Even though you are a long-time user of Salesforce cloud CRM and have not faced any data-related problems yet, it is still essential to evaluate your data management strategy from time to time and ensure a proper data backup system and restoration strategy in place. Data management is not the only responsibility of Salesforce admins, but the users at various levels should also ensure database management best practices to ensure data security and quality.

You may come across many strategies that you can implement to improve sales data quality dramatically. Here, we will discuss some of the top Salesforce data management tips from the experts, many of which you may already know.

Tips for Salesforce data management

Creating a cross-functional team for data governance

Business data largely relay on all the business departments with equal importance to all. So, when it comes to ensuring the quality and protection of your available business data on Salesforce, it is essential to make everyone concerned involved in the data governance process. It is ideal for organizations to create cross-functional teams with representatives from various business functions such as finance, marketing, sales, production, etc., to ensure that the data recovery management is compliant with the industry regulations and all departments are involved in capturing data, ensuring the quality of the same.

Having a proper data security model

Salesforce data security is crucial for business functions, which can be effectively managed in various ways. This can be something daunting for the Salesforce admins to identify the most appropriate approach in efficiently managing data security. Reviewing all these data to understand what can be made public or private and setting up the privileges at various levels of data users is essential in ensuring data security. As discussed in the above paragraph, it is also necessary to make everyone involved responsible for data security and identify the correct model to support data security for your organization.

You also have to see the data security models from the object level to the field‑level security. Salesforce admins can take all this information and formulate a suitable mode of security features to protect sensitive data and ensure proper access to all users. Always keep in mind that a security model is not something static. This should be reviewed from time to time to accommodate all the changes and regulations and to be adjusted based on the internal needs.

Regular duplication of data

Another critical aspect of proper Salesforce data management is handling duplicate data. Duplication of data is a killer term in successful Salesforce adoption. Data duplication may result in adverse sales scenarios like many people working on the same lead, leaving a wrong impression on the customers, error in communication and follow-ups, etc. Administrators and data ambassadors need to implement a proper application that can help duplicate data and ensure dupe blocking in real-time. Data duplication from time to time can also help you with better salesforce data backup and recovery strategies.

Standardizing data regularly

As we know, business data is the critical driver of business decision-making to guide the processes related to operations, finance, sales, marketing activities, etc. This is one primary reason why data standardization regularly is essential in Salesforce management. Many critical elements like the postal code, state, industry, country, account type, and many other standard fields are there, which will give a proper insight into people and organizations you are connecting with. When standardizing data elements, always consider how they will be reported and presented to the end-users. If the data elements are not standardized, it may result in errors in reports.

Have a proper backup plan

This is a significant area where you will be strongly encouraged to duplication. Many companies follow a standard database backup procedure as the data flows in and out of their Salesforce platform. However, most of these practices are not foolproof, making the data vulnerable to inaccuracies, accidental data deletions, or even data loss. Once it happens, it can create a domino effect and result in complete data corruption. All the admins should be aware of the proper backup strategy, which has to be given paramount importance and reviewed from time to time.

Even if you have a native Salesforce data retrieval service, it is advisable to use a better third-party application for data backup and restoration while needed. You also need to keep an eye on timely backup of data and metadata on Salesforce so that it can be restored from any point in time in the past. You have the option to download many backup tools for Salesforce at the Salesforce App Exchange.

Refreshing and verifying the data

Data is constantly changing. People may change their jobs, address, email, phone numbers, and most of the time, it may not usually reach out to all they do business with. So, it is essential to keep your data updated in your case. Refreshing data should be done at least once every three months to have accurate information at your end.

Some of the companies may take a layered approach here, as they use it as an opportunity to engage with their user base to gather updated information. You can try to reach out to your users through email or instant messaging services to check the records and request them to update the details. But those who are not responding, their data can be hit up against the email verification services.

You may also publish the data processor of your organization to make Salesforce data management work properly. All the users involved should be aware of it and be trained on best practices’ database usage. This has to be done correctly from time to time.

These are some fundamental areas to keep an eye on in proper Salesforce data management strategy. It is also crucial to ensure that you have an appropriate backup of data and restoration strategy in place, otherwise at any point in time, you may be in trouble with an unexpected and unacceptable data loss.