The Salesforce Playbook- 6 Steps to Better Deployments

Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
The Salesforce
Playbook
Creating Better
Deployments
alexandercowan.com

ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
ABOUT ME
Entrepreneur (5x)
Intrapreneur (1x)

ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
ABOUT ME

ABOUT ME
www.alexandercowan.com

ABOUT ME
I Enterprise Software
I End Users

CRM IMPLEMENTATIONS COULD BE BETTER
Source! Statistic
Gartner 50%
Butler 70%
AMR 29%
The Economist 56%
Forrester 47%
CRM PROJECT FAILURES
source: ZDNet

CRM IMPLEMENTATIONS COULD BE BETTER
source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY (US)

Order Taking
vs.
Consulting
Building
vs.
Designing
Big Batches
vs.
Iteration
4 PROBLEMS WE CAN READILY IMPROVE
Papering Problems with
Software
vs.
Solving Them

We ask users for their requirements and then do precisely
what they ask.
The result is a frankensteinian; users revolt.
We need to know what to ask users, how to observe them,
how to interpret what they say and do, and then apply our
ideas on best practices to deliver something they’ll like.
ORDER TAKING VS. CONSULTING

ORDER TAKING VS. CONSULTING
“We need
values for this
important
drop-down
menu. What
do you want
there?”
“Well, at my
last six jobs
we used
{x, y, z}, so I
guess let’s go
with that.”
X

Salesforce makes it so easy to build things, so we do
what’s easy.
But it’s not as easy as it looks- creating a thoughtful,
durable system that users like is hard.
We need to better ‘sell’ the design process and integrate it
more continuously into deployment.
BUILDING VS. DESIGNING

BUILDING VS. DESIGNING
“I’d like to
spend more
time with the
folks in
support to
understand
how they do
things and see
what ideas
they have
about how
things should
work.”
“Let’s not
make this a
science
project. We’re
short on time.
Let’s just get
the system
online.”
X

We place our faith in ‘the system’ to solve our problems,
but software can only automate and enforce processes.
Only the users and their advisors really know how things
should work.
We need to pair thoughtful design with appropriate
software choices.
PAPERING PROBLEMS VS. SOLVING THEM

PAPERING PROBLEMS VS. SOLVING THEM
“Tell me about
your order
management
process and
how that’s
working for
you.”
“We don’t
exactly have
one. I was
hoping that
would come
with the
system.”
X

Plans deliver a sense of certainty, but that certainty is
false.
Systems and process redesign is complex and
incremental validation is critical.
Smaller batches with incremental validation are the fastest
path to a good outcome.
BIG BATCHES VS. ITERATION

BIG BATCHES VS. ITERATION
“Here’s what I
think we can
do in the next
two weeks
based on the
priorities. Then
we can
review.”
“Look, I need
a plan for the
whole
project.”
X

THE SILVER BULLET?

THE SILVER BULLET?
I don’t have one.
The fix has multiple parts.
Here are two parts:
1) a better process
2) a set of foundation skills

THE PROCESS

ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
SKILLS FOR THE FULL ENTERPRISE CONSULTANT
Specialties
DESIGN&UX
SFA
ORDERMANAGEMENT
EXTENDEDCRM
BILLING
ENTERPRISEARCH.
...
DEVELOPMENT
...
...
ANALYTICS
...
...
...
Technical
Literacy
ARCHITECTURE
FUNDAMENTALS
App. & Platform
Integration
ROLES &
SYSTEMS
Both Customer &
Product Teams
Foundation
Concepts
LEAN
DESIGN
THINKING
PROCESS
DESIGN
AGILE
SOFTWARE
FUNDAMENTALS
Model-View-
Controller

01 FRAME THE NEED

01 WHY FRAME?
WHY?
1. Structure.
2. Linkage to success criteria.
3.Adrive to explicit, discussable designs.
4. Linkage to company business model & strategy.

