Salesforce started as a CRM service provider in 1999. Today it is a pioneer in the field of customer relationship management software. Now the company provides a wide range of products and services applicable to the cloud, social, and mobile platforms. The best part is multiple clients can share the software simultaneously, and there is no need to upgrade separately.
The Salesforce Marketing cloud lets the client track customer journeys and aids in social media marketing, content management, etc. The Salesforce community cloud helps you organize the tasks and facilitates effective communication within the teams. The Sales commerce cloud integrates e-commerce and in-store data and aids in providing excellent customer service on all the platforms.
There are various other platforms like Salesforce analytics and app cloud. Businesses often find it difficult to make most of the Salesforce platforms. Thus, it is recommended to have an in-house or hire a salesforce consultant.
1) Automate workflow and business processes
Salesforce lets you automate business procedures. As a consultant, one will have to define time-dependent workflow rules for various business operations. The technical salesforce team is responsible for validating, modifying fields, and creating frontend pages. One will have administration tasks like creating roles and giving access to the users from different teams.
For solution designing and business modeling, the consultants need to be familiar with lightning process builders. One will also create approval processes for business operations and define assignment, work sharing, and escalation rules. These tasks are business-sensitive. Therefore, it is advisable to have the top salesforce partners for consultation.
2) Configure and implement various Sales cloud services
The platform is cloud-based, and the consultant has to aid in the configuration and implementation of services. The team tests the settings for different business scenarios before handing the application to the users. They need to process and maintain business requirement documents.
They write programs for delivering personalized marketing content for customers. The job also involves understanding the current state of the business and migrating data accordingly.
3) Create dashboards and reports
Today, businesses rely on predictive analysis to decide the course of marketing. Salesforce has various analytics tools that help study customer interactions, website traffic, etc. One can draw insights and decide on optimum pricing, targeted promotions, and fix issues. To present the data to stakeholders, the salesforce consultants need to develop reports and visualizations.
Thus, generating custom reports and dashboards is an essential skill of salesforce consultants. They develop custom charts to enhance the data features using different APIs. For example, they can use Google Maps API to show a dynamic map on every customer’s or account’s profile.
4) Create custom objects
The salesforce consultants need to create customized databases for storing client records, product details, marketing info, etc. These are called custom objects. It facilitates data comprehension for sales and customer service people. The consultants will integrate different systems and develop and control the data model. It involves defining data relationships based on business requirements. Salesforce facilitates easy ways for data manipulation through SOSL and SOQL.
5) Communicate with clients
To have a solid career, salesforce consultants need excellent communication skills. They have to build rapport with the client team. In the beginning, the salesforce consultants are part of kick-off meetings and have to gather the requirements from the clients. Once the project prerequisites are available, it is essential to validate the needs with Salesforce products and start the solution design.
Lead consultants have to take responsibility for all project stages, from understanding client requirements to overseeing deployments. They will have to give timely reports on business performance and suggest changes. They have to deliver the project on time and within budget. Senior consultants are the point of escalation for the clients and should know to manage difficult situations well.
6) Problem-solving and planning
The salesforce tools eliminate the need for traditional customer service and management practices. All data of customers are available on the cloud interface, which the sales and service persons can access. Thus, it is the responsibility of the salesforce consultant to plan staffing requirements and decide on the budget and project timelines. They have to identify operational issues that can crop up during execution.
Final Thoughts
A salesforce consultant wears multiple hats. They need to have a sound understanding of the technical and business processes involved. They need to be aware of web technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The salesforce team must configure and maintain sandbox environments for application testing purposes. One often begins in admin roles. You set up the Salesforce software for employees and train them to use it.
With sufficient experience in various salesforce projects, one starts customizing for business requirements. In the B2B industry, the salesforce consultants act as the bridge between the company and the client. The career is rewarding as it directly influences profitability and makes the job easier for the sales, marketing, and management teams.