Episodes

  • How to Optimize Field Service Work with Martin Humpolec

    How to Optimize Field Service Work with Martin Humpolec
    Nov 21 2022
    Episode DescriptionWhen we think of field service work, we usually think of the cable guy or someone coming to turn on the power at our home. That’s the most obvious use case for Salesforce Field Service, an extension for Service Cloud.But Field Service does so much more. Its easy optimization allows easy connectivity to other programs like Sales Cloud, so your technicians can upsell customers on the job. And purchasable consoles for positions like contractors and dispatchers are fully loaded with tools to make your team’s life easier and your customers happier.On this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins, Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, talks all things Field Service with Martin Humpolec, Senior Salesforce Consultant at PwC Czech Republic.Listen to this episode to learn: How Field Service optimizes schedulingHow to use Field Service to work with contractorsWhy industry experience will help you learn Field Service ##Episode Summary When we think of field service work, we usually think of the cable guy or someone coming to turn on the power at our home. That’s the most obvious use case for Salesforce Field Service, an extension for Service Cloud. But Field Service does so much more. Let’s say you’re getting new blinds installed for your windows. Field Service can dispatch a service worker to come to your home to measure your windows — and upsell the customer on a set of blinds while there. That sale will be sent back to Sales Cloud, and a salesperson will be scheduled to come out for the install.From sales to scheduling technicians and even hiring contractors — it’s all done easily within Field Service. It’s also easy to implement and use, especially for admins already experienced in the industry. For those without experience, they can try the Field Service game available through Trailhead, or hire someone like Martin Humpolec, a Salesforce consultant at PwC Czech Republic.“If you do have experience in this area, there's definitely a benefit, because you can really consult with the customer and advise them,” Martin says. “The technical implementation is potentially easy, but the business knowledge behind [it] might be tricky.”Martin joined Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, on this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins to talk about the ins and outs of Field Service. ##Key Takeaways Field Service accounts for — and optimizes — everything. Salesforce’s Field Service extension for Service Cloud does more than just help your company dispatch service workers. It allows you to create a smoother and more pleasant experience for both the customer and your team. That’s because Field Service accounts for everything — the time it takes for a technician to travel to the destination, conduct the job and take care of the paperwork after the job is done. Purchasable consoles for specific roles like dispatchers and technicians make it easy to optimize schedules and solve unexpected problems.Field Service is for more than just dispatching technicians.Field Service simplifies your life. When you purchase the extension, it includes all other clouds and options you might need, and easily optimizes with other clouds you might already own.This allows your company to do so much more than just provide service. For example, if a technician is dispatched to measure a customer’s windows for blinds, they could also upsell the customer on the spot through Sales Cloud.For aspiring Field Service admins, industry experience helps.  Field Service isn’t a program that general Salesforce admins would necessarily learn as an add-on to their Salesforce proficiency. It’s niche — and not as many companies buy it.That’s why it makes sense for those who already have industry experience to become a Field Service admin. It also helps to have a background in how the industry works, since you will be dealing with things like scheduling and dispatching technicians and, at times, working directly with customers. ##Featured Guest: Martin Humpolec of PwC Czech Republic💥 What he does: Salesforce Senior Consultant at PwC Czech Republic, a professional services firm that offers consulting, strategy management and more.💻 PwC Czech Republic on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn 🔗 Martin on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trailblazer🧠 Martin’s big idea: “If you do have experience in this area, there's definitely a benefit, because you can really consult with the customer and advise them. And it's not just the technical implementation, because I would say the technical implementation is potentially easy, but the business knowledge behind [it] might be tricky.” ##Episode Highlights  Key excerpts from the episode transcript💡 What’s the difference between Field Service and Service Cloud?[09:38] “Field Service focus[es] on the field, people in a field [who] need to travel to the job. That's something ...