01 HOW DO YOU SELL THE CLIENT ON IT?
CLIENTS DON’T WANT TO
PAY FOR STRATEGY
(Or even design in some cases)
- feel they already know
what they want
- believe the software will
essentially just work on its own
KEEP IT FOCUSED,
KEEP IT RELEVANT
- you can do the basics in a
few hours per engagement
using the templates
(see bit.ly/playsfdc)
- even if you do it in pre-
sales mode, it’s worth it

01 HOW DO YOU SELL THE CLIENT ON IT?
CLIENTS DON’T WANT TO
PAY FOR STRATEGY
(Or even design in some cases)
- feel they already know
what they want
- believe the software will
essentially just work on its own
WITHOUT IT,
SUCCESS IS HARD
- many stakeholders,
much legacy perspective
- change is hard, even
when it’s clearly aligned
with a strategic focus

01 DEFINE STRATEGY AND LINK IT TO PROCESSES
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
(more? see bit.ly/nicebmc)
Take 20 minutes with exec’s and rough out key definition
questions on Business Model Canvas
Who are the buyers, users
and why do they buy?
What is the end-to-end
customer experience?
What activities are
strategically important?

Are you sure you know the business?
Quickly define it with a clinical positioning statement.
For (target customer) who (statement of the need or opportunity),
the (product name) is a (product category) that (statement of key
benefit – that is, compelling reason to buy). Unlike (primary
competitive alternative), our product (statement of primary
differentiation).

For homeowners who want the control and affordability of doing
their own home improvement, the Home Depot is a hardware
retailer that offers comprehensive selection at competitive prices.
Unlike hiring professionals, our product helps you save money
and work on your own terms.
Example: Home Depot

Exercise: Create a Positioning Statement
For (target customer) who (statement of the need or opportunity),
the (product name) is a (product category) that (statement of key
benefit – that is, compelling reason to buy). Unlike (primary
competitive alternative), our product (statement of primary
differentiation).
(5 min.)
see workbook item: ‘Interview with Exec.
Director on Background & Business Model’

Are you sure you know the business?
Quickly define it with a clinical positioning statement.
For children (k-12) seeking an expressive experience through the
arts, the Children’s Theater is a performing arts institute that offers
affordable programming to low-income schools and children.
Unlike private institutions, our product offers national quality
programming with a long track record of success.
Example: United Children’s Theater

(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
Who are the buyers, users
and why do they buy?

Value
Propositions
Customer
Segments
Why do they buy? Who are they?
Broad Selection
Competitive Prices
Convenience
Do-it-yourselfer’s
Casual Shoppers
Contractors
Example: Home Depot

Value
Propositions
Customer
Segments
?
(3 min)
? see workbook item: ‘Interview with Exec.

Value
Propositions
Customer
Segments
?
Children
Parents
Teachers &Admin.
Donors

Value
Propositions
Customer
Segments
(3 min)
?
Children
Parents
Teachers &Admin.
Donors

Value
Propositions
Customer
Segments
Children
Parents
Teachers &Admin.
Donors
Quality arts education
Unique peer group
Affordability
Outsourcing arts function
Cultivating arts locally
Better Ed. for Low-Income Pupils

Exercise:
1. List your prioritized
Customer Segments
block and Value
Propositions block
2. Map your personas to
your Value Propositions This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3
(3 min)

Example:
United
Children’s
Theater

(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
What is the end-to-end
customer experience?

A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
How do they first
find out that you,
your proposition
exist?
How do you break
through the noise
floor?

A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
What is it that
engages them with
your proposition?
How will you
connect?

A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
Are you connecting
with an important
problem scenario?
Is your VP better
enough than the
alternative?

A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
What is absolute
minimum set of
actions required by
the customer to
have you deliver on
their problem?

A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
How do they
become a regular,
habitual user? How
will you know if
that’s happening?

A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
How do you
deepen their
involvement?
Investment? How
do you get them
talking about it?

01 STORYBOARDING AIDA(OR)

Exercise:
Create a 6-
panel
storyboard
01 EXERCISE: AIDA STORYBOARD
(10 min)
see workbook
item ‘Interview
with Exec.
Director on
Customer
Journey’

01 STORYBOARDING AIDA(OR)
Create your own at www.StoryboardThat.com
Oh yeah- can you
send me a link or
something?
I noticed Carlos doesn't
do soccer. Maybe he'd
like to try theater, like
my Ricky.
ATTENTION INTEREST
To
Sub
United Newsletter:
Come to our open
house to check out
the year 2 program!
Bring friends!
RETENTION
Here's that email
from Cynthia…Oh,
this looks great,
easy to try. And it's
affordable.
I'd love to see
Carlos spend more
time with other
boys, good boys
that study and stay
out of trouble.
ACTION
This looks like the
right program, I'm
eligible for aid so
this is what I
pay.…Paid. See
you Tuesday!
ONBOARDING
Hi there,
Carlos. We're
so excited to
have you! Let's
get started.
DESIRE
Example:
United
Children’s
Theater

