Where should the Salesforce team be positioned within an organization?

Choosing where to position the Salesforce team within your organization is no small feat. A number of factors can influence this decision, including company size, scope of Salesforce usage, business functions supported, company culture, and specific organizational needs.

The ultimate goal should be to achieve seamless coordination and efficiency between the Salesforce team and other departments within the organization.‍

Size matters

For smaller companies with limited Salesforce usage, it may be appropriate to place the Salesforce team within the Revenue Operations (RevOps) team.

This group typically collaborates with the Sales and Marketing departments. However, as a company grows, the Salesforce environment can become more complex, with a multitude of automations, triggers, and integrations. In such cases, it might be more sensible to have the Salesforce team fall under the umbrella of the IT department.

The IT department, with its knowledge of software architecture and technical infrastructure, is better suited to manage this increased complexity.

Scope of Salesforce usage

The specific Salesforce modules being used also play a role in this decision. If your organization primarily uses Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud, it might make more sense to place the Salesforce under a Revenue function (gasp!). .

However, if the organization uses a wide array of Salesforce offerings, such as Service Cloud, Revenue Cloud, and Data Cloud, it might be more appropriate for the Salesforce team to report to the CIO. When a company develops applications or products that operate within the Salesforce ecosystem, the CTO should also be involved in the decision-making process.

Business functions supported

The business functions that Salesforce supports should also be considered.

For instance, if Salesforce supports Customer Relationship Management, Sales, or Customer Support, it might be placed under the corresponding business function. In larger organizations, especially those with wide-ranging Salesforce support across multiple functions, placing the Salesforce team under IT or Tech may be the most logical choice.

IT vs. the business

Some organizations use a hybrid approach. They might have an IT-reporting team handling development and core platform administration of Salesforce, while a Business-reporting team handles business analyst and product management functions.

The Business team might report to an Operations organization, which operates as a peer of Sales. In this model, both teams work closely together.

Independent vs. stakeholder ownership

It’s worth noting that placing Salesforce under a specific stakeholder group, such as Sales or Marketing, can sometimes lead to a focus on that group's needs to the detriment of the organization's broader needs and data governance standards.

An independent group, possibly under the CIO, can help ensure that Salesforce serves the needs of the entire organization.

Outcomes, communications

In organizations that emphasize measuring outcomes, such as non-profits, it may be useful to position the Salesforce team within the Research and Evaluation team.

Alternatively, the Salesforce team might fall under the Communications team, which manages email marketing. Establishing a Community of Excellence (COE) that spans departments is also an effective approach.

Company culture and needs

Company culture and needs should also inform this decision. Some companies might prefer to place the Salesforce team under Operations, while others might have it under the COO or CTO.

The key is to foster active involvement and partnership with relevant teams to maximize the return on investment from Salesforce.

Center of Excellence (COE)

Some organizations position Salesforce within a well-defined COE function that works closely with technical teams, which might be positioned in IT. This COE should have representation from all business beneficiaries of Salesforce.

Speed, agility

For some startups or fast-paced organizations, the Salesforce team might be positioned under Operations to maintain agility and speed in decision-making, avoiding the bureaucratic measures that might come with IT placement.

Look, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The optimal positioning of the Salesforce team within an organization depends on a variety of factors. The key is to ensure that wherever the Salesforce team is placed, there is effective communication and collaboration between all relevant stakeholders, maximizing efficiency and the overall impact of Salesforce on the organization.