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    47 mins
  • Experience Cloud 101 with Jarrod Kingston of IBM

    Experience Cloud 101 with Jarrod Kingston of IBM
    Nov 9 2022
    Episode DescriptionOn today’s episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins, we’re talking about a tool so universal that we believe all intentional admins should learn how to use it: Experience Cloud.“Experience Cloud is something that any admin should frankly learn. A great way to do it is [to] build your own site and share what you're doing,” says Jarrod Kingston, Solution Engineering Leader at IBM and a master at using Experience Cloud to its full potential.Experience Cloud does a lot more than cultivate relationships and improve experiences for your customers — it’s a platform that can foster community.Jarrod joins Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, on this episode of Serious Insights to talk about how Experience Cloud can help companies grow, and what to expect in the future as Salesforce continues to add features.Listen to this episode to learn: The many use cases of Experience CloudHow Experience Cloud makes licensing simpleWhy all admins should know how to use Experience Cloud ##Episode Summary It’s no secret that Salesforce has developed a lot over the years. There are now specialized products or platforms for just about any sector that may find it useful, from automotive to finance. But on today’s episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins, we’re talking about a tool so adaptable and universal that we believe all intentional admins should learn how to use it: Experience Cloud.Experience Cloud does a lot more than cultivate relationships and improve experiences for your customers. With available features like help centers, account and partner portals, and flexibility for creating your own personalized features or layering other products, it’s a platform that can foster community among your team as well as your customers.“Experience Cloud is something that any admin should frankly learn. A great way to do it is [to] build your own site and share what you're doing,” says Jarrod Kingston, Solution Engineering Leader at IBM and a master at using Experience Cloud to its full potential.Jarrod joins Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, on this episode of Serious Insights to talk about how Experience Cloud can help companies grow, and what to expect in the future as Salesforce continues to add features. ##Key Takeaways Experience Cloud can meet your needs. One of the best things about Experience Cloud is its flexibility. There are plenty of options for both a web developer who wants to add custom features on the backend and an admin in control of the design. It features tons of ready-made templates and layout options to correspond with your company’s needs and branding. Experience Cloud also easily integrates with other programs your company may be using, like Lightning Experience and Lightning Web Runtime (LWR).Experience Cloud goes beyond experiences — it helps create community.  When we think about “community” in the Salesforce space, the first thing that comes to mind is something like Trailblazer. But what if we could share that community experience with our customers?That’s exactly what Experience Cloud does. It’s a platform that’s easy for both admins and customers to use, allowing your organization to grow into it over time. With everything from account portals to help centers that will enable your team to smoothly communicate with customers, it’s made for building community.Learning Experience Cloud is the perfect starting point for intentional admins.  Experience Cloud is flexible and has a wide range of use cases, which is why it’s such a useful tool for intentional admins to learn. Mastering a universal tool Experience Cloud will make you a standout candidate for just about any company that uses Salesforce.Jarrod recommends a number of helpful resources for mastery, including Phil Weinmeister’s guide to Experience Cloud and courses available on Pluralsight.##Featured Guest: Jarrod Kingston of IBM💥 What he does: Solution Engineering Leader at IBM.💻 IBM on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn 🔗 Jarrod on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trailblazer🧠 Jarrod’s big idea: “I think Experience cloud is something that any admin should frankly learn. And yeah, a great way to do it is [to] build your own site and share what you're doing.” ##Episode Highlights  Key excerpts from the episode transcript💡 What is experience cloud?[04:11] “When it originally came around, Salesforce saw the need for this portal-type environment, where a customer could log in and interact with their data, in essence, but within this Salesforce framework [...] It was this very basic portal experience, old Salesforce tabs, kind of the old Aloha environment look and feel. And then it really took off with the introduction of Community Cloud, which really blew things out of the water as far as what it used to be. And of course, just like Salesforce likes to do, they renamed it Experience Cloud, ...