How do they interact? Who interacts?
SAMPLES
dedicated personal service (onsite? offsite?)
personal service
phone support
web/email based tickets
web self-help and forums
SAMPLES
Customer
Relationships
Channels
SALES
hand sales direct
hand sales indirect
retail
web
phone
delivery
PROMOTION
personal direct
personal indirect
specialty media
television
radio
AdWords + SEO
SERVICE
direct personal
authorized center
field contractors
community
web

Customer
Relationships
Channels
Home Depot
‘personal service’
Home Depot
SALES
retail
(web)
PROMOTION
mass media:
newspaper
television
radio
AdWords + SEO

Customer
Relationships
Channels
? ?

Customer
Relationships
Channels
?
Personal Service
Direct Personal Service
Online Community

Customer
Relationships
Channels
SALES
Direct
Local Schools
PROMOTION
ParentsAuxiliary
SERVICE
ParentsAuxiliary
Facebook
Personal Service
Direct Personal Service
Online Community

(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
What activities are
strategically important?

(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
01 THREE BUSINESS MODEL TYPES
1. INFRASTRUCTURE-DRIVEN
2. CUSTOMER SCOPE-DRIVEN
3. PRODUCT-DRIVEN

Infrastructure-Driven
UTILITIES TELECOM COMMODITIES
Scope-Driven
RETAIL BANKING CORP. LAW
Product-Driven
PACKAGED GOODS APP. SOFTWARE MEDIA

INFRASTRUCTURE
Kimberly-Clark: paper pulp
DuPont: plastics and polymers
SCOPE
Procter & Gamble: cradle to grave products
Baby Store: everything for babies in one place
PRODUCT
EarthBaby, TinyTots, Honest Company:
compostable diapers and service

01 THREE BUSINESS MODEL TYPES: QUIZ!
(United Children’s Theater)

01 THREE BUSINESS MODEL TYPES: IMPLICATIONS
EXAMPLE AREA
INFRASTRUC
TURE-DRIVEN
SCOPE-
DRIVEN
PRODUCT-
DRIVEN
Sales Process:
Highly standard or ﬂexible?
relatively
standardized
relatively ﬂexible (ideally Channel
sells)
Pricing & Packaging:
Highly standardized or
customizable?
relatively
standardized
relatively
customizable
relatively
standardized
Customer Support:
How systematic vs.
customized?
relatively
systematic
relatively
customized
relatively
systematic

What’s strategically critical?
(5 min)
?
Key
Activities
Key
Resources
?
What assets are strategic?
see workbook item ‘Interview with Exec.
Director on Running the Operation’

Key
Activities
Key
Resources
?
Curriculum Development
Student Development
School Programming
Volunteer Development
Donor Development

(3 min)
Key
Activities
Key
Resources
?
Student Development
School Programming
Donor Development

What’s strategically critical? What assets are strategic?
Key
Activities
Key
Resources
Student Development
School Programming
Donor Development
Track Record
Facility
Donor Relationships
Curriculum
Volunteer Base

Example:
United
Children’s
Theater
More on
the
Business
Model
Canvas:
bit.ly/
nicebmc

01 BUSINESS MODEL TO PROCESS INVENTORY
Key
Activities
Functional
Processes
Sub-
Processes
PROCESS
INVENTORY

01 HOW DO YOU FRAME?
Unit of structure: the atomic process
It has… an input transformative
steps
an output
…and 3 metrics
1. process
2. output
3. outcome

METRICS
Process: How many doorknobs/hour?
Output: Portion of ‘ﬂawed’ doorknobs?
Outcome: Did we validate that customers like the doorknobs?

VALIDATING PROCESSES
NVA: Non-Value Added Time (‘wasted time’) >> ELIMINATE
BVA: Business-Value Added Time (‘paperwork’) >> MINIMIZE
RVA: Real Value-Added Time (‘work’) >> MAXIMIZE

01 PROCESS DESIGN & HALLWAY CONVERSATIONS
Executive Director
“Nice to finally meet you
Executive Director. Can’t wait
to start. What’s on you A-list?”
“Lead qualification! I’m
transitioning donor
development to a new
person and so it’s a
good time for us to
consolidate and
structure best
practices.”
“Tell me more about what
you’re doing now”
[she does some
explaining]
“So the input is a valid lead and
the output is a qualified
opportunity?”
“Yup”
Salesforce Gal

01 OUR SIMPLE (BUT FRAMED) START
input output

01 ON FRAMING
input output
Group Exercise:
How would you describe
inputs, outputs for a process
you worked on?

01 OUTPUTS AND CLOSING AN ITERATION
OUTPUT YOU’LL KNOW YOU’RE DONE WHEN…
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS You can conﬁdently describe (generally):
Who are the customers and why do they buy?
What is/are the customer journey(s)?
What primary activities are strategically important?
(After the 1st iteration, just make sure you can connect what
you’re doing back to those items.)
PROCESS INVENTORY The Key Activities describe all the major jobs you’re observing.
1st Iteration: You can map at least two processes into the
working set of Key Activities. (You’ll layer in more processes in
the next step).

