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The pathway to working as a Salesforce Consultant is far from straight. There are multiple ways to break into the industry and no one path sets you up for success more than the others. Whether you come into the role by way of being a Salesforce Administrator or by way of vertical hopping at a large consulting firm, there are 3 traits which will help you stand out and be successful in your job search and career.
1. Have a business process mindset: I always remind my team that we are consultants first, and technicians second. Our job is to understand our client’s business process, pain points, and objectives. Only after we have a deep understanding should we start translating those into requirements and technical solutions.
At Solving IT Edge, we focus on gathering requirements agnostic of the technology being used. Our Business Process Reviews (BPRs) focus on ensuring our clients feel confident that we have a deep understanding of what they do and why they do it before we discuss how technology can be used to improve the process.
2. “Always be learning”: My favorite part of being a Salesforce Consultant is the never-ending learning. Salesforce is constantly changing and evolving thus, presenting new features to learn and new technology to master. As a Salesforce consultant, it’s our job to stay on the cutting edge of new technology and proactively inform our clients on aspects of the platform they could be utilizing in order to gain more ROI from Salesforce.
“Always be learning” also ties to having a business process mindset. As a consultant, you get exposure to companies of different sizes, industries, and business objectives. Staying up to date on the events in your client’s industry is also important to being a successful and creditable consultant.
3. Know when Salesforce isn’t the right solution: As a soon-to-be consultant, you already know the power of Salesforce. There is no doubt that Salesforce tools are top of the pack when it comes to Marketing Automation, Customer Relationship Management, and Customer Engagement. While Salesforce thrives in the SaaS space, it isn’t a one-stop shop for all the technology a company needs to be successful. As a consultant, it’s your responsibility to ensure you are recommending the best solutions to meet the client’s business needs. To do this, you need to know where the capabilities of Salesforce end, and when other tools come in to provide the best end-to-end solution.
As a Salesforce Consultant, it’s not our job to be experts in other SaaS providers, but to provide recommendations on options which pair nicely with Salesforce and meet the client’s business needs. In these cases, your client may rely on you to put together a Vendor Analysis of other tools or a Build vs. Buy Analysis for certain features.
Becoming a Salesforce Consultant was the single best thing I have done in my career. It’s opened professional doors which I could have never dreamed of and gifted me with lifelong friendships. I am lucky that every day I genuinely enjoy the work I am doing and the impact I am having on my company, my team, and my clients. If the above skills sound interesting to you and you are ready to make the move into Salesforce Consulting, send an email to Possibilities@solvingit.com to learn more.
Photo by Gustavo Fring
