Salesforce is one of the most effective customer relationship management tools in the world. It can help you stay on top of your game by guiding all your customers and prospects through the various aspects of your sales cadence.
However, for it to render desirable results for your business, you have to understand the inner workings of the software. It takes understanding what you’re trying to accomplish and what Salesforce features can help you accomplish it.
If you’re not sure where to start, then a part-time Salesforce consultant can help you out. Be sure to see below for an in-depth guide on what to look for in a Salesforce consultant.
1. Communication Skills
What’s the use of hiring someone to help you with Salesforce if, when they leave, you don’t understand it any more than when you hired them? You need someone that can help guide you and inform you.
You can judge this on the initial call you schedule with them. Ask them as many questions as you can in order to gauge their communication skills and whether it works for your needs.
Do they seem to be beating around the bush with their answers? Are they using too much Salesforce and IT jargon while explaining things to you? Are they too short or too long-winded with their answers?
Ideally, you want a part-time Salesforce consultant that can guide you through how to maximize Salesforce for your company rather than just doing all the work themselves without showing you step for step.
2. Return on Your Investment
Too many business owners make the mistake of searching for a Salesforce consultant and hiring the one with the lowest price that they can find. In doing so, they sabotage their own success in using Salesforce.
Not only will searching for the lowest price inhibit you from learning, but it will also cause you to spend more in the end, since you’ll most likely be hiring another one.
Start by creating a budget for the part-time Salesforce consultant you want to hire. This will help you have more accountability as you search for a consultant to hire.
Once you have that monthly budget created, you can look into the finer details of the services that they offer for the price. Those details can help you find the price point with the highest return on your investment.
For example, say your budget is $2,000 per month. You come across Cutopia and see that we offer two services that are around your budget. One for $1,000 per month and one for $2,500 a month.
The $1,000/month package offers up to 50 Salesforce users, 2 advanced admin requests, 10 basic admin requests, and a 48-hour turnaround.
By adding only $500 more to your monthly budget, you could get 100 more Salesforce users, 3 more advanced admin requests, 10 more basic admin requests, 2 developer hours, (not included in the smaller package), and a 24-hour turnaround.
In that case, you may find that raising your monthly budget to $2,500 a month will give you the return on investment that you need.
3. Salesforce and Consulting Experience
You could hire the biggest tech genius in the world for your need, but if they don’t know Salesforce or they don’t have any consulting experience, they won’t do you much good.
You need someone with both. Someone that has the experience and know-how to audit your Salesforce CRM’s current setup, your business model, and find out how the two can best collaborate.
Be sure to ask questions about their specific experience before you hire them. How many Salesforce projects have they completed in their career? Have they helped a client of your size before? What projects have they done that was similar to yours?
Don’t be afraid to ask them for stories, either. Ask them to tell you about a time or two where they helped a company similar to your size or industry. While they might not give away specific details, you’ll get a glimpse of how they can help you.
4. Positive Online Reviews
Any time that you’re looking to hire or outsource a need for your business, you should be referencing online reviews. These give you a peek behind the curtain.
Be sure to keep an eye on both the ratings and the comments. Do the clients seem satisfied with the service they receive? How long have they been working with them? What were the Salesforce issues they were having and how did the service solve them?
Look for keywords such as “knowledgeable”, “professional”, “dedicated”, and “informative” while you search. These are the intangibles you need to find in the part-time Salesforce consultant you hire.
5. Passion for Their Work
There’s a fine line between those that are highly-knowledgeable on Salesforce’s inner workings and those that have a passion for helping your business thrive off of it.
The part-time Salesforce consultant that you hire should have a customer-first approach in their work. You can tell when a consultant genuinely cares about teaching your business how to take advantage of Salesforce and when they’re just trying to collect a paycheck.
Get to know the consultant service a bit. What background do their employees come from? How are they teaching their staff to assist their customers?
Find the Perfect Part-Time Salesforce Consultant for Your Needs
Now that you have seen several key factors to look into a part-time Salesforce consultant, it’s time for you to find the perfect fit for your company’s needs.
Start here by reading our 10 Salesforce tips for small businesses. There you’ll learn more about how to simplify your CRM to achieve optimal results.
For more inquiries, please feel free to reach out via our online contact form and we will be happy to assist you further.