Are You Getting the Most From Your Salesforce Investment?

September 10, 2020

Salesforce is one of the most widely used customer relationship management (CRM) platforms in the world. Companies adopt it with the expectation that it will streamline operations, improve customer engagement, and provide better visibility into business performance. But despite its capabilities, many organizations find themselves using only a fraction of what the platform offers. This is not necessarily because they lack ambition—it’s often because Salesforce is so expansive that it’s easy to focus only on the basics needed to “get by.”

Over time, this limited use can create a gap between what you’re paying for and the value you’re actually receiving. That gap often shows up in day-to-day frustrations: employees duplicate work across spreadsheets and Salesforce, reports fail to provide the right insights, or key processes remain manual even though automation tools exist. These symptoms don’t mean Salesforce isn’t working—it means the platform hasn’t been fully aligned with your business strategy.

One common area of underutilization is automation. Salesforce provides tools like Flow, Process Builder, and Apex that can handle repetitive tasks, route work efficiently, and reduce human error. Yet in many organizations, employees still spend hours entering data or managing approvals that could be automated. Taking the time to identify these opportunities can free up staff to focus on higher-value work and improve overall accuracy.

Reporting is another area where organizations often miss out. Out-of-the-box reports may be enough at first, but as a business grows, leadership usually needs deeper insights. Are sales reps spending time on the right opportunities? Where are customer service cases getting stuck? What patterns in customer behavior are emerging? Without well-designed dashboards and reports, Salesforce becomes more of a database than a decision-making tool. The information exists—it just isn’t surfaced in a way that helps leaders act on it.

Licensing is a subtler but equally important factor. Many businesses overspend on licenses that don’t match how employees actually use the system. For example, a user who only needs occasional access to run a report might not need a full license. Reviewing usage patterns against license types can reduce costs without reducing functionality.

Finally, data quality underpins everything else. Salesforce can only generate accurate reports or trigger effective automations if the information entered is consistent and reliable. When gaps exist—missing email addresses, inconsistent formatting, duplicate records—entire processes suffer. Marketing campaigns fail to reach the right audience, service teams lack context, and executives make decisions on incomplete information. Building habits and systems that support clean data is critical for realizing Salesforce’s true value.

The question for any organization using Salesforce isn’t just “Are we using it?” but rather “Are we getting the return on investment we expected?” Answering that requires looking beyond whether the system is functioning and asking whether it’s enabling better business outcomes. For some companies, that might mean uncovering automation opportunities. For others, it’s about surfacing insights through analytics, tightening licensing costs, or committing to better data hygiene.

Getting the most from Salesforce doesn’t necessarily require new tools or major investments. Often, it’s about looking closely at how the platform is being used today and making thoughtful adjustments. When Salesforce is aligned with your strategy and processes, it becomes more than software—it becomes a system that actively supports growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Taking time to step back and assess whether your Salesforce setup is delivering on its promise can pay off significantly. The platform has the potential to more than justify its cost, but only if it’s configured and used intentionally. The organizations that treat Salesforce as a living system—something to be evaluated and refined regularly—are the ones that see the most value over the long run.