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    35 mins
  • Why Specializing is a Strong Career Move, with Daneille Laffey

    Why Specializing is a Strong Career Move, with Daneille Laffey
    Nov 4 2022
    Episode DescriptionRemember the days when you bought software on a CD, put it into your computer, and that was it? The application was there, no bits and bobs, plain and simple.Some programs are still like that — but not Salesforce. But that’s what gives it a competitive edge, and it’s why consultant Danielle Laffey recommends Financial Services Cloud to her clients.“They have all that structure put in place. And then, for you to be able to configure [and] customize on top of that, as opposed to writing code, has been fantastic,” Danielle says.In this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins, we’re talking with Danielle about all things Financial Services Cloud.Listen to this episode to learn: How Financial Cloud aggregates dataWhy Salesforce’s flexibility matters for financial clientsWhy you shouldn’t be a ‘Salesforce generalist’ ##Episode Summary Remember the days when you bought software on a CD, put it into your computer, and that was it? The application was there, no bits and bobs, plain and simple. It’s easy to get nostalgic for the past, especially when looking at the Salesforce ecosystem today, which has been so heavily built out — but that’s also what makes it so attractive. Its customizable and configurable nature is what makes Salesforce different, and it’s the reason advisor Danielle Laffey recommends it to her clients.“They have all that structure put in place. And then, for you to be able to configure [and] customize on top of that, as opposed to writing code, has been fantastic,” Danielle says.As a consultant at Silverline, Danielle deals with large financial institutions that are thinking about making the jump to Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC). FSC simplifies and speeds up processes like applying for loans or making big financial decisions because it pairs easily with other systems to create huge sets of data. On this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins, Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, goes deep on FSC with Danielle. They also discuss the state of the Salesforce ecosystem and how admin career paths are changing. Don’t forget to check out Silverline’s blog, which covers everything from the Trailblazer community to understanding different fields.##Key Takeaways Financial Services Cloud aggregates all the information you need.Salesforce’s Financial Services Cloud (FSC) is designed to pull data from systems that can be manually linked or pulled from public data sources, simplifying lead-gathering work for services like applying for a loan.It can also be layered with Salesforce Industries Cloud, which pulls information from different systems to create one big data model complete with Flows, to be used by anyone from a customer service rep to a bank account holder.Milestones make financial planning easier — and help foster relationships. The financial world is all about relationships. FSC helps cultivate those relationships with the life events and business milestones feature, which allows you to input important financial events like having a baby or buying a house. That way, your agent can see when your child is turning 16 and can help you plan well in advance for necessities like car insurance or college loans. It can also be paired with the Einstein functionality, which offers insights and product recommendations to customers.It’s becoming more and more difficult to be a Salesforce generalist.  A decade ago, it made a lot more sense to be a Salesforce generalist and dip your toes into every new feature that was released. These days, the Salesforce ecosystem is growing beyond that possibility. The best way to further your career is to focus on one area of Salesforce, like business or finance, and become an expert. Industry specialists turned admins are becoming more common. ##Featured Guest: Danielle Laffey of Silverline💥 What she does: Senior Salesforce solutions architect at Silverline, a Salesforce consulting company.💻 Silverline on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn 🔗 Danielle on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trailblazer🧠 Danielle’s big idea: “You have nuances in your career and your skill set that no one else has. And so making sure that you're taking that information, and being able to apply it to whatever your new job is, is fantastic.”##Episode Highlights  Key excerpts from the episode transcript💡 The move to Salesforce is a big jump for large institutions.[06:11] “These types of transformations, typically, they are larger institutions most of the time. And so the change management portion and being able to flip everything over takes a lot longer, they're very expensive. They've already pulled in all this time and energy into some of their processes from before so they're a little nervous [...] so I think bringing that baby boomer generation up to speed with some of it has also been a little bit of a challenge.”💡 Financial Services Cloud ...
