If you’ve ever tried to untangle a mess of parent and child accounts in Salesforce, you know just how quickly things can get out of hand. Multiple billing addresses, duplicate accounts, teams stepping on each other’s toes—sound familiar? If you’re using Tractioncomplete to manage account hierarchies, you’re already a step ahead. But the tool can only take you so far. The real challenge is setting things up in a way that actually helps your team, instead of creating another layer of confusion.
This guide is for admins, ops folks, and anyone who’s been voluntold to “just fix the hierarchy.” We’ll walk through the best ways to set up account hierarchies in Tractioncomplete, call out what works (and what’s a waste of time), and give you the sanity-saving shortcuts you need.
1. Get Clear on Why You Need Account Hierarchies
Don’t start with “best practices.” Start with what your business actually needs.
Ask yourself: - Who needs to see roll-up info (like total revenue by parent account)? - Will sales or customer success teams use this? If so, for what? - Do you care about legal entities, billing relationships, or just grouping brands?
If you skip this step, you’ll end up with a beautiful hierarchy that nobody uses. Or worse—a complicated mess people actively avoid.
Pro tip:
Write down your top 1-2 hierarchy goals before you touch Tractioncomplete. Reference them when deciding anything else.
2. Clean Up Your Salesforce Data First
Tractioncomplete is powerful, but it can’t work miracles. Garbage in, garbage out.
Here’s what matters most: - Duplicates: Merge or flag obvious dups. Tractioncomplete can help, but don’t rely on it to fix years of neglect. - Account types: Make sure “Parent,” “Subsidiary,” “Location,” etc., are actually used the way you think they are. - Address fields: Standardize these. If corporate HQs are scattered across 10 addresses, hierarchy logic gets weird. - Account naming: No more “Acme Corp – Main,” “Acme Main Office,” and “Acme Corporation Main.” Pick a convention and stick to it.
Skip this, and you’ll spend weeks fixing downstream problems.
3. Map Out Your Hierarchy—On Paper
Before you click a button, sketch out your ideal hierarchy. Whiteboard, napkin, whatever.
Things to decide: - Depth: How many layers do you actually need? Most companies don’t need more than 2-3. - Relationships: Is it always parent-child, or do you need something more flexible (like sibling accounts)? - Exceptions: Are there accounts that break the model? (They always exist. Plan for them.)
If this feels tedious, remember: fixing a bad hierarchy later is way more painful.
4. Set Up Your Tractioncomplete Hierarchy Rules
Now you’re ready to use Tractioncomplete for what it does best—automating the grunt work.
How to approach it:
- Define your relationship logic: Tractioncomplete lets you set rules for what counts as a parent, subsidiary, etc. Use fields you actually trust—don’t build logic off a field nobody maintains.
- Decide when to auto-link vs. manual review: Automatic linking is great, until it isn’t. For high-value accounts, require a human to double-check.
- Leverage the preview function: Always preview changes before pushing live. You’ll catch weird edge cases.
What to skip:
Don’t over-engineer with dozens of custom rules “just in case.” Start simple. Add complexity only if real problems crop up.
5. Roll Out the Hierarchy in Phases
It’s tempting to flip the switch for everyone, but that’s how you end up with angry emails (or worse, sales reps ignoring your work).
Best approach: - Pilot with a small group: Choose a region, segment, or a handful of users who actually care about hierarchy data. - Get feedback: Are people finding what they need? Any surprises or broken workflows? - Tweak, then expand: Fix what you can, then roll out to the next group.
Pro tip:
Document “gotchas” early users find. This makes training way less painful later.
6. Train Teams—But Keep It Simple
Most users don’t care about hierarchy theory. They want to know: “What’s different? How does this help me?”
Focus training on: - How to find all related accounts (parent, child, siblings) fast - Where to log activities (parent vs. child) - How revenue/metrics roll up (and where they don’t) - Who to ask when something looks wrong
Skip the lecture about hierarchy philosophy. Show them what’s new in Tractioncomplete, answer their “how do I...” questions, and move on.
7. Monitor and Maintain (But Don’t Babysit)
No matter how good your setup, things slip. M&A, new branches, and creative salespeople will test your rules.
Keep it under control by: - Setting up alerts: Use Tractioncomplete or Salesforce reports to flag accounts missing parent/child links, or where records don’t match your rules. - Scheduling regular reviews: Once a quarter is plenty for most orgs. Don’t turn this into a full-time job. - Encouraging feedback: Give users a quick way to report weird hierarchy issues. A simple form beats a flood of emails.
What to ignore:
Don’t try to make everything perfect. Focus on accounts that matter (top revenue, strategic customers), not every little orphan record.
8. Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
Some lessons you don’t want to learn the hard way:
- Overcomplicating: More layers, more fields, and more logic is rarely better.
- Relying on auto-magic: Bulk linking without review can make a mess faster than you can fix it.
- Ignoring exceptions: There will always be oddballs—don’t break the whole model for one-off cases. Isolate them instead.
- Poor documentation: If only one admin understands the hierarchy, you’re just waiting for a resignation to trigger chaos.
9. Quick Reference: What Actually Works
Here’s what tends to pay off, no matter your industry:
- Standardize account names and types before building hierarchies.
- Limit hierarchy depth—2-3 levels is usually enough.
- Use Tractioncomplete’s preview and manual review features liberally.
- Pilot changes with real users, not just the admin team.
- Schedule light, regular maintenance—don’t let it pile up.
Setting up account hierarchies in Tractioncomplete isn’t about chasing “best practices” for their own sake. It’s about making your data actually usable for the people who rely on it. Start simple, focus on what matters, and don’t get sucked into endless tweaks. The best account hierarchy is the one your team actually uses—and that you can fix when things change. Iterate, listen, and don’t be afraid to cut complexity.