Alexa What is salesforce Administrator (Admin)?

What is a Salesforce Admin?

Sales | by ConvergeHub
What is a Salesforce Admin

Salesforce is the biggest customer relationship management platform available nowadays. More than 150,000 companies globally use this CRM platform for growing their businesses. As the demand for Salesforce has increased over the decade – there’s a high demand for Salesforce administrators. The Salesforce Administrators play a vital role in these organizations’ success.

Who Is a Salesforce Administrator?

Salesforce administrators have in-depth knowledge of the management and administration of the Salesforce platform. In the organizations that facilitate Salesforce service, Salesforce Administrators play a crucial role. These administrators enable users to get the most out of the Salesforce platform.

However, Salesforce Administrators don’t use any line of code – but utilize the arsenal of powerful functionalities for a business’s advantage. Salesforce administrators work with the organization’s-stakeholders directly to define system requirements and customize the platform. It enables the users to take complete advantage of the system.

A Salesforce admin can understand how to make a platform work for their company’s goals. Some organizations prefer one admin, while others opt for more than one person for this role. Salesforce Administrators help to:

  • Seamlessly utilize Salesforce on any technical level.
  • Maintain the platform for all the teams
  • Stay updated with the platform’s new tools, updates, and capabilities.

The Salesforce administrators are your trusted advisors on everything about this platform. They build a vital bridge between an organization and technology.

What Does A Salesforce Admin Do?

For various organizations, the job of administrator can combine many roles. Some companies hire admins to comply with the specific position. As Salesforce is a powerful platform with all its functionalities, having a certified Salesforce admin is beneficial. The admin can ensure that the company can use the platform to its highest potential.

Salesforce admins are responsible for various Salesforce-related tasks – helping users develop reports, reset passwords, run backups, add fields, and maintain data quality. Their work doesn’t stop here – these admins have a wide range of responsibilities, including platform maintenance, process automation, bug fixes, user training, etc. From creating easy-to-use dashboards to smart workflows, these admins can create useful tools on any device.

Here are some activities that a Salesforce administrator can do:

  • User maintenance: User maintenance is a big part of the admin task with Salesforce. The Salesforce admins are at the forefront of adding new users, checking system permissions on individual users, modifying existing accounts, etc.
  • Customization and Development: These admins spend considerable time customizing the organization’s setting menu, modifying page layouts, adding picklist values, mapping rules, and more.
  • Data Cleaning: Salesforce Administrators eliminate all duplicate accounts and contacts by updating and importing mass data. They use data loaders, import wizards, and more to do the task.
  • Reports and dashboards: Salesforce admins create regular reports to collect vital information from available data stored in Salesforce- as the reports help with decision-making.

Salesforce offers numerous functions that require a software developer. But now, the Salesforce admin can take charge of it without writing a single code- saving a company’s money and time.

Salesforce administrators work hard for work efficiency and to promote productivity. The admins offer creative solutions to the Salesforce users so that they can make the most out of the platform. As a result, the users become happier with the systemic approach, and businesses become more efficient. An impeccable Salesforce administrator will do more than requested- like giving suggestions on things the employees can do better. Salesforce admins can conduct both management and consultation of a business.

Levels Of Salesforce Administrators

As mentioned previously, the role of a Salesforce admin can differ based on various factors- but their fundamental responsibilities are the same. However, one must know there are three levels of Salesforce admins: “Entry-level”, “Mid-level”, and “Senior” admins:

Entry-level Salesforce Admin (0-2 years of experience):

A junior Salesforce Admin helps to improve and enhance an organization’s Salesforce platform. They are usually guided by experienced admins or gain experience by doing the tasks. Tasks of an entry-level admin include:

  • User and license management that includes new user setup, profiles, roles, permissions, deactivation and monitor user adoption, etc.
  • Being the first line of support for the Salesforce platform users and managing incoming support tickets
  • Salesforce’s configuration changes include simple flows, page layouts, fields, custom settings, record types, dashboards, and reports.
  • Carry out requirements requested from platform users and company stakeholders.
  • Create system training materials, and carry out user training

Mid-level Salesforce Admin (2-5 years of experience):

When a Salesforce Administrator has experience of 2-5 years – the person will be considered a mid-level admin. Some junior admins may have witnessed that they have to carry the responsibilities of Mid-level admins only after a year. They have more experience than the junior admins.
Mid-level admins have technical experience. But they also bring the additional skills of designing, analyzing, and optimizing processes. These mid-level admins usually perform a bit more complex tasks than junior admins:

  • They utilize more advanced automation- Salesforce Flow.
  • Work with Sales Cloud- which means that the Salesforce admin has specialization in CPQ.
  • User adoption monitor and its improvement
  • They are maintaining and customizing the Salesforce org using the best techniques. The admins understand options like automation, page layouts, and record types from the core.
  • Exposure to understanding business processes and requirements gathering.
  • They work with applications like Mailchimp, Conga, DocuSign, and more. Mid-level admin must know how to work with various integrated applications.
  • Having a decent understanding of project management
  • Even though they do not know program coding, they can write specifications for developers.
  • Mid-level admins are self-sufficient- know where they can find help to get answers to their queries.

