Salesforce Best Practices: Choosing Solutions from the AppExchange
The Salesforce AppExchange is a powerful resource. But with over 3,500 solutions to choose from, knowing where to start can be the hardest part.
If you’re trying to solve for something specific, browsing what’s trending (or wading through top categories like Finance, Analytics, or Customer Service) will quickly become overwhelming. It’s best to go in with a plan.
Define Your Needs
As with anything CRM-related, having a clear understanding of your purpose will save time and money. When considering apps for your existing Salesforce org, it’s important to first define the need and why it exists.
What hole are you trying to fill?
Why is it important to fill it?
How will this affect your current system?
What does your team really need to be successful?
Without this clear understanding in place, you can spend a lot of time trying to find the right-sized needle in that haystack. Answer these questions first and you’ll be in a great position to target your search.
Map Out the Options
Once the business requirements are crystal clear, you can start to narrow your options. Create a spreadsheet that includes the features and functionality necessary to solving the issue. Adding a priority order for them can also be helpful in case one feature is a must-have while another only a nice-to-have.
Add the apps that look promising as columns on your spreadsheet to keep track of them. As you read through features for each app, you’ll see some themes emerge. While we were evaluating the best form tools on AppExchange, we saw patterns like conditional logic, “web to anything”, and GDPR/compliance across the different available solutions.
If you spot any patterns that resonate with your needs, add them to your list.
Here’s an example of what this spreadsheet could look like:
Keep in Mind Key Considerations
Lightning Readiness
Lightning readiness is important to address. While Salesforce Classic isn’t retired just yet, it’s time is coming soon. If the app isn’t Lightning Ready by now, you may want to hesitate on installing it. Consider other options that have prioritized Lightning readiness.
Latest Release Date
This information is located in the top right of the window both when you hover over the solution on AppExchange and when you click into it. It can tell you a lot about an application as well. A recent update shows that the solution is receiving ongoing maintenance and improvements. It’s likely incorporating customer feedback and responding with improvements. It also likely means that the solution architects are staying on top of any changes Salesforce releases. When the latest release date is further out, that could mean there’s a little dust on it.
Ratings and Reviews
We prefer apps with four or five stars, but if there’s only a handful of reviews, read them with a critical eye. Fewer reviews may mean the solution is quite new and a true evaluation of it is harder to come by. Reviews, and whether the company responds to the bad ones, can tell you a lot.
There’s no need to read through them all, so scan and look for themes. Are there multiple complaints about not being able to install and no support? Are there multiple customers leaving glowing reviews about their experience? Whatever patterns emerge, you can anticipate experience as a customer by looking at what others have experienced.
Support
Decide how important support is, and what kind you expect. If you only have one Salesforce administrator, great support is key. If you’re a larger company with multiple Salesforce admins and developers or a dedicated IT team, that may be less important. You can find support information on the solution listing towards the bottom right of the solution overview.
Looking at reviews can potentially help here too. Reviews calling out great support or the company’s willingness to get on a call are great, but also rare.
Free Trial Periods and Pricing
It almost goes without saying, but remember to check the free trial terms. How long does the trial period last? What restrictions are there? What else do you need to know before trying it for free?
You’ll also want to determine the all-in price for the solution once your free trial ends. The price highlighted in AppExchange, for example “Starts at $12/user/month”, is rarely what you’ll pay. Be sure to check the pricing section for the app at the company website to make sure you’re looking at the version that you’ll need and see the pricing you can expect.
Speaking of pricing, if you’re a non-profit, look to see if the solutions you’re interested in offer discounts. Some do and that can be another important consideration when vetting solutions that offer similar functionality that fits your need.
Other Considerations
You’ll also want to check that they support your edition of Salesforce. Also, many solutions include data sheets, whitepapers, and webinars on their AppExchange listing that can help your decision-making process. These resources can be useful for synthesizing the problem you’re trying to solve while also weighing the potential solutions.
Do Your Due Diligence
Here’s a quick due diligence checklist to make sure everything is on the right track:
Go to their website. Are you redirected?
Can you easily find product/knowledge base info on the site?
Can you contact them easily?
Check if the vendor offers other products on the AppExchange. What are those ratings like?
Answering these questions should help build trust that the solution is right for you and can serve the needs you identified earlier.
Some Solutions We Like For Subscription-Based Businesses
The subscription business model is a powerful one that’s only growing in popularity. Commonly used for software and high tech, many other industries have been swayed by its appeal. After all, subscription revenue models are powerful tools for growth.
With that business model in mind, there are some solutions on the Salesforce AppExchange that are especially useful.
E-Signature tools like DocuSign can streamline the quote to cash process. Of course, the faster deals can be signed, the faster opportunities can close!
For professional services, tools like TaskRay are incredibly valuable. At Cloud Giants, we use TaskRay to track onboarding, project milestones, offboarding, and so much else. Some of us swear by the Kanban View for task sorting and grouping.
Backup tools, for example OwnBackup, can ensure you have reliable backups of your data in case disaster strikes. It’s a great consideration for all businesses, but especially subscription-based ones that need to track contracts and renewals.
Interested in filling an organizational need but unsure how to proceed? We’re just a phone call away and happy to help.