We’re all trying to reduce costs and improve output to drive revenue. When it comes to Salesforce projects, you may be wondering which option makes better sense for your business: hire Salesforce consultants or contractors for your project, or employ full-time Salesforce talent?
To best understand your options, it’s important to understand the basic roles involved in Salesforce implementation within your organization. Although every business is different, here are the basic roles many organizations need for Salesforce implementation:
Salesforce Technical Architect. Designing your CRM from the ground up takes robust knowledge and a unique skillset. Salesforce technical architects are adept at analyzing your organization and its needs, then designing a solution that meets your needs and solves your challenges. Many technical architects usually start out as Salesforce developers, so when they design your solution, they have an in-depth understanding of what it will take to construct. But, while a Salesforce technical architect will provide the plan for your solution, he or she will typically not perform the work of actually constructing your CRM database.
Salesforce Developer. Salesforce developers work alone or on a team of developers (depending on the size of the business) to code functionalities and application solutions on the Salesforce platform (or on a different piece of Salesforce cloud technology). They make sure your database does what it needs to do and gives you what your team needs to do their jobs.
Salesforce Administrator. Salesforce admins create and improve processes, tools and workflows that make it easy for your team to take advantage of all the possibilities within your database. They are champions of productivity and efficiency within your organization, solving problems and keeping everyone moving forward on key initiatives.
Should we recruit Salesforce consultants/contractors or hire full-time Salesforce talent? Now that you have a high-level understanding of the types of Salesforce talent needed to design and implement most Salesforce initiatives, it’s time to take a closer look at when it makes sense to hire full-time Salesforce talent versus contract.
Using Salesforce Consultants/Contractors Many organizations bring in Salesforce technical architects as consultants to design and kick off projects. Since these specialists aren’t needed to keep things running on a daily basis or to optimize daily performance, their knowledge and skills are usually brought in as needed.
Generally speaking, hiring a Salesforce consultant or contractor can be beneficial when you have a very specific project scope and very defined needs that have a concrete start and finish. As with any sort of project, your terms will likely be highly defined for project work. That means any additional needs will fall out of scope, and are likely to be billed at a higher hourly rate.
Depending on the location of your Salesforce contractor(s), you may have to overcome some communication and collaboration barriers; however, with today’s technology, it is easier than ever to stay connected. It’s important to fully vet and check references for any potential Salesforce contractors or consultants to be sure the vendors can be counted on to communicate regularly and effectively. When you work with a Salesforce recruiting firm like Tech2, we only recommend Salesforce contractors from our network who have been fully vetted, and are at the top of their game.
Hiring full-time Salesforce talent. We’ve partnered with hundreds of organizations across industries and sizes, and have found most commonly that an in-house Salesforce admin makes a dramatic difference on your daily productivity and getting the most out of your Salesforce investment. If your business has many Salesforce users who need a variety of reports, fields added or updated, and small tasks requiring limited coding and drag and drop customization completed regularly, an in-house Salesforce admin is a necessity.
Oftentimes, organizations in the early days of their Salesforce implementation feel that a full-time Salesforce developer is their best option. After all, there’s a lot of work to be done! But if your organization needs limited ongoing customization and development work, it may make more sense to use contract Salesforce developers as the need arises. When budget is a concern, hiring a full-time Salesforce admin will absolutely deliver the most ROI on your investment.
We can help you find the right Salesforce consultants or full-time talent for your needs. We’ve built strong relationships with talented Salesforce admins and developers across the country. Our network of contract and full-time Salesforce talent is ready to get started and make an impact on your business right away. Contact us to learn more.
