Category Archives: Development

Why become a Salesforce certified consultant? Sales, Service, and Experience Cloud

When people think of Salesforce certifications, they typically focus on the Certified Administrator or developer credentials. For those providing consulting services on the Salesforce platform, the administrator certification is the entry point, with consultant certifications providing the next level. Salesforce-certified consultants know more about the Salesforce platform and are better positioned to help clients understand what they need. Most projects involve Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Experience Cloud, which are central to the Salesforce platform. 

Why become a Salesforce certified consultant? Sales, Service, and Experience Cloud

When approaching a new project, you can usually expect that at least 80% of the requirements can be met with out-of-the-box functionality. Certified consultants are better positioned to guide clients, who are typically not familiar with the platform, don’t know how to implement the features they need, and have many questions. Knowing how these products work helps you help them figure out the best way to implement them and ensure they are able to leverage as much out-of-the-box functionality as possible. Even when installing the products, there are always a variety of steps and configuration tasks involved. Certification helps you prioritize this work and determine the next steps for all your projects. 

When clients partner with you on a new Salesforce project, you will know what the client needs, what they should consider before starting, which licenses they will need, and recommend different approaches. These certifications even help you to create a budget for the project as you will have learned the pre-sales approach.

 Let’s take a closer look at the three consultant certifications.

 

Certified Sales Cloud Consultant

Eduardo C: Business Analyst & Salesforce Consultant. 10 years of Salesforce experience.

Certifications: Administrator, Advanced Administrator, Platform App Builder, Platform Developer I, Sharing & Visibility Designer, Sales Cloud Consultant, Service Cloud Consultant, Experience Cloud Consultant.

 

How has the Sales Cloud consultant certification been useful?

Eduardo believes that being a business analyst and a Salesforce consultant means that he brings a different point of view when it comes to this certification. However, some of the most important things to consider are:

  • Standard Objects: The standard objects are account, contact, opportunity, lead person accounts, and products. You know how they are related, master details, lookup relationships, and so on.  In some projects, the objects may have different names. Let’s say the “account” object is renamed to “vendor” or “client,” because you already know everything related to the account object, you know what comes with it.
  • Marketing Campaigns: Opportunities may be related to multiple marketing campaigns. You can influence opportunities with marketing campaigns.  
  • Quotes/ Products/ List Prices: Generally speaking, it’s easier to implement with out-of-the-box functionality. If you are making a custom deployment, there are many things to consider. If it’s out of the box, generally speaking, you avoid some pain points in the business process.
  • Opportunity and account teams: With the administrator certification, we learned about sharing options like roles, but here we focus on others ways to share objects, like opportunities and account teams. It’s very useful and you’ll use them often. 
  • Territory Management: There is another way to share opportunities and accounts by using territories. In most cases, the territories are related to geography or region. Eduardo stresses the importance of understanding how this works as it will be asked in the exam. 
  • Multiple Currencies: What happens when you enable multiple currencies? When or where do you need to update the exchange rates, and what happens when you apply the exchange rate? As you know, prices tend to change frequently, it is very useful to know when these price changes will affect the opportunities. 
  • Quota/Goals: Salespeople usually have quotas and need to reach certain goals. Understanding how these work is central to helping clients use Salesforce to support their business processes. 

 

What else do you need to learn?

Eduardo believes the most important item to remember is that the licensed add-ons such as CPQ, Lightning Sales, and Maps, among others, aren’t included in the exam but they are vital when it comes to projects. It is important to consider the limitations, insights, and use cases of these licenses to decide which ones to use in specific contexts. 

If you are interested in taking this certification, check out the Sales Cloud Consultant exam guide and complete this Trailmix: Prepare for Your Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant Credential.

 

Certified Service Cloud Consultant

Lakshay A: Salesforce Quality Engineering, 5 years of Salesforce experience.

Certifications:  Administrator, Advanced Administrator, Platform App Builder, Tableau CRM & Einstein Discovery Consultant, Service Cloud Consultant

 

How has the Service Cloud consultant certification been useful?

This certification is designed for those who want to successfully design and implement Service Cloud solutions that are maintainable, scalable, and contribute to long-term customer success. 

This certification requires an abundance of knowledge on translating client customer service requirements into Salesforce design, leveraging best practices, and minimizing the need for custom development. It also helps in facilitating business process reviews to identify client requirements. 

