How to screen a Salesforce.com Consultant?

References were considered to be an important aspect of evaluating a Salesforce.com consulting company. But a more thorough screening process is required to identify the best Salesforce.com consultant. References are considered to be just part of the process. The below mentioned questions will help businesses to determine the efficiency of a Salesforce.com consultancy which they are about to prefer. Even though it is difficult to find correct answers as the client requirements might vary, businesses can still score consultants based on how far they match your current requirements and organizational needs.     

Team abilities of a Salesforce.com Consultant

There is no point in partnering with Salesforce Consultant Companies that is comprised of inexperienced staffs. The consultants might present their experiences of handling a project and achieving success in their past where as a lot matters on the individuals who will be taking up your project and the ones who will be representing the company you are partnering with. It is essential to evaluate those individuals before getting them as your preferred Salesforce consultant.

Some of the questions to ask your Salesforce consultant include;

• Whether they are certified SFDC consultants?
• Are they having atleast 10 years of industry experience along with MBA graduation?
• Check whether they are Salesforce MVPs

Team Experience of Salesforce.com Consultant

• Check their previous projects and the number of projects being done by them that are almost related to that of your project
• Verify the projects they have done that are similar to your project
• The number of projects they have delivered till date
• Go through their clients who are running a similar business scale as that of yours and also check the number of clients they have dealt with so far
• What are the best practices followed by the team for Salesforce including whether it is written communication or spoken reviews etc?
• What are the best practices the team follows for your business processes? Whether they have the required business experience for your field?

These questions and the answers you get from it can set your Salesforce consultant apart from the contractors.

Client References of Salesforce.com Consultant

Businesses have to ensure that the prospective Salesforce Consulting Companies has substantial references to boast of their exceptional performance as a preferred Salesforce Consulting Partner.

• Check the total number of client references offered by the Salesforce consultant
• Identify which of the clients being mentioned as references are actually referencable
• Check the customer satisfaction ranking of the Salesforce Consulting Company in Salesforce.com App Exchange

Instead of relying only on the feedback or opinions from the Salesforce Consultants, it is desirable to check the discussion boards, user groups as well as other social media outlets in finding out what actually people are saying about the Salesforce.com Consulting Company and its staffs and customer service.   

Vendor Focus and Depth of Salesforce Consultant

Partnering with a consultant who clearly knows Salesforce is very essential for the success of your business.

• Ask for the actual percentage of revenue from the vendor which have been gathered from Salesforce Projects
• Check for how long the company have followed a dedicated Salesforce practice
• Ask for the total number of Salesforce systems that have been deployed by your prospective Salesforce Consulting Company so far
• The total years of experience the Salesforce Consultant have in providing Salesforce practice that are related to your vertical industry

Project Design of Salesforce.com Consultant

Ensuring the project does not fail unexpectedly remains the top most priority of both the company and the Salesforce Consultant being partnered with.

• Understand the extent towards which the project depends up on the custom code
• Try to understand the extent to which the project might make use of offshore resources
• Check whether the Salesforce Consulting Company guarantee the smoother running of project and ask details regarding who exactly will be staffing the Salesforce project
• Also ensure the Salesforce Consultant does not subcontract the work to any unnamed third-parties