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Salesforce Implementation Checklist: 50 Steps from Planning to Go-Live

Salesforce Implementation Checklist: 50 Steps from Planning to Go-Live

A successful Salesforce implementation is not about technology – it is about discipline. After 12+ years and dozens of enterprise rollouts, we have refined this checklist into the 50 steps that actually determine whether an implementation succeeds or fails. Use it as your roadmap from initial planning through go-live and beyond.

Phase 1: Discovery (Steps 1-10)

  1. Define business objectives and measurable KPIs for the Salesforce implementation
  2. Identify executive sponsor and project steering committee
  3. Document current business processes across sales, service, and marketing
  4. Map existing data sources and systems that need to integrate with Salesforce
  5. Catalog all user roles, permission requirements, and license types needed
  6. Conduct stakeholder interviews to capture requirements from every department
  7. Audit existing data quality – duplicates, missing fields, inconsistent formats
  8. Define data migration scope: which records, which fields, which history
  9. Establish project timeline with phase milestones and dependencies
  10. Create a risk register with mitigation strategies for each identified risk

Phase 2: Design (Steps 11-20)

  1. Design the Salesforce data model: standard objects, custom objects, relationships
  2. Map business processes to Salesforce automation: flows, assignment rules, escalation rules
  3. Design the security model: profiles, permission sets, sharing rules, role hierarchy
  4. Plan page layouts and record types for each user role
  5. Design the integration architecture: middleware, APIs, sync frequency, error handling
  6. Create wireframes for custom Lightning pages and dashboards
  7. Define validation rules and field dependencies
  8. Plan the email template library and communication workflows
  9. Design reports and dashboards aligned with the KPIs from Step 1
  10. Document the complete solution design and get stakeholder sign-off

Phase 3: Build (Steps 21-32)

  1. Configure org settings: company information, fiscal year, currency, locale
  2. Build custom objects, fields, and relationships per the data model
  3. Implement security model: profiles, permission sets, role hierarchy
  4. Build page layouts, record types, and Lightning app navigation
  5. Configure automation: flows, process builder, assignment rules
  6. Build validation rules and formula fields
  7. Configure email templates and notification workflows
  8. Build reports and dashboards
  9. Develop custom Lightning Web Components if needed
  10. Build integrations with external systems
  11. Configure mobile app settings and layouts
  12. Set up sandbox environments for testing and training

Phase 4: Data Migration (Steps 33-38)

  1. Clean source data: deduplicate, standardize formats, fill required fields
  2. Create field mapping document: source field to Salesforce field for every object
  3. Build and test data migration scripts (Data Loader, custom ETL, or middleware)
  4. Run trial migration in sandbox and validate record counts and field accuracy
  5. Validate lookup relationships and record ownership after trial migration
  6. Plan cutover migration window and data freeze period

Phase 5: Testing (Steps 39-44)

  1. Execute unit testing for every automation, validation rule, and flow
  2. Conduct integration testing: verify data flows correctly between all connected systems
  3. Perform user acceptance testing (UAT) with real users and real scenarios
  4. Test security: verify each profile can only access what it should
  5. Load test: simulate expected user volume to identify performance bottlenecks
  6. Fix all critical and high-severity bugs before proceeding to deployment

Phase 6: Deployment and Go-Live (Steps 45-48)

  1. Conduct end-user training sessions tailored to each role
  2. Create user guides, quick reference cards, and video walkthroughs
  3. Execute production data migration during the planned cutover window
  4. Deploy all configurations and customizations to production using change sets or DevOps tools

Phase 7: Post-Go-Live (Steps 49-50)

  1. Provide hypercare support for the first 2-4 weeks: dedicated team, rapid response to issues, daily check-ins with key users
  2. Conduct 30-day post-launch review: measure KPIs against targets, gather user feedback, plan Phase 2 enhancements

The Steps Most Teams Skip (and Regret)

In our experience, the steps most commonly skipped are 7 (data quality audit), 13 (security model design), 37 (relationship validation after migration), and 50 (post-launch review). Every one of these has caused significant problems on projects where they were skipped. The data quality audit alone can prevent weeks of post-go-live firefighting.

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Want this checklist applied to your project? Contact Titanixforce – we use this exact framework on every implementation we deliver.

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