Fix Salesforce in 4 steps

#010

Read Time: 3 Minutes

If Salesforce feels like you have to babysit it for it to work… you’re not alone.

Most tech companies don’t have a Salesforce problem.

They have a definition problem.

👉 Sales says the leads are bad.

👉 Marketing says they’re hot.

👉 Leadership doesn’t know who’s right.

And then someone says: “Maybe we need to rebuild Salesforce.”

You don’t.

You need a simple process that Salesforce can support.

Below is a framework you can use this week to clean things up without adding a bunch of fields, ripping out automations, or breaking automations.

The 3-Box Framework: Fix Salesforce Without Rebuilding It

1) Your Problem

Salesforce feels “broken” when teams disagree on what “good” means.

“Hot lead”
“Qualified”
“Good pipeline”
“Stage progression”

If those aren’t clearly defined… you can’t hold teams accountable:

• random custom fields
• automations built to patch disagreements
• reports nobody trusts
• constant arguments between teams

That didn’t happen because Salesforce “broke”.

It happened because we didn’t define the business process.

2) Your Fix (Do This in Order)

Step 1: Define it (in 3rd grade language)
Pick one process and define it so a new hire can understand it fast.

Example: “What makes a lead hot?”

Step 2: Make it measurable
Replace vague words with numbers and lists.

Examples:

• Company has 500+ employees
• Company ARR is $3M+
• Title includes VP Sales, Head of Product, or CTO
• Source is Paid Search → Demo page (not “they Googled us”)

Step 3: Define the handoff
Answer these 3 questions:

• Who owns it now?
• How fast do they act? (your SLA)
• What happens if they don’t? (your consequence)

Example:

• hot leads flow into Salesforce automatically
• assigned to SDRs via round robin
• SDR must call within 1 hour
• if missed, send Slack + email reminders
• if still untouched in 24 hours, reassign the lead

Step 4: Build only what supports the process
Only after everyone agrees do you build:

• required fields that match the definition
• lifecycle stages that match process
• routing rules that match ownership
• SLA tracking
• automations that enforce accountability
• reports that measure what you decided matters

Rule: If it doesn’t support the process, it doesn’t get built.

3) Do This Today (10 Minutes)

Pick 1 argument your team keeps having:

• “Leads are bad”
• “Pipeline stages are wrong”
• “Forecasting is off”
• “Handoffs are horrible”

Then write a 1 page spec using the template below.

Copy/Paste Template (Use This Internally)

Process name:
Definition (simple):
Measurable criteria:
1)
2)
3)
Owner:
Speed to act (SLA):
If missed, then:
Report we’ll use to track it:

2 Ways We Can help You This Week:

1. We recorded a free youtube video on this topic here
2. If you want to work with us, book a call here