Preparing for a new Salesforce Consultant role
𝗧𝗶𝗽 𝟯 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟮 – 𝗨𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀
All #Salesforce consultants will have utilisation targets which are tied to their annual performance review, which is why this can be quite a contentious topic.
A Salesforce Partner will need to think quite hard about how to balance the need to maximise profits by reducing bench time (i.e. make sure that consultants are on billable projects all the time) and growing through activities which are non client facing.
When you’re very new, green and inexperienced – there is an expectation that you will not be billable initially while you learn.
Once you’re reasonably competent, and can contribute properly as a junior consultant – you will be expected to be billable 100% of the time.
As you go up the consulting career ladder though, your utilisation target should reduce, as the expectation that you will begin to provide value (outside of billable activities) that will contribute to the consulting partner’s growth.
You may be asked to review proposals, attend client meetings, prepare sales presentations, interview new recruits, mentor younger consultants etc etc.
However, this is frequently not the case.
What I’ve seen is that most consultants (especially in the medium to larger partners) are expected to bill all their hours … and sometimes even more than that, as well as take on additional non-billable activities.
This is not acceptable, and not sustainable.
This is how burnout happens.
Not only that, but the toll on mental health and impact on employee’s home life can be wrecked.
When you start your new Consulting role, ask about Utilisation targets and how they are tied to your performance bonus.
This is a different matter if you _want_ to do extra.
In fact, if you’re inexperienced and new (and you have the capacity and capability to do so), I’d suggest volunteering for as much non-billable activities as possible to learn and to grow.
Help with the sale team, help with creating sandbox for technical tests and assessments, help with scribing or taking minutes or documenting processes or creating slide decks.
Get your hands dirty and don’t stop learning.
Just make sure that the company isn’t taking advantage of you.
If you’re mindful of what’s being expected, and you adjust your approach to work accordingly, then you’ll be fine.
Tomorrow – 𝗧𝗶𝗽 𝟰 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟮 – 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿
Why he/she needs to be your best friend!
