When you’re an independent Salesforce consultant, the best way to get leads is from referrals. Nothing else comes close.
These referrals can be from current or former colleagues, clients, and friends.
Having a connection in common is crazy effective, as it effectively eliminates uncertainty.… Read the rest
Once you’ve identified your ideal client and their expensive problem, the next step is to market to them.
The main theme is to use their words. This means if your clients are
Once you’ve identified your ideal client (also known as ICP: Ideal Client Profile), the next step is to understand their problems.
There are two parts to this phase.
The first is for your client’s to acknowledge they have a problem that’s actually worth solving.… Read the rest
Let’s face facts: you cannot help everyone.
You cannot even help a fraction of all possible clients. This has nothing to do with your talent, this has to do with having limited time and resources.
So you need to decide which clients to help, and which ones to leave behind.… Read the rest
If you were driving down the road in your car, and saw a neon sign with the message, “We help people solve problems”, would you pull over?
I doubt it.
What if the sign read, “We help independent Salesforce consultants build a healthy pipeline so they can achieve their desired lifestyle”?… Read the rest
As an independent Salesforce consultant, clients are your lifeblood.
Notice the “s” in “clients”. While one client at a time may be sufficient for your lifestyle, usually a project only lasts for so long. And then you’ll need to find another client.… Read the rest
One of the largest advantages of being an independent Salesforce consultant is working from home. And of course, “home” doesn’t necessarily mean your residence.
It’s been a while since I went full digital nomad, so it’s time to change that! Starting in November, I’ll spend about 2 months in South America.… Read the rest
As an independent Salesforce consultant, working with the “right” clients is critical.
So when meeting clients for the first time, I quickly try to assess how well we would work together. There are a few approaches on how this can be done.… Read the rest
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
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
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
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
As an independent Salesforce consultant, your sales call should be focused on learning about your prospect’s challenges and their desired future state.
There are also several topics that should be carefully navigated or avoided altogether. Here are a few cautionary topics:
1.… Read the rest
Let’s say you’re ready to go out on our own, and start your own independent Salesforce consulting business. This is already a big decision, and it’s the first of many.
One of the first is choosing a name. The question is, should you register a company and website in your name, or in another name?… Read the rest
Montreal’s first Salesforce/Mulesoft conference will be held on August 15, 2024.
In addition to being a sponsor, I am a speaker. The topic is, “How to Become an Independent Salesforce Consultant”.
As I have written quite a few emails about this subject, I’m excited to share my thoughts in person.… Read the rest
Unlike most days of the week, I’m more casual on Fridays.
This means booking fewer meetings, being less responsive to emails and chats, and generally winding down the week.
With all the extra time, I’m able to focus on projects that need more dedicated attention, and also work on my business.… Read the rest
Looking at the other side of yesterday’s coin, there are some drawbacks to being an independent Salesforce consultant.
Here are a few for your consideration.
You need to be a one-person business
Instead of entirely focusing on discovery, design, or implementation, you need to manage every aspect of your business.… Read the rest
There are all sorts of reasons why people go independent. In the Salesforce ecosystem, here are three positive ones.
Autonomy
The lifestyle generally allows you to be in control. You choose your clients, how hard you work, how long you work, when to take breaks, and so on.… Read the rest
OK, you’ve set up your one-person shop, hung your “we’re open” sign on your website, and now sit back and wait for clients to stroll in by the hundreds.
Several weeks later, and you don’t have a single client.
This is obviously a very bad way to start, as you should already have 1-3 clients lined up before becoming an independent consultant.… 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
Are you an independent Salesforce consultant that still charges by the hour?
Have you noticed the market limits your maximum hourly rate?
For example, the expected hourly rate for an experienced consultant is about $150 to $200 an hour, which results in an income ceiling of about $200k to $250k a year.… Read the rest
As an independent Salesforce consultant, one of the best ways to set yourself up for success and happiness is to have good clients.
A large part of being a successful independent Salesforce consultant is your mindset.
If you have a scarcity mindset, you often think about things as being limited. So if someone else has something, then you’re less likely to receive it too.… 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
One of my students is a Salesforce consultant. He’s recently made the transition from full-time to independent and engaged my services to help him close a relatively large project.
He started by asking me how he should present himself. Should he start with all his credentials, his years of experience, the work he’s done on similar projects?… Read the rest
As an independent Salesforce consultant, also known as a soloist, you need to have certain document templates.
When I start an engagement with a client, it typically starts with a sales call. If everything is aligned, I submit a 4 or 5 page proposal.… Read the rest
Today’s email is a little off topic, but it’s a huge accomplishment that I’m proud to share with you. The 100th episode of my podcast was released yesterday!
If you’re unaware, I host a weekly podcast in which I interview everyday superheroes in the nonprofit space.… 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
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
I had a recent conversation with a student of mine with an interesting question, and I thought you might be interested in hearing the key points.
He is a full-time employee at a Salesforce agency and liked the predictable income, but wanted to know his options for long-term growth.… Read the rest