02 DIAGNOSE USER & BUSINESS PROBLEMS

02 INPUTS AND STARTING AN ITERATION
INPUT YOU’LL USE IT FOR…
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS Focusing your diagnosis and anchoring it in what’s important to
enhancing the ﬁrm’s business model.
PROCESS INVENTORY Structuring your work around the ﬁrm’s Key Activities.

02 DIAGNOSING USER NEEDS & PROBLEMS
The twin anti-poles of design failure
Doing precisely
what the user asks
Assuming you know what’s
best and ignoring the user
SNAP!

02 DIAGNOSING USER NEEDS & PROBLEMS
Abetter way: Design Thinking
Empathy Creativity

02 PERSONAS?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

02 PERSONAS?
PROBLEM
SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVES
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
X
?
!
What are the fundamental
jobs that need doing?
How is the user doing those
today? How is that working?
What are we implenting
PERSONA

02 PERSONAS? PROBLEM SCENARIOS?
PROBLEM
SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVES
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
X
?
!
PERSONA

02 DIAGNOSE WELL OR YOU’LL DETOUR

02 DIAGNOSING
Find Observe Work ID Map
Start with Key Activities
(then any child
processes).
Ask ‘Who owns this?’
Get access to working
level users (vs. just
management).
Spend most of your time
here, focusing on 1st
hand observation of
speciﬁc examples.
Start with process
owners, then get with
other responsible users.
Describe problem
scenarios, alternatives
Map your
diagnosis to the
persona and
process
frameworks

02 EXAMPLE ENTERPRISE PERSONAS (LEONID SYS.)
Rita
the Reseller
Orson
the Ofﬁce Mgr.
Ignatius
the IT Guy
Rhonda
the Receptionist
Susan the
Small Bus. Owner
Keith
the Key System User
Amy
the Assistant
Simone
the Standard User
Chuck
the Call Center Agent
Esteban
the Executive
Mikuko
the Mobile User
Cindy
the Call Center Manager
Customer Personas (Customer’s Customer)

02 EXAMPLE ENTERPRISE PERSONAS (LEONID SYS.)
User Personas
Nietzsche
the Network Eng.
Paola
the Provisioner
Sidney
the Sys. Admin.
Percival the
Product Manager
Sven
the Salesperson
Anthony
the Applications Eng.
Itzhak
the IT Developer
Frank
the Field Eng.
Sam
the Support Eng.
Saul
the Site Developer
Fritz
the Field Eng. Manager
Bruce
the Business Owner

Day in the Life
we look at a few photos for a given persona
you make some guesses about them
there are no right answers BUT
there is a right process: observe and infer
OBJECTIVE: get a feel for what’s real; start to create something vivid
(not a full picture, just snippets)
02 LITTLE GAME FOR DIAGNOSING PERSONAS

02 SVEN THE SALESPERSON: A DAY IN THE LIFE

WAKE UP!
** create fake
email account,
fake email to them

WAKE UP!

ON THE JOB

LUNCH BREAK

FINISHING UP

ON THE ROAD

UNWINDING AFTER WORK

DINNER

WINDING DOWN & BED

ABOUT SVEN THE SALESPERSON
What’s his favorite kind of music?
What do you think he looks at to set his agenda
for the next day?
What movie did he last see?
How much do you think he uses his PC vs. his
mobile? Which in which situations?
If he had a dog, what kind?
What one change on the way he uses
Salesforce would most change his life for the
better?

