What should I look for in a Salesforce.com Consultant?

Sometimes when working with a tool that is as configurable as Salesforce.com you may a reach a point where outside help is the only answer. The search for experienced, reliable help can be a daunting / expensive one. Here are some things to be on the lookout for when selecting a Salesforce.com consultant.

• Salesforce.com Certification - depending upon the type of work that you need done, there are a number of different certifications that the consultant could posses.  Here are the two basic distinctions.
• Certified Administrator - This is someone who is certified to build / configure Salesforce.com to meet your business needs through the use of Standard Salesforce functionality. 
• Certified Developer - This is someone who is certified to build custom applications in Salesforce.com through the use of custom code.

Typically most Salesforce.com consultants are either the Administrator / Configuration  specialists or Developers. There are some that posses both skills, but unless you have someone that is really rock solid with standard Salesforce.com its best to start with a Certified Administrator and leave it to them to tell you when something requires custom development. 

• Experience - Certification is nice, but there is no substitute for system experience.  Salesforce.com has only been around for 10yrs or so. It is rare that I meet anyone with more than 5 years of Salesforce.com administrative experience.  Here are some things to look for in a good Salesforce.com consultant.
• More than 2 years as a system administrator, not a user of Salesforce.com. 
• Managed a system of similar size and complexity to yours
• Managed a system that supported similar business processes (Sales, Service, Marketing etc.)
• Preferably has applicable business experience outside of Salesforce.com administration. This is useful when modeling business processes in Salesforce.com.
• Inquisitive - Salesforce.com is only as good as its configuration. I personally know of systems with over 5,000 users that are running smooth as silk and I have seen 15 user systems that are a complete mess. Often the biggest difference between a successful implementation and a epic failure is properly building out data relationships from the start. To get that right often requires someone who is willing to ask a lot of questions and make tough decisions. If your consultant appears to be the quiet "does as he or she is told" sort, then you may want to keep looking.
• Assertive - Much like asking the right questions, the best consultants know how to stand up and say "no". You may not want to hear it. But a sure fire way to kill a CRM implementation is to bite off more than you can chew in Phase 1. A good resource should be able to stand up and assert themselves when the time is right.
• System Knowledge - Last but not least is system knowledge. You would think that "certification" would cover this. But it doesn't. There are a lot of "certified" admins out there that really don't know much about how the system is used.  Here are some basic questions that you can ask someone to gauge their basic understanding of Salesforce.com
• What is the difference between a Lead and Account?
•  Leads contain both account and contact information and can, if converted, become a Account, Contact and if you choose a new Opportunity.
• What is the difference between a Event and a Task?
• Events are activities that have both a assigned date and time. They automatically close once the date and time have passed.
• Tasks have a date but no time. They will not close after the date has passed and will instead stay open until they are manually closed. 
• If I log an activity on a Contact will it show up on the account as well?
• yes it will
• If I am working with the same contact on two different accounts should I enter them in twice?
• NO, you can use Contact Roles to relate one contact with multiple accounts
• What can I use in Salesforce.com to show the relationship between accounts?
• the Parent Account field on the account.
• Partners section to show all non ownership account relationships.
• How can I assign more than one Sales Rep to an account?
• You can use the Account Team  feature
• How often do Dashboards refresh?
• You can set them to auto-refresh periodically, or you have to manually refresh them. By default dashboards do not refresh themselves. 
• Training Experience - Everyone says they can train Salesforce.com. But there is nothing like putting someone on the spot. Most good consultants have access to a "Developer Account" of Salesforce.com. Ask the consultant if they would mind logging into either their system or yours and walking through the following Salesforce.com objects (not all may apply to your situation).
• Homepage
• Lead
• Account
• Contact
• Opportunity 
• Case
• Activity

Have them create a few records records and just take note of their comfort in navigating the system. It should become quickly apparent if this is the first time they given this sort of demo or the 100th.