:

• What is this?
• Should I implement them?
• Why should I sell them?

What is Quick-Start?

A Quick-Start is typically a one-size-fits-all Salesforce implementation package. In a world of customizing platforms to a customer’s unique needs, a quick start comes through as the exact opposite: a canned approach in exchange for a pre-packaged, lower price. As a freelancer, you can offer a package to a client and say: here’s all you get. It might include things like 2 process builders, 3 validation rules, plus this and that.

This has its pros and cons.

The pros of a Salesforce Quick Start

On one side, a Quick-start offers the chance to provide a nice price, especially if you’re starting. And it’s also easy to communicate the product to the client. As long as nothing is too customizable, and as long as the client says yes to the Quick-Start package, you would go straight down to configuration, end-user training, and show the client how to use the shiny Salesforce package they just purchased. More importantly, the ease of communication and often low pricing leads to its most important benefit: a foot in the door. Once you know how their Salesforce is set up and have a basic understanding of how their company operates, you are in a prime position to be able to network for more work in the future.

After a few Quick-Starts, you’ll find companies that are committed (even if budget-conscious) to have an ongoing investment on their technology platform. So after that Quick-Start, you’re going to talk about the next steps. As a Freelancer, you want to take this project to Phase 2 so that your client can get the juice out of their Salesforce investment.

Should I implement Quick-Starts into my offerings?

People love having options, and that’s what Quick-Starts offers. Many organizations have Quick-Starts per cloud, or sometimes multiple levels of Quick-Starts (basic, standard, and “deluxe”). Especially if you’re new in the business, this will give you a nice box to sell to your client, and you don’t need to go crazy or lose control over a new project.

“But if quick-starts are this amazing, why doesn’t everyone do it?”, you may be asking.

And that’s a great question! Because Quick Starts are a dangerous proposition if expectations are not properly set. Understand that your customer is not the expert, and they don’t know much about Salesforce (it’s why they are coming to you in the first place). Why is this? Well, because not every implementation is the same. It very rarely happens that two jobs have the same list of requirements, so it’s hard to sit back and say, “this package will cover everything.” So flashing a brochure with bullet points on what’s included may sound normal to you, but a lot of it may not be understood by the customer. In many cases, customers will only go as far as saying:

• Here’s something I know I need, in a nice package format
• It’s relatively inexpensive
• It seems to have the features I need

But if experience teaches us anything, it is that loosely written Quick-Starts will often set a different set of expectations in the client’s head. They had this vision before the implementation of a world of fancy dashboards, automatic notifications, and more. In their head, these should be “simple” for such a powerful platform as Salesforce. Imagine their surprise when they realize (often well after the implementation started) that this is not the case, and that the Quick-Start does not include such fancy features.

That alone is the reason for a lot of headaches with Quick-Starts. But if headaches are supposed to be simple, how can I set the expectations without doing lengthy sales calls going over the fine print and still be profitable.

Summary: The Two Big “E”s

Make no mistake, in a Quick-Start the name of the game is efficiency. You don’t want to slow down a deal as time is money. If you consistently spend 5 hours trying to sell a 10-hour quick start, you’re doing something wrong. The goal is to have a quick turnaround to get the customer on the right track. It’s very easy to have a Quick-Start derailed and incur a lot more hours than you initially imagined, so if you choose to implement such an offering to your practice, make sure to set clear expectations.

And what’s an easy way to do that? Make sure your proposal has a clear section for assumptions and exclusions. Have pre-determined assumptions and exclusions already embedded by default to all of your proposals, and make minor adjustments to the specific implementation at hand. If you can properly set expectations with a customer that is new to the Salesforce world, and you can be efficient with how you can deliver limited-scope implementations, then Quick Starts are a great way to get started.

It’ll take a few tries, but if you fine-tune your craft, you will be able to achieve reasonable success with your Quick-Start offerings.

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