Salesforce: A Career Path to Success
Even in times of economic uncertainty, pursuing a career as a skilled sales professional is a safe bet for a secure future — and prospects are especially bright for university-trained candidates with a business background. When training is offered in Salesforce, a dominant force in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, opportunities multiply exponentially.
A cornerstone of sales strategy in a wide range of industries from healthcare to manufacturing, Salesforce offers not only the most ubiquitous and versatile tech platform for sales professionals, it also nurtures its talent pool through the innovative Trailmix system, a program that marks steady advancement by awarding a series of “badges” along the way.
“Salesforce is a juggernaut,” said Bryan Munoz, instructor for DCE’s Salesforce Business Administration Specialist course and a certified Salesforce administrator. “It’s a beautiful product because you can work as a developer coding the back end, work as an implementation specialist, or just be a pro-user — whatever your goal might be, our course gets you started. Salesforce also touches all industries and offers a robust app marketplace for add-ons. Opportunities are bountiful and there’s not a lot of overlap for competition.”
Consider that 4.2 million new jobs will be created within the Salesforce ecosystem by 2024, according to projections by the International Data Corp., driven by the growing global embrace of cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence, all tools optimized by Salesforce professionals.
Hitting the trail
While earlier versions of CRM tools were little more than fancy Rolodexes, the Salesforce platform can access client data from multiple sources, manage every channel with a single view, send targeted and personalized messages, all while saving time by automating redundant tasks. It’s also highly customizable with a series of easy drag-and-drop apps.
Other advanced CRM platforms such as Oracle and G2 are similar in some regards, and offer many attractive features, but there are a handful of factors that put Salesforce squarely in front of the pack, Munoz said.
“Salesforce is dominant in the business world, an industry standard. And there are three main areas that set it apart from other CRM platforms.”
- App Marketplace
Salesforce has a wide inventory of add-ons that allow you to make it as robust a tool as needed. Most of the apps are free but premium apps can be purchased to optimize capability.
“This gives the organization a huge advantage in being able to customize Salesforce into exactly what they need. Other CRM systems are doing a great job in updating their library of add-ons, but Salesforce is the industry standard, like Apple.”
- Familiarity
The sheer volume of companies, employees and individuals who have worked with Salesforce in some capacity is a huge asset. It’s similar to working with Microsoft Office as opposed to OpenOffice, Munoz said.
“People know the shortcuts, they’ve gone through training and many have even become experts in the workflow rules, analytics and dashboards. I try to teach my students that Salesforce is a conceptual product. If you can understand and use Salesforce from a conceptual standpoint, you can jump into an organization and adapt to it quickly.”
- Innovation
To introduce innovations like Salesforce Lightning, product upgrades are provided on a regular schedule. The pace is not too fast, not too slow, Munoz said. “It might not be bleeding edge, but do you really want to trust the success of your customers on something that is so new that no one knows how established it will be?”
“Salesforce is a juggernaut. It’s a beautiful product… whatever your goal might be, our course gets you started. Opportunities are bountiful and there’s not a lot of overlap for competition.”
Bryan Munoz, Instructor
Salesforce Business Administration Specialist course
Earning your badges
DCE’s new Salesforce Business Administration course gets students up and running along the Trailmix path, covering the essentials from building a user interface to creating reports and dashboards, even advanced process automation. Students also have the opportunity to earn a coveted Salesforce Business Administration Specialist Superbadge.
“What sets the new course apart is its focus on the operations side of business and how it applies in the different functions of various organizations,” Munoz said. “You get to understand the bare bones of Salesforce, how it works, how you deploy it into an organization, and how you customize it to what you need. The course provides a comprehensive scope of Salesforce, presenting it as an anatomical structure.”
As companies transition their operations online, there is an imminent need for understanding CRM and Salesforce — an increasingly essential tool powered by globalization and digitization.
“This is a must-have skill as we grow our careers or transition to new ones,” Munoz said.
Salesforce pros expand their skills and advance their careers as they move through various modules, challenges and projects. Each Gold, Silver and Bronze badge earned along the way represents proficiency in specific areas such as marketing, data analytics and security, and the Superbadge represents real-world, pro-level proficiency.
As you progress and accumulate badges and points, Salesforce pros can progress from a Scout (zero badges) all the way up to Ranger (100 badges). It’s a novel way to provide a roadmap to success, motivate candidates to move forward with their training and help prepare for Salesforce certification in roles such as marketer, consultant and administrator.
“The Salesforce Business Administration course is great for new graduates, career changers or seasoned professionals,” Munoz said. “Anyone who wants to either start their career in Salesforce, work with an organization that uses Salesforce, or is transitioning to an organization that uses it widely across their operations.”