02 DIAGNOSING PERSONAS
THINKS
What is their point of view on your area of interest?
What do they like, dislike about it?
What’s the difference in their view between how it is and how it should be?
SEES What inﬂuences and informs them about your area of interest?
Where do they get that? Peers? Media?
FEELS What are the underlying emotional drivers in the area?
How does that inﬂuence what they do and their interest in alternatives?
DOES When you observe them, what do they actually do?
(photos help)
: )

THINKS
He knows that deal implementations get held up downstream, but doesn’t have time to really
dig into why. He suspects that it’s just the burden of people who only get paid if they sell to
push and pull the salaried types along to get deals done.
SEES Competitors that have good tools and support book deals and those that don’t make it too
hard for the customer lose deals.
FEELS
Sales doesn’t get the respect it merits. Everyone he deals with outside of sales doesn’t get
what it’s like to have doors slammed in your face, to wonder every night what your quarterly
bonus (aka how he pays his mortgage) is going to look like.
Most bureaucracy, and this deﬁnitely includes CRM, is a pitiful waste of time. Produce or go
home.
DOES
Right now, Sven only puts deals into Salesforce when he needs to move them to formal
proposal, since that’s the only way proposals get generated. Generally, the deal description
and qualiﬁcation are patchy.
Sven the
Salesperson

THINKS What works and what doesn’t is pretty clear, but she doesn’t want to get in the middle of the
shouting match between sales and operations.
SEES Deals come in without much description on a regular basis. It’s a lot of work to really get
things in a place where there are no surprises once the account starts getting bills.
FEELS
She’s often the bottleneck on moving deals to revenue and every night she goes to bed
feeling like she’s not doing enough, that she’s disappointing the company by not getting more
done. It sucks.
DOES She’s tried to create her own system for getting things done as best she can. The inputs and
the requirements at the other end in operations keep changing, though, so it’s hard.
Sonja the
Solutions
Engineer

02 SALESFORCE GAL DIAGNOSES PERSONAS
BONUS!
Creates personas for your client from a
library of enterprise personas you
maintain.

THINKS
What is their point of view on your area of interest?
What do they like, dislike about it?
What’s the difference in their view between how it is and how it should be?
SEES What inﬂuences and informs them about your area of interest?
Where do they get that? Peers? Media?
FEELS What are the underlying emotional drivers in the area?
How does that inﬂuence what they do and their interest in alternatives?
DOES When you observe them, what do they actually do?
(photos help)
: )
Exercise: Draft Think-See-Feel-Do for a
persona in a project you did.
(5 min)

02 PERSONAS? PROBLEM SCENARIOS?
PROBLEM
SCENARIO
ALTERNATIVES
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
X
?
!
PERSONA
Exercise: Draft a problem scenario-
alternative-value proposition trio (5 min)

DO EARLY, OFTEN
They’re never 100% right. The
win is to make them your go-to
tool for thinking about users.
FREQUENCY ≈
RELEVANCE
THINK-SEE-FEEL-DO
Keep things focused and
relevant with think-see-feel-
do.
T-S-F-D
SEGMENT BY ROLE
Organizing around roles helps
avoid confusion if some users
wear multiple hats.
ROLES
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
02 THREE TIPS ON CREATING ENT. PERSONAS

02 SALESFORCE GAL DIAGNOSES WITH THE ED
“What’s on your A-list right now
in Donor Development?”
“I’m spending a lot of
time with our new
Development Manager,
showing her what’s
worked in with donors
in the past and where
to focus month to
month based on what
we have going on and
our objectives.”
Salesforce Gal Executive Director
How are you tracking all that? “Just a spreadsheet on
our shared drive.”

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Implementing learned
best practices on
account development
tasks & keeping those
aligned with corporate
objectives
Self-generated
spreadsheet for account
tracking on shared drive
KeyActivity: Donor Development

“Anything else on Donor
Development? What else has
to get done in the process?”
“Well, we want to
recognize the
donations, let them
know our appreciation.
With the new folks and
scaling, we sometimes
drop the ball on that,
which we just have got
to ﬁx.”
“What do you typically do for
recognition?”
“Minimum, we send an
email. For the really big
ones, I send a hand-
written note.”

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Consistently
recognizing donors (for
longer term relationship
development)
Manual process with no
checks, tracking or
automation
KeyActivity: Customer Creation

“What else on Donor
Development?”
“It’s not easy to get
what I need to manage
the business, short
term and long term.
Short term, I need to
where we’re at
quarterly.
Long term, I have my
ideas but I’d like a
better picture of where
our donations have
come from and how we
approached those
donors.