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    33 mins
  • Nonprofit Cloud 101 With Independent Consultant Michael Kolodner

    Nonprofit Cloud 101 With Independent Consultant Michael Kolodner
    Oct 17 2022
    Episode DescriptionIf you’re an aspiring Salesforce admin, you may have heard that nonprofits are a great place to kickstart an admin career.But the truth is, if you don’t know nonprofits, you can’t just build out their Salesforce platform from scratch. Salesforce provides plenty of great features specifically designed for nonprofits — like the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) — but admins need to know how to use those features in order to get the most out of them.“Salesforce is free like a puppy, not free like a beer, for nonprofits,” says Michael Kolodner, an independent nonprofit Salesforce consultant. “You are going to have to put some resources into learning the system, customizing the system, possibly hiring a consultant like me, to help you implement and really get the most out of it.” In this episode, Michael joins Salesforce MVP and Host Kristi Campbell to chat about all things Salesforce for nonprofit organizations.Listen to this episode to learn: How to get the most out of the NPSPHow Salesforce helps nonprofits manage programsHow you can get involved with nonprofit admin work — even with no experience ##Episode Summary If you’re a Salesforce admin, or someone who hopes to be an admin one day, you may have heard that volunteering at a nonprofit is a great way to start. But that is a sentiment that has bothered Salesforce users in the nonprofit sector for a long time, says Michael Kolodner, an independent nonprofit Salesforce consultant.“Volunteers are wonderful and nonprofits thrive with volunteers, but you have to know what you're doing,” Michael says. “It's not like showing up to do a garden clean-up and knowing how to wield a shovel.”The nonprofit world operates far differently from the for-profit world — so differently, in fact, that Salesforce has created a separate set of tools specifically catered toward nonprofit and non-governmental organizations: the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP). The nonprofit cloud is decked out with features designed to track fundraising and influence, and help nonprofit leaders better manage their activities. And while the NPSP is a game-changer, there’s still a lot that admins need to know about how to use it.“Salesforce is free like a puppy, not free like a beer, for nonprofits,” says Michael Kolodner, an independent nonprofit Salesforce consultant. “You are going to have to put some resources into learning the system, customizing the system, possibly hiring a consultant like me, to help you implement and really get the most out of it.” Tune in to this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins as Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, sits down with Michael to chat about the NPSP’s best features, and the best ways to get involved in nonprofit work.##Key Takeaways Nonprofit Salesforce management is not just a passion project. There’s a popular idea within the Salesforce community that early-career prospective admins should volunteer with a local nonprofit to gain experience. But many in the nonprofit world “push back hard on that idea,” says Michael.Being a Salesforce volunteer at a nonprofit is a bit like volunteering at a Habitat for Humanity build: if you don’t have the proper experience, you won’t be building the critical infrastructure. You may be able to help out with some smaller projects, but nonprofits should not be treated as a training ground.Salesforce's Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) allows nonprofits to easily track their influence.Through the NPSP, nonprofits can track their donors’ influence through the use of hard credits and soft credits. A hard credit is issued when a donation is made directly to the organization, while soft credits are given if a donor influences someone else to make a donation. For example, if an individual directly donates $50 and their donation is matched by a third-party organization, that additional $50 donation match is considered a soft credit.Tracking this type of data is important for tax and accounting purposes, but also so organizations can identify who influences the biggest, or highest quantity, of donations. Check out Michael’s blog for more information on hard and soft credits in the NPSP.Not everyone can be a nonprofit Salesforce admin — but anyone can join a sprint.  If you’re an aspiring Salesforce admin who wants to get into nonprofit work, Salesforce sprints may be a better place to start. Sprints are special events open to anyone — even those with no previous Salesforce experience, or companies considering Salesforce for the first time — where people come together to brainstorm and build ideas and solutions for Salesforce. Sprints have led to real results, like the Summit Events App, which allows NGOs to plan and execute events smarter. Join the Nonprofit Hub group in Trailblazer to stay in the loop on upcoming sprints you can participate in. ##Featured Guest: Michael Kolodner, independent nonprofit ...
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    39 mins
  • Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins: A Podcast Trailer

    Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins: A Podcast Trailer
    Oct 17 2022

    What's Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins all about? Come listen to our delightful new trailer to find out!
