What is a Salesforce Consultant and how can I become one?

What is a Salesforce Consultant?

A Salesforce Consultant typically wears multiple hats. They might work in-house within a company or be contracted as an external consultant to help a business get the most out of their Salesforce CRM.

They would conduct business analysis with a client to understand their business goals and processes, understand pain points and opportunities for technology to support them, and have the technical knowledge to design and/or implement solutions to enhance the business processes and performance.

They are in a trusted position of authority as they are hired to help transform the way a team works to improve customer service and organisational performance.

A good consultant is one who understands the Salesforce platform but equally has good business analysis, project management and change management skills to guide people and organisations through a process to solve critical business problems.

What does a Salesforce Consultant do?

More and more companies are turning to tools such as Salesforce CRM to streamline the process of managing client relations, but not all business people are savvy with the latest software. That is where the role of the Salesforce consultant comes in!

Some of the responsibilities of a Salesforce Consultant include:

• Managing the Client Relationship
• Create and Manage Project Plans
• Mapping out Business Processes 
• Supporting People Through Change
• Gathering Functional (Business) Requirements 
• Managing a Team of Technical Staff
• Proposing Technical Requirements.
• Technical Product Configuration
• User Testing and Training

The Salesforce consultant helps businesses make the most out of their Salesforce platform. Their knowledge of both the platform and business practises combined with excellent communication skills, makes them a valuable asset to any company and it’s why they are rewarded well with an excellent salary.

Why is a Salesforce Consultant career rewarding

It’s really rewarding to help a business or non-profit achieve their business goals.  By helping improve their processes you can help them tangibibly reduce costs or increase their income, improve customer service and reduce complaints. It can be that impactful. 

On a personalable level, you can help to make someone’s job easier so they get to leave work on time, or focus more effort on the elements of the job they enjoy. You can help people feel happier and perform better in their role. It’s nice to put a smile on somone’s face. 

How can i become a Salesforce Consultant?

If you’re interested in becoming a Salesforce Consultant, one of the first things to consider is the qualifications and experience needed. Once of the main assets is Business Experience. Typically people want to hire Salesforce Consultants who have a background in the relevant industry relevant to the implementation. 

You may find that relevant transferral skills and experiences that you have gained in previous roles can help you on your way to becoming a Salesforce Consultant.  

These are great skills and attributes to have:

• Leadership and Management Skills and Experience
• Documenting and Improving Businesses Processes
• Communication, Questioning, Sales Skills at all Levels
• Producing Teaching Material and and Training People
• Industry Knowledge and Experience related to Customer Adopting Salesforce
• Analytical Problem-Solving Skills.

The next thing to consider is platform knowledge and certifications. If you are already a Salesforce Admin, you will more than likely have at least 2 certifications (Salesforce Admin and then Platform App Builder are a great starting place) but the longer you have worked with Salesforce, the more likely you are to achieve those higher paid roles, especially if you add a Salesforce Consultant certification to your CV or resume. Start with a product that you feel most experienced in e.g. If you have a background in Sales, pursue the Sales Cloud Consultant Certification. If you have a background in Service, pursue the Service Cloud Consultant Certification etc.

If you plan to take responsibility for gathering requirements, engaging stakeholders in digital transformation and managing a Salesforce implementation professionally then you will need an additional skill set beyond the standard Salesforce certifications.

Skills that every Salesforce Solo Admin or Consultant should possess, include:

• Agile Project Management
• Business Analysis
• Change Management
• DevOps
• NLP Coaching

If you want to find out more access our FREE ‘Introduction to Consultancy Skills Course and a copy of Heather’s Best Selling Book ‘Become a Super Salesforce Consultant’

Apply for a Salesforce Consultancy Role!

Once you are equipped with all of the relevant skills then you are ready to apply for a Salesforce Consultant job role.

The Supermums Recruitment Service can help you to secure your Salesforce Consultancy job role.

Visit our Jobs Page and see the different types of roles that could be waiting for you in the Salesforce ecosystem.

Register as a Candidate – If you are ready to apply for a job then apply for job roles now via our Recruitment Team

Be confident to lead a Salesforce Project with the Supermums Salesforce Consultancy Skills Course.

Choose from our on-demand course, or our full course that includes access to live training and coaching support.

• Conduct your Salesforce projects in professional way.
• Increase your confidence and expertise in leading and managing a Salesforce Project
• Be prepared with ready made Business Analysis scripts and templates
• Boost your salary and earning potential by at least 10k with Consultancy skills

Find out more