When your most senior Salesforce admin or expert gives notice, it can feel like a punch to the gut. The person who held all the keys to your Salesforce kingdom is walking out the door—and suddenly you’re left wondering: What breaks next?
At Cloud Connects, we’ve seen this play out too many times. And while it can be scary, the good news is: you can avoid disaster with the right exit strategy.
There is. Watch our short video guide below, or read on for the step-by-step instructions.
The “Hit-By-A-Bus” Reality of Salesforce Admin Turnover
Sometimes you see it coming. Sometimes you don’t. But when your Salesforce admin leaves, you’re at risk for:
- Broken reports and dashboards
- Failed lead routing due to inactive users
- Disrupted integrations with marketing, finance, or support platforms
- Angry executives when their dashboards fail
- Compliance and security issues if user accounts aren’t properly deactivated
The reality? Most Salesforce orgs carry hidden landmines that only surface when it’s too late. Our job is to help you defuse them before they explode.
Your Salesforce Admin Exit Checklist
Let’s break it down step-by-step, just like we do for our clients:
1. Capture Key User Data
- Username
- User ID (15 or 18 character Salesforce ID)
- Export and securely store this information—you’ll need it later.
- Freeze the account (best practice before full deactivation). (Salesforce Help: Deactivate Users)
2. Download Salesforce Metadata
- Use Workbench or similar tools to retrieve metadata.
- Search for any references to the departing user’s ID in workflows, automation, Apex code, validation rules, and flows.
- Remove hard-coded IDs or references that could break processes.
3. Update Default System Settings
- Default Lead Owner
- Default Workflow User
- Automated Case User
- Apex Exception Emails
- Process Automation Settings
4. Audit Automations
- Search all automation for any references to the departing user.
- Update ownership, email alerts, validation rules, and approval processes.
- Hardcoded IDs are Salesforce’s silent killers—hunt them down.
5. Transfer Record Ownership
- Use reporting and tools to identify all records owned by the departing user across all objects.
- Bulk reassign records using Salesforce record ownership transfer tools or Salesforce’s native tools.
- Don’t forget custom objects and integrations!
6. Review Reports and Dashboards
- Identify reports and dashboards owned or modified by the user.
- Update running users for dashboards.
- Remove report folder sharing tied to the inactive user.
7. Inspect External Integrations
- Check Connected Apps and Integration Users.
- Confirm credentials aren’t tied to the deactivated user.
- Review Installed Packages and Managed Packages licensing.
- Audit login history to identify all external systems using the user’s credentials.
Why This Matters (A Lot)
Doing this work isn’t just Salesforce hygiene—it’s critical to:
- Prevent high-stakes outages for sales, marketing, support, and leadership teams.
- Avoid embarrassing escalations from executives when dashboards fail.
- Ensure legal and security compliance by fully deactivating access.
- Build long-term confidence in your Salesforce org’s stability.
Too often, companies skip these steps and pay the price months or years later. We’ve seen organizations keep zombie admin accounts alive for years out of fear of breaking things. Don’t be that company.
How Cloud Connects Can Help
At Cloud Connects, we’ve built a reputation for helping teams clean up Salesforce messes—both proactive and reactive. Our expert team brings:
- Deep Salesforce technical expertise
- No-fluff, outcome-focused Salesforce Org Audits
- Pragmatic, actionable Salesforce Implementations
- Flexible, scalable Managed Services
- The tough-love guidance you need to stabilize and scale your Salesforce investment
If you’re facing a Salesforce admin departure—or simply want to sanity-check your current system before it’s too late—Book a Discovery Call.
We’ll leave you better than we found you. We pinky promise.
Related Resources
- Salesforce Help: Deactivate Users
- Salesforce Record Ownership Transfer
- Watch the Full Walkthrough on YouTube
Cloud Connects is a boutique Salesforce consultancy focused on helping organizations simplify complexity and maximize Salesforce ROI. We serve financial services, high tech, retail & consumer goods, and more.
