The pioneer of cloud-based Customer relationship management (CRM) software, Salesforce is the go-to option for businesses who want to maintain and grow customer relationships for both existing and potential customers.
In fact, Salesforce achieved a revenue of $31.4 billion in 2023 which demonstrates its CRM dominance.
A key requirement for their customers has been the ability to create custom solutions or integrations within the Salesforce platform.
This has led to the role of a Salesforce Developer emerging in importance as they can customize all the unique requirements.
In this article, we discuss how to hire Salesforce Developers exploring the best practices to ensure you make the right hire.
What Is a Salesforce Developer?
A Salesforce Developer, also known as SFDC Developer, is a full-stack programmer who builds custom software using the Salesforce platform working on back-end logic and front-end functionality.
What Does a Salesforce Developer Do? Roles & Responsibilities
Within the Salesforce environment, a Salesforce Developer assumes several crucial roles and responsibilities, including:
- Conducting system assessment and providing Salesforce technical consultancy
- Designing solution architecture considering limitations and impact
- Implementing batch classes to enable secure data migration
- Using Lightning App Builder to build Lightning components
- Conducting code review and resolving any code coverage issues
- Designing and developing Apex Classes, Controller Classes, extensions, and Apex Triggers across multiple objects and applications
- Developing custom objects, reports, and dashboards based on requirements for sales and marketing
- Integrating third-party services based on client requirements to the Salesforce platform.
Why You Should Use Salesforce for Your CRM Solutions
Salesforce has been the market leader for CRM solutions consistently. Here are some reasons on why use Salesforce over other products:
1. Easy to Use
The platform has an intuitive user-friendly interface which is designed to make it convenient even for first-time users. Furthermore, since they provide one of the largest ranges of pre-built templates, the time to set up and get going with the platform is very fast.
2. Effortless Customization
Every business is unique with its own set of processes that needs custom apps to align with their working style. Salesforce was early to recognize this and have created a plethora of customization through modules and workflows.
3. Cloud-Based
Though the company was started in 1999, the founders had the vision of the internet becoming a dominant technology for B2B software. This bet has paid off heavily as they have focused on Cloud-based CRM software.
4. Efficient Reporting
One result of their high focus on Data is a reporting tool which has advanced analytics and real-time reporting capabilities. Plus, their only focus on AI has enabled them to provide unique insights much quicker for businesses.
5. Multi-tenant Platform
Multi-tenant solutions mean that one instance of the application can handle the needs of multiple clients, who in this context are referred to as tenants.
Since multiple organizations share the same resources, it is cost efficient along with faster updates as Salesforce only needs to make the changes once per instance.
6. Integration Options
Salesforce has a secure and well-documented API which has made integration possible with a whole host of business applications.
For example, a Marketing agency can integrate an email marketing tool like MailChimp using Salesforce to centralize customer data and develop targeted email campaigns.
7. AppExchange Ecosystem
Another reason why Salesforce is the best CRM is that they innovated the idea of AppExchange through which users can either create apps or get access to these apps.
This cloud-based marketplace helps businesses save both time and resources by solving business challenges much more quickly. This is why AppExchange is used by 91% of Salesforce customers.
8. Mobile CRM
As businesses and employees are working more frequently on their smartphones, the convenience of using CRM functions from the smartphone is highly suitable.
Mobile CRM leads to real-time accessibility to customer data, easy data entry, and quick decision making in fast-paced organizations.
9. Customer Success Platform
The Salesforce Customer Success Platform is the portfolio of products which helps to unify the different business functions including Sales, Marketing, Service, Community, and Analytics. This enables businesses to get a 360-degree view of customers.
10. Extensive Ecosystem
An extensive ecosystem is another reason why Salesforce is used since the platform boasts a large base of Developers, consumers, and partners.
Therefore, any problem a business faces while using Salesforce has probably been faced by another user along with solutions to solve them in the community forums.
Key Skills to Look Out for When Hiring Salesforce Developers
Here are the key Salesforce Developer skills to assess before making a hiring decision:
1. Technical Skills
A Salesforce Developer needs to have a strong foundation of key technologies to effectively build and customize applications within the Salesforce ecosystem.
- Apex
Apex is the most common Salesforce Developer hard skill. It is a programming language that helps to create customized connectors, do customer API calls, and develop Apex classes while building applications.
- Visualforce
This is a framework which helps to generate HTML for user interface design with XML syntax.
- JavaScript
Consider assessing a candidate’s ability with JavaScript since they help to implement client-side validations using validation controls and custom validations.
- CSS
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) helps to customize and style the Salesforce applications by making sure they are visually appealing as per company branding.
- HTML
HTML helps to build custom user interfaces that are important to build the custom components within the Salesforce platform.
- SOQL
Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) is the language which is used to interact with Salesforce data. It is an important skill for Salesforce Developers so that they can retrieve, modify, and analyze data.
2. Object Oriented Programming
By using Object Oriented Programming (OOP), a Developer can build the applications with more structure and efficiency through code-reusability. Furthermore, the primary language for Salesforce, Apex is object-oriented.