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Reducing the overhead
required to obtain
reliable visibility on
sales progress towards
quarterly goals
Manual reporting
process via Excel
(periodically updated)
Maintaining perspective
on historical relationship
between activities and
donor segments
Manually review various
Excel reporting by
period
KeyActivity: Customer Creation

02 SALESFORCE GAL DIAGNOSES WITH DON
“Thanks for taking the time.
Can you tell me about how you
qualify leads?”
“Sure. Pretty much I …
[general answer]”
“Could you walk me through a
recent example?”
“You bet … [more of the
speciﬁcs SFG needed]”
“So, ﬁrst you qualify on whether
the donor funds the arts, funds
local education, and then
whether they have current year
funds?”
“Yup”
Salesforce Gal Don in Development

02 SF GAL DIAGNOSES LEAD QUAL. PROCESS

“Then what happens?” “If they’re a possible ﬁt
but not this year or not
until we’re doing
something in particular,
I mark them as not
qualiﬁed yet but make
a note to myself to call
them back.
If they’re not for us, I
mark them dead.
If they look good I put
them on my priority list.
Salesforce Gal Don in Development

METRICS
Process: Number of donors
qualified (or unqualified)
Output: % of Opportunities
where Post-Mortem == ‘Not
Qualified’
Outcome: Achievement
Against Fundraising
Objective ($), Size of Donor
Pool (net changes in donors)
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
RVA (Real Value-Added) Time:
Increasing time spent talking to the
right fundraising prospects
BVA (Business Value-Added):
Reduce time spent on reporting and
answering questions
NVA (Non Value-Added): Eliminate
time spent on calling on prospects the
company knows are unqualified

“Anything else on Donor
Development? What else has
to get done in the process?”
“Well, we want to
recognize the
donations, let them
know our appreciation.
With the new folks and
scaling, we sometimes
drop the ball on that,
which we just have got
to ﬁx.”
“What do you typically do for
recognition?”
“Minimum, we send an
email. For the really big
ones, I send a hand-
written note.”
(10 min)
1. input, output
2. transformative steps
3. metrics
Director on Donor Recognition’

METRICS
Process: Number of
recognitions sent
Output: % of undelivered
recognition's
Outcome: Net change in
portion of repeat donors (i.e.
churn)
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
RVA (Real Value-Added) Time: Time
spent on person to person donor
development
BVA (Business Value-Added):
Reduce time spent reporting on donor
follow-up’s
NVA (Non Value-Added): Fixing
broken automation, data models

PERSONAS BY USER ROLE
PERSONAS BY CUSTOMER
ROLE
You know who does what for the Key Processes you’re tackling.
When you go and explain an idea to said personas, it makes
sense to them.
PROBLEM SCENARIOS +
ALTERNATIVES
You’ve described all the significant tasks and items you heard
about in interviews.
PROCESS DEFINITIONS (NOTE: You may not define any processes in your first iteration
in a given Key Activity- you might just finish the above.)
The definitions make sense to users, including all key process
elements (input, output, steps, metrics).

03 PROPOSE SOLUTIONS

INPUT YOU’LL USE IT FOR…
PERSONAS BY USER ROLE
PERSONAS BY CUSTOMER
ROLE
Establishing how your implementation will benefit the business.
Organizing your validation criteria for definitive testing.
PROBLEM SCENARIOS +
ALTERNATIVES
(same as above)
PROCESS DEFINITIONS Define your solution in terms that are discussable, actionable,
and testable.

03 THE PROBLEM OF PROPOSING
Propose
AgreeDeliver
?
Propose
AgreeDeliver
It’s tricky.
We all have to
grapple with the
right recipe.

03 THE PROBLEM OF PROPOSING
a. Propose problems + propositions
b. Propose a testable solution
c. Propose small batches
d. Propose accountable reporting

03 PROPOSING PROBLEMS + PROPOSITIONS
Get agreement (or acceptance)
on definition and priority
Provide context for where you
see the best ‘wins’

KeyActivity 1
KeyActivity 2
KeyActivity 3
…
KeyActivity n
Problem
Scenario +
Alternative +
Your Ideas on
Propositions
Ranking Wins?
Reduction
Automation
Consolidation
Visibility

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
best practices on
account development
objectives
Self-generated
?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
best practices on
account development
objectives
Self-generated
The Salesforce
implementation will help
with best practice sales
and time management
with structure and
automation around
tasks like-
* lead scoring to
prioritize calls
* simple creation of
follow-up’s and related
notices to help prioritize
work

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Consistently
development)
checks, tracking or
automation
?
(3 min)

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Consistently
development)
checks, tracking or
automation
The Salesforce
implementation will
automate recognition
and track it for account
& sales management.

