Once you’ve an idea of what your client wants and the value of the Salesforce project, it’s time to sit down and determine options for price and scope.
Remember, scope is last, so the next step is deciding your prices.
Here are two popular pricing methods:
1.… Read the rest
One of the most popular questions I’m asked is, when doing fixed pricing, how do you accurately scope a Salesforce project? Don’t you need to add tons of conditions to protect yourself?
Note: This question doesn’t apply when you’re selling a product or a productized service, as the price and scope are already established.… Read the rest
Let’s assume you’re a freelance Salesforce consultant, and are currently billing by the hour.
You’ve heard me speak about fixed pricing before, and the topic interests you. You just don’t know how to switch.
Here are three considerations to help you with this transition:
1.… Read the rest
An earlier project with a challenging client quickly became a vast source of knowledge. Knowledge of what NOT to do. Here’s one example.
This client was challenging to work with, because they wanted everything. They didn’t believe in a MVP, so in their first release of Salesforce, they wanted
There are many reasons why I choose to be a digital nomad. Here is reason #12.
My primary residence is in Montreal, Canada. During the winter, it’s cold. And I mean damn cold. For example, today is -16C (4F) and with the wind chill it feels like -22C (-8F).… Read the rest
How many Salesforce projects should you be working on at the same time?
As a consultant, and especially when you’re good enough, you’ll be in demand. Whether you work in an agency or are a freelancer, the option to work on simultaneous projects is available.… Read the rest
When working with Salesforce flows, you often need to refer to static strings.
For example, let’s say you have a custom text field called `Entity` on the account, which you want to set to “Organization” in a flow.
Option 1: When setting the Account record variable, just set `Entity` = “Organization”
This is definitely the quickest and easiest method, but it’s the hardest to maintain.… Read the rest
When updating or creating records in screen flows or autolaunched flows, you have two main choices for determining how the record is set:
Admittedly, option 1 takes slightly longer to set up.… Read the rest
In Salesforce flows, having a proper and consistent naming convention is important. It helps with readability, understanding, and logic processing.
When working with a single record, it makes sense for the variable to be singular. Similarly, when working with multiple records in a collection, it makes sense for the variable to be plural.… Read the rest
Yesterday’s email sparked some great feedback from readers, so let’s expand the topic of building your Salesforce network.
LinkedIn was mentioned, but it doesn’t really matter which social media platform you participate in. For example, Twitter/X has a vibrant Salesforce community.… Read the rest
Having a strong professional network helps attract clients and projects. Once you are known, you can refer business to others, and they can refer business to you.
So how do you become known?
There are three main ways to build your professional network.… Read the rest
People have various opinions about naming conventions for Salesforce variables in flows. Some draw their opinions from old VB code, others from C or Java.
As a previous C developer, below is my approach, which follow specific design patterns.
1. Keep it simple and concise
If a variable name can be written shorter, then shorten it
E.g.:… Read the rest
There was a recent discussion on LinkedIn about the input variable “recordId”.
Most flow developers know about the special variable “recordId”. (Note: the “I” must be capital, but the “r” can be upper or lower case). In a screen flow, when you set this specific variable as an input and text, it’ll automatically be populated with the Salesforce Id of the current record from where it was called.… Read the rest
In Montreal, Canada, there’s a popular diner for smoked meat sandwiches.
It’s basically an institution in the city, and there’s always a long line outside the establishment, regardless of the time of day.
Inside, the chefs carefully prepare each sandwich, whistling, and cracking jokes at each other.… Read the rest
Dear reader,
I’ve decided to extend my email break by another week. Normally I only take a break for a week every once in a while, but this time I feel the need to take more time for myself.
I’m also trying to make progress on a few work projects, and will use this week to focus on them and some personal projects.… Read the rest
Pausing your normal routine is wonderful for your mental health. It breaks the daily churn of what is to be expected, and opens your mind to the art of the possible.
You can break routine by going on a holiday, traveling to a new place, visiting a new restaurant, or many other things that simply get you out of your comfort zone.… Read the rest
Not so long ago, there were only two Salesforce editions, Professional and Enterprise. Then they introduced Developer, Starter, and Unlimited. After that, Essentials was introduced.
Note: If you want to know the differences between these editions, checkout https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.overview_edition.htm
Last week they announced Unlimited+ (UE+), which is a bundle of services.… Read the rest
This week Salesforce announced their Scale Test is now generally available.
This automated testing tool provides the following:
When looking for a new Salesforce position, there are many channels available for you to advertise.
And now there’s a new option: Salesforce directly.
As of last week, Salesforce has its own career center.… Read the rest
When doing a Salesforce discovery project, the deliverables are usually a series of documents. Here are the usual suspects, sometimes with different names:
In one particular project I’m finishing up, these documents were originally written in Google Docs.… Read the rest
The expression, “I need to work on my work vs life balance” has always struck me as odd. It’s presented in a way that work and life are distinctly opposite forces, competing for your attention.
As a Salesforce consultant, what are you actually providing to a client? Do you believe you are providing a new Salesforce feature, an integration, a series of reports, or anything like that?
You’re not.
You’re providing the results of the new feature, the integration, or series of reports.… Read the rest
I have a confession to make. I’ve lied on my resume.
Now, some would call it a bold-faced lie, while others would call it an exaggeration. Either way, I wrote something that wasn’t true.
This was a very long time ago, so I’m open to sharing this now, but it’s always been a sensitive topic for me.… Read the rest
Let’s say you’ve dedicated time to work on your own Salesforce practice. One of the first steps is to determine who is your ideal client and what services you plan to offer.
To determine your ideal client and positioning, start by yourself the following:
1.… Read the rest
Let’s say you’re an employee working at a Salesforce agency, with dreams of becoming a freelance consultant.
What’s the best way to make that happen?
Let’s start by talking about how it shouldn’t happen.
You probably shouldn’t just drop your full-time position and announce to the world that you’re now a freelancer.… Read the rest
A reader asked me how I manage finances as a digital nomad.
Here’s my situation:
They say the shift from 0 to 1 is harder than from 1 to 2, or any greater number.
Let’s say you’re a full-time Salesforce employee with ambitions to start your own business. You may be working on several projects at the same time, but you don’t own any of them.… Read the rest
One great way to offer your services as a Salesforce consultant is with a monthly package.
This is often well-suited for support work, but can also be for larger projects in which you are one of many and don’t control the project’s scope.… 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
Last year, a Salesforce agency was struggling with their developers. The devs were attempting to tackle a project that was beyond their knowledge. In addition, they needed advice on how to approach certain technical situations.
I was engaged to help. A monthly subscription-style service was proposed, as it provided flexibility to the agency to decide the duration of the engagement.… Read the rest