Salesforce implementation guide: phases, timeline and checklist
The five phases of a Salesforce implementation, what happens in each, what drives the timeline, and a checklist to use before you sign a statement of work.
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We work with Tucson's aerospace, diagnostics, mining-technology and logistics companies from our St. Louis headquarters, remotely day to day and in person for workshops and go-lives.
Photo: JC Cervantes / Unsplash
Abstrakt Solutions is a Salesforce Consulting Partner that serves companies in Tucson and across Southern Arizona, remotely and on site. Tucson is one of our focus markets.
Tucson is a few hours by air from St. Louis. Most work happens remotely, and we travel for workshops, go-lives and training.
Figures cover the Tucson, AZ Metro Area (AZ).
Manufacturing is the largest private sector in the Tucson metro, with health care second. The Chamber of Southern Arizona, formerly Sun Corridor Inc., covers a region wider than Pima County and targets aerospace and defense, bioscience and healthcare, transportation and logistics, and renewable and mining technologies. It names a large defense contractor with major Tucson operations as the anchor of the aerospace and defense sector. Its lists also include a tissue-diagnostics maker, a drug-development research nonprofit that the Chamber says is headquartered in Tucson, the mining-equipment sales, services and technology division of a global heavy-machinery maker, a major mining company and two e-commerce fulfillment sites in Pima County.
According to the Chamber, the Tucson International Airport Employment Zone has more than 100 tenants in maintenance, aviation services and air cargo, among them that same defense contractor, a business-jet service center, a regional-aircraft support firm and an avionics maker. An Air Force base inside the metro also figures in the local economy. The University of Arizona adds research capacity through the UA Tech Park at Rita Road, 1,267 acres with more than 85 companies, and the UA Center for Innovation, which runs startup incubators in Tucson, Oro Valley, Sahuarita, Vail and at Biosphere 2.
Largest private sectors, 2024 GDP share.
Tucson's aerospace, defense and mining-equipment makers manage long programs, supplier networks and aftermarket service, which calls for careful account structures and ERP integration.
Alongside health providers, the region's diagnostics and research organizations need Salesforce for customer service, partner programs and scientific outreach with strict access controls.
Retailers across Pima County can use Salesforce to connect store, online and service interactions so marketing and support work from the same customer record.
Engineering, research and technology firms around the UA Tech Park and university incubators often need a CRM for partnerships, grants and client projects rather than a standard sales funnel.
Regional target sectors: Aerospace & Defense, Bioscience & Healthcare, Transportation & Logistics, Renewable & Mining Technologies (The Chamber of Southern Arizona (formerly Sun Corridor Inc.))
Suppliers to aerospace and defense programs typically face strict customer requirements on data handling, so Salesforce permissions and integrations need review before expansion.
Mining-technology and industrial companies send technicians to spread-out locations, and scheduling, parts and service history are hard to manage without a field service system.
Diagnostics and research groups track collaborators, studies and grants, and they need Salesforce configured around those relationships instead of a generic sales model.
Client names are anonymized and these projects are not specific to Tucson. All case studies →
Written by the consultants delivering the work.

The five phases of a Salesforce implementation, what happens in each, what drives the timeline, and a checklist to use before you sign a statement of work.
Read the full post →Build the model around the site, not just the company. Mining customers often run several pits and processing facilities with different contacts, safety requirements and equipment fleets. Create site-level accounts or locations, attach installed equipment as assets, and use Field Service to schedule technicians with the right certifications for each site. Service contracts and parts quotes then tie back to the specific asset. Remote locations mean offline mobile access is essential, so we test the Field Service app in low-connectivity conditions before go-live.
Diagnostics firms usually sell instruments and consumables, then support them for years, so Sales Cloud and Service Cloud should share an installed-base view. Track which instruments sit at which lab, reagent usage trends and service history in one place. Route technical complaints with clear handoffs to your quality system, and keep regulated records there. Distributor partners outside the U.S. can work through an Experience Cloud portal. We typically start by reconciling account hierarchies, since health systems and reference labs often appear under several names.
Adopt it once more than one person is selling or once investors ask for pipeline reporting you cannot produce from spreadsheets. University spinouts often have an unusual mix of relationships to track: grant agencies, licensing contacts, pilot customers and early investors. A lightweight Sales Cloud setup with custom record types for grants and pilots covers that without heavy customization. Name fields and stages in plain language so future hires can follow the history. Our Jumpstart approach gets the essentials live quickly, then leaves room to grow.
Last reviewed September 26, 2026.
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