03 PROPOSING TESTABLE SOLUTIONS
6.a PIVOT
experiments
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 PIVOT OR PERSEVERE?
6.b PERSEVERE
experiments
prove hypothesis
Formulate from problem scenario-
alternatives-value proposition trios
Organize against value
propositions
Progressive testing
with users
Change approach or scale
up? (The quicker you get to
this point the easier it is to
make changes.)

0 Day 30 Day ID
DOES IT WORK?
Deep testing on real
data with a very
small set of users.
90 Day
DOES IT STICK?
Post deploy, are
users engaged at
expected levels? If
not, why not?
DID IT MATTER?
Is it delivering on the
target propositions?
If not, why not?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
best practices on
account development
objectives
Self-generated
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
tasks like-
* lead scoring to
prioritize calls
work
0 Day: ?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
best practices on
account development
objectives
Self-generated
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
tasks like-
* lead scoring to
prioritize calls
work
0 Day: DM inputs last 5
prospects; they go into
ﬁelds as designed
without additional
support or questions
30 Day: ?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
best practices on
account development
objectives
Self-generated
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
tasks like-
* lead scoring to
prioritize calls
work
0 Day: DM inputs last 5
prospects; they go into
ﬁelds as designed
without additional
support or questions
30 Day: login’s on at
least 18 working days
90 Day: ?

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
best practices on
account development
objectives
Self-generated
The Salesforce
and time management
with structure and
automation around
tasks like-
* lead scoring to
prioritize calls
work
90 Day: Deﬁnitive
results on sales
execution against
strategic market plan
+ Result: 80% new
growth is in Accounts
types in target
segments
- Result: Most growth is
not in target segments
and the underlying
reason can be identiﬁed
in Opportunity post-
mortems

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Consistently
development)
checks, tracking or
automation
The Salesforce
implementation will
& sales management.
?
(4 min)

PROBLEM SCENARIO
CURRENT
ALTERNATIVE
VALUE PROPOSITION
VALIDATION
CRITERIA
Consistently
development)
checks, tracking or
automation
The Salesforce
implementation will
& sales management.
0 Day: DM inputs
sample opportunities
(with test addresses);
the recognition
correspondence posts
as expected
30 Day: Closed
Opportunities are
receiving recognition as
expected and this is
visible
(4 min)

03 PROPOSE SMALL BATCHES
Stay accountable, but
in tighter loops.
Frame projects around appropriately
defined success criteria (strategic &
directional).
Avoid the false certainty of the
gantt chart.

03 PROPOSE ACCOUNTABLE REPORTING
What did we accomplish this week?
What will we accomplish next week?
What obstacles are impeding our
progress?
Highlight dependencies on internal/client resources.
If you need them, say so. Managers hate surprises.

PROPOSITIONS (FRAMED
AGAINST PROBLEM
SCENARIOS)
You’re conﬁdent about the incremental value of the deployment.
You have a sense of where the best wins reside.
VALIDATION CRITERIA You can visualize yourself presenting a deﬁnitive set of results.
PROCESS DEFINITIONS You’re ready to start writing user stories for implementation.

04 EXECUTE SOLUTIONS

OUTPUT YOU’LL USE IT FOR…
PROPOSITIONS (FRAMED
AGAINST PROBLEM
SCENARIOS)
Focusing your implementation on what’s relevant.
VALIDATION CRITERIA Making sure your solution is testable.
PROCESS DEFINITIONS Use as a solid blue print for implementation detail.

Salesforce is easy to do.
That doesn’t mean we
should do it too easily.
Thoughtful, testable
design is still important.

Agile user stories
remain some of
the best inputs.
PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIOS
STORIES
Epic Stories
Stories
Test Cases
“As a [persona],
I want to [do something]
so that I can [derive a beneﬁt]”
Bind them to your
process design.

04 A SUMMARY OF THE DELIVERABLES SO FAR
!
THINK SEE
FEEL DO
PERSONAS
Who?
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
What?
PROPOSITIONS
& ASSUMPTIONS
What if?
!
USER
STORIES &
EARLY
EXECUTIONS
How?
Scale?
Revise?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
/
VALIDATION
TESTING
Show me…?