3. Analytical Skills
A key task for Salesforce Developers is to get to the essence of client requirements. This will provide the roadmap for developing an effective solution for which the ability to analyze requirements in detail is essential.
4. Communication Skills
Developing a solution is a back-and-forth process with both team members and the client. Consider how well the candidate is able to communicate their ideas as well as their active listening skills.
5. Problem-solving Skills and Logical Skills
Problem Solving is among the key skills for Salesforce Developers. They need to be able to get to the root cause of the issues that can show up such as bugs or errors and develop quick solutions for the same.
Avoid These Pitfalls when Hiring Salesforce Developers
Hire a Salesforce Developer only after carefully considering the following common pitfalls first:
1. Uncertainty about Your Requirements
Lack of clarity on what problems need to be solved with the use of Salesforce can lead to the wrong set of requirements that eventually lead to candidates who may be too junior or too senior than what you actually need.
2. Identifying the Right Role or Job Title
It’s not uncommon to upload a job posting only to realize that the role we’re actually seeking is different than the one we need. For example, it may be that you need a System Administrator rather than a Software Developer.
3. Overlooking Candidate Experience Assessment
It’s important to conduct a detailed experience assessment to have assurance that the candidate possesses all the skills that they mention in their resume.
Ask them about their previous experience solving Salesforce platform development challenges along with their certifications from Salesforce Trailhead.
4. Flaws in the Recruitment Process
A lack of a proper recruitment process may lead to inconsistency in assessing the different candidates. For instance, if one candidate is given a technical assessment while another is only interviewed based on portfolio, it might lead to biased hiring.
5. Insufficient Market Awareness
Lack of market knowledge such as supply and demand plus pricing can result in either overspending for readily available skills or underpaying and failing to secure the right talent.
How to Hire a Salesforce Developer: Choosing the Perfect Candidate
Based on avoiding the above pitfalls, here are some steps to take to hire a Salesforce Developer:
1. Define Your Requirements
Identify the specific areas of expertise and problem solving needed from the Salesforce Developer. Mention specifically what the candidates are expected to work on as it can encourage qualified candidates to apply.
2. Develop a Standard Recruitment Process
Conduct an assessment for both Hard Skills & Soft Skills where there is a standard way of scoring the candidates based on your specific needs.
3. Assure the Right Pricing
Get data regarding the market rates for the specific type of Salesforce Developer and provide a fair and incentivized compensation package.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Salesforce Developer?
The average Salesforce Developer cost in the U.S. is $92,000 per year. While in the UK, the average salary stands at £67,000 ($81,000) per year.
However, Salesforce Developers of similar quality are available in Poland and Ukraine at more affordable rates.
In Poland, the average yearly salary is $53,000 while in Ukraine it is around $36,000.
Best Models for Hiring Salesforce Developers
Salesforce Developers for hire can be recruited through the following three models:
1. In-House
In-House means the practice of employing a Salesforce Developer full-time within the company.
Advantages
- Dedicated Team Member: They are available to work exclusively on full scope of the project
- Security: Working with Salesforce deals with sensitive organizational data which is safer when team members work in-house.
Disadvantages
- More Costly: Employing in-house requires paying monthly salary and providing benefits
- Lengthy Recruitment time: It can take months to find the right hire.
2. Freelance
Freelance means hiring talent on a project-by-project basis.
Advantages
- Cost-Effective: Reduction in costs as the engagement is project-based
- Access to specialized skills: Freelancers can offer access to specialized skillsets within Salesforce that’s not available on your team.
Disadvantages
- Risk on Quality: Not making a wise hiring decision may lead to compromise in quality.
- Varied Availability: Freelancers work on multiple projects simultaneously which makes their availability varied.
3. Outsourcing
Outsourcing means partnering with a third-party firm to take care of the hiring process for talent.
Advantages
- Fast Hiring: Since they specialize in hiring specific types of talents, the process is much faster.
- Access to Quality Talent Pool: Good recruitment outsourcing firms have vetted candidates with demonstrated experience.
Disadvantages
- Coordination issues: Lack of communication may lead to ineffective project management.
- Possibility of wrong hire: There is still risk of a wrong hire that suits the needs of the business.
Hire Offshore Salesforce Developers
With the rising Salesforce Developer costs in prominent Western countries, many companies are looking to hire remote Salesforce Developers instead as they are more affordable.
Why Hire Salesforce Developers from Poland/Ukraine?
For offshore Salesforce development, Poland and Ukraine have become prominent names because of their high-quality talent along with the reduced development cost.
When businesses hire dedicated Salesforce Developers from these countries, expect fluent English, alignment to Western business culture, and outstanding development skills.
The reason for this is the demanding technical curriculum that the talent of these countries goes through during their time at university along with a culture of strong work ethic.
Let RemoDevs Help You Hire Salesforce Developers
RemoDevs specializes in hiring high quality tech talent from Poland and Ukraine. Hire Salesforce Developers through Remodevs to reduce the stress of the tedious hiring process and get the right candidates fast.
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Founder and Chief Executive Officer at RemoDevs