#ConfidentConsultant0 personne en discute

Hi @Ron Budreau & everyone~,

I'm Yumi from Hawaiʻi.  

I'm still navigating the waters of finding which path is the one for me.  I'd love to see where consulting takes me.  

I have soooo many interests.  That's most likely attributed to my ADHD (ND).  On a high overview, I generally love the arts (especially in dance & music), culture, food, language, travelling, healing modalities, watching comedies, etc.

I'd love to connect with others who are of the mindset to support each other with compassion & empathy and are willing to be an active participant in helping the collective.    I come from a healing background prior to the pandemic so I had absolutely no experience in tech before SF.  There have been challenges thus far, but I'm really looking forward to seeing where this road takes me.  

Nice to meet you all~

me ke aloha,

Yumi

I tell people that I am like a personal trainer (PT) or fitness instructor for businesses. Just as a PT needs to know your current level of fitness, and your fitness goals, a Salesofrce Consultant (SC) needs to understand where a business is and where that business wants to go. To determine your current level of fitness a PT would examine a number of key performance (fitness) indicators (KPI’s), such as, resting heart rate, weight, body mass index, age, flexibility, etc., similarly an SC needs to analyze the business KPI’s to determine its current level of health, i.e. profitability, year-over-year growth rates, cost of sales/goods, service response times, etc.

Knowing where you are and where you want to go (and how fast) a PT/SC will put together the most appropriate fitness/business plan that balances what you are capable of today and what you want to be capable of in the future. A PT/SC needs to be forthright with you on what is possible given your current fitness level, i.e., if you haven’t run in years and you tell your PT that you want to train for a marathon that is happening in thirty days, the PT would be doing you a favor by telling you that you need to choose a more realistic goal. Similarly, an SF will provide guidance on whether the business goals being discussed are achievable given the state of the business today, resource availability (time, people, dollars), to achieve the new level of business health.

The final analogy I use is to have them think about the Salesforce platform as a gym, which contains an array of highly specialized machines designed to improve one or more parts of their fitness/business. There are machines for cardio, strength, flexibility, and more, we call them clouds (Sales, Service, Marketing, etc). Depending on the business area(s) we are focusing on improving will determine which fitness machines (clouds) will be leveraged to achieve your business goals. Ideally, at some point, the entire value of the gym will be employed to achieve ever-higher levels of business health.

A great PT/SC ensures you have realistic expectations, the right equipment, and the best exercise plan (not too lite and not too aggressive) to achieve your goals. A great PT/SC is a guide, motivator, and accountability partner.

Hi @Ron Budreau

My take at the top seven characteristics of a good consultant

1. Be a safe pair of hands - do  what you said you were going to do, and do it when you said you were going to do it.

2. Attention to detail - Document who you spoke with, what you heard, how you interpreted what you heard, and based on what you heard, what you recommendation and why. If you build a solution, test it to ensure it works.

3. Be considered a go to Thought Leader - Build a focus on one industry and solution set. Go deep versus be a jack of all trades.

4. Make sure that you Solve the right problem - Find out the root cause of a customer problem, where their pain is, and how much is is worth to them personally and their business to solve for that pain.

5. Challenge the Status Quo - Do not be an order taker. Respectfully challenge the customer - especially when they try a make the new solution in the image of the old solution that is not working!

6. Be Resourceful - know where to go for help if you do not have all the answers. Remember it is Ok to say it depends, and call a team member or another consultant. It is unlikely you will know how to solve all problems.

7. Ask Good Open Questions. Do not be afraid to ask for clarification. I often use the seven Why's! It is better to ask questions up front, than do something wrong. Always ask "What question should I have asked?", and always ask for feedback along the consulting journey, as feedback is a gift.