5 Things I Learned in My First 30 Days at a Salesforce ISV
After the biggest professional change of my life, here’s what I’ve learned so far.
“I’m good at what I do.” “I’m good at what I do.” “I’m good at what I do.”
That became my mantra in the weeks leading up to the first day in my new role at ProvenWorks, a small but mighty UK Salesforce ISV partner. I was leaving behind a sector I’d been in since graduation and suddenly moving into technology.
As a humanities and arts student at university, I’d barely heard of the concept of ‘SaaS’ before I got the Marketing Manager job at ProvenWorks. I didn’t know about Salesforce, I didn’t know about ISV partners, and I didn’t know about the AppExchange.
Maybe that’s you right now. Perhaps you’re on the precipice of a major career change or just dipping your toe in the deep end. It can all feel alien and overwhelming.
So what have I learned so far? And how might it help you? I’m glad to share the five things I learned in the first month of the biggest professional change of my life.
1. Don’t panic.
I know, I know. I can hear you rolling your eyes… but it’s true, and it has to come first. There will be plenty of moments where you don’t understand what’s going on, and you certainly won’t understand what people are saying.
There will be acronyms, weird abbreviations, and meetings where whole conversations will go over your head. It’s okay.
You can’t become an expert in a day. However, you’ve committed and signed up for this new adventure, and if you put the time in, you’ll get there. I haven’t reached the finish line (I don’t think anyone ever does) but this is a place that celebrates learning.
In short: If you’re just joining the Salesforce ecosystem, take it from someone who is one tiny step further along — do not panic. Take it hour by hour, day by day. You’ve got this.
2. Trailhead is your best friend.
ProvenWorks has been a partner of Salesforce since 2009 and we make apps, like AddressTools, that empower Salesforce users to be data heroes. We’re all about simplifying, improving, and enhancing your data management. But before you can grasp how helpful that can be, you must understand Salesforce and its power. Trailhead is Salesforce’s free learning platform. There are badges, trails, modules, and projects on many aspects of Salesforce. Trailhead is interesting, interactive, incredibly helpful — and free. We have wonderfully smart developers in our team who will still hop on Trailhead to learn. There is no better way to understand Salesforce, the space in which it operates, and the whole ecosystem it has created.
In short: Dedicate time to work through trails. Then come back to it whenever you need a refresher. This was a great first trail for me to start understanding Salesforce.
3. Get to know your customers.
If your team doesn’t already have them, create user personas. User personas represent large segments of your customers based on shared behaviour, motivations, goals, pain points, and other characteristics. (There’s a great Trailhead module on it!) Do it early on because it will help focus every customer-facing interaction from that moment on.
I spent a long time curating questions to prompt the information I wanted to find out and then created a Google Form (ask me if you want it!). I set up a meeting with the team and we worked through the form several times to create our different personas. Then I presented the information in a more meaningful way using one-page profile sheets, and there was suddenly an understanding. We all know our potential users more deeply and can better meet their needs. Not to mention, sitting down with the team and chatting through our user personas was a lot of fun and a great way to get to know my colleagues!
In short: Organize a session to learn who your customers are and how to meaningfully interact with them. It’ll be useful for your colleagues too, I promise!
4. Get to know your Salesforce Account Manager.
Every Salesforce partner has an Account Manager. They have access to loads of connections and data and they’re literally there to help you! I was able to meet our Account Manager early on and find out more about what kind of things we could get involved with as a Salesforce partner.
In short: Meet up with your Account Manager and spend some time learning how best to make the most of the relationship.
5. Dive deep into the Salesforce community.
The Salesforce ecosystem is vast but it’s friendly. There are plenty of ways to get involved and find valuable connections, so understandably it can be difficult to know where to start. Some of my favourite community connection points are:
- the Trailblazer community to connect with fellow #trailblazers and ask questions
- the Partner community to learn best practices and how to partner with Salesforce
- Slack
- Salesforce User Groups
- and Community events, like London Calling
Start with one platform and get to know it. Introduce yourself, ask for help, look for partnerships, establish your brand, and share your learning. I was blown away by the warm welcome I felt online and I love the encouragement that is so easy to find along the way.
In short: Dedicate time to building relationships across the Salesforce ecosystem. You never know what opportunities might be hiding around the corner.
New to working in the Salesforce ecosystem?
In less than 10 words: don’t panic, keep learning, ask questions, and get connected.
If you’re reading this and you’re at the start of your own Salesforce journey, welcome! I know what it feels like to look up at the huge learning curve in front of you.
So what do you need to do next?
Put one foot forward and start climbing, one tiny step at a time.
Check out ProvenWorks’ apps on the AppExchange, and connect with me on the Trailblazer Community.
