Now let’s look at what it takes to conduct a thorough Salesforce data audit.

Why Conducting a Data Audit Is Important

As stated above, it is essential to have an accurate and up-to-date view of your Salesforce data to make informed business decisions. A data audit provides this by reviewing all aspects of your data, from the accuracy of the information to how it is being used and accessed.

There are many benefits to conducting a Salesforce data audit, including:

• Improved decision making – with an accurate understanding of what data you have and how it is being used, you can make more informed decisions about your business;
• Increased efficiency – auditing your data can help identify areas where processes or systems are not working as efficiently as they could be.
• Reduced risk – by identifying and addressing issues with your data, you can reduce the risk of errors or inaccuracies that could lead to costly mistakes; and
• Improved compliance – if you are subject to any regulations or industry standards, a data audit can help ensure that you are meeting all the relevant requirements. 

Conducting a Salesforce data audit is essential in managing and protecting your data. It enables better decision-making, improved efficiency, reduced risk, and compliance with regulations and industry standards.

Take These Steps to Conduct a Salesforce Data Audit

Salesforce data audits are vital for businesses because they help ensure the accuracy and completeness of data. They also help identify potential problems so they can be fixed before they cause significant issues. Here are the steps to conducting a data audit:

Step 1: Define the Scope and Gather Your Data

Before you begin your data audit, it’s critical to define the scope of the audit. What data do you need to audit? This will help you determine which objects and fields need to be included in the audit. While this process can be somewhat tedious, it’s a necessary first step.

If you’re like most companies, your Salesforce data is spread out across multiple departments, systems, and applications. You need to gather information from all these sources to get a complete scope of your data.

Collect data from all the different sources that contain information about your customers, sales, and marketing activities. This data can include everything from customer contact information to sales performance data.

Step 2: Backup Your Data

Before conducting the audit, make sure to backup your data, to ensure it is safe in case of any issues that may arise during the audit. With a proper backup in place, if something goes wrong, you can have your org back to how it was in no time!

Step 3: Export Your Data

Once you have your Salesforce data, you’ll need to clean it up and prepare it for analysis. This includes removing duplicates, standardizing formats, and ensuring all required fields are populated. 

Step 4: Analyze the Data

Now that you have exported the data, it’s time to start looking for patterns and trends in the data. This is where you can identify any errors or potential problems.

As you analyze your data, you’ll need to decide what criteria you will use to determine whether or not the data is accurate. This will vary depending on your business, but some common examples include checking for incorrect values like dates that don’t make sense, duplicate records, and missing fields.

After you’ve identified some inaccurate data, you’ll need to take steps to fix it. This might involve updating the information directly or working with your team to ensure that future data is entered correctly.

Step 5: Prioritize Issues and Make Plans to Fix Them

Now that you’ve looked at your Salesforce data, it’s time to prioritize the issues based on their impact on business processes, data criticality, and the effort required to fix them. Determine which issues are most important to address first, and which can wait until later.

Develop a plan to address the identified issues, including defining the root cause of the issues and assigning ownership to specific individuals or teams. Your remediation plan should include specific action items, timelines, and responsible parties.

These plans may involve changes to processes, training for employees, or other measures. Implementing these changes can help to improve the overall performance of your Salesforce org and make it more effective for your business.

Step 6: Execute the Remediation Plan 

With your list of recommendations by your side, it’s time to start making the necessary changes in Salesforce to correct any issues. Fix these issues by correcting the data, modifying business processes, or implementing new controls. 

By taking these steps, you can help ensure that your data is accurate and up-to-date, which can help improve business processes and save time and money.

CapStorm Helps You Enhance Your Salesforce Data Audit Experience

Conducting a Salesforce data audit is essential to ensure the quality and accuracy of your company’s data. CapStorm’s products simplify the process of managing and migrating data, and our data quality tools make it easy to identify and fix data quality issues. By following these steps, you can conduct a comprehensive audit that can help you improve data quality, enhance business processes, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.

Want to learn more about how CapStorm can help you with your Salesforce data audits? Talk to our team today!