Salesforce Advice: Tips for “Accidental” Admins

Congratulations you are now a system administrator! While your new role may not have been by choice, being an admin can be a fun and rewarding role at your company. Sadhana Consulting has been supporting system administrators working with Salesforce, Pardot, Conga, and other platforms that sit on top of Salesforce for years.

Here are a few tried and true concepts every system administrator should know:

Know Your Limits and Log Your Learning Moments

 

Repeat after me, “This is beyond my skill set.” Coming into an accidental admin role is fun and exciting, but there is also a ton to learn. Setting your limitations early in the process is key. Do not feel embarrassed for not knowing something, or even configuring something incorrectly. By writing these learning experiences down in a log book, you will develop a targeted training journal that will help you adapt to your new role.

Get Down and Dirty with Your Data

 

Data quality is crucial for making things run smoothly. As the admin, you are now the keeper of data. Involve key executive stakeholders and implement a quality standard early in the process. Most people understand that “bad data in is bad data out,” but you have the power to clean-up the process. Once you are familiar with the basic expectations of your role, make this a top priority.

Stay Focused on the End Goal and Enjoy the Process

 

For every request, ask yourself, “What is this going to achieve?” This allows you to take a step back from the task at hand and clearly scope the problem you need to solve. One of the best parts about being a system administrator is researching and finding the most efficient solution for a business problem.

Communicate

 

As an admin, you’re always going to be rolling out new things and improving processes. Make sure that while this is happening, you’re also focusing on clear communication with your end users. Taking on a new system is a challenge. Keeping an open line of communication with your end user will help you find bugs, improve processes, and reduce frustration across the board.

For a more technical guidelines, here are some key principles that will help set you up for success managing your Salesforce org:

 

  • Always use Standard Objects as they are intended
  • Never use Custom Objects to replace Standard Objects
  • Consider and use the correct data relationship when creating objects (Master Detail, One-to-Many, Many-to-Many, Lookup)
  • Use Declarative Automation over Code whenever possible 
  • Propose the simple solution before considering a complex approach 
  • Always document as you go, and use description fields
  • Field Labels should always match API Field Names
  • Keep page layouts consistent across all objects
  • Do not build in production, always use a sandbox and deploy changes
  • Always know who, how, and when changes are communicated to the users 

 

LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE?

Check out Trailhead! Coupled with your training log, Trailhead has all the resources you need to achieve the “Awesome Admin” status. 

For additional support, or to pass your fancy new admin cap off to someone else, Sadhana Consulting offers flexible Admin On-Demand services for companies of any size. We pride ourselves on adapting to your workflows and processes and are available to support both project specific work and day-to-day operations. 

Additional information regarding our support offering can be found on our website, or by dropping us a note online.

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