  • Interface Customization: Configuration of the interface for customer support helps enhance the experience for the agents or any support center environment. This includes knowing how to configure all of the ins and outs of the console, both in classic and increasingly more in the Lightning experience. 
  • Channels: You’ll learn how to deal with the various customer interaction channels such as web, telephone, emails, and other social media. 
  • Knowledge articles: You will also learn about knowledge articles, to facilitate faster resolution times. This will help you learn the interface configuration to allow for rapid entry by the agents and sharing of reference information through articles. All this will result in faster resolution times
  • Omni-Channel: The next part is Omni-Channel, which helps to route cases intelligently. Sometimes we may need to take into account the various skills and skill levels of individual service representatives. Lakshay was impressed by the sheer volume of complexity that can be handled with just clicks instead of code. 
  • Analytics: With Tableau CRM (formerly known as Einstein analytics), you can sift through mountains of data and case records to discover patterns and surface actionable insights, to take effective case management to a whole new level. Along with this, there are two topics which will be around designing end-user training and supporting related documentation. 
  • Service level agreements: Companies are obligated to provide certain levels of service, which will lead you down the path of implementing intervention milestones. 

Now moving on to what else you’ll learn along with that, there are a few more things like:

  • Sales Cloud channel integration
  • Data management 


These include use cases and considerations for common services or integrations. It explains the concentration of the data migration and the data quality.

When Lakhsay prepared for the exam he followed the topic-wise approach. There are nine topics that you should cover in detail before taking the exam. And there are some hot topics from which most of the questions will appear, such as Service Cloud implementation and the different strategies.

If you are interested in pursuing this certification, check out the Service Cloud Consultant exam guide and complete this Trailmix Prepare for Your Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant Credential.

 

Certified Experience Cloud Consultant

How has the Experience Cloud consultant certification been useful?

Eduardo believes that when it comes to Experience Cloud, standard objects are a good place to start. It is vital to understand how standard objects are related. Some users are related to contacts, whereas others may relate to accounts or other objects. It is important to understand how they are related, depending on the type of license they have. 

  • Community types: This exam will also prepare you to know the differences among partner, customer, and employee communities. You will learn about the sharing options available with each license type and typical product integrations along these lines. 
  • Integrations: Typical product integrations are important to know because that community will come in handy with other products that you could integrate. Communities rarely come “alone” most of the time. You will typically have some other product associated, such as Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, CQP, MuleSoft Anypoint API Community Manager, or Tableau CRM (previously known as Einstein Analytics). 
  • Access: Understanding public access is very helpful for knowing how public pages work and their interaction with multiple apps and databases. 
  • Personalization: Audience targeting has also been handy when it comes to projects. Sometimes, you may have two sites with two different audiences or you may have only one site with two licenses. When it comes to targeting, you need to define at what moment users will see each of the licenses. It is good to know the limitations and the ways we can achieve this. Eduardo recommends understanding the difference between login-based and member-based profiles because they are not configured the same way

 

What else do you have to learn?

Eduardo took this exam about a month ago mainly using Focus on Force. The challenge with this certification and the reason there are no Trailmixes is that it changes often, as Salesforce is constantly upgrading its communities to satisfy the needs of customers. This certification has changed its name a couple of times already from Digital Experience Cloud to Community Cloud, to the one we currently have, Experience Cloud. Eduardo recommends checking the Salesforce help links to make sure you have the latest information, especially when it comes to licensing types and templates. 

You can also check out the Experience Cloud Consultant exam guide.

Salesforce credentials grow your resume and highlight your skills. If you are interested in following this career path, check our career opportunities. 

 

Expert tips for becoming Salesforce Certified

We know that taking a Salesforce Certification exam can be stressful, so we have put together some useful tips for before, during, and after the exam that you should keep in mind.

If it is your first time working on a Salesforce certification, we recommend you start with one of these three certifications as they do not have prerequisites. Regardless of which one you begin with, here are some useful tips to help you pass the exam and things you should consider when preparing. 

Expert tips for becoming Salesforce Certified

Before the exam

What should I consider before setting a date and time to take my first Salesforce certification exam?

 

Choose the right space

  • Pick a quiet environment where there won’t be any loud noises or sounds to distract you when you’re trying to answer complex questions. Because the exams are proctored, make sure you’re the only person in the room. Keep the space where you will take the exam clean. It is best to only have your computer connected. Remember, remove any distractions.

  • Schedule your exam on a weekend or another day where there are no other activities planned besides taking your exam. (No job, no projects, only the exam).

