Most Dominant Questions To Uncover The True Capabilities Of Your Salesforce Consultant

“When screening vendors, references are vital. But when hiring or choosing the best Salesforce consultants for your project, you need to go through a deep screening to uncover the true capabilities and hire the best that fits your culture and environment.This list of dominant questions will help!”

A wonderful Salesforce CRM system is critical for many enterprises. But not every business has the right skill and expertise to maintain and configure a complex Salesforce implementation. Here, the role of Salesforce consultants and Salesforce consulting Company comes in.An experienced Salesforce consultant can add significant value to your business, but you must be sure that you choose the right one for your project with the right skills-base and the knowledge.

References are just more than the perfect choice to start with your search. But when vetting Salesforce consulting company, you need deep industry skills, and technical competencies to take your business to the next level. Moreover, you should be focused on the people more instead of the referrals completely.

Here, is the complete list of questions that will help you in evaluating characteristics of Salesforce consultants without failure. You can avoid the red flags smarty in your quest to surface the best professionals for your project. Be aware that client requirements vary based on the nature of the project and there are no fixed answers to these questions. Yet we have tried to give best based on our past experiences and the evaluation.

Before we go further into the discussion, I have a confusion in mind that needs to be addressed quickly before we jump to the main part of the blog. My question is Are you vetting a simple contractor or a true consultant for your project?

Well, there is a huge difference between the two and you should sure on the mission before moving ahead. A contractor simply works based on your instructions while a true consultant will guide you the best practices for a successful Salesforce implementation.

A complete list of questions with satisfactory answers discussed here

1). Check for the Salesforce CRM certification first?

The Salesforce certification is the best way to check the knowledge and skills necessary to configure and maintain the implementation. This is proof of your knowledge and makes sure that you are updated with latest technology trends. Every three months, Salesforce releases a new update and maintains certification exam too with every release cycle. The feature enhancements are made to the latest version that can be more suitable and optimal for your business.

2). Don’t forget to discuss the past experiences?

The Salesforce constant you are planning to hire should be tested based on the past experiences and the previous projects work. Make sure to ask these questions before making any final choice for your project –

Ask him how many projects he has completed earlier?
Also, ask him either he has worked on any similar project in the past?
What was the average size of the industry he has worked earlier?

3). Can you give any references?

It would be great if he could give any past referrals because future is always uncertain, but it can be made little predictable with the past behaviour. Here, is a list of things you can confirm with the past referrals of the consultant –

The reviews will tell you how responsive and attentive is the consultant.
The review will give you the best idea on the knowledge and skills of the consultant.
You will get to know either client has worked more than once with the same client. If he is hired multiple times from the same client, then it proves that he is reliable and can be hired without any doubts.

4). How much are you focused on Salesforce editions?

Salesforce is evolving and changing constantly. So, you need to hire a consultant who is focused on editions and ready to handle changes gracefully. Sometimes, large consulting firms have little Salesforce practice and not worth hiring at all. Here is a list of questions, you should keep in mind to know how much your Salesforce consultant is focused on the latest CRM editions.

Tell us the percentage of Salesforce projects out of all?
How long have you been working as a Salesforce consultant?
How long have you been practicing focused on a vertical?

5). Do you have any idea on the Trailhead?

Trailhead is the highly interactive learning tool that is available for free and takes you through the Salesforce platform completely. This does not matter either you are a Salesforce developer or a Salesforce administrator, Trailhead is the best tool to assess your knowledge of the platform.

Learning a trailhead module does not signify that you have mastered that skill, but it makes sure that you spent quality time on the module to learn that skill. In other words, it may help you in succeeding as an individual. Here, is a list of questions to ask related to the Trailhead –

Can you work as an independent consultant too or you are working as a part of the firm only?
For the independent consultant, you should ask about his experience, how many projects he has complete as of now, what are the specific time-period you work or there is some gap to rest for other activities? Also, you should ask about the hurdles that prevent him from focusing on the project.
For the consultant working as a part of the firm, you should ask either he is a Salesforce partner, either he is registered on AppExchange or not, he has collected any certificate on the AppExchange, what is the customer satisfaction score at the AppExchange, Size of the team etc.

6). What is your Salesforce implementation strategy to make the project a huge success?

The success of a project completely depends on the implementation strategy used by the Salesforce consultants and the salesforce consulting Company you hire for your project. The best idea is to Go Agile, Go Connected with your Salesforce consultant to make your project a big hit.

7). What is the location of the consultant?

Well, we are living in the modern era where asking about the location is meaningless. The best idea is to hire someone that stay nearby and able to give maximum time to the project without wasting time in traveling.

8). What should be the price?

I put this question in the end because there are multiple options for the same quality and the experience. The consultant that is less expensive does not signify that it will spoil your project.

At the same time, we are not sure that expensive consultants would always perform at their level best. So, there is not a single answer to the question but make sure that you have been discussed all the questions mentioned earlier before you decide on the price.

Final Words:

It is difficult to uncover the true capabilities of a Salesforce Consultant. But we have given you the right roadmap to take your steps ahead with confidence. Dig deeper how much the vendor is serious about the project and its Salesforce practice.

We at JanBask offer wide range of Salesforce consulting services that will add transformation values to your business and take you forward with the right Salesforce implementation and the methodology at the best prices.

We wish you luck for your future CRM system and the implementations with JanBask and the Salesforce!