Are you ready to hire a Salesforce CRM Manager?
With Salesforce being ranked as the number one Customer Experience and CRM market share leader both globally and in the United Kingdom, Salesforce has experienced exponential growth over the past eight years, with more than 8,600 customers in the UK alone. The demand for an all-in-one ERP has led Salesforce to hold just shy of 25% of the overall CRM market due to this growth and demand.
While larger companies often have enterprise-level, multicloud instances, we have seen a significant increase in smaller companies upgrading their archaic systems or upgrading their Excel spreadsheets to a more streamlined system.
It is necessary to hire someone to make the smaller changes to Salesforce and maintain it, but what happens when the business’s needs exceed the administrator’s capabilities? Conversely, what if the business itself outgrows its technical capabilities? What do you do next?
Maybe it’s time to hire a Salesforce CRM manager!
How do Salesforce Administrators and Salesforce CRM Managers differ?
Many companies (especially those with smaller user bases using the ‘out of the box’ functionality) have Salesforce administrators in post or someone in the business serving as a Salesforce administrator. This person is often responsible for supporting users, making changes to the Salesforce platform, and creating reports and dashboards.
Duties can include:
- Importing and exporting data, maintaining data quality, and creating backups.
- Creating and maintaining automated workflows, approval processes, and process builder flows.
- Providing training and support to end-users, troubleshooting issues, and maintaining system documentation.
- Customizing Salesforce applications and features using tools such as the Object Manager, Lightning App Builder, and Process Builder.
- Upgrading and configuring Salesforce systems for seamless integration.
And yes, a Salesforce Administrator role does cover a lot of ground regarding the CRM and can lead professionals down multiple paths within Salesforce. But an administrator can only do so much and mistaking them for a CRM Manager can create challenges, which is why it is important to know what a manager’s duties and skills are and when to hire.
Duties of a Salesforce CRM Manager
CRM Managers (which can also be known as Product Owners) are responsible for ensuring that the CRM system is right for your business’s needs, including management of the platform, and how to enable the team so they can use Salesforce successfully.
The duties include but are not limited to:
- Data management – overseeing the accuracy and organisation of customer data, maintaining the database to ensure it is reliable.
- Process optimisation – identifying inadequacies within workflows and recommending improvements to reduce any issues within the customer process.
- Analytics and insights – Look at customer trends and behaviours, measure effectiveness of campaigns, provide insights to improve strategies for sales.
- Training and development – training team members on using the Salesforce platform and tools effectively, providing ongoing support, and aligning departments
In summary, a CRM Manager’s role is more about overseeing and less about implementation.
How to conduct a successful interview process
But before going to the recruitment market, here are a few things you should consider:
Interview process:
Look at how you will assess the skill set of any candidate first. For example, creating a technical assessment or case study on resolving an issue with a Salesforce solution for them to present. This can start with a quick assessment of their ability to do ‘what it says on the tin’, but also assessing their ability to effectively communicate with the company. (a vital skill that can slip through the interview process screening).
Who will be conducting/sitting in on the interview? If you’re interviewing for the first time to hire a CRM Manager, going in blind can either prolong the interview process or end up hiring the wrong person. If you have a Salesforce administrator in place, they will understand what is needed... If you are working with a Salesforce Consultancy, they will be a powerful asset in helping to structure the higher-level/ more technical elements of an interview (consultants are not uncommon during the interview process).
How you find candidates. It’s easy to think that starting the process yourself and uploading your role to multiple job boards will give you the most reach. But this can lead to hours of sifting through CVs and prolonging the search.
Working with a Salesforce recruitment agency, like Steadman Brown, can add even more value as we screen candidates technically and even hold the first round to save you time interviewing candidates who aren’t qualified. Additionally, we can identify the reasons and motivations for why prospective candidates are looking for a job, what they are looking for, and how to reduce drop-out rates and issues further down the line (at the offer stage).
Are you ready to hire your CRM Manager?
If you’re business is scaling up quickly and needs someone to oversee the CRM platform, then bringing a CRM Manager onto the team is a step in the right direction. Expecting a Salesforce Administrator to take on the duties of a CRM Manager will only end up in overworking and potentially cause mistakes.
At Steadman Brown, we’ve worked with Start-ups, SMBs, and nationwide businesses to recruit top Salesforce CRM Managers. You may wish to contact us if you have spoken with your current Salesforce professional and/or Salesforce partner to discuss how we can help.
Steadman Brown specialises exclusively in Salesforce recruitment, technically screening each candidate and sharing our findings with you. We are committed to working as an extension of your business and recruitment team to understand your needs.
If you would like to learn more about us, see how we can add value to your recruitment process, or are interested in a market insight, please do not hesitate to contact us.
