A lesson learned about value based pricing

2023-11-30

One fellow reader asked me to write a “lesson learned” story about value based pricing.

A small nonprofit was looking for help with their automation. Things like

  • A record was supposed to be updated when another field changed, but wasn’t
  • Related records had to be manually tagged as the most recent
  • The last time a contact completed a course was manually calculated

So we agreed on a rough scope, which included the problems above and a few other minor issues.… Read the rest

Winners of the one year anniversary giveaway

2023-11-29

The three winners of the one-year anniversary giveaway have been selected!

If you are interested in the selection process (and to be fully transparent), I made this short video: https://youtu.be/QP4EDXt8TMw

If you’re not interested in watching the video, there’s the text version:

  1. There were 15 new subscribers, which were referred by 9 people
  2. For the 15 subscribers, the 4th letter of their email address was identified and ordered by that letter
    1. This was just an easy way to randomize the order
  3. A sequential number was assigned to this ordered list, from 1 to 15
  4. ChatGPT was asked to select 3 random numbers between 1 and 15, without repeating itself
  5. Winners were chosen by ChatGPT

Congratulations to:

  • erak
  • dgel
  • ales

I will contact each of you directly for your mailing address.… Read the rest

Today is the one year anniversary

2023-11-28

Well, it’s officially been a year since I started this email list, and I wanted to share some thoughts on this anniversary.

Firstly, I started this email list because I wanted to give back. Among many perks, the flexibility of the Salesforce ecosystem allowed me to build my dream lifestyle.… Read the rest

Initial feelings of Spain

2023-11-24

From the moment the airport doors opened in Malaga, my energy changed.

It was an overnight, 7 hours flight from Montreal, Canada to Malaga, Spain. Despite the abundance of legroom, I was barely able to sleep. So I was quite tired walking through airport security and picking up the luggage.… Read the rest

Is 75% code coverage good enough?

2023-11-23

All the cool Salesforce kids are using flows these days. As a result, it’s not as popular to write apex code anymore.

However, there are moments in which flows aren’t the best choice. Apex classes can fill in those gaps and can perform some really heavy lifting.… Read the rest

One year anniversary giveaway

2023-11-21

In celebration of the one year anniversary of The “Good Enough” Consultant, I’m having a giveaway!

Rules:

  1. Share the link below with fellow Salesforce consultants
  2. You can share the link with your colleagues or on social media
  3. If at least one person subscribes, you’re automatically enrolled in the giveaway
  4. The more people you convince to subscribe, the greater your chances of winning
  5. Three winners will be chosen at random by 10pm EST on Tuesday, November 28, 2023
  6. Each of the winners will receive a paperback edition of Jodi Hrbek’s book Rock your Role as a Salesforce Admin
  7. Anyone in the world can participate, and the books will be shipped worldwide

Note: I kindly ask that you only refer people who would actually enjoy the content, not just random colleagues that will unsubcribe a few days later.… Read the rest

How to communicate project start delays

2023-11-20

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

Merit-based remote work

2023-11-17

There are numerous studies about the benefits of remote work over being full-time in the office. There are also many articles about how hybrid work supersedes fully remote work.

Just to bring everyone up to speed, hybrid work means coming into the office a few days a week, at your own convenience.… Read the rest

Creating a Salesforce naming convention

2023-11-16

As your Salesforce instance grows, you’ll appreciate following a standard naming convention.

What exactly is a naming convention and why would you bother?

It’s a standard on how to name your objects, fields, buttons, permission sets, flows, flow variables, apex classes, apex variables, reports, and so on.… Read the rest

Building your cheerleaders

2023-11-15

In addition to building your tribe, another powerful way to help your career is to build your cheerleaders.

Cheerleaders are people that you don’t meet regularly, and who are a bit further out of your immediate network.

However, they are champions to your cause.… Read the rest

What if… ?

2023-11-14

Positively challenging your Salesforce clients is fun.

Getting them to open their minds to the possibilities and seeing a grin slowly spread across their faces is priceless.

Of course, in the early stages of the sales cycle, it’s not always easy to build excitement.… Read the rest

Building your tribe

2023-11-13

One business decision that can really help you grow your career as a Salesfore consultant is deciding to be part of a tribe.

A tribe doesn’t mean contributing to the Trailblazer community, or one of the many Salesforce-oriented Slack workspaces. Those are great, and you should be participating in those forums, but that’s not what a tribe is.… Read the rest

Why digital nomads are going to Mexico

2023-11-10

As the winter starts to approach, more and more people are leaving North America to find warmer climates.

For example, next weekend, I’m crossing the pond to the south of Spain for 6 months.

Many others choose Mexico for the colder months.… Read the rest

How to win at Salesforce conferences

2023-11-09

Marc Benioff just announced that Dreamforce 2024 will remain in San Francisco. Until this moment, there was a time in which he considered moving the conference to another city.

Now that Dreamforce is secure for at least one more year, here are 3 tips on how to get the most out of your time at this conference.… Read the rest

Never in Production, except…

2023-11-08

There’s a common mantra in the Salesforce world: Never configure anything directly in Production.

Generally, this is a good idea, but we’ve all broken this standard. And probably more than once 😉

So, when is it OK to configure something directly in Production?… Read the rest

How to respond to “Your prices are too high”

2023-11-07

A student of mine recently asked me for advice regarding a Salesforce proposal he was about to submit.