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    1 min
  • ‘Going With the Flow’ Part 2: Tools for Migration With Jack Lavous

    ‘Going With the Flow’ Part 2: Tools for Migration With Jack Lavous
    Aug 3 2022
    As an admin, you might be dreading the migration process to Flow.You’re not only being pulled away from building new and shiny solutions for your users for what may seem like busy work. You’re also going to have to spend a lot of time retraining your brain from Process Builder to Flow so that the migration process goes smoothly, and so you can reach your full Flow potential.Don’t stress too much: we’re back with part 2 of our series on the great Flow migration with Jack Lavous of Elements.cloud to dig deeper into how Jack was able to transition to Flow with ease. In this episode, Kristi and Jack discuss the biggest mistakes made and lessons learned so that you’re as prepared as you can be to go with the Flow.Listen to this episode to learn: How to balance your Flow transition with other projectsHow to mitigate risk from migrationThe best resources for learning Flow ##Episode Summary Most admins are probably not too excited about the migration process to Flow.You’re not only being pulled away from building new and shiny solutions for your users for what may seem like busy work. You’re also going to have to spend a lot of time retraining your brain from Process Builder to Flow so that the migration process goes smoothly, and so you can reach your full Flow potential.As Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, puts it, “it's easy for people to internalize those things and learn them, which is the point. But then you lose the why.” As in, why are we moving over to Flow in the first place? Because ultimately, all that hard work is going to pay off and make all your automations a lot easier to deal with.In part 2 of our series on Flow migration with Jack Lavous, Kristi and Jack dig deeper into how Jack’s company, Elements.cloud, made the migration process go a little bit more smoothly. Jack tells us more about automations he created and tricks he employed to minimize the risk that comes with migration and keep things more streamlined and organized. They also discuss the biggest mistakes made and lessons learned, as well as their favorite online resources, so that you’re as prepared as you can be to go with the Flow.##Key Takeaways Think beyond the norm. With Process Builder, admins were getting comfortable with one process to rule them all. Flow is more versatile in that it lets you control the order of operations through sub-Flows, meaning there is more than just one flow per object.It’s easy to get stuck in old habits, but that can also limit your thinking. Understanding how sub-Flows work is a crucial part of your Flow migration that could save your object from breaking.Field naming conventions are more important than you think. Naming your Flows may seem like a simple one-off task, especially when you’re beginning the migration process. But choosing a specific and accurate name is important for the future you who might be searching for a specific Flow in six months. There’s no right way to name your Flows — just make sure to pick names or create an organized system that makes sense to you and your users. If you’re stuck, the Salesforce Discord Wiki has a detailed guide to field conventions.There are plenty of resources available online that can make your Flow migration easier.  Not all of us may be as lucky as Jack — surrounded by experienced Salesforce professionals who can share their experience with Flows. But many of those experts are sharing their expertise online for admins who may need some help.Jack recommends Trailhead, Jen Lee’s blog and the Ohana Slack group. Kristi’s favorites include the SalesforceBreak Slack and Flow Office hours, hosted every Friday by Terry Miller and Andy Engin Utkan. There are also expert-led paid courses available. ##Featured Guest: Jack Lavous of Elements.cloud💥 What he does: Business Excellence Manager and Salesforce Business Analyst at Elements.cloud, an integrated intelligence platform for Salesforce.💻 Elements.cloud on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn 🔗 Jack on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trailblazer🧠 Jack’s big idea: “[Migration is] not the cool stuff. You're not building anything new and shiny for your end-users. But it's also having the understanding of your stakeholders above you in terms of the hierarchy. It’s managing them — for them to understand how important it is that you actually do this migration and this cleanup. I think that's one of the biggest hurdles. If you've got them on side, then they will allow you to find that time to be able to do it.”##Episode Highlights  Key excerpts from the episode transcript💡Your Flow migration doesn’t have to happen all at once.[02:21] Jack: “I blocked myself out segments. So for example, I'm working on project A — I do that for two, three hours in a day. If I have a spare hour, for example, I jump back into this migration. [...] It's being really disciplined to do it, because it is really tough. Because the project’...
