Salesforce is the world’s leading CRM platform, with over 90% of Fortune 500 companies as customers. [1] The widespread use of Salesforce creates a constant need for administrators to support Salesforce instances, users, and business processes.
With the growing adoption of AI, Salesforce administrators are set to play an increasingly important role. The success of AI-driven functionalities will rely heavily on well-maintained Salesforce orgs and clean data. Additionally, all API integrations and AI implementations involving Salesforce will require ongoing maintenance.
Becoming a Salesforce administrator could be the start of a rewarding career. Salesforce admin salaries range from $90,000 to $147,000 USD, depending on seniority, according to Mason Frank’s 2023-24 Careers and Hiring Guide. [2]
But how do you become a Salesforce administrator? This role requires a mix of technical knowledge, soft skills, and an understanding of business processes.
With over 15 years in the CRM industry, and a good portion of those in various Salesforce consultant roles, I’ll share my insights on how to pursue a career as a Salesforce administrator.
What Does a System Admin Do?
If you’re tech-savvy and a good communicator, you’re already a strong candidate for an admin role. Salesforce admin work is also remote-friendly, offering flexibility and making it an attractive career option. Additionally, becoming a Salesforce administrator can be a great first step toward a career in Salesforce consulting.
Here are some of the most common tasks and responsibilities of a Salesforce administrator:
System Configuration & Customisation
Salesforce admins are responsible for configuring and customising the platform to meet their organisation’s needs. This involves creating and managing objects, fields, flows, security permissions, and data validation rules, among other Salesforce components.
Building Automations
Salesforce admins simplify tasks that are manual, complex, or time-consuming. They create, maintain, and improve automated processes using tools like Salesforce Flow and Approval Processes. They identify areas where automation can drive efficiency and advise stakeholders on how to implement these solutions.
User Management and Support
Salesforce admins manage users, profiles, permissions, and user roles in their Salesforce environment. They also provide support and can provide training to ensure their users understand how to use Salesforce efficiently. This includes educating users on best practices for filling in fields, using automations, and leveraging Salesforce for their day-to-day tasks.
Reporting and Data Management
Admins handle data manipulation tasks, including importing, exporting, cleaning data, and creating reports and dashboards to provide stakeholders with actionable insights.
Deployments and Release Management
Salesforce has three major releases each year, and admins must stay on top of these updates to ensure the platform continues to run smoothly. They evaluate new features and implement them within their organisation. Additionally, admins provision sandbox environments and manage deployments to production.
Third-party App Management
Salesforce admins often manage third-party apps that integrate with Salesforce. They handle various tools alongside the platform to ensure smooth business operations.
As you can see, Salesforce admins handle a wide range of tasks, making the role both dynamic and essential to the smooth running of the business. Let’s explore the key soft skills that Salesforce admin needs to succeed.
What are the Essential Soft Skills to Develop as a Salesforce Administrator?
Being a Salesforce administrator isn’t just about technical know-how – it also requires a set of soft skills that enable you to communicate effectively, solve problems, and adapt to constantly evolving business needs.
As a Salesforce admin, you are in a position to be the most knowledgable person in your Salesforce environment, understand the business processes, and know the key people in your organisation.
These skills will make the difference between a good admin and a great one:
Learner’s Mindset
A Salesforce professional needs to stay up to date with new Salesforce technology features. You need to demonstrate a passion for learning and staying up to date with new technology, inspiring others within the organisation to do the same. Be a self-learner and lead by example. Understand business needs, put them into practical solutions, and communicate these clearly to stakeholders.
Communication
Being an admin involves a lot of screen time. But at the same time, you need to collaborate with business and technical stakeholders to discuss design, configuration and implementation. Often times, doing changes to business processes involves multiple teams or departments. You will need to talk to people, both technical and non-technical, and be able to get your message across. It is likely that you will need to support your users, maybe even provide how-to workshops.
Business Analysis
A good admin understands the business they are supporting. This enables them to observe processes and suggest improvements to business operations, often grounded in data-driven analysis.
Problem Solving
Salesforce gives you a lot of features and options, but putting them together is often like solving a puzzle of different moving pieces. You need to be able to troubleshoot problems and implement suitable solutions in a timely manner.
Attention to Detail
Professionals with a keen eye for detail are invaluable. Salesforce solutions can be complex, and even small oversights — like a typo or a misconfigured setting — will waste time and negatively impact the user experience. Ensuring accuracy helps maintain efficiency and delivers a seamless experience for end users.