The submission included a presentation of his proposal, and my student wanted to be well prepared for any arguments the client had. One of his concerns was, what if the client says my prices are too high?… Read the rest

Nonprofit Dreamin 2023: A summary

2023-11-06

Last week was the Nonprofit Dreamin 2023 in Chicago. It’s a Salesforce conference for partners and clients working with nonprofits.

Provisio, a Salesforce partner, hosted the event at their really cool new office. It’s right next to the Chicago river, with spectacular views of the water and surrounding building.… Read the rest

The non-marketing way to do marketing

2023-11-03

While networking at Nonprofit Dreamin this week, someone asked me why am I so good at marketing myself? Being a soloist cannot be easy, he added. After all, I

  • Help implemented projects with nonprofits and partners serving nonprofits
  • Built a Salesforce app that allows Canada nonprofits to generate tax receipts
  • Host a weekly podcast about superheroes in the nonprofit space
  • Write emails 5 days a week to help Salesforce consultants

My response was laughter.… Read the rest

Estimating the implementation phase: A non-typical approach

2023-11-02

Yesterday’s article left off with the question: how can you come up with a time and price estimate for the implementation phase of a Salesforce project?

The non-typical answer is: you don’t.

That is, you don’t estimate anything. Instead of the typical approach of

  1. Determining a level of effort (LOE)
  2. Mapping the LOE to an hourly amount
  3. Multiplying that amount by an hourly rate
  4. Adding a 15% buffer
  5. Crossing your fingers and submitting your proposal

Here’s the non-typical approach:

  1. Having a conversation with your client about their business goals
  2. Asking them what their definition of what success looks like
  3. Determining the value of the project to the client
  4. Submitting a proposal based on the value you are bringing

This is called value-based pricing (VBP), and it’s a completely different mindset than hourly billing.… Read the rest

Estimating the implementation phase

2023-11-01

I’m wrapping up a Salesforce discovery project with a multinational client. The engagement went really well, so they’ve asked for a proposal to do the implementation.

The client was also transparent from the start of the engagement. They said they would submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) so other Salesforce partners could bid on the project.… Read the rest

Don’t allow technical debt to fester

2023-10-31

I recently had a conversation with a frustrated client.

He wanted a straightforward report that shows all contacts in Salesforce with the following criteria:

  • had an email address
  • didn’t opt out of any type of marketing
  • donated in the last 5 years (a donation is a record type of opportunity)

The report must display

  • full name
  • email address
  • city, state, and country
  • last donated amount
  • last donated date

This information would be used to segment an audience for upcoming events.… Read the rest

You’re the expert

2023-10-30

Every once in a while, I rewatch an YouTube video from 2014 called The Expert (Short Comedy Sketch).

It’s titled a comedy but it’s actually scary how real it feels.

The actors are:

  • Two people representing the client, who don’t really know what they want but act like they do and behave like the team should understand their needs
  • A senior executive, who glosses over the details while reassuring the client the request is feasible
  • A project manager, who expects the expert to deliver but then challenges him whenever he says something is not possible
  • An expert, the seemingly only person in the room who understands what’s really going on

Sadly, being a Salesforce consultant can often make you feel like the expert in this sketch.… Read the rest

5 ways to being effective while working remotely

2023-10-27

To work effectively as a digital nomad, you need to have systems in place. Here are 5 of them that will keep you humming along, no matter where in the world you are.

1. Determine your work schedule
If you’re a morning person, you can choose a region that is in the same or earlier time zone as your clients.… Read the rest

Nominate a Salesforce MVP for 2024

2023-10-26

The possibility to nominate someone for 2024 Salesforce MVP is currently open.

But wait, what is a Salesforce MVP?

As defined by Salesforce, Salesforce MVPs (most valuable person) are exceptional leaders and product experts who go above and beyond to help others succeed in the Salesforce ecosystem.… Read the rest

The Salesforce nonprofit guy: podcast

2023-10-25

I was recently a guest on Jonathan Stark podcast, and the episode was just published.

For your information, Jonathan is my main mentor for fixed pricing and value-based pricing. Listening to his podcast episodes and digesting his articles about the topic completely changed the way I do business.… Read the rest

Let your ego go

2023-10-24

As a Salesforce consultant, sometimes your client can irritate you.

Perhaps they do it unconsciously or inadvertently, and they may do it to try and exert their dominance on you. It actually doesn’t really matter why they do these things. You cannot control them, you cannot change their behavior, and you should not retaliate.… Read the rest

Purposefully setting low expectations

2023-10-23

Another approach to setting expectations with a Salesforce client is to set the bar low and then deliver more than promised.

Thus, instead of telling them how great the results are going to be, you almost do the opposite.

For example, you could say, “All these extra features sound great, but I doubt we’ll have time to do them for the MVP”.… Read the rest

Work in any place as a digital nomad

2023-10-20

As a digital nomad, as long as you have a laptop and internet access, you can pretty much work anywhere you choose.

When I travel, I usually decide between Airbnb and hotels. The decision depends on how long I intend to stay, what amenities I’m looking for, and what overall experience I want.… Read the rest