  • Take the exam at a time where the internet is stable (don’t take the exam during peak hours when your internet connection is likely to be slow).

  • Prepare the software and hardware in advance. In general, you will need:
    • Hardware
      • A stable internet connection. Using a cable is usually better than wifi.
      • A computer. Check that your CPU is working properly and if it’s a laptop, don’t forget to connect your charger.
      • Microphone and camera. Make sure they’re configured and fully functional in advance.
    • Software
      • A recent version of Windows / macOS with a system administrator account.
      • Install and configure the required software that they use for the exam.
      • Verify all software is working properly a day before taking the test.

 

Be prepared

  • Read up on how the exam is structured. Every certification has a different exam, but the structure is published for each of them.
  • Create a study plan. There are many ways to develop your study plan. How you approach it depends on your time, your studying technique, and other factors. 
  • Speak with people who have already obtained the certification so they can tell you about their experience. This is one of the best things you can do!
  • Rest and concentrate before the exam. Don’t stay up late the day before. Just review, eat well and be as relaxed as possible when you take the exam. 
  • Postpone the exam date only if there is a major problem or think you should review or study more. It is possible to cancel the exam or change the date, any restrictions would depend on the type of exam you are taking. 
  • We recommend taking a look at these resources for practice exams, past exams, free courses, and much more:

 

During the exam

Exam proctors 

Keep calm and be patient. Once the exam has started, time will start running. However, the exam supervisor or proctor can interrupt you at any time to verify everything is going smoothly and to ask you to show specific things, like:

  • Your ID
  • Your surroundings 
  • Your eyeglasses 
  • That you don’t have any devices in your ears (such as earphones)
  • That you don’t have any jackets or pockets. Wear something simple with no pockets or places where you could hide information. 

Before starting the exam the proctors may take some time to answer any questions that you have regarding the test. Verify the evaluation criteria, such as the number of questions, duration of the exam, and the time you will have available to answer each question. Once everything is ready you will be able to continue with the exam. Keep in mind that the proctor may interrupt you if you make any “suspicious” movement. Try to avoid this, as you will not enjoy being interrupted during the test. 

 

Organize your time and prioritize

Start by reading the questions carefully. If you don’t fully understand a specific question, read it again. There is no need to rush. If you don’t know the answer, try not to waste time on that question as that will leave you with less time to answer the ones that you do know!

How to organize yourself:

  1. Read the questions carefully and analyze them. These questions are designed to confuse you and may have keywords that can change the meaning of the question completely.
  2. Answer the “easy” questions first. Start by answering the questions you are sure you know or that may seem easier to you first. But be careful, some questions may seem simple but were designed to be tricky. 
  3. Skip (or leave for later) any questions that you do not understand, or that require extra time for calculations. By answering the easier questions at the beginning you leave yourself extra time for the questions that require more analysis.
  4. If a question is too long, save it for the end. They are designed to take extra time and confuse you. It would be better to answer them at the end.

Once you have answered all the questions, try not to change too many of your answers. Be confident in your work.

 

After the exam

I passed the exam, what should I do?

Verify the result. Salesforce sends your certification by email.

Check your certification expiration date. We recommend knowing the expiration date of your certifications so you can make plans to renew them on time.

 

What should I do if I failed my exam?

Salesforce will send you the results. After you have finished your certification exam, Salesforce will send you an email with the percentage you have achieved for each of the exam topics. This will help you know which areas in you will need more training on before you take the exam again.

Take it easy. Everyone wants to pass their exam on their first try, and not passing makes us feel frustrated. Don’t give up! Review the topics you have failed, study them again, practice, and remember that you already have experience.

Developing Salesforce Lightning Web Components

In mid-2020 we started a project to build small Salesforce components that could be added to any application or even a registration page. That project has grown to include twelve components currently in production and many more on the way. We publish the components on the AppExchange for free so any Salesforce administrator can install them into their org to try them out. Our team builds components that are utilities that can help us on a daily basis, or complement our other work in some way.

Developing Salesforce Lightning Web Components

Lightning Web Components

There are a few approaches we could take to build components like these, but we wanted to take advantage of the newer Lightning web component architecture. It uses JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the Lightning Design System. When we need to access custom and standard object definitions or build and call REST APIs, we use the Salesforce Apex programming language.

Lightning web components are a powerful tool because they present data to the client in a dynamic and reactive way. Most components are designed to directly support the Salesforce users who will be interacting with them. This approach allows our team to build for desktop and mobile with very few differences in the code structure. And the Lightning Design System is crucial for designing and developing a UI that is consistent with the rest of the Salesforce experience and is easy for the end-user to understand.

