Salesforce is a robust and comprehensive platform that allows businesses to enhance their processes and deliver better services and customer experience. The sheer scale and expansion capabilities of this platform make it rather difficult to operate for a person who doesn’t have the expertise and specialization to capture its true value.

This is why having a Salesforce administrator is a good idea if you wish to make the most of this amazing platform.

No wonder hiring a specialized Salesforce Administrator is becoming more like a necessity than a provision. These professionals best understand how to customize and make the platform work best for a company’s requirements and meet the business goals.

Depending on the scale of the operations and the size of the organizations, businesses either hire one dedicated Salesforce Administrator or opt for multiple people for this role.

Salesforce Administrator – As experts see it

Rebecca Saar, Senior Director, Sales Force Administration, explains why these professionals are increasingly becoming important for businesses across the globe. She says, “A Salesforce Admin best understands how to make the platform work for their company’s goals. Core responsibilities include supporting users, managing data, maintaining security standards, and delivering actionable analytics.”

In certain organizations, the job of a Salesforce-certified administrator is combined with several other roles. Since Salesforce offers a wide range of business capabilities, hiring a certified Salesforce Administrator will make sure that a company uses this platform to the best of its potential.

What is a Salesforce Administrator

In today’s business landscape, it is extremely important to provide customized and personalized customer solutions. This is what a Salesforce Administrator aims to do. A Salesforce Administrator solves business issues by customizing the Salesforce platform by building, configuring and automating technology solutions in order to deliver true business value.

Usually, Salesforce Administrators collaborate with different stakeholders to understand the specific business needs and then customize the platform so that businesses can make the most of the features available.

A Salesforce Administrator can be expected to maintain this platform thoroughly, help all users in an organization to use Salesform irrespective of what technical expertise they have, keep themselves updated with the latest innovations in the sector and be the main bridge between the technology and the business.

What Does the Job of a Salesforce Certified Administrator Ential?

Salesforce Administrators are one of the most important additions to any business using the Salesforce platform. They are wizards with accurate and updated knowledge about maximizing the benefits of Salesforce by utilizing and customizing its features. This is why the average salary of Salesforce Administrators is usually higher than several other technical administrators.

This is also because the roles and responsibilities of a Salesforce Administrator are a lot wider than a system administrator in all other industries.

These roles and responsibilities typically include but are not limited to, carrying out configuration-based tasks and tasks that require in-depth business insight like business analysis and sales operations.

Understanding Salesforce Administrators Thoroughly

There is a reason why Salesforce Administrators are regarded so highly in the industry across verticals. Their job entails maintaining and providing a wide range of functions.

Let’s understand their role with an example.

Take your sales team for example. If your sales team uses a Sales Cloud to close deals and maximize opportunities, your Salesforce Administrator will help them create and implement customized dashboards, alerts, fields, and in-depth reports. This will help them reduce the length and duration of the sales cycle and track each and every lead in finer detail.

This kind of meticulous work and planning results in better functioning of the sales team and delivering the highest level of customer experience.

And this is just an example relating to the sales team. A Salesforce Administrator can help just about every team in an organization by streamlining and customizing the processes involved in their job and enhancing the overall functioning of a business.

Numbers speak for themselves

If numbers reveal anything it would be easy to see why Salesforce has become so popular. Studies indicate that companies using Salesforce as a platform witness a 25% increase in their revenue. Customers, on the other hand, witness a 25% increase in marketing ROI.

Additionally, research shows that businesses enjoy a 35% increase in customer satisfaction while customer service agents that use Salesforce witness a 34% increase in their productivity.

This means that more and more businesses will use Salesforce in the coming years, increasing the need for Salesforce Administrators to manage, customize and maximize the features. So, if you haven’t still hired a Salesforce Administrator, it is time to rethink your strategy.

How You can become a Salesforce Administrator

Becoming a Salesforce admin is not rocket science to become a Salesforce Administrator. As Rebecca Saar says, “You do not need a technical background or knowledge of Salesforce technology to begin. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection anywhere in the world can get trained. Best of all, learning to become a Salesforce Admin happens online and on your schedule.”

To start working as a Salesforce Admin, you need to study and prepare for Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam and pass the Salesforce admin certification. Beginners start by learning the basics about the platform and then build their knowledge through a series of engaging modules.

Saar summarizes some of the core skills that becoming a Salesforce admin requires. These specific Salesforce admin role-related skills include Product Management, User Management, Data Management, Security, Business Analysis, Automating Processes, Analyzing Data, Problem-Solving, Communication, Learner Mindset, and Attention to Detail.

What Salesforce Admis do – Experience-Based Explanation

A Salesforce admin role can be broken down into entry-level, mid-level, and senior admins. Let’s look at what they do individually:

Entry-level Salesforce Admin: up to 3 years of experience

These professionals maintain the day-to-day organization of Salesforce and act as the first point of contact for all users.

Mid-level Salesforce Admin: up to 5 years of experience

These admins are tasked with maintaining and supporting more complex Salesforce features like complex sharing models, integrations or handling more complex features. Customizing Salesforce by using best practices is yet another job they undertake.

Senior Salesforce Admin: more than 5 years of experience

These admins work on the most complex Salesforce org, manage a team of professionals, and work with external resources to carry out multiple releases in a year. They are also expected to have governing skills and stakeholder management experience.