04 A SUMMARY OF THE DELIVERABLES SO FAR
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
/
Did the
implementation
deliver on the story?
!
THINK SEE
FEEL DO
PERSONAS
Do we
understand this
user? What they
do and why?
PROPOSITIONS
& ASSUMPTIONS
!
Did we make
things better?
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
How does their
work link to the
Key Activities?
What is it?
How’s it going?
USER
STORIES &
EARLY
EXECUTIONS
VALIDATION
TESTING
How did the
user react?

04 SALESFORCE GAL DIAGNOSES A STORY

STORY TEST
“As a donor manager, I want to record
the Lead qualifications so myself or
someone else can readily follow up
with them on relevant next steps.”
Make sure it’s possible to qualify and record their charter.
?: Should this be a simple yes/no on arts & k-12? If so, in aggregate or separately?
?: Notion- would it be useful to record the URL if it’s online?
?: Place to make notes? If so, just one for general, or some kind of prompt or relationship to other items?
?: What’s in the DM’s notes for a typical qualification?
“As a donor manager, I want to record
the Lead qualifications so myself or
someone else can readily follow up
with them on relevant next steps.”
Make sure it’s possible to qualify current year funds.
?: What else is relevant here? Qualify when their new fund year/fiscal year starts? Size of typical donation?
“As a donor manager, I want to record the prospect’s qualifications so I
understand if and how I should progress with them.”

(5 min)
Exercise:
Write an epic
and related
stories around
the completion
of personal
donor
recognition.

STORY TEST
“As the ED, I want to quickly
understand the donor and their
contribution so I can follow up
appropriately and without additional
research.”
Make sure the donors name and address (email and/or street address) is clearly visible“As the ED, I want to quickly
research.”
Make sure the donors relationship to United Children’s Theater is clearly visible, including: parent, parent of alumni,
alumni, performer, audience member
research.” Make sure any past donations are visible
research.”
?: Can we review a sample of past letters to see what other details might be pertinent?
As the ED, I want to record when and
how I followed up so that I can review
that in the future and anyone who’s
dealing with the donor can easily see
this for account visibility.
If the follow-up is written, make sure there’s an easy way to attach it and association it to the donor and donationAs the ED, I want to record when and
how I followed up so that I can review
that in the future and anyone who’s
dealing with the donor can easily see
this for account visibility.
If the follow up is an email, make sure it’s logged in the same fashion
As the ED, I want to optionally include
vouchers to a future show so we
encourage continued involvement and
relationship development.
Make sure the vouchers are recorded and easily redeemable
“As the executive director, I want to follow up a donation with a personalized
response so we show our appreciation and develop the relationship.”

04 A LITTLE MORE ON STORIES
User stories are NOT
specifications or requirements.
If you have questions attached to your stories- GOOD!
Find the right people for discussions
about stories and use those to focus
the implementation

USER STORIES You know what to implement and how to validate it with users.
WORKING IMPLEMENTATIONS Users can get through at least the 0 Day validation criteria.

05 TEST SOLUTIONS

OUTPUT YOU’LL USE IT FOR…
VALIDATION CRITERIA Establishing success criteria for your testing.
USER STORIES Organizing your the details of your testing.
WORKING IMPLEMENTATIONS Having something to test with users.

05 TESTING YOUR SOLUTIONS
0 Day 30 Day ID
DOES IT WORK?
Deep testing on real
data with a very
small set of users.
90 Day
DOES IT STICK?
Post deploy, are
users engaged at
expected levels? If
not, why not?
DID IT MATTER?
Is it delivering on the
target propositions?
If not, why not?

05 VALIDATE SOLUTIONS
Detailed
observations
of a few users
Aggregate
results from
more users
Frequent tweaks
are easier
Don’t waste time trying
to achieve ‘statistically
valid’results

05 VALIDATE SOLUTIONS
Set realistic expectations
Even when enterprise software’s
really good, probably it will just
be tolerated
(the opposite of pizza)

05 LOG KEY USABILITY QUESTIONS AS YOU GO
brand lattice UI:
Drag and drop isn’t yet in common use.
Would users get it?
Noted as key assumption and became early
focal item in user test

05 ITERATING BASED ON TEST RESULTS
70% of users
didn’t get the
drag and drop
in this version
This change in
the annotation
was enough so
they got it

TESTED SOLUTIONS You know whether you’re solution is ready for the next level of
validation (30 day vs. 90 day, etc.)

06 PACKAGE SOLUTIONS

acowan@alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF
www.alexandercowan.com/venture-design
bit.ly/playsfdc
www.alexandercowan.com/startup-sprints

The Salesforce Playbook- 6 Steps to Better Deployments

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