Let’s imagine you’re talking to a potential client. They passed the dinner date test and you’re in the middle of asking them all types of questions to understand their current situation and desired outcome.
Do you ever ask them how much their budget is?… Read the rest
Psst, did anyone ever tell you? There are more than one Salesforce freelancers. And there are more than one Salesforce agency. Shocking, isn’t it?!
So when a client is considering hiring you or your team, what sets you apart from all the others?… Read the rest
I’m currently working with a client that has some technical knowledge, but without any Salesforce experience.
In today’s working session, my colleague updated a field mapping document with the client. The document describes the mapping from the legacy table and field to the upcoming Salesforce object and field.… Read the rest
Before conducting any technical meeting with the client, how are you sure you’re prepared? And, is the rest of your team aware of the context?
Let’s imagine a Salesforce partner that just started working with a new client. The project is in the design phase, and there are tons of questions that need to be answered.… Read the rest
Yesterday I was in a meeting with a client, and one of my team members was hosting the working session.
There were a handful of people on our team and another handful on the client side. Some were technical people, others not so much.… Read the rest
My colleague is getting more and more frustrated with his immovable client. They simply don’t want to, or are incapable of, articulating their requirements.
He and I discussed the issue, and came up with a novel approach.
The client loves their existing system, so why not start there?… Read the rest
The bison is an animal of the bovine family. It’s related to the buffalo, and found in North America and Europe.
A cool fact about bison is how they handle snow storms.
Most people, when faced with an oncoming storm, would probably turn and run away from it.… Read the rest
The expression “the elephant in the room” refers to a significant issue or problem that is obvious but is being ignored by those involved.
The metaphorical elephant occupies a lot of space in the room, but people simply ignore it. This is because they perceive that talking about the elephant is worse than pretending it doesn’t exist.… Read the rest
Let’s say you have a client that loves to avoid commitment. This happens when the decision maker isn’t in the room or no one wants to take responsibility for approving the design.
The first symptom of this problem is that no one provides valuable feedback.… Read the rest
There’s a lot to discuss about what to do after the point of no return, and here’s one part.
As I alluded to in the first email (and a couple of readers called out the same), the first step is to avoid clients like this altogether.… Read the rest
A colleague of mine was recently sharing a challenge he currently has with a client.
The client was picky from the start. They probably would have failed the dinner date test. But that’s ancient history now.
The discovery phase was successfully completed, and the client signed off.… Read the rest
Unsurprisingly, a Salesforce discovery phase is about discovering. But what exactly are you discoverying?
The main objective is clarity. You and your client need to understand how things will look like once the implementation phase is complete. Some of the details will be determined during the build, but at least the main decision points should be clear.… Read the rest
As a Salesforce consultant, you usually start working during the design or implementation phase. This means the commercial agreements have been made and sales properly handed off all their detailed documents to you (don’t laugh, this actually happens sometimes).
Your first meeting with the client is hopefully a kick-off meeting.… Read the rest
There’s an well-known anecdote that goes like this:
Albert Einstein was often called to give public lectures on his Theory of Relativity. His chauffeur heard his lectures so many times that he claimed to know it by heart.
At the time, not too many people knew what Einstein looked like.… Read the rest
When allocating time in your day for deep work, consider which day of the week and which hours.
Studies have shown over and over that most people think best in the morning. This is regardless of whether you’re a morning person or a night person.… Read the rest
It starts when a client is explaining their problem. As a Salesforce consultant, it’s easy to want to jump in as early as possible with your solution. However that’s not usually the best approach.
Instead, actively listen to the client’s concerns in full, without designing a solution in your mind.… Read the rest
Deep thinking is about reaching your best thinking performance. But it’s not a race. One way to achieve deep thinking is to actually slow yourself down.
You’ll notice that some of your best thinking sometimes happens when you’re very focused on a problem.… Read the rest
As a Salesforce consultant, it’s easy to get distracted while working. It could be a text message, an email alert, a meeting reminder, a colleague tapping your shoulder, or a myriad of other annoyances.
All these interruptions prevent you from being able to achieve deep work.… Read the rest
A fellow reader recently shared a story and asked for help. Here’s a summary of the situation:
Imagine you’re an in-house consultant. You were hired to onboard the sales team to Salesforce, but the stakeholder who hired you isn’t dedicating time to define requirements or approve the project launch.… Read the rest
As a Salesforce consultant, you probably don’t spend much time in in-person meetings with clients. This applies to independent consultants and those working with agencies.
Apps like Zoom have become so prolific, that it’s unnecessary to meet your client face-to-face. And yet, when we do, it’s magical.… Read the rest
As a Salesforce consultant working with a delivery team, you’re bound to have different opinions.
The solution architect will try to push their opinion because they understand the end goal.
The technical architect will say that’s not technically possible and offer alternatives.… Read the rest
Filler words are when you add words such as, “umm”, “err”, “humm”, “like”, “you know” in the middle of sentences. Most people often don’t realize how often they use them until they hear a recording of themselves.
In a casual conversation, these words are normal and accepted.… Read the rest
AI has become a daily part of our lives. It’s hard not to hear about it everyday. From next generation text responses to new video capabilities.
People also keep talking about the jobs it’ll take from us. When we initially thought about advances in technology, we imagined the blue-collared jobs would fall first.… Read the rest
There are two kinds of Salesforce consultants: those who hosted a client demo and an error popped, and those who will host a client demo and an error will pop.
Here are some considerations to help you manage errors in this situation.… Read the rest
Another sales tactic that works really well as an independent Salesforce consultant is to assume the sale.
What this means is, talk to your prospective client as though you’ve already won the deal. This allows you to change the frame of the conversation to one in which you are already working with the client.… Read the rest
This is a common question asked by clients, at the start of the implementation phase of a Salesforce project. They typically want to know when everything will be done. And this is a question you need to learn how to avoid answering directly.… Read the rest
As a “good enough” Salesforce consultant, you’re going to be in demand. It’s natural you will receive offers from many potential clients. And it’s also natural you won’t want to work with all of them.
Politely saying “no” to a client takes practice.… Read the rest
Many issues with your Salesforce project can be avoided by applying a simple test, before commiting to the project.
This test is performed during the sales call, while your potential client is introducing themselves and the project. About halfway through the conversation, ask yourself, “Can I see myself having a meal with this person, in a non-business setting?”… Read the rest
As Salesforce consultants, we are expected to know pretty much everything about Salesforce. But is that actually possible?
The ecosystem grows bigger everyday. The product names keep on changing. The bugs keep appearing. The updates keep coming. And our work doesn’t stop.… Read the rest
When working on multiple Salesforce projects, It’s common for one project to start shortly after another project begins. Sometimes there’s even some overlap.
Recently, I had one project that required more attention than expected, and I wasn’t able to start the 2nd project at the expected date.… Read the rest