Is it important to have a dedicated Salesforce administrator? You bet. Here’s why you need one, what they’ll do, and who it should be.
One question I get asked a lot is “do we need a dedicated Salesforce administrator?”. The short answer is yes.
A dedicated Salesforce administrator provides once centralized place for all things Salesforce. Any ideas for new fields, new picklist values, questions or feedback will be centralized with this person. A dedicated administrator will streamline the process of making changes in Salesforce. Additionally, they will provide staff one point person to ask all questions. This will make your entire organization who uses Salesforce more efficient.
What will your Salesforce administrator do?
They will answer staff questions: from how do I transfer ownership of this case to why is primary language a required field. They will make changes to the database – if a new value needs to be added to a new field, or a page layout needs to be reorganized – this person will be responsible for all changes. And for those changes, this person will be the gatekeeper. Everyone will have ideas and suggestions, but your administrator needs to consider any database changes carefully or things will get messy. Your administrator will make sure that all changes make sense from a practical perspective AND a data structure perspective. Additionally, your administrator will liaise with your consultants – they will compile all questions and issues your staff may bring to them and bring those questions and issues to us. They will also communicate and explain the resolutions back to staff and senior leadership.
Who should your Salesforce administrator be?
Hopefully as you’re reading this post you have an idea of who your administrator should be. If not, here are a few traits that make people ideally suited to be a system administrator:
Database minded: they must understand the structure of the database, and the structure of data in general. They will also have an understanding of your data reporting requirements.
Good communicators: They must be able to translate english into Salesforce and vice versa. They must also be able to diplomatically push back when enthusiastic users have ideas that cannot be implemented.
Ongoing learner: Salesforce offers unlimited opportunities to learn about new features and functionality. An ideal Salesforce administrator will be interested in learning more about Salesforce, and using their knowledge to improve your Salesforce instance.
You’re investing time and money setting up your new Salesforce instance, and it will require regular maintenance to keep it in tip top shape. Assigning a Salesforce administrator early on will ensure that your investment continues to serve your organization well.