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    24 mins
  • ‘Going With the Flow’ Part 1: Simplifying the Migration Process With Jack Lavous

    ‘Going With the Flow’ Part 1: Simplifying the Migration Process With Jack Lavous
    Jul 27 2022
    Just go with the flow. In a non-Salesforce context, hearing that phrase may make you want to put your feet up, chill out and see what happens. But unfortunately for some Salesforce users, going with the Flow has been an anxiety-inducing phrase ever since Salesforce announced that it would be retiring its old workflows and process platforms in favor of Flows. It’s a move that Salesforce hopes will make things a lot easier and more streamlined for users, but the transition may be challenging. That’s why we brought in Jack Lavous, Business Excellence Manager at Elements.cloud, for a special two-part series of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins about how you can make “going with the Flow” a little easier.Listen to this episode to learn: How an Elements.cloud program can help you transition to FlowWhy you should be planning your Flows The opportunities presented by the Flow migration ##Episode Summary Just go with the flow. In a non-Salesforce context, hearing that phrase may make you want to put your feet up, chill out and see what happens. But unfortunately for some Salesforce users, going with the Flow is causing a bit of anxiety. Last year, Salesforce announced that it would be retiring Workflow Rules and Process Builder and moving all automation over to Flow. And if you’re an admin who has gotten away with not knowing how to use Flows up until this point, you may be scrambling to figure out how to make such a big transition.You’re not alone. Luckily, there are products out there designed to help make this transition easier, like Salesforce’s own migration tool and Elements.cloud’s Elements Catalyst tool.“We saw it as an opportunity,” says Jack Lavous, Business Excellence Manager at Elements.cloud, of the emigration to Flows. “OK, it's a pain because you have to do the work. But it's an opportunistic pain, if you like. It's an opportunity for us to clean up tech debt.”Don’t miss this part one of this special two-part series of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins as Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, sits down with Jack to talk all about going with the Flow — from how Elements.cloud products can help to techniques that will guarantee a successful and clean transition.##Key Takeaways Elements.cloud’s Catalyst tool can help you put everything in one place.  This is not a paid ad, we promise — we just really love Elements.cloud’s Catalyst tool. Even Elements.cloud used it when they had to make their own transition to Flow.Catalyst is great because it puts everything in one central place and allows you to analyze all your metadata and documentation first. “Then when you come to make that change, you know you're not going to break anything in your org,” Jack says. “Using Elements as part of this process builder-to-Flow migration has been pretty valuable,” Look at the Flow emigration as an opportunity. Moving to Flow is like an emigration because you’re leaving Workflow Rules and Process builder permanently.So why not use this emigration as an opportunity to clean out your technical debt? It’s an easy thing to do, since you’re already doing the heavy lifting of transitioning to a different platform. Try to clean out the debt as you go, rather than leaving all the cleanup until the end.Doing your homework will save you loads of time and frustration.  Planning and designing your Flows before even opening your canvas is a helpful way to learn about how Flow works and kickstart the transition process. That way, you’re not only practicing using the platform, but you’re also saving valuable time. Planning and designing your Flowfirst will ensure that your vision is actually going to work — and is not already duplicated elsewhere — before you waste time refactoring and retesting Flows.  ##Featured Guest: Jack Lavous of Elements.cloud💥 What he does: Business Excellence Manager and Salesforce Business Analyst at Elements.cloud, an integrated intelligence platform for Salesforce.💻 Elements.cloud on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn 🔗 Jack on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trailblazer🧠 Jack’s big idea: “Don't be afraid of it — jump in, have a go. Do analysis up front first, I can't stress that enough. Do your design, and then suddenly it will just all come to you.”##Episode Highlights  Key excerpts from the episode transcript💡 Elements Catalyst simplifies the migration process.[04:50] Jack: “Elements puts everything into one place so it's easier, faster and your documentation is more valuable. It allows you to have a central place for creating requirements, creating user stories, documenting your metadata against those user stories. So daily, we run syncs of your Salesforce org, we get all the metadata out, and you can then document changes, adoption metrics, training against particular metadata, you can then show that inside your Salesforce org for your end-users. The really powerful thing that ...
