Effective project management is critical to the success of any project. Statistics show that organizations that implement formal project management practices in their organization have seen 63% of their projects completed within the set budget and 59% completed on time. These are impressive numbers when you take into consideration that the failure rate of IT projects worldwide ranges in the high eighties.

What does Salesforce Projects Manager do Featured image

Salesforce dominates the CRM market with a market share of 23.8% and has over 150,000 customers globally. While multiple factors play a role in Salesforce’s overall success, a key player here is the Salesforce project manager. They are involved in every stage of the project, from defining the scope and requirements to deploying the solution and everything in between.

But what does a Salesforce project manager do? What skills and competencies do they need to become one? This blog will answer all these questions, so read on.

What Does a Salesforce Project Manager Do?

If you are interested in becoming a Salesforce project manager, the first step is to understand the responsibilities that Salesforce project management demands.

As mentioned earlier, a project manager plays an important role in every stage of a salesforce implementation. Here is what a project manager does at each phase.

Discovery

Discovery is the first phase of a Salesforce project’s life cycle, which primarily involves understanding the client’s business needs and their end goal with the project. At this phase, a Salesforce Project Manager would:

  • Participate in discussions with clients and all stakeholders involved with the project at hand to understand their requirements and expectations from the project.
  • They may also be required to conduct market research, perform a competitor analysis, and indemnity opportunities for improvement.
  • Finally, they work with the client and the technical team to accurately translate business needs into accurate and detailed technical requirements and ensure that each team working on the project has all the information they need.

Development and Delivery

Development and delivery is the phase where the Salesforce project manager oversees the Salesforce implementation, testing, and deployment. The duties of a Salesforce project manager during this phase of a project would be:

  • Ensuring that the development team has all the tools and resources it needs through the course of the project.
  • Break down the project into actionable sprints and conduct periodic SCRUM ceremonies to monitor progress, and identify and address any potential issues that can potentially impact the project.
  • Review and approve the deliverables of each project phase (such as build, QA, and deployment) and ensure they meet the client’s specifications and quality standards.

Stakeholder Management

The roles and responsibilities of a Salesforce Project Manager also go beyond the technical aspects of a Salesforce implementation. Stakeholder management is another key aspect that comes along with this role where a manager must:

  • Develop a rapport with stakeholders and keep the lines of communication open, considering they are the first point of contact for the stakeholders. Stakeholder satisfaction is of utmost priority.
  • Manage project schedules, create reports, and keep all parties involved, including internal engagement and those from the client’s side, appraised of progress and potential issues, if any.

Succinctly put, a Salesforce Project Manager’s role is complex and requires foresight, discipline, patience, emotional intelligence, and sound leadership skills to execute it successfully.

 

What Does a Salesforce Project Manager Do?

How to Become a Salesforce Project Manager?

There are multiple career paths you can follow if you want to attain the position of a Salesforce Project Manager. Here is a quick guide for the same:

1. New to the Salesforce Ecosystem

If you are new to the Salesforce ecosystem, you will have to start at the bottom and work your way up. You can start as a Salesforce developer and slowly work your way up.

Certification such as JavaScript Developer 1 and Platform Developer 1 will help you land entry-level positions in the salesforce ecosystem.

2. Existing Technical Expertise in Salesforce

If you are already a part of the Salesforce Ecosystem and are a seasoned Salesforce Consultant or a Salesforce Administrator, you most likely possess all the technical skills required to be a competent Salesforce Project Manager.

You can complete certifications such as Business Analyst, Advanced Administrator, Platform App Builder, or Experienced Cloud Consultant to cement your technical expertise.

Furthermore, you can get certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) or a Certified SCRUM Master (CSM) to demonstrate your ability to manage complex projects effectively and then look for opportunities as a Salesforce Project manager.

3. Existing Project Management Experience

If you have existing project management experience, then the transition to the Salesforce Project Management role is a lot smoother. Your focus here must be to gain Salesforce technical expertise to better understand the Salesforce ecosystem.

Certifications like the Salesforce Administrator and Platform App Builder are a great starting point.

What Does a Salesforce Manager Do Based on Experience?

What a salesforce Project Manager does varies based on the number of experiences under their belt.

Entry-level managers (with approximately 0 to 5 years of experience) can be expected to handle about seven to ten smaller projects with budgets hovering around the $10k mark. Salaries for an entry-level project manager average around $127,750 per annum in North America.

Mid-level managers (usually between 5 to 10 years of experience) typically handle between five to six projects simultaneously with budgets ranging from $50 to $100k.

Senior Project Managers typically handle one or two high-value projects ($100k upwards) and can be expected to put in between 20 to 40 hours per week to manage them. Salaries for senior project managers average about $152,125 in North America.

Wrapping It Up

So, there you have it, a brief look at what a salesforce project manager does. They are multifaceted experts who juggle between project to stakeholder management and everything in between.

A salesforce project manager’s role is not an easy one, but it is worth the effort involved in knowing their critical role in successful project deliveries. If you want to work toward being a project manager in the salesforce ecosystem, the information above will help you get started in the right direction.

As a salesforce manager, effective communication with all parties involved is critical to your role. Keeping track of all email communication is vital, and Salesforce’s CRM does have its limitations when doing so.

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MassMailer allows for efficient tracking of emails along with a list of impressive features. This includes email verification, the ability to run drip email campaigns, spam trap removal, email reputation monitoring, and more. These features can be a great addition to your project management arsenal.

Sign up for a free 15-day trial today to see firsthand what Massmailer can do for you.