Learn What it Takes to Become An Essentials Advisor
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe the Essentials Advisors Program’s curriculum.
- Understand the next steps after you have completed the curriculum and are ready to be paired with Essentials customers.
Introduction
Now that you have an understanding behind the purpose of this program, let’s take a look at the program itself. The curriculum for the Essentials Advisors Program consists of trails, challenges, videos and exercises, designed to give a full picture of the Essentials product.
These include:
- Trailhead badges—Take modules and projects that will give you a deep understanding of Salesforce Essentials and how it fits into the Salesforce ecosystem.
- Videos—Watch videos to get an even deeper understanding of Salesforce Essentials.
- Workshops—Complete workshops to improve your skills.
- Chatter groups—Join Chatter groups to connect with other members of your cohort and the Salesforce Essentials team.
- Office hours—Attend office hours to get your questions answered by Salesforce Essentials experts.
- Challenges—Complete challenges to test your knowledge.
The final step is a mock consultation where you get “hands-on” with the product to test your knowledge. In this step, you put yourself in the shoes of a small business owner and set up Essentials for their business. This exercise helps advisors think creatively about how to set up the platform using an SMB use case. Once set up, the advisors present their organization to the Essentials team and answer questions in real time. Passing this final presentation officially completes the end of the Trailmix and Advisors Program curriculum.
All of the content for this program is readily available on Trailhead in the Become an Approved Salesforce Essentials Advisor Trailmix.
In order to proceed to the next phase of being an Essentials advisor—that is, working with customers—you are required to show 100% for the Trailmix on your profile.
Once the Program Is Completed, What Happens Next?
The next step is to get real-world experience. As an approved Essentials advisors, you are paired with real Essentials Customers. Essentials advisors are added to a marketplace where they can create personal profiles, which include their Trailhead profile, experience, and skill set. Once added to the marketplace, Essentials customers can review the available advisors and select a particular advisor to assist them with a project.
The projects vary depending on the needs of each Essentials customer. This variety helps advisors get a full understanding of all customer inquiries and be better versed in how to find solutions using the Essentials product.
Another great benefit of the program? Once an advisor completes the program they can stay on the marketplace indefinitely. This means advisors get continuous opportunities to learn, work with real customers, and gain experience. Advisors can enhance their resumes to help further their Salesforce careers, and certified advisors have the opportunity to get paid by customers for providing their expertise.
Salesforce offers a number of career fair opportunities throughout the year. Advisors are encouraged to attend these events to network and meet others in the Salesforce ecosystem to pursue their career goals.
The Essentials advisors are the experts of the product and a significant resource for the customers, so it is critical that participants in the program complete all the steps in the program in order to become a trusted advisor.
Next, we take a look at what makes an Essential advisor successful and how to get updates about the program.
