The easiest way to sell Salesforce cleanup to a VP? Use their own Sales Leaders

David Giller and I discussed how to convince the business to invest in Salesforce cleanup, here's our idea: "Use their Sales Leaders"

We think it's not wise to start with tech-debt assessment, but the loudest complainers, the Sales Leaders. You know these sales leaders who say Salesforce is too cluttered, too confusing or too slow are usually the same people whose teams start using renegade spreadsheets.

Show them five real quotes from Sales Leaders complaining about Salesforce. Put faces and names next to the quotes. Focus on five clear complaints from people the VP knows and trusts.

Then show them how a dedicated cleanup can make these complaints go away, that's how cleanup becomes very easy to understand.

It is no longer “IT wants budget for technical debt.” it becomes: “We can remove the exact reasons why your Sales Teams avoid Salesforce.”

Below an example slide.

PS: You still should do the tech debt assessment but not lead with it.