TAMMY CRAGG

How did you start working with Salesforce?

I got some experience with Salesforce working as a marketing coordinator at another company. When I joined ResMan, they found out I knew something about Salesforce so they made that my main focus. I decided to just dive in. When I first got started I thought I pretty much knew it all, but I quickly realized “Oh my gosh, there’s just so much that it can do.” So I started studying and decided I wanted to get certified. After a year at ResMan, I got my certification. As an admin there’s always more to learn with Salesforce.

As you lead Salesforce initiatives, how helpful is it to have a consulting partner like Rosetree Solutions?

Salesforce was implemented at ResMan before I joined. In its original form it had limited functionality and an overly-customized structure. When I signed on I worked with what we had, but it didn’t take long to see where we were being limited. A couple of years ago we decided to backtrack and build it out correctly. It would have been really hard to do that unless we had a solid consultant able to guide us.

Since partnering with Rosetree, things have gotten much better. We actually had another consultant before Rosetree – a small operation – helping us rework our org. We thought we could get by without the robust service of a firm like Rosetree, but now we see how critical it is to have a solid team behind you. I wish we had picked Rosetree initially. Their approach to project management really helps guide me through the entire process, and they don’t need me to do a lot of the legwork.

How has working with Salesforce impacted your career?

It has opened up a whole new world. I never imagined there were so many career paths available, even just as an admin. I could move into development, sales ops, etc. My struggle has been deciding which way I’d like to go. It’s great in uncertain times knowing that there’s a strong Salesforce community and that there is opportunity everywhere.

How has your department or organization changed since starting with Salesforce?

We initially started using Salesforce in a very different way. It was working at first for a specific use-case. But once we tried scaling into other products it fell apart. With Salesforce CPQ we’ve found the right tool for the job, and we are tracking to save time automating pricing tasks. We can avoid double-entry and redundant systems, and be sure we have the right information in one place.

How does Salesforce support your digital transformation goals and objectives?

It’s different for each department, but Salesforce is impacting how we operate across departments. For instance, we had some disconnects with our clients and weren’t able to track cases well. Trying to solve these customer support issues led us to Service Cloud. With sales, we’re finding great ways to handle quoting in Salesforce. We don’t need to work out of Excel.

What message do you have for other business leaders who are considering starting with Salesforce?

Start with a consultant. You need to think about the future and build for scalability. Having an admin on staff is great, but you can’t expect them to be an expert admin, developer, project manager, etc. – and have all of that experience wrapped up in one person. When you bring Salesforce into your organization, you don’t know what you don’t know. Having an expert on your side gives you confidence and can alleviate any concerns you have. If possible, also make sure you have an executive that gets it and understands the system at some level so they can be your champion. Decisions should respect the system’s structure and architecture to ensure it scales.