Are you as productive as you would like to be?  I was reminded this week of how important it is to let the experts provide the solution to a more happy and productive life.  Customer success starts by setting yourself up for success from the beginning.

I finally took my truck in to the mechanic for a long overdue maintenance.  Instead of doing it myself again, I would let a real mechanic look at a few issues that have been plaguing my truck for years.  I struggle with this visit this because my truck is getting me back and forth to work each day, I don't really have the time, and I really don't want to spend the money.

So why now?  Because I needed an oil change anyway.  It’s also been 100K miles without any major maintenance like spark plug replacement (if you know about how F150s spark plugs break into the engine, you know the risk here).  Finally, I have a rattle that has started to stress me out going down the war zone road that takes me back and forth to work.

I walked in to a garage that reminded me of my grandfathers old Gulf station but with modern equipment. With all my awesome knowledge of mechanics, I told the shop owner what he needs to fix to make my truck run well again.  He listened carefully to my issues and told me he will test drive it, look a under the hood, and call me with an evaluation later.  Within thirty minutes, he called me with a completely different solution than I had proposed (imagine that).  His mechanics found multiple issues that were needed to improve my ride.

Two days later my truck was returned and.... WOW. The ride is amazingly smooth again, the engine performance was significantly improved, my teeth no longer rattled every time I hit a pebble in the road.  It reminded me of the day I first got the truck and how much I enjoyed it.  For years I have been just saying "it’s a truck and supposed to feel like that", forgetting what a high performing truck could fee like. Although this was not a cheap fix, it worth every penny.

Whether time has made us forget or we’ve never really known, true performance in a job can be a pleasure.   We worry about the risk of change, the cost of products, and the cost of consulting.  I mean.... we do fine day to day... why spend the money if we can do it ourselves or just ignore the minor obstacles of low productivity? 

Like my home mechanic knowledge vs a 30+ year experienced mechanic, we found ourselves not performing at our best because we try to solve issues that are not in our core skill-set, or do not realize issues even exist because we won't enlist the experts that have done this for years.  From the outside, it is hard to watch people struggle due to these issues; when you know how relatively easy it is to improve businesses and lives, and knowing the long term frustration they will see when they ignore or don't seek the advice.

While you may not believe in the crazy improvement metrics that Salesforce throws out, like 41% sales productivity improvement, 77% faster deployment, 52% increase in adoption, or 80% ROI.  We know that this is possible because we have seen the successes and the failures, we have the tools and experience, and most importantly, we have the passion to make this a reality. 

So whether you are looking to make incremental improvements or are looking at complete business transformation, talk to the experts (most give initial advice for free).  Rely on guidance.  Understand that buying the tools alone will not magically make a grand difference alone, in the same way I cannot buy the mechanics shop and think I can do what true mechanics do; I don’t have the time, education, or the experience.  Eventually I will likely get there on my own, at the risk of monetary loss, damaged reputation, missed opportunity, slow adoption, reduced ROI, or possibly project failure.  Invest the time and money in your future.  Increased productivity will make for a smoother day to day ride, will reduce stress, and let you focus on building your business well beyond what you can imagine. 

At Salesforce we believe in Customer Success.  We have 4000+ employees dedicated to customer success, offering advice, best practices, direction, training and support.  We offer even more advanced services to help pave your way to better productivity, higher sales, and laser focus on your customers.  To take advantage of our passion.  Give us a call, go online, or reach out in to your local Salesforce community.