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    24 mins
  • Org Admin vs. Consulting: How To Know Which Role Is Right For You

    Org Admin vs. Consulting: How To Know Which Role Is Right For You
    Jul 21 2022
    As someone who has been on both sides of the relationship, Aleksandra Milcic Radovanovic, a Salesforce MVP and product manager at Okta, may know it better than most: org admins and consultants need each other. When they use their respective expertise to come up with the best solution for the company, it can be “a really powerful combination,” she says.At the end of the day, org admins and consultants use similar sets of skills to find solutions. So what are the major differences between the two roles, and how can you know which one is best for you? If you’ve ever considered transitioning to the world of consulting, you won’t want to miss this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins, as Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, sits down with Aleksandra to talk all things org admin vs. consulting.Listen to this episode to learn: Why org admins and consultants need each otherThe biggest differences between admin and consulting rolesHow to transfer your skills between roles ##Episode Summary Admins and consultants draw their expertise from similar skills. But they have different priorities and levels of control, especially when it comes to project and timeline management.That’s why it can be so difficult for some admins to make the shift into the consulting world, and vice versa. For Aleksandra Milcic Radovanovic, the differences were enough to push her from consulting back to the admin space. “I'm kind of a nurturer,” she says. “So I prefer investing into one org and having good growth and having some sort of control.” But as someone who has been on both sides of the relationship, Aleksandra knows better than most that org admins and consultants need each other. And when they use their respective expertise to come up with the best solution for the company, it can be “a really powerful combination,” she says.So how can org admins and consultants improve that relationship, and what’s it like to have worked on both sides? If you’ve ever considered transitioning to consulting, you won’t want to miss this episode of Serious Insights for Salesforce Admins. Tune in to hear Host Kristi Campbell, Senior Salesforce Admin & Salesforce MVP, chat with Aleksandra as they discuss the differences — and the pros and cons — of org admin and consulting roles.##Key Takeaways Org admins and consultants can be a powerful team when they work together. Consultants are often brought in temporarily to create or build a solution for the company. They’re experts in what they do, but admins have the specific industry and company knowledge that should be viewed as a huge asset to the consultant. As someone who has been on both sides of that relationship, Aleksandra understands how important that collaboration can be. “[It’s] a really powerful combination,” she says.Consulting has its pros and cons. As an org admin, your work and potential for expertise are often limited within your own industry and its needs. Consulting allows you to be more flexible with projects and explore different Salesforce features based on your interest and skills. Many consultants thrive on that freedom.On the other hand, being a consultant removes your personal attachment to a project. “You build the ship, you send it, and then you don't know if it's stuck in some rocks or flowing perfectly,” Aleksandra says. The separation was enough to push her back to the admin world.Diverse experiences are valuable for future roles.  You don’t need to limit yourselves to consulting jobs if you want to be a consultant, or to admin jobs if you just want to be an org admin. In fact, Aleksandra’s experiences as an admin prepared and informed her for future consulting work.“I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't had a variety of different projects to work on and get my skills,” she says.##Featured Guest: Aleksandra Milcic Radovanovic of Okta💥 What she does: Product Manager of Business Technology at Okta, an identity and access management company.💻 Okta on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn 🔗 Aleksandra on the web: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trailblazer | Medium🧠 Aleksandra’s big idea: “I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't had a variety of different projects to work on and get my skills, and decide what I want to be and what's the best use of my experience and my knowledge, and where I want to grow when it comes to the knowledge and certification part.”##Episode Highlights  Key excerpts from the episode transcript💡 Being an org admin in a small organization can be a bit like consulting.[09:17] “[A small organization] is a very fast-moving environment. So sort of like a startup. There is no large organization and the decisions are [being made] much more frequently, and in a faster way. And priorities are changing much faster than in a large organization, which is kind of what you see in the consulting world, right? You have a budget, you have a project and then priorities ...
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    39 mins