Salesforce consultants have been helping businesses implement Salesforce for many years now. Whether your company is just researching Salesforce or you’re ready to begin implementation, consulting services can be quite helpful.

However, hiring a Salesforce consultant may not always be straightforward—especially if you aren’t sure what type of help you need from them. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to hiring a Salesforce consultant and serve as a very useful resource for implementing Salesforce and achieving business ROI.

Step 1: Know your business goals and requirements

Before you get started with hiring a Salesforce consultant, be sure to have a clear idea of your business goals and requirements. Having this information will help you determine which areas of Salesforce your organization needs to focus on. Additionally, it will help you create a shortlist of potential consultants who can help you to achieve your goals.

A salesforce consultant can help you with several things related to your Salesforce implementation. They can assist you with discovery workshops and assessments, onboarding, and project management, and help you choose the best Salesforce solutions for your company.

Step 2: Research service providers

After you’ve determined what areas of Salesforce your business requires help with, it’s time to start researching potential consulting partners. This can be done either by looking through your CRM resellers’ websites or by posting a request on a job board.

When selecting a consultant, keep in mind that you want to find a company that can assist you with all of the areas of Salesforce that you need help with, as well as fit your company’s culture. To do this, you must do more than look at the company’s website and job post. Instead, you need to take the time to read through the reviews on these websites to get a better idea of how the company operates.

Step 3: Look for certified Salesforce consultants

Salesforce certification is a mark of expertise in the Salesforce platform. The certification path is designed with the customer experience in mind, so choosing a Salesforce consultant with a certification demonstrates your commitment to the end-user.

Some of the most popular certifications are Sales Cloud Consultant, Service Cloud Consultant, Salesforce Certified Implementation Specialist, Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator, and Salesforce Certified Administrator.

Keep in mind that there are a variety of certification paths, so you can choose the one that best aligns with your organization’s needs. If you are hiring a Sales Cloud Consultant, then you might want to ask about their Sales Cloud certification. This certification verifies proficiency in Marketing, Sales, or Service Cloud, and it’s the standard for sales operations. There is also a Sales Cloud Consultant certification, which is tailored toward buyers who are committed to making the most of the platform and getting value from the investment.

a. Salesforce CRM consultants

CRM consultants specialize in helping organizations with their Salesforce CRM implementation. If your business is still looking for a CRM solution, you should think about hiring a CRM consultant to help you choose the right one. If you are already using Salesforce CRM, you probably have a sales team who is using the platform to manage their activities and interactions with customers. However, most companies have salespeople who prefer using other CRM solutions to Salesforce. In these cases, a CRM consultant can help you migrate your data to Salesforce and allow your sales team to use it more efficiently.

b. Salesforce Implementation consultants

Implementation consultants are primarily responsible for helping businesses with their Salesforce implementation. They assist during discovery workshops, help with assessments, and manage the transition from the old system to the new one. A discovery workshop is an interactive meeting where you and your team members discuss your company’s current processes and how you can improve them with Salesforce. An implementation consultant can help you decide which features of Salesforce are the best for your business.

Step 4: Ask the right questions

Once you’ve found a few candidates that you’d like to consider hiring, it’s time to ask them a few questions. You can either have a phone call with them or send them an email. When asking them questions, make sure that they are related to the job posting that they created. This will help you to get a better idea of how they work and if they’d be a good fit for your company.

Here are a few questions that you can ask to help you determine which salesforce consultant would be the best fit for your business: – What is your approach to consulting? – Tell us about your team. – What are your short-term and long-term goals? – How do you measure success? – How do you handle communication and project management? – How do you ensure that your clients get the best return on investment? – What are your industry specialties and how can you help our business?

Step 5: Determine Firm Fit

After you’ve asked the questions above, you can begin to determine if the firms you’re considering hiring would be a good fit for your business. However, even if a salesforce consultant is a great fit for your business, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’d be the best choice for your organization.

Not all consultants make a good fit because every company is unique, and while some businesses may require more time than others, the solution is the same. For this reason, it’s important to take the time to determine if the salesforce consultant is the best fit for you. You can do this by asking follow-up questions and getting a better idea of how long the implementation process would take.

Step 6: Find expertise that helps your goals

After you’ve determined that a salesforce consultant is the best option for your company and you’ve found the ideal partner, it’s time to get a better idea of how they will help you achieve your goals.

To do this, you can ask the Salesforce consultant what their approach is for the implementation, how long the process would take, and what sort of after-service to expect. You can also ask the consultant for references and recommendations from clients who have worked with them in the past.

Step 7: Check price and contractual terms

Once you’ve determined that the salesforce consultant is the best fit for your business, it’s time to determine the price and contractual terms, since it does impact your ROI. Make sure to discuss these things with the salesforce consultant so that you have a complete understanding of what they include in their services.

Even though salesforce consultants are an integral part of any Salesforce implementation, you need to make sure that you’re hiring one at a fair price. It’s also important to make sure that the contractual terms are agreeable to your business.

Wrapping up

After you’ve determined that a salesforce consultant is the best option for your business, it’s time to get to work hiring one. From there, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your business ROI goals. A salesforce consultant helps you decide which features of Salesforce are the best for your business, review its effectiveness and suggest remedial action while managing your company’s transition from the old system to the new one.