Salesforce Administrators or “admins” bridge the gap between businesses and the Salesforce CRM. While these individuals are typically viewed as system administrators, they do much more than manage the Salesforce platform.
So what does a day in the life of a Salesforce Admin entail? If you ponder this question, you have come to the right place.
Below, we outline some primary tasks a Salesforce Admin will perform during a typical day. We also discuss some of the major obstacles these versatile professionals must overcome to empower their sales teams and fuel the success of their companies.
What is Salesforce CRM?
Before we break down a day in the life of a Salesforce Admin, let’s recap what the Salesforce platform is. Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) software system. It includes a full suite of tools and applications that are fully integrated with one another.
Salesforce is designed to facilitate improved collaboration between sales teams, digital marketing experts, customer service representatives, project management personnel, and all other members of an organization.
Like any dynamic technology, the Salesforce CRM must be monitored and maintained to ensure that it performs optimally. That is where Salesforce Admins come in.
What does a day in the life of a Salesforce Admin entail?
The exact role of a Salesforce Admin will vary depending on the size of the company they work for and the industry they operate within. However, most Salesforce Administrators do the following during a typical day at the office:
Check CRM
Virtually every Salesforce Admin will kick off their day by logging into their CRM. They will carefully review status reports to determine whether the platform is encountering any technical issues that may impact productivity. If it is, the Salesforce Admin will need to resolve those problems as soon as they arrive at the office.
Hopefully, everything is operating optimally so they can move on to their next scheduled task for the day.
Meet with the manager and team
Next on the docket is a slate of meetings. Depending on the size of the company and several other factors, the Salesforce Admin may meet with the team and manager separately. Conversely, if they work for a relatively small organization, this small group gathering will likely include all relevant parties.
At the outset of the meeting, participants will recap what projects they worked on during the previous day. They may discuss the estimated completion time for each project and outline any barriers that might prevent them from meeting their set deadline.
If the team has just wrapped up a major project, this morning’s meeting may not be as involved unless they are already planning the next project.
Perform detailed reporting
One of the most important responsibilities of a Salesforce Admin involves managing the platform’s reports and dashboards. These tools allow the Salesforce Admin to convert essential business data into visual representations, such as tables, graphs, and charts.
A Salesforce Admin will typically generate these reports at predetermined intervals and present them to stakeholders, but more on that below.
By using Salesforce reports and dashboards, Salesforce Admins gain valuable insights into the performance of an organization. This data can be used to optimize internal business practices, gauge the effectiveness of a particular marketing campaign, and much more.
The best Salesforce Admins master the report generation capabilities of the CRM platform and use these tools to help their organizations remain competitive within their respective industries.
Meet with stakeholders
Salesforce Administrators are often tasked with presenting reports directly to stakeholders and C-suite executives. They are expected to present this data and make informed recommendations on the best course of action for the business.
While the stakeholders will have the final say on vital business decisions, Salesforce Admins have a substantial influence on the overall direction of their organization.
Provide ongoing support
Salesforce Admins are generally considered to be the resident experts on all things Salesforce. They are their organization’s point of contact whenever an employee needs to learn how to use a new feature, encounters a problem, or has a question about the platform.
As such, Salesforce Admins often spearhead any training on the program and are responsible for helping other team members become more proficient in using the CRM’s features.
To effectively provide ongoing support, Salesforce Administrators must have a strong working knowledge of the platform. They must also be able to relay this information to non-experts in a manner that is easy to understand.
Manage the Salesforce platform
Salesforce Administrators will typically wind down their day by performing routine case management. This involves reviewing help desk requests from users and tracking any potential issues within the program. These requests must be resolved promptly, as any system deficiencies can negatively impact productivity.
In addition, the administrator may use this time to compose additional Salesforce reports, help executives familiarize themselves with the platform, or create new permissions that give company leadership access to essential features.
Day-to-Day Challenges
As you can see, a Salesforce Admin is a true jack-of-all-trades. They are often expected to act as a trainer, advisor, team leader, and tech support, all in the course of a single workday. Salesforce Administrators commonly encounter challenges such as:
Data quality concerns
The chief concern for most Salesforce Administrators is preserving the quality of data. While the Salesforce platform is both dynamic and powerful, it is essential that the system contains clean data. If the data is inaccurate, then reports generated from the Salesforce platform may be misleading.
Therefore, Salesforce Admins must proactively keep data clean by taking a multifaceted approach. This often includes carefully reviewing reports, deleting duplicate records, and adequately training all Salesforce users.
Poor user adoption
Speaking of Salesforce users, another major challenge that administrators must overcome is poor adoption by staff members. Anytime the Salesforce Administrator alters the user interface or implements a new feature, they must consider how this will impact the team.
The ultimate goal of any Salesforce Admin is to make the platform as user-friendly as possible. If non-experts are confident in their ability to interact with Salesforce and use its tools, then they will be much more productive.
High user adoption rates will make life a lot easier on the admin as well, as they will not encounter as many service requests or data entry errors.
Building and running reports
Finally, Salesforce Admins must be adept at building and running custom reports in the CRM platform.
While generating a report is not overly complex, Salesforce Administrators have to select the appropriate format and presentation style to relay valuable business information to stakeholders effectively. Doing so requires experience and extensive knowledge of each type of report.
In addition, Salesforce Administrators are tasked with building custom dashboards for VPs and other organizational executives. These dashboards must display information on essential performance metrics without appearing too cluttered or crowded.
How to Become a Salesforce Admin
Are you interested in joining the ranks of Salesforce professionals and becoming a certified admin? If so, the first stage of your journey involves familiarizing yourself with the platform and enrolling in a Salesforce Administration program, such as the one offered by Pathstream.
Pathstream has partnered with Trailhead, Salesforce’s online library of educational resources. We have created a truly innovative learning experience that allows you to work directly with the Salesforce software. What better way to learn than to complete real-world tasks within your study platform?
The best part about Pathstream’s program is that it allows you to work at your own pace. This program is designed for busy professionals. It does not require any in-person classes and offers flexible scheduling, personalized feedback from experienced instructors, and career support.
Not sure if a Salesforce Admin career is right for you? Don’t worry; Pathstream offers many other programs, including the Asana Project Management Certificate and the Tableau Data Analytics Certificate.
If you aspire to further your career, Pathstream will give you the tools to make your dream a reality. Contact us today to learn more.
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