Entry level Salesforce Admins 

Entry level Salesforce Admins usually provide support to the senior members of the team to continually improve the Salesforce platform for the organization. Their daily tasks usually include:

User and license management

Helping new user setup, deactivating dormant accounts, managing roles, profiles and public groups

The first point in contact

A Salesforce Admin is the one all users contact for any resolution or escalation of issues related to Salesforce

Enabling configuration changes

Carrying out tasks like simple flows, page layouts, fields, record types, dashboards, custom settings and reports

Monitoring and Creation

They usually undertake and monitor user adoption within the organization apart from developing user material and providing user training

Mid level Salesforce Admins

Mid level admins enjoy a deeper technical knowledge of the Salesforce platform. However, what sets them apart from the junior level ones is their ability to analyze, design and even optimize processes to ensure higher user engagement and implementation of best practices.

They are usually tasked with more complex responsibilities. This could be handling a higher number of users or handling more complex sharing models, customizations, etc. Some of the other tasks they are expected to carry out include:

Managing sales cloud

They are expected to manage and work with the sales cloud or a suite of clouds.

Carrying out best practices

This includes maintaining and customizing Salesforce Org including a complete understanding of things like automation, types of records and more. 

Handling advanced tasks

These may include utilizing advanced automation and working with several integrated apps like DocuSign, Conga, Survey Gizmo and Mailchimp.

Write specs for developers

They might not have access to code customization, but they are expected to be able to write specs for the developers and monitor and improve user adoption.

Management and improvement 

They must be resourceful and have the ability to find solutions, carry out project management, and help other users find solutions.

Senior level Salesforce Admins

A Senior level Salesforce Admin must have more than five years of experience and they should be able to take ownership of whatever request that come from an organization. This includes handling change management and governance and managing all aspects of the Salesforce platform.

They are also expected to work with the Salesforce Administrators and company stakeholders to carry out a variety of tasks. These include:

Complex Org Management 

Handling and managing multiple projects, carrying out complex tasks and handling different Salesforce products while working with large-scale companies.

Knowledge of Salesforce best practices

They should exhibit comprehensive knowledge of all Salesforce best practices, and understand Salesforce architecture and how it can be integrated into other systems. 

Team management 

They must be able to manage a team of junior and mid level admins and work with external team members, oversee Salesforce Org and carry out multiple releases. 

Proactive participation 

Carry out security reviews, health checks, release updates, etc. They must also have release management experience.

Salesforce Admin Career Path 

Salesforce Admin is a rapidly growing career choice. With the Salesforce economy growing with every single passing day and Salesforce platforms being adopted by businesses across domains, these Salesforce professionals are in high demand and this fast-paced environment provides an enviable career path. They enjoy good career growth and Salesforce administrator salary standards are quite high.

To know about the average salary or Salesforce admin salary, Texas, check this table

	Salesforce Administrator Salary Averages
	Entry level	Senior level	Contract
USA	$103,375	$131,750	$105.50 p/h
Canada	C$90,000	C$115,000	C$75 p/h
UK	£40,875	£57,500	£404.50 p/d
Australia (AU$)	AU$101,000	AU$121,625	AU$862 p/d
Singapore (S$)	S$67,750	S$90,250	–
Japan (¥)	¥3,425,000	¥5,195,000

 

Lucy Mazalon, Salesforce Consultant, aptly describe this competitive field as, “There’s no doubt that Salesforce Admins carry out a core function that allows organisations to maintain a healthy org, customise Salesforce using declarative (point-and-click) configuration, support the needs of users, and in turn, optimise business operations. Admins will have mastered Salesforce declarative (point-and-click) configuration.”

In today’s marketplace, certified Salesforce admins are in high demand. The current market data show that almost 77% of all Salesforce admins hold at least one certification with 70% admitting that these certificates have helped them get more salaries and enhance their career path.

Read more about How a Salesforce Certification Can Boost Your Career

Frequently Asked Questions About Salesforce Administrators

What are the key roles and responsibilities in a Salesforce Admin job?

A Salesforce admin solves business issues by providing a customized Salesforce CRM platform. Apart from several other functions, this remains the most important responsibility in a Salesforce admin job. They also support users, manage data, maintain security, process automation, customer relationship management and data and analytics management.

Why should I hire or outsource a salesforce administrator?

Salesforce is a unique cloud-based software that provides comprehensive business solutions to nearly all industries. Hiring experienced admins means you have access to expertise and experience from industry professionals who are available to support your company at all times. Hiring or outsourcing a Salesforce admin saves hiring and operational cost, and ramp time and lets you work with the best industry talent with certified skills.

What are the career opportunities available for Salesforce administrators?

The career opportunities for Salesforce administrators are immense as the Salesforce economy is growing rapidly with almost every company hiring these professionals. You don’t even require strong technical expertise to get into Salesforce administration. You just need to clear the Salesforce administrator exam and begin your Salesforce Administration career. There are different types of Salesforce certifications available. If you get the required admin certification and learn Salesforce effectively, you can make a successful career in this domain.

Conclusion

Salesforce administration provides immense growth opportunities. A Salesforce admin is a highly regarded, respected and valuable asset for any business. They provide the much-needed support that companies need to excel in their business and help every user make the most of this platform.

However, it is not always possible to find a certified advanced administrator who can solve all your issues. And if you are also facing such a situation, let Cloud Street Services. We bring deep Salesforce experience and savvy Internet marketing strategies to help business maximize their efforts.

Our team of highly skilled salesforce professionals help you in maximizing this platform and gain an edge over your competitors. And we let our work do the talking for us. Explore more here