“5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Switching to Salesforce Lightning”

We get plenty of questions about Salesforce Lightning, but here’s a good recent one: What do Lightning adoptees wish they

3 min. read

We get plenty of questions about Salesforce Lightning, but here’s a good recent one: What do Lightning adoptees wish they would have known before making the switch? To answer, we talked to a few key people on our team who have been helping customers with Lightning for over a year now. Here’s some of their best advice:

1. You can always go back to Classic.

It’s easy to fret about making changes to Salesforce, especially if it’s working well. Why tinker with success? Sure, Lightning’s improved functionality and updated UI are alluring — but are they worth the risk? What if the switch doesn’t work out?

Before you get too stressed, we’ve got some good news: You can always go back to Salesforce Classic. In fact, you and your users can hop back forth as needed. It’s that easy.

Our team has heard from a number of customers who wish they hadn’t been so stressed before changing to Lightning. In retrospect, the anxiety wasn’t necessary.

2. Start with a pilot migration.

Your instinct might be to jump in head first, but our Solutions Architect suggests a slightly tempered approach. When the time comes to migrate, start with a pilot group. Doing so will allow you and your team to learn and experiment in a more controlled environment.

And when you do roll out Lightning to everybody else, you’ll be able to incorporate valuable feedback from the pilot group, ensuring the process goes smoothly for the full organization. You’ll also have a few Lightning champions — experienced users capable of offering help and suggestions.  

3. Don’t forget the importance of buy-in.

This one’s a good rule of thumb any time you’re introducing a new software to your team. You’ve spent days, weeks or months doing your research and weighing your options. You know the specific value Lightning will bring to your company. In short, you know why you’re making the switch. But does everybody else?

According to recent research, 70 percent of organizational transformations fail. To become the exception to the norm, make sure your whole team understands the “why” behind the change. Clearly communicate Lightning’s benefits to end users. Have your leadership team model a successful transition. Encourage patience and offer support. Doing these things will help boost buy-in and dramatically increase your chances of company-wide adoption.

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4. Lightning’s more than an updated UI. 

Yes, Lightning offers a more modern user interface. But it also brings new features and increased flexibility. In Lightning, creating dashboards is easier and takes less time. Page layouts are fully customizable. Everything is faster to load.

As you think about switching to Lightning, make sure you understand the true scale of what you’d be getting. One of our Salesforce Consultants called specific attention to the News feature, which many new Lightning users miss. The feature automatically displays the latest web news about customers, partners and competitors on your Salesforce home page. That kind of information could give you an easy leg up in building and maintaining important relationships.

If you’re not using every tool that could help your business, you’re not using Lightning to its full potential.

5. The Lightning Migration Assistant doesn’t cover everything.

The Lightning Migration Assistant is a valuable feature that lets you preview Lightning without fully enabling it. You can also use the Migration Assistant to generate a readiness report. This report will show you which aspects of your setup might not work well with Lightning, including development issues that would otherwise be easy to overlook.

However, the report won’t show you everything. We recommend doing additional research and thorough testing, or else seeking help from an expert, before making the switch. That way, you won’t trip over any hidden migration glitches. 

At the risk of sounding salesy, we’ll close with a point of emphasis from our Solutions Architect: We’ve seen many companies make the switch to Lightning and regret not doing so sooner. In their experience, the benefits outweigh any concerns. But of course, a choice this big is always about finding the right fit, and the time might not be right quite yet for you and your team to make the transition. Whenever that changes, keep these five points in mind.

Make sure to save a seat for our upcoming webinar on Lightning adoption!

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AUTHOR

Danielle Sutton