Is Salesforce a Good Career?
An interesting doctrine by Jack Ma sets precedence for what businesses should focus on now for their future, customer-centricity. According to the CEO of Alibaba the giant technology and e-commerce company, “first focus on customer satisfaction and second on teamwork. Shareholders’ interests come third because they are outcomes, not inputs”. Today, retaining existing customers is more crucial than attracting new ones. Futuristic businesses are out to establish lasting relationships with customers and this bit has not been skipped by the technological advancements that are so furiously taking on the world. With a focus on customer satisfaction, the concept of customer retention has brought about the development of several CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools. The Salesforce CRM is one such application and among the most widely used. 
This article introduces you to Salesforce and why having a Salesforce certification is beneficial for your career.
What is Salesforce?
First and foremost, Salesforce is a CRM tool. Secondly, it is a cloud application.
The salesforce platform puts all the departments of a company on one page where the customer is concerned. This makes it not only a unifying factor but also a shared customer database that the service, sales, and customer support teams can use in following up and interacting with their customers. Having one voice, one narrative, and one view using this tool helps businesses to improve their interaction with each other and at the same time improve customer experience.
Two advantages that Salesforce has for small and large businesses is that it is hosted on the cloud. This means that minimal installation or hardware costs will be incurred in adapting the salesforce application as a CRM tool. Secondly, this software aligns with the latest and perhaps indispensable technologies including cloud computing, Big Data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This makes it possible to incorporate it seamlessly into the business infrastructure.
Salesforce as a Career
Salesforce is a CRM platform with at least 800 functionalities. It is an ecosystem consisting of customer management and monitoring, workflow management, collaboration, analytics, email, social media, and IoT integration, as well as sales forecast and lead generation tools among others. This makes the Salesforce software one of the top CRM solutions and the salesforce skills some of the most in-demand skills which businesses need for their marketing strategies to take off.
Businesses need experts to develop, operate, customize, and maintain their Salesforce software to realize goals and the demand for skills across the globe is huge. The projected demand for Salesforce-skill jobs is projected to hit 3.3 million by 2022 thanks to more than 200,000 companies switching to Salesforce.
As such, the following skills come top in the skills-demand list and their ROI is impressive.
- Salesforce Architect. The salesforce architect is responsible for the technical design of the salesforce systems and infrastructure for the business. A salesforce architect in the U.S earns an average of $150,000.
- Salesforce Developer. Salesforce developers are part of the development team. They are responsible for building applications, especially during set-up. These people possess apt coding skills. The Salesforce developer today commands an average salary of $125,000.
- Salesforce Administrator. Salesforce admins are responsible for the overall check of the salesforce platform. They are in charge of improving productivity and enhancing processes to achieve seamless workflows for projects while solving challenges that will arise, resetting passwords, helping users generate reports, keeping an eye on the database, customize the software to fit the needs of the business as well as train users of the application. The Salesforce admin role was, by 2018, attracting an average salary of $95,000.
- Salesforce Data Analyst. The overall responsibility of a Salesforce data analyst is to maintain a high-quality database. They carry out various data management processes, deliver updates, perform research, track and extract required reports from the available data, as well as cleaning up the database from time to time. They work closely with the salesforce business analyst.
- Salesforce Consultant. The salesforce consultant is mostly involved with the implementation of the salesforce platform. They will meet with clients, discuss their needs, customize and help with the implementation of the software. They could also be involved with training and educating salesforce users.
Your Career Path
Building your career as a salesforce professional will take some time and patience but the reward thereafter is certainly worthwhile. Well, you do not need a college degree to pursue a career in Salesforce although it is considered an added advantage. An advantage that will help you secure a job easily. However, beyond this, your skills will keep you going and probably help in case you are considering a career change.
However, there’s a world of skills to gain as you go along and this is what defines your competency.
Get trained, Get Certified
You may not land a job as soon as you anticipate as most jobs include some years of experience in addition to proven skills and knowledge as part of their requirements. This can be a little discouraging, especially for beginners. Getting certifications should be your priority.
Register for an online training course in salesforce with a credible training provider. Consider training providers who offer simulation exercises to boost your practical skills as you learn. This can be counted as experience on your resume.
Something unique about Salesforce certifications is that they are not earned in levels as in other technical certifications. This offers you the flexibility of choosing the certification training you would like to pursue based on your skills needs.
You could opt to learn from Trailhead, Salesforce’s site for people who wish to self-learn, earn certifications, and access other resources in salesforce.
Certifications in Salesforce
The best certification to launch your career as a beginner is the Salesforce Certified Administrator certification. The Salesforce administration certification equips you with fundamental Salesforce knowledge of the salesforce platform.
However, there are more certifications that you can benefit from. Here is the breakdown.
Salesforce Administration Certifications
- Salesforce Administration Certification
- Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification
Salesforce Architect Certifications
- Application Architect
- Identity and Access Management Designer
- Development Lifecycle and Designer
- Integration Architecture Designer
- Integration Architecture Designer
- Mobile Solutions Architecture Designer
- Sharing and Visibility Designer
- System Architect
- Technical Architect
Salesforce Developer Certifications
- Commerce Cloud Digital Developer
- Platform Developer I
- Platform Developer II
Salesforce App Builder Certifications
- Platform App Builder
Specialist Certifications
- Salesforce CPQ Specialist
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Specialist
- Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
Consultant Certifications
- Community Cloud Consultant
- Field Service Lightning Consultant
- Marketing Cloud Consultant
- Pardot Consultant
- Sales Cloud Consultant
- Service Cloud Consultant
Get Experience
Getting experience does not necessarily mean being employed. If you already have some knowledge and salesforce certifications, you could as well take on projects to put your skills to the test. Consider volunteering your services. Salesforce site Salesforce.org has opportunities for this cause.
Another option is to create apps in Salesforce to sharpen your practical knowledge as you wait for an employment opportunity.
Keep Building Your Skill-Set
As is typical of any other profession, there is no end to acquiring new skills. The industry is changing fast and skills requirements too. If you will not need to upgrade your skills, you will definitely need to acquire new skills to remain relevant.
Stay Informed
There is a wealth of information out there from blogs, seminars, conferences, learning resources, to following industry experts. In addition to building your skill-set, staying informed also helps you to stay updated and remain relevant.
Do You Need Certification?
By all means, you do need a certification to beat the fierce competition in this industry.
It starts by registering for an online course and you need a supportive provider for that matter.
Many reliable training providers offer the Salesforce Administrator and App Builder training course alongside other Salesforce certification courses. Take a step to stay ahead in your career today.
