Salesforce Admin to Salesforce Consultant

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Salesforce Admin to Salesforce Consultant

Posted by: Tom
Category: News

How to make a move from being a Salesforce Administrator to working for a Salesforce Partner as a Salesforce Consultant?

As a Salesforce Admin, this is a massive question usually accompanied with how do you get exposure to the technical knowledge needed, how do you get implementation/project experience and do you have the ability to make that step into consultancy? – All questions I was persecuting myself with before deciding to make what felt like a massive leap of faith into the world of Salesforce consulting.

I moved to become a Salesforce Consultant a year ago and never regretted the decision. I had been working as an end user Salesforce Administrator for four years, I had my certification, and for me, there were several good reasons for making a move into consulting:

  • Working as a Salesforce Administrator for an end user, I was restricted to the Salesforce products used by my employer. I had limited prospects of further exposure to other Salesforce products.
  • There is no greater platform than Salesforce consultancy to develop Salesforce knowledge, improve ‘soft skills and gain exposure to the entire Salesforce product range.
  • As a Salesforce Consultant, you can reach and positively impact many more people with your skills and abilities than you can be working as a Salesforce Administrator for an end user.

Looking back at my 1st year as a Salesforce Consultant, my experience of the transition from end-user administrator has taught me that there are many misconceptions about what I previously believed were barriers.

For example, as a new consultant, you are not expected to know everything about the entire Salesforce system; it is frankly too large for one person to know everything. Here at Ignyto, there is always someone who knows the answers and is willing to help.

One of the main differences between being an administrator and working as a consultant is the concept of ‘Billable Time’. This is highly important as a consultant as the product you’re selling is ‘time’. A challenge for anyone new to consulting, therefore, is estimating time to complete a task. As an administrator, you will have been used to completing many of the build-related tasks, but it’s unlikely you’ll have noted how long these tasks actually take to complete – this comes with time, and there are always people who can help and advise.

Consultancy is also a customer-facing role, whereas an administrator will likely be an internally focused role. The importance of ‘Soft Skills’; the ability to communicate and influence, should not be underestimated, and in many ways, are much more difficult skills to teach/learn than more technical skills.

The step into consulting is not as big as you think it may be – there are not just ‘Salesforce Consultants’; there are Junior, Functional, Senior, Principal Consultants and Salesforce Architects, to name a few. There are many ‘levels’ and roles within a Salesforce Partner such as Ignyto; this should also not be a barrier to starting a career as a Salesforce Consultant.

If you are interested in becoming a Salesforce Consultant remember that:

  • Salesforce experience is highly desirable but not always essential, and ‘Soft Skills’ can be of equal value – Communication is key.
  • Find a Salesforce Practice such as Ignyto that have the processes and desire to understand your strengths, weaknesses and aspirations.
  • You will never know everything about Salesforce; however, you should always strive to learn more.

A final thought for anyone aspiring to become a Salesforce Consultant is that there is honestly no better time to have a go; what is the worst that can happen?

Have a look at our current open roles to see whether Ignyto have any opportunities available for a Salesforce Consultant.