I had a call with a new coaching student today. He brought up multiple topics, but the one that really caught my attention was about career direction.
For context, he’s currently a partner at a boutique Salesforce agency. He manages a few subcontractors, works very long hours, and is relatively unhappy about his effective hourly rate.… Read the rest
When you started your Salesforce career, you were probably overwhelmed at first. There’s a megaton of information to absorb, and sometimes it can feel like too much.
But bit by bit, you eventually found your way. And adopting a curious mindset can really accelerate your learning.… Read the rest
A few readers were interested in knowing the “why” of the previous email. Why were these apps chosen, and why did they merit paying for them?
CRM
Q: Why not Salesforce?
A: I’ve always felt Salesforce was designed for larger organizations.… Read the rest
There was a recent conversation in a Salesforce Slack community about which tools and applications independent consultants use.
When you’re not billing by the hour, being efficient is important. Various tools and apps can make a significant difference.
If you’re billing by the hour, why even buy a faster computer?… Read the rest
I’ve seen this situation far too many times. Regardless of how well you plan, regardless of how much time you allocate for UAT, it still happens.
That’s right. The client promises to test your Salesforce project when called upon. They positively respond to all your communications about it, what is expected of them, and how you’ll tirage their feedback.… Read the rest
Not surprisingly, there are tons of articles and videos about how to invoke a screen flow from a custom button on a list view. What is surprising is how nearly all of them are incomplete.
To bring you up to speed, to invoke a screen flow from a list view, you need to create a list button instead of an action.… Read the rest
No one really seems to enjoy multi-value picklists (MVPs). Like many things in the ecosystem, while it seems great in theory, it adds complications in practice. Even Salesforce recently added a warning message before you create one.
So what are the alternatives to MVPs?… Read the rest
Today was the Agentforce World Tour in Toronto, and I wish I had a recap for you.
Let’s start at the beginning. I was prepared for a long day. The flight from Montreal departed at 6.45am and arrived in Toronto around 8.30am.… Read the rest
A quick heads-up!
As the title suggests, I’ll be at the Agentforce World Tour in Toronto next week. It’s a one-day affair on Thursday, Dec 12, 2024.
Details are at https://www.salesforce.com/events/world-tour/toronto/
It’s cute how Salesforce is now appending the word “Agentforce” in front of everything they do these days.… Read the rest
Imagine you have a client that’s not really invested in the Salesforce project. They might have been told they need to use Salesforce, or they are reluctant to change. Either way, they don’t really want it.
My colleague is going through this exact experience right now.… Read the rest
A colleague of mine was discussing an issue he has with a new Salesforce client.
During meetings, the client doesn’t respond to most questions. They don’t seem to want to understand business requirements, agile, sprints, sign offs, etc. In fact, they show very little interest in the project at all.… Read the rest
So you’re past the point of no return (PPNR) in your Salesforce project. This is despite the fact that you’re working with a good client and your contract doesn’t mention this predicament.
Here are a few options to consider:
Just finish the project
We know it’s common for a client to try and add scope to a project.… Read the rest
Several years ago, I fundamentally changed the way I do business. As such, my perception of business and client relationships have changed as well.
To this end, my contracts are very basic. I don’t like to spell out everything that will be done, and the penalties if things go wrong, as it feels petty for my tastes.… Read the rest
Yours truly was featured in Salesforce Ben’s article, 20 Most Popular Salesforce Admin & Developer Blogs 2024.
This is particularly interesting because I had no idea this was going to happen. Someone on LinkedIn connected with me last week saying they saw my name on the website.… Read the rest
Up until a year and a half ago, nonprofits using Salesforce had only one choice. They would start with Salesforce, and then install the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP). Today more than 50,000 nonprofits actively use it.
Then Salesforce introduced the Nonprofit Cloud (NPC).… Read the rest
Towards the end of your Salesforce app development, you’ll start shifting your focus on how to list it. There are two main ways to list an app:
As an unlisted app, you simply need to share a published link with your client.… Read the rest
When starting to build an app, you probably have tons of ideas about which features to include. But once you start talking to prospects and clients, be open to their feedback. It’s not easy to think of every feature your clients need, and if your clients want something, they will let you know.… Read the rest
There are several key differences between consulting and app development. Here are a few for your consideration:
Number of clients
When you do contract work, you are building for just one client. Your focus is entirely based on their particular business needs.… Read the rest
Salesforce consulting is awesome. There are thousands of Salesforce partners that do it, from single person shops to agencies with thousands of employees and/or subcontractors.
You can build an entire career as a consultant and maintain it until you retire.
However, there are some drawbacks.… Read the rest
As a Salesforce consultant, you’ll often have to host demos of your work to your client. Demos are only useful with data, so at some point, you’ll need to create some.
Now, I’ve heard of an interesting story with a valuable lesson.… Read the rest
Like Salesforce, MS Access uses a relational database. This means each Access table can represent a single SF object. And once in Access, you have multiple tools at your disposal for data transformation.
The first step is to export data from SF and import it into Access.… Read the rest
A number of readers asked me for more information about the Salesforce data management tool I built.
It’s basically a MS Access database with a Salesforce Dataloader integration. This means it can be used to:
Additional features:
One of my favorite Salesforce activities is cleaning up technical debt. With one of my current clients, we’ve been moving data from custom fields to standard fields and objects.
For example, the contact object had the following:
The account object had:
Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. While it’s not as huge of an event as in the US, it’s still a significant moment.
The origin of the celebration is to give thanks for a good harvest. Since most of us are not farmers anymore, we extended the moment of gratitude to include friends and family.… Read the rest
The other day, a friend told me a funny story. He was asked by a colleague to review their work before merging it into the main development sandbox.
The colleague started by explaining the purpose of the feature they designed and built.… Read the rest
If you haven’t already noticed, Salesforce is really pushing their AI advancements.
Like really pushing.
I believe they started labelling last year’s Dreamforce (their annual conference in San Francisco) as the “largest AI event in the world”. This year was no different.… Read the rest
Continuing from yesterday’s email…
Step 3 – Define the scoring values
Rather than use a typical score of 1-5 or 1-10, this is where things become interesting.
Imagine the following scoring:
Having gaps between the scores allows for more discrete responses.… Read the rest
Let’s say your client has a need, and it cannot be fulfilled by Salesforce. So you provide them with a shortlist of your preferred third-party applications. (Note: you have a shortlist, right?)
How do you help your client decide which of the apps is the best one for their needs?… Read the rest
As an independent Salesforce consultant, I need to submit my taxes to the government on a quarterly basis. This means having a platform in place to record my invoices and expenses.
Since I provide a service, I need to charge local tax on my invoices.… Read the rest
You understand that Salesforce, as great as it is, has limits. That’s why the AppExchange exists. To provide third-party organizations an opportunity to fill those gaps or improve upon core functionality.
However, as a Salesforce consultant, there’s a fine line between recommending an app and suggesting one.… Read the rest