Senior Salesforce Admin ( 5+ years experience)

Only after working for more than five years as a Salesforce admin, one can be promoted to the Senior Salesforce Admin role. Senior admins take charge of various requests for their organization. It means they are adaptable to change management, communication, prioritization, and managing everything about the Salesforce project. With a Senior Salesforce Administrator role, one can lead the teams of admins or even build one.

As a Senior Salesforce Admin, one has to work closely with the stakeholders of the business. Here are the tasks and responsibilities of Senior Salesforce Admin:

  • The admins have an in-depth understanding of the business process and mastered requirements gathering.
  • Create the platform roadmap and define various priorities
  • Work at big Enterprise companies as a product owner.
  • Full knowledge of all the best practices of Salesforce – understanding Salesforce architecture and how to integrate with other systems.
  • Have stakeholders’ management skills, taking responsibility for governance, and a steering committee.
  • The Senior Salesforce Admin is in charge of maintaining an extremely complex Salesforce organization. Why complex? Typically, this organization uses multiple Salesforce products on the platform and has 300+ typical users or, else, 100+ heavy users, various integrations.
  • DevOps management experience along with releasing the developed elements.
  • Senior Salesforce Admin has to manage a team or work with external parties to oversee the development of the Salesforce org. They carry out several releases per year

How To Be A Salesforce Administrator?

To become a Salesforce admin, you do not need any technical background or knowledge of Salesforce technology. If you have internet and computer access, you can learn and get trained on Trailhead. Trailhead is the online learning platform of Salesforce- a space for new students to learn and become seasoned professionals with various business skills. Among all the skills, you can learn skills and earn a certificate to become Salesforce Admin – online and at your pace and schedule.
In order to get work as an admin, you must prepare and study- it is necessary to pass the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam. The engaging modules on Salesforce are perfect for initiating one to become a proficient Salesforce Administrator.

Career Prospects and Opportunities For Salesforce Administrator

The demand for Salesforce admin has increased ever since Salesforce came into the world of businesses. Salesforce’s research shows that the demand for annual growth rate has increased by 400%. However, it is not a career path for people who don’t want to learn. It is for those who love learning and enjoy using the latest technology.

Some people opt for the certification to enrich their resume and upgrade to a new position. Others use it to supplement the current role in another company with a higher salary.

Salesforce Admin Credentials and Certifications

Becoming a Salesforce Admin can be an invaluable long-term career path and add to your current career path. A Salesforce administrator can use their experience to use the platform without any in-depth technical knowledge.

To be certified, one must go through an intense journey to earn the much-desired certification, demonstrating the result of their knowledge and preparation in the Salesforce implementation.

For the admins to keep their skills and knowledge up to date- perseverance and dedication are two essential factors. There are five vital certifications related to the Salesforce admin role:

  • Administrator: Candidates with experience in Salesforce administration can help their companies in various ways to make the most out of this CRM platform.
  • Advanced Administrator: Admins with experience in designing advanced platform setup and configuring solutions and can devise solutions to solve a vast range of business problems.
  • CPQ Specialist: These Salesforce admins are proficient in implementing Salesforce CPQ. It helps the admins showcase their knowledge and skills in designing, building, and implementing flows with Salesforce CPQ.
  • Marketing Cloud Administrator: This credential is for the admins who know how to configure Marketing Cloud products- utilizing industry and product best practices. Candidates are familiar with account setup, data management, and user requests.
  • Platform App Builder: Salesforce admins who are skilled in designing, building, and implementing custom apps with Salesforce’s customization capabilities

How Important it is to Have a Salesforce Administrator

Every business that uses Salesforce can swear by the excellence it brings to business growth. However, it can be intimidating to dive into the world of Salesforce with its world of features. This is where the Salesforce Administrator comes in to help your company with the Salesforce platform. They can guide the users through errors, problems, training, and adding improvements to the tool.

With the help of the admin, sales staff can create custom dashboards, alerts, fields, and reports- shortening the sales cycle while tracking each lead minutely. With the presence of a Salesforce administrator, the company gains the opportunity to exploit the tool thoroughly. Also, some adoption issues can exist on the user level if there’s zero guidance. It can lead to frustration with the usage of the tool. To utilize the Salesforce platform effectively, the role of an administrator is unignorable. An Admin can be at a company’s service to successfully guide the users through the system.

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