The Future of Salesforce Administration: A Collaborative and No-Code Revolution
This week’s newsletter is entirely unlocked courtesy of Sweep
When I first started in Revenue Operations (wow I sound OLD) I remember being given the task of architecting and administering my company’s CRM instance. I was a Director of Sales Operations. Director in name only. No headcount. No contractors. I was a team of one.
Learning a CRM was easy.
Learning a MAP was easy.
Learning an SEP was easy.
Finding one central place to do so… was hard.
I poured through YouTube, Stack Overflow, Salesforce Ben, Automation Champion, Udemy to learn the trade. Then Trailhead came along… too late for me at least.
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Today, the RevOps landscape is changing so quickly. Maybe not Salesforce itself (SLOW!), but all of the adjacent tools within the ecosystem. That ecosystem evolution is what makes Salesforce a cornerstone for many company's' go-to-market (GTM) strategies. Despite its robust capabilities, the complexity of Salesforce administration has become a significant pain point for businesses, for leaders, and for Revenue Operations teams. The need for a more intuitive, efficient, and collaborative approach to managing Salesforce has never been more apparent.
Salesforce Feels Discombobulated
Salesforce administration has been synonymous with complexity and specialized knowledge. I personally owe the second half of my career to Salesforce. If I wanted to, not saying that I would, I could embrace job security through obscurity. If I’m the only one that knows how the systems works then guess I become indispensible.
But that sucks!
Navigating through various parts of the application to stitch together cohesive processes can feel like a Herculean task, even for the most experienced systems architects and designers. The current user interface and user experience of Salesforce leave much to be desired, requiring multiple steps for tasks as simple as creating fields or setting up flows. This fragmentation hampers efficiency and can turn Salesforce into what feels like a cost center rather than a value driver.
For example, imagine the sales team asks RevOps to modify its sales processes to introduce new exit criteria in its sales stages.
Here are the administrative steps that would need to be taken:
Create the fields. Object manager > Opportunity object > create fields
Fields need to be filled out during certain stages. Object manager > Opportunity object > Validation Rules
Reps want a pop-up to update the fields through a button. Setup > Flows > build screen flow.
Create a button. Object manager > Opportunity object > buttons
Surface the new button and field. Object manager > Opportunity object > Page Layout
Check that it looks right in Lightning. Object manager > Opportunity object > Lightning Page editor
To put a cohesive process together RevOps has to do something that's highly fragmented.
Introducing No-Code Solutions: Empowering the Uninitiated
The advent of no-code platforms represents a seismic shift in how organizations can approach Salesforce administration. By democratizing the ability to make changes within Salesforce, these platforms significantly expand the pool of potential "admins." This is not only about simplifying the user experience but about transforming it entirely. Imagine updating a workflow with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, diagnosing cross-object relationships through visual swim lanes, and doing all this while respecting the existing validation rules and systems. Platforms like Sweep are leading the charge in this revolution, making it possible for non-certified, non-technical individuals to contribute meaningfully to the Salesforce environment.
Up above is a workflow canvas. Each block corresponds to a sub-process or a portion of the GTM motion:
Contact lifecycle + inbound funnel leads to pre-pipeline
Pre-pipeline leads to pipeline
Pipeline leads to wins leads to renewals
Renewals leads to churn risk escalation
Each of these requires a process map. In the CRM this is represented by dozens of fields across multiple objects (leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities, custom object(s)) managed by multiple roles (SDRs, AEs, Presales, Implementation Managers, CSMs).
A New Paradigm for Collaboration
One of the most transformative aspects of these emerging platforms is their ability to facilitate unprecedented collaboration between GTM leaders and CRM architects. Traditionally, the administration of Salesforce was the domain of a few highly trained professionals (woo hoo Salesforce certified admins!) who understood the intricacies of CRM systems. Now, with tools that provide a unified view of processes and systems, both technical and non-technical stakeholders can work together seamlessly. This collaborative environment not only makes Salesforce administration more transparent but also aligns it more closely with the company's actual go-to-market strategies. A simple right-click allows admins and GTM leaders to send a message to one another and comment on a specific portion of the process.
In the future I fully expect the equivalent of a SaaS 3D printing machine.
Hey SaaS 3D printing machine! Build me a commission calculation software with these requirements!
Until then, the no-code option is the way to go. For example, a Closed Won automation. When a deal moves into Closed Won stage and meets the following criteria the following actions should happen.
For a Salesforce admin this is “easy”:
Opportunity Object
Process Flows
Update or create new records
Email Alerts
Salesforce Alerts
But what if it’s as easy as an IF/THEN series of dropdowns.
Speedy Documentation
Show me the technical documentation behind the following processes:
Inbound lead > assignment > lead routing to SDR
SDR qualification call to meeting booked
Meeting booked to Sales Accepted Opportunity by an AE
How long would that take?
Imagine if the no-code tool could do this while showcasing all of the upstream and downstream impacts.
Making sense of past admins’ work
You took a job replacing someone that had been at the company for two years. They left ZERO documentation. Zilch nada.
That’s just great!
Well here comes AI to the rescue. That’s one of the BIGGEST use cases I see these new LLMs filling in. Imagine the admin logs into Salesforce and sees an old flow called Quoting Flow. To make sense of it would take an hour or more. Instead, just shove it into AI to see what it says like below.
Moving Beyond Traditional Administration
The shift towards no-code platforms and collaborative tools is about more than just making Salesforce easier to use. It's about enabling RevOps professionals to focus on what they do best: delivering insights and optimizing processes. Freed from the tedium of traditional Salesforce administration, these individuals can now devote their time and energy to strategic initiatives that drive real business impact.
Use cases I love #1: sophistocated matching & deduplication
Use cases I love #2: group round robins
Where we go from here
The evolution of Salesforce administration is underway, driven by the need for more intuitive, efficient, and collaborative tools. No-code platforms and visualization tools are at the forefront of this transformation, empowering a broader range of individuals to contribute to the administration of Salesforce and fostering a more inclusive and transparent approach to managing go-to-market strategies. As these technologies continue to evolve, the role of the Salesforce administrator is poised to become more strategic, more collaborative, and more aligned with business outcomes than ever before.
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