Even though all the components are “components”, some of them could be classified as “sub-components”, meaning that one could be nested and work inside another. This allows the team to distribute tasks better and work more efficiently. It also allows the components to be scalable and to add more features to a single component. It also has the advantage of making the work neater: the code is more organized as each component has its own functionality. 

 

Customer-centered Logic

When creating a component that runs in a complex environment like Salesforce, we want to be sure to minimize the number of interactions with the server. Customer-centered logic helps us reduce response time and to create elements that interact with the client faster. This approach lets the server delegate many of its responsibilities to the browser. Since it acts as a controller, all the user’s logic is handled by the browser.

Developing in this way requires a disposable cache that stores data locally, reducing the response time. The approach is called a “View-Controller-Controller-Model” because it has both a server-side and a client-side controller. Other frameworks such as Visualforce do not interact as quickly with the customer because they continuously consult the backend and request information and/or approvals. They depend 100% on the server. The server has to handle all the user’s requests and analyze what the user needs, then access the database, answer the question, and then render the page for the user. Not very efficient.

 

Component Ideas

The process of building a Lightning Web Component starts with a brainstorming session. Once all the ideas have been discussed, the team does a reality-check and chooses the most Lightning web component-friendly options. Then a team is designated to research available APIs on the market and determine which libraries they need. It’s only at that stage that we determine if it is feasible to develop that new component. If it is, a designer then creates a sketch with the layout, titles, logo, and color palette, and the development team starts building the components and Apex classes. 

We currently have three Lightning web components published on the AppExchange, including Oktana Calendar and Oktana Youtube, with more components already in the security review process. It takes time for the Salesforce security team to complete their review and approve any app or component, and that review process has become even more rigorous recently. We’re excited to share with you our new components as they’re approved and published on the AppExchange. Keep an eye on this blog or check our Salesforce AppExchange listings page.

 

There are a few approaches we could take to build components like these, but we wanted to take advantage of the newer Lightning web component architecture. It uses JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the Lightning Design System. When we need to access custom and standard object definitions or build and call REST APIs, we use the Salesforce Apex programming language.

Lightning web components are a powerful tool because they present data to the client in a dynamic and reactive way. Most components are designed to directly support the Salesforce users who will be interacting with them. This approach allows our team to build for desktop and mobile with very few differences in the code structure. And the Lightning Design System is crucial for designing and developing a UI that is consistent with the rest of the Salesforce experience and is easy for the end-user to understand.

Even though all the components are “components”, some of them could be classified as “sub-components”, meaning that one could be nested and work inside another. This allows the team to distribute tasks better and work more efficiently. It also allows the components to be scalable and to add more features to a single component. It also has the advantage of making the work neater: the code is more organized as each component has its own functionality. 

 

Customer-centered Logic

When creating a component that runs in a complex environment like Salesforce, we want to be sure to minimize the number of interactions with the server. Customer-centered logic helps us reduce response time and to create elements that interact with the client faster. This approach lets the server delegate many of its responsibilities to the browser. Since it acts as a controller, all the user’s logic is handled by the browser.

Developing in this way requires a disposable cache that stores data locally, reducing the response time. The approach is called a “View-Controller-Controller-Model” because it has both a server-side and a client-side controller. Other frameworks such as Visualforce do not interact as quickly with the customer because they continuously consult the backend and request information and/or approvals. They depend 100% on the server. The server has to handle all the user’s requests and analyze what the user needs, then access the database, answer the question, and then render the page for the user. Not very efficient.

 

Component Ideas

The process of building a Lightning Web Component starts with a brainstorming session. Once all the ideas have been discussed, the team does a reality-check and chooses the most Lightning web component-friendly options. Then a team is designated to research available APIs on the market and determine which libraries they need. It’s only at that stage that we determine if it is feasible to develop that new component. If it is, a designer then creates a sketch with the layout, titles, logo, and color palette, and the development team starts building the components and Apex classes. 

We currently have three Lightning web components published on the AppExchange, including Oktana Calendar and Oktana Youtube, with more components already in the security review process. It takes time for the Salesforce security team to complete their review and approve any app or component, and that review process has become even more rigorous recently. We’re excited to share with you our new components as they’re approved and published on the AppExchange. Keep an eye on this blog or check our Salesforce AppExchange listings page.