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
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
Being able to achieve a deep focus and to have a strong concentration are valuable skills for Salesforce consultants.
These skills, like any other, can be cultivated. You may not be very good at them today, but you can teach yourself to become better
One fantastic way to start this process of growth is to meditate.… Read the rest
Knowing the difference between a scarcity and abundance mindset is the just first step. Achieving this mindset is the harder part.
If you don’t know how to start, here are some great starting points:
Encourage open communication
Show empathy and support
Promote inclusivity
Lead by example
Share and learn from failures
Create a trusting environment
The takeaway
Not only will building these attributes make you a better consultant, it’ll make you a better person overall.… Read the rest
Things that happen in the world aren’t intrinsically good or bad. It’s our perception of them that makes them good or bad.
People often have a scarcity mindset, which generally focuses on taking and being self-serving. Others have an abundance mindset, which is about giving and sharing.… 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
In celebration of the two year anniversary of The “Good Enough” Consultant, I’m having a giveaway!
One lucky winner will receive a one-hour free consultation with me. You can use that time to discuss topics such as
Rules of the giveaway:
By the way, I kindly ask you only refer people who would actually enjoy the content, not just random colleagues that may unsubcribe a few days later.… Read the rest
Nov 28, 2024 marks the two year anniversary of this email list.
Some interesting statistic about it:
As a single-person business that offers both products and services, I simply don’t have time to do it all myself.
Here are the people I depend on:
App development
There’s a small team that helps me with the SF application. This includes two SF devs, an AWS dev, a QA tester, and a part-time marketing person.… Read the rest
A couple of readers were interested in knowing my process for writing these emails, so here you go.
Ideas are collected throughout the day and recorded in my note taking app. Sometimes the idea is based on a situation with a client, a reader request, or something I find interesting.… Read the rest
There are three main ways to host a podcast:
Some people mix and match, but one of these ways is usually the most applied.… Read the rest
I’ve been an independent consultant for more than 20 years. For the first 19 years, I built a custom web application to manage my accounting.
My primary motivation was cost. I didn’t want to pay an endless subscription fee, when I knew I could build one myself.… Read the rest
Every once in a while, it’s good to slow things down. Work life can get very busy as a Salesforce consultant. So every once in a while, it’s OK to go to your happy place.
Your happy place could be the gym, spending time with friends, a particular destination, meditating, or any number of enjoyable activities.… 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
When I graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, there was a ceremony. It’s called the iron ring ceremony. It’s only performed in Canada and all students who graduate with an engineering degree attend.
The entire ceremony is secret, but there are a few things I can share with you.… Read the rest
I’m slowly building this email list. The idea is to eventually reduce working on Salesforce projects and focus on coaching. It’s a long term goal, but one I started thinking about two years ago.
To gain readers, do the following:
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Thanks for connecting!… Read the rest
One of the largest challenges when working for yourself is being a complete business. You cannot just be a Salesforce architect. You also need to be a marketing team, a sales team, a finance department, and a support team all in one.… Read the rest
Being an independent Salesforce architect, there’s only so much I can do in a week. This means I spend most of my time advising and consulting clients, rather than doing implementation work. This means clients are usually paying for access to my expertise.… Read the rest
There are three apps that I rely on for everyday work.
The 1st is Workona, which is a Chrome extension. It allows me to create a space for each client. So if I’m working on Client A’s project, and need to quickly switch to Client’s B’s project, it takes me two clicks.… Read the rest
Another reader asked how they can efficiently use labels or turn emails into action items. These are great questions.
I use a label for each client, and a general label called “Clients” for prospects and other client-related emails. I set up Gmail filters to automatically add the label based on the sender or subject.… Read the rest
A number of readers were very interested in more details about the personal and business calendar sync.
Using a Make scenario, only personal events scheduled between M-F from 9am to 5pm are synced to my business calendar. So it’s a one-way sync.… Read the rest
As you may know, I do more than one thing. At the moment, I do the following
Several readers have asked how a single person can multitask so efficiently.… 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
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: