Hey Joe,
My company recently invested in Salesforce and we’ve been using it for a few months.
Our sales team has been receiving ongoing training for the platform, but I’m not getting much guidance on the marketing ops side.
I’m concerned that when the time comes for me to use certain parts of Salesforce (or other platforms, I’m less familiar with), I’ll be lost.
How can I bolster my technical toolbelt and stay prepared?
Thanks,
Eager Ed
Ed, I applaud your proactivity. Keeping your technical skills polished and up to date is very important in the marketing ops world!
“It’s rare to be a pro at
Marketo and Salesforce.”
Many MOPs members are proficient with marketing automation platforms like Marketo. Still, they won’t know as much as they should about CRMs like Salesforce. In fact, it’s rare to find someone who is a Marketo expert as well as a Salesforce admin.
This can be a problem because MOPs members must know how to navigate Salesforce to access lead modules, campaign data, and several other integrations to keep information across MOPs and Sales Ops clear and synchronized.
Let’s talk about some things you can do to improve your proficiency with less familiar tools:
1. Complete certification courses 🎓
Tell your boss you want to build your technical toolbelt and inquire about services you can use to train yourself independently on different platforms. For example:
👉 Many companies have training programs that allow their employees to acquire a Marketo certification.
👉 Hubspot also has a free certification course – as long as you can access a Hubspot instance.
👉 Salesforce has a free online learning platform called Trailhead that you can use as well.
2. Explore external resources 🧭
If you want to supplement these certification courses, or you want to hone in on a specific area of a tool, there are plenty of high-quality external resources available out there if you look carefully.
Healthy, active communities of users can be found online and are very helpful when it comes to learning about different platforms.
You can turn to sites like Reddit or official user forums managed by the platform owners themselves – such as Marketing Nation by Marketo or the Salesforce Developer Community forums.
Youtube is also home to many experienced users who create screen share tutorials, walking you through processes step-by-step.
3. Attend conferences and workshops 🧠
There are plenty of workshops and conference events (both in-person and online) that major platform companies like Salesforce, Hubspot, and Adobe will host throughout the year.
Attending these events is a great way to pick up technical skills, as well as build relationships with other MOPs and Sales Ops people who can offer guidance.
Many companies will pay for their employees to attend these events to expand their technical knowledge and bring back information for other team members to learn from.
4. Connect with your sales team 🤝🏽
If you still need help when it comes to using Salesforce at your company, try reaching out to one of your Sales Operators.
Ask if they can briefly walk you through a certain integration or process – this can go a long way in strengthening your understanding of the platform.
When you go down this route, however, be sure to come prepared. I recommend doing as much independent research as you can (through the above methods), so you can approach your Sales Operator with high-quality, concise questions.
🔥 Pro tip: Record the session with your Sales Ops team for internal reference purposes. Sales Operators are busy, so having that recording will allow you to independently review it after a one-time walkthrough. This will be helpful not only for your own reference but to train other members of your MOPs team who need to learn the same process.
Over time, this can develop into a useful collection of internal training resources for MOPs if anyone needs a walkthrough of Salesforce features in the future.
“Remember to stay curious
and stay engaged.”
It’s great to see you taking ownership of your professional development. Remember to stay curious, stay engaged, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
With these tools and resources at your disposal, you’ll be well on your way to mastering new platforms and adding value to your company. Keep up the good work!
You’ve got this,
Joe.
