Salesforce is the backbone of many businesses, powering their customer relationship management and revenue operations. However, the two most common engagement models for Salesforce—the Statement of Work (SOW) approach and the Internal Salesforce Team model—fall short of delivering long-term success for many organizations. Let’s examine these models’ inherent weaknesses and explore an innovative solution: the Salesforce Managed Service Provider (MSP).

The Flaws of the Statement of Work (SOW) Model

The SOW model is a staple for Salesforce implementation consultancies, but it often sets clients up for failure. Here’s why:

1. A “One-and-Done” Mindset: The SOW model often positions the Proof of Concept (POC), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), or Version 1 as the final solution. Businesses, especially startups, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and growth-focused organizations, require continuous innovation to stay competitive. Achieving this means navigating a series of costly and disjointed SOWs.
2. Neglected User Adoption: User training and adoption support are frequently afterthoughts. Consultancies often allocate minimal hours for “train the trainer” sessions, leaving clients to fend for themselves post-launch. This gap significantly hampers long-term success.
3. Post-Hypercare Abandonment: After the initial implementation, clients are often left to hire or staff for ongoing user support. This is a daunting task for organizations lacking internal Salesforce expertise.
4. Legacy Processes Reinforced: Many clients approach Salesforce implementation with unclear business processes or simply replicate outdated workflows. Without proper guidance, they miss the opportunity to innovate and optimize.
5. Commoditization and Poor Deployments: Clients without technical expertise often shop based on price alone, leading to subpar deployments. Consultants competing on cost often resort to overpromising and underdelivering, resulting in never-ending change-order nightmares.

While paid discovery phases and predefined “quick start” packages can mitigate some risks, the SOW model lacks the agility and support necessary for sustainable growth.

The Challenges of Building an Internal Salesforce Team

Clients seeking to build their own internal Salesforce Center of Excellence (COE) often face significant hurdles:

1. The Unicorn Myth: Many businesses expect to hire a single Salesforce expert—a “unicorn”—who can handle everything from development and configuration to business discovery, architecture, documentation, and support. Such talent is exceedingly rare and if you can find such a person, it comes at an astronomical cost.
2. Cost-Prohibitive Teams: Building a high-quality Salesforce team is often financially unviable for small businesses and startups. Even larger enterprises struggle to define effective DevOps processes, provide adequate tools, and empower their teams.
3. Stifled Growth and High Turnover: Internal teams often fall victim to the “if we train them, they’ll leave” mentality, leading to a lack of investment in professional development. This fosters low morale and high turnover, leaving businesses with underperforming teams.
4. Fear of Speaking Truths: Internal teams may avoid challenging poor decisions or promoting best practices out of fear of job security. This “Emperor’s New Clothes” dynamic stifles innovation and results in suboptimal outcomes.

Enter the Salesforce Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A High-Quality Salesforce MSP offers a transformative alternative to traditional engagement models, much like how SaaS revolutionized server infrastructure. Here’s what sets a true Salesforce MSP apart:

1. ITIL-Aligned Processes: MSPs separate standard changes, feature requests, and emergency fixes, ensuring structured and efficient operations.
2. Comprehensive Tools and Support: High-quality MSPs leverage best-in-class tools for support tracking, Agile design, discovery, and sprint-based development. They also include user acceptance testing, training, and importantly ongoing adoption monitoring and user support.
3. Defined Norms and Roles: Predefined processes—such as Definitions of Done and skill-based team roles—enable consistent quality and efficiency.
4. Expert Teams: MSPs employ diverse, well-trained teams that work at the top of their skills and provide candid, valuable insights.
5. Continual Service Improvement: Clients benefit from ongoing innovation and optimization, keeping their Salesforce environment aligned with evolving business needs.
6. Cost-Effective Scalability: By leveraging economies of scale, MSPs provide superior service at a fraction of the cost of building and maintaining an internal team.
7. Empowered Client Ownership: MSPs guide internal subject matter experts (SMEs) in defining business needs, ensuring alignment and maximizing value.

Dispelling Misconceptions About MSPs

Not all MSPs are created equal. A true Salesforce MSP is NOT:

• A bucket of hours at a reduced rate
• A team that requires clients to handle Tier 1 user support
• A chaotic group taking ad hoc requests without strategy

Conclusion

The right Salesforce MSP can deliver unparalleled value, fostering sustainable growth and innovation for businesses of all sizes. In the coming months, we will delve deeper into the hallmarks of a high-quality Salesforce MSP and provide resources to help clients, even those with no technical backgrounds, to identify and evaluate top-tier providers. Follow P3 Group, and stay tuned for insights that will empower you to unlock Salesforce’s full potential.