Designer’s Mindset
Think about the end user and create a human-centered user experiences using Salesforce. Learn about design UX concepts and apply them (there is a Salesforce credential for that, too!).
Your Path to Becoming a Salesforce Administrator
So, how do you become a Salesforce admin? Everyone’s path is different.
Many people transition into the role after using Salesforce in their sales or support jobs. If you’ve used Salesforce as a user, you’ll already have a head start in understanding how the platform works — what users see on the front end is configured by admins on the back end. Working in an IT support role can also provide valuable exposure to Salesforce administration.
If you’re new to Salesforce, any experience with CRM systems in general will be helpful. And if you’re just beginning your IT career, you might consider pursuing a junior Salesforce admin role.
Continuous learning and self-improvement is key to success in any IT career, really.
To get started, there are plenty of resources available, starting with Trailhead, Salesforce’s official learning platform.
Here are four steps to begin your journey:
Step 1: Learn About the Platform
Becoming a Salesforce administrator requires continuous learning about the platform. Understanding the features and functions of the products your clients use is crucial to performing your role effectively.
A great place to start is Salesforce’s free Trailhead platform. It offers numerous modules and guided learning paths to help you get familiar with Salesforce.
Make sure to block time on your calendar each week for Trailhead study and building hands-on experience, as outlined in the following section.
Step 2: Build Hands-on Experience
If you have experience working in IT as a system administrator or similar, transitioning into a Salesforce admin role shouldn’t be a problem. IT professionals with experience managing enterprise-level software will find it easier to adapt to Salesforce administration once they learn the platform.
While searching for your Salesforce admin job, you can build hands-on experience. Salesforce makes this easy with their Developer Orgs. A Salesforce Developer Org gives you access to a full-featured copy of Salesforce. It is a free way to learn and experiment with different features. [3]
Step 3: Join the Community
LinkedIn is a great platform to connect with like-minded professionals, explore job listings, and stay updated on industry news. Be sure tofollow me on LinkedIn for regular updates.
Also, Salesforce has a great and open Trailblazer community, where people ask questions, seek advice, and share solutions. [4]
Step 4: Get Certified
Learning on Trailhead and applying what you’ve learned in a Developer Org will prepare you for your first certification. Most likely, you’ll aim for the Salesforce Certified Administrator credential, which is often a requirement for Salesforce admin roles. However, there are other certifications worth considering as well.
Let’s see what they are.
What Salesforce Certificates Should You Chase to Become a Salesforce Administrator?
If you’re completely new to Salesforce, you might want to start by preparing for the Salesforce Certified Associate credential. This certification is designed for those who are new to the Salesforce ecosystem. The Salesforce Certified Associate exam will test your understanding of the basics of the Salesforce platform and common business use cases.
Aspiring Salesforce admins will focus on the Salesforce Certified Administrator certification. This exam covers various Salesforce features and functions available to end users, as well as the configuration and management options available to administrators across the Sales, Service, and Collaboration Clouds. Earning this credential is often the first step for many Salesforce professionals.
Once you’ve mastered the basics and earned your admin credential, you may want to explore other relevant certifications, such as the Certified Platform App Builder. [5]
Speaking of other credentials…
At the 2024 Dreamforce keynote, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff highlighted the company’s strong focus on AI, particularly with the introduction of the new AI product, Agentforce.
As AI becomes more integrated into Salesforce, AI-related skills will be increasingly valuable for administrators. In response to this shift, Salesforce has announced free Agentforce Specialist certifications, available until the end of 2025. If you’re aiming for a Salesforce admin role, I recommend taking advantage of these free certifications. [6]
Unlock Your Career Potential with Salesforce
Salesforce admin jobs offer competitive salaries and excellent career opportunities. There are 150,000 companies using Salesforce. Once you’re in the ecosystem, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to grow.
CRM skills are transferable. While each system has its specifics, the core concepts of CRM apply across platforms. Additionally, advancing your career as a Salesforce consultant can be a lucrative path if you have the skills and ambition.
If you’re ready to take the next step, check out my Udemy course:Introduction to Salesforce: A 2-Hour Guide. This course is designed to provide practical introduction with the world’s number one CRM software.
Instead of getting lost in tons of comprehensive documentation and boring slide deck tutorials, you will learn about Salesforce through a hands-on sales journey.
Along the way, we’ll explore the platform, from login to customisation, and you can follow along in your own Salesforce developer org.
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