Introduction to Salesforce Process Mapping
Salesforce has always recognized the importance of process mapping for businesses.
Their free, online-learning platform Trailhead offers a module focused on process mapping for business analysts as part of their Salesforce Business Analyst course.
Doing an entire course takes quite a bit of time, so we figured we’d make things easier. Read on to learn about mapping processes, their importance to Salesforce, and how our team here at Skore makes it easier for you.
Process Mapping for Salesforce
Process mapping in business refers to visualizing the steps you take to ensure that your organisation or company is functioning correctly. It’s not enough to make a list of steps one through five – seeing them in a map form makes it a lot easier to find places for process improvement.
Without process mapping, it is very difficult to truly understand what is happening in your business from a bird’s eye perspective. You tend to be so deeply involved and entrenched that you can miss things very easily.
And if you’re changing your CRM to Salesforce, you do not want anyone to be confused about how this new technology is going to work and where it will fit within your existing processes.
The CRM adoption process even has a name: CRM implementation. You need to closely work with the customer onboarding team and know what it is you are after. Otherwise, you will both come out losing from this interaction. And this is why mapping, and sharing that visual aid, is an absolute necessity in systems implementation.
An existing process, or As-Is process, is the map you create of what you currently do. You study it to find places for improvement, and then look for tools that will help you. You then create a To-Be process.
Salesforce is a formidable tool and CRM. But, you have to know how you are going to use it to truly make the most of it.
Known as requirements gathering, this part of the process helps you understand your To-Be process a lot more. Having determined your As-Is process and found its faults, you now have to think about how you would re-structure it with Salesforce as your CRM, and where it would best help your team.
You then start building your To-Be process with the implementation of Salesforce in mind. You want to make sure that it is accessible and understandable for all involved parties. While this may seem daunting at first, it is not difficult to implement Salesforce for your business, nor is it necessary to hire an external expert.
Simply understand and map your process with the right tool, and you can ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the steps to correctly implement Salesforce to your business.
This is why we believe so strongly in process mapping.
By having created your ideal process, you can share that with the Salesforce customer onboarding team, ensuring that everyone knows what is happening when and why. It makes it easier for both sides to know what is happening at any given point in time, so the entire process can go off without a hitch.
And the best way to make sure everyone is on the same page?
Utilizing simply notation in your process maps, such as Universal Process Notation (UPN).
UPN Implementation and Salesforce
UPN is what our software utilises at Skore.
We have determined that it is the easiest notation for everyone involved in the process to understand and follow along. It does not require extensive study, like BPMN, nor does it result in cutting out steps, like Swim Lane Diagrams.
Instead, UPN simplifies the process without removing any important information or step. It does not leave anything out. Starting from a top-down approach, you must first take the business as a whole into consideration, simplifying what your business does. From there, you can then look into the processes that help your business run as it does, and the sub-processes that help them.
With Skore, we’ve captured this, and made it easy for you or anyone in your organisation or company to understand and help you build your map. And our focus on UPN has paid off.
Salesforce recognises the importance and usefulness of UPN when it comes to business process mapping.
Trailhead’s Business Process Mapping course now includes a module focused on UPN. They recognise that although several forms of diagrams for processes exist, UPN’s simplicity is applicable for all industries, for every level of complexity and business, and for organisations of any size. For this reason, it is a favoured option. They state that UPN diagrams:
- Will demonstrate every part of a process from an overview to detailed diagrams
- Can be created in collaboration with others
- Because UPN diagrams can be viewed online and integrated into existing applications
- Can be broadened or narrowed depending on the process
- Provide enough information and context for metrics to help make decisions
UPN diagrams are unambiguous, read from left to right, and have very simple symbols that do not have multiple possible meanings. Any layman is able to understand and follow along in a process map built with UPN.
And this is what you want. Stakeholders should be able to follow along and understand what is being presented to them, not expected to be versed in incredibly specific symbols and meanings.
Process mapping should answer key questions about your current business organisation. When is something happening – UPN answers this by being read from left to right and utilizing arrows. What is happening – UPN answers this by the action placed within the Activity box. Who is doing it – UPN answers this by filling out this information below the what.
No rocket science required.
With business giants such as Salesforce now incorporating UPN more and more, it won’t be long before it very much becomes the norm when it comes to process mapping. You don’t want to be left behind!
At Skore, we’ve taken this notation and made it the cornerstone of our process mapping software.
Skore’s Approach to Process Mapping
Skore is the ultimate tool to correctly implement process mapping for any business, including Salesforce.
Salesforce recognises this, as it is encouraging others to learn about UPN as part of their free online learning for business analysts. And people are beginning to take notice of this shift towards UPN.
Our team at Skore has always known and trusted in the simplicity and utility of UPN when it comes to business process mapping. We use it ourselves, after all.
The goal of our software is to simplify everything and help our clients improve their business. When this happens, it means that our thesis regarding the utility of UPN is correct. And fortunately, it happens more often than not.
Business process mapping with Skore, and with UPN, is quite easy as you can see.
We also offer further training through our community, and our YouTube channel offers recording of webinars and drop-in sessions where you can educate yourself further.
We want more and more businesses to be introduced to the idea of UPN, and specifically to creating their own process maps. Creating process maps for different aspects of your business can lead you to have a process library as a business that you can constantly refer back to, and this will help you improve further.
Using Skore, you can save the process maps you’ve made, creating knowledge that can stay with your business for years to come, without having to check old notes or asking a particular specialist. Anyone can understand what you were doing at any time, and anyone can access it.
Conclusion
Salesforce has given UPN it’s seal of approval.
The fact that is has appeared as part of its online learning coursework indicates that it is very much the future of process mapping.
Beyond that, UPN is a simple, clear notation that can help everyone involved very easily understand and follow along your process map.
Skore is proud to use UPN as the base of our process mapping software, and prouder still when we are recognised as a great source of information on the subject.
If you’re interested in utilising UPN for your business processes, including those related to Salesforce, get in touch with our team!