Salesforce consulting partners: Who, how, and why for businesses?
Salesforce is the backbone of over 150,000 businesses worldwide, from agile startups to global enterprises. While its robust features offer transformative potential, many businesses rely on Salesforce Consulting Partners to truly unlock the platform's full capabilities and maximize their investment.
“In fact, around 85% of all Salesforce implementations are supported by consulting partners who deliver smoother deployments and positive results across various key metrics such as productivity, adoption rate, and efficiency. ”
A consulting partner’s role extends far beyond just implementation. They provide essential support across several critical areas, including administration, development, maintenance, integration, and migration, keeping businesses agile and fully equipped to handle any challenges that may come.
In this blog, we’ll explore who these consulting partners are, how they help businesses navigate Salesforce's complexities, and why their expertise is crucial for maximizing your CRM investment. Additionally, we’ve included a list of top Salesforce consulting partners to help you find the right fit for your business needs and ensure a smooth Salesforce journey.
Who Are Salesforce Consulting Partners?
Salesforce Consulting Partners aren't just regular Joes with a Salesforce t-shirt.
They are accredited companies or individuals with specialized expertise in implementing, customizing, and optimizing Salesforce solutions for businesses. They work side-by-side with you to mold Salesforce to your specific business needs, ensuring you squeeze every drop of value out of the platform.
Moreover, consulting partners undergo rigorous training and certification to become experts in all things Salesforce – Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, you name it.
How Can a Salesforce Consulting Partner Help Your Business?
Whether you are stuck with the limited capabilities of the existing platform or need help to make the most of the Salesforce platform, hiring a Salesforce consulting partner is crucial for every Salesforce user.
So what are some areas where a Salesforce consultancy can help? Let’s find out:
1. Implementing Salesforce
A Salesforce consulting partner manages the entire implementation process, from the initial setup to system configurations, customizations, and data migration. Their expertise ensures that Salesforce is not only deployed but also optimized for your specific needs right from the start, minimizing costly errors or delays. This allows you to stay focused on your core business operations while they streamline the implementation process.
2. Custom Development
Consulting partners also provide out-of-the-box solutions, tailoring the platform to your specific needs. Whether it’s building custom dashboards, developing APIs for seamless integrations, or creating process-driven apps from scratch, they ensure your Salesforce instance aligns perfectly with your operations. Their deep technical expertise allows them to think beyond standard solutions, crafting personalized features that enhance functionality and user experience.
3. Integrating Salesforce
Salesforce consulting partners integrate Salesforce with other platforms and systems by leveraging their deep expertise in Salesforce APIs, middleware, and integration tools. Often times, this require building connectors and writing custom code to automate data exchange or setting up tailored workflows to ensure that Salesforce works harmoniously with other software.
4. Managing Your Salesforce Setup
Consulting partners in Salesforce also offer administrative services ensuring your CRM stays up-to-date, efficient, and secure, without the need to hire a full-time internal team. This includes user management, security settings, system performance monitoring, and platform maintenance, to list a few. By outsourcing these critical tasks to certified professionals, you can focus on your core operations while ensuring that Salesforce continues to meet your evolving needs.
5. Migrating Data To/From Salesforce
A Salesforce consultant also ensures a smooth and efficient migration, whether you’re transferring data into Salesforce from a legacy system or exporting it. By managing volume limitations, ensuring data integrity, mapping fields and relationships accurately, and more such practices for safe migration, they help you avoid potential issues like data duplication, loss, or misalignment.
6. Training and Enablement
A Salesforce consulting partner provides tailored training and enablement programs designed to empower users with the skills and knowledge needed to leverage the platform. Whether it's role-specific training for administrators, developers, or end-users, they ensure that your team is confident in using Salesforce’s features. Results? Reduced learning curve, improved user adoption, and increased productivity and ROI.
7. AppExchange Consultation
If you are an ISV then consulting partners with PDO expertise can help you identify the most relevant apps that align with your business needs. Beside assessing your current system and recommending suitable apps, they also ensure seamless integration with your Salesforce environment. And if you’re planning to launch an app on AppExchange, they can help you with that too.
Why Choose Salesforce Consulting Partners?
Choosing a Salesforce consulting expert can be one of the most impactful decisions for businesses looking to fully leverage the power of Salesforce. Here are key reasons why partnering with a Salesforce consulting firm is essential:
1. Expertise and Specialization: Salesforce consultants have proven expertise and deep knowledge of various products, features, and functionalities. They stay updated on Salesforce’s evolving ecosystem, ensuring your business gets the latest best practices and capabilities tailored to your needs.
2. Customized Solutions: Off-the-shelf Salesforce features may not always meet your specific business needs. Consulting partners provide customized solutions, from bespoke app development to unique process automation, ensuring that your Salesforce environment aligns perfectly with your operational requirements.
3. Seamless Implementation: The implementation process can be complex, involving configurations, customizations, integrations, and data migration. Consulting partners handle this entire process, ensuring a seamless and error-free deployment, which allows your business to focus on its core operations.
4. Improved Adoption and Productivity: Even with a well-implemented system, adoption can be challenging. Salesforce consulting partners provide training and enablement programs that empower your teams to fully understand and use Salesforce effectively, increasing adoption rates and overall productivity.
5. End-to-End Support: Salesforce consulting partners offer ongoing support beyond just implementation. They help with system administration, maintenance, upgrades, and optimization, ensuring that your Salesforce environment continues to deliver value as your business grows and evolves.
6. Integration Capabilities: Many businesses use multiple platforms and software systems. Consulting partners excel in integrating Salesforce with other systems (e.g., ERP, marketing, and financial platforms), ensuring seamless data flow and unified operations across your tech stack.
7. Data Security and Compliance: Salesforce consulting partners ensure that your CRM system is secure and complies with industry regulations. They manage data governance, implement robust security protocols, and ensure your system meets relevant legal standards.
8. Scalability and Future-Proofing: Consulting partners design your Salesforce environment with scalability in mind, ensuring it can grow alongside your business. They also future-proof your system by anticipating your needs and aligning the platform with your long-term business goals.
Also Read: 📖 6 reasons why you should choose Concretio as your Salesforce Consulting Partner 💼
7 Salesforce Consulting Partners You Can Consider for Your Business
The Salesforce ecosystem is filled with Salesforce certified consulting partners, with different specializations and expertise, from the Base tier to the Summit tier. We’ve selected some of the best ones for your consideration:
#1 Concretio Apps
Concretio, founded by India’s first Salesforce MVP Abhinav Gupta, specializes in developing custom Salesforce solutions, AppExchange apps, and security reviews, serving global clients across Retail, Finance, and other industries. As a leading Salesforce ISV, PDO, CREST, and Managed Services Partner, Concretio has delivered hundreds of projects for clients across APAC, USA, UK, and Europe regions including Amazon and Hotel Ninjas, ensuring both ‘Quality’ and ‘Cost’.
Key Highlights
Founded: 2013
Certified Experts: 68
Total Certifications: 267
AppExchange Rating: 4.8
AppExchange Apps: 2
Hourly Price: $25-$49
Notable Clients: Pininfarina, Souq (Amazon), Hotel Ninjas
#2 Appiphony
Appiphony, a Chicago-based consultancy that has been building Salesforce-based apps since 2006, leveraging deep expertise in technical and business challenges faced by ISVs. They are a top-tier partner with a proven expertise in delivering innovative solutions using Salesforce App Cloud. Their modern design thinking and craftsman-level quality can be seen in some of their AppExchange solutions.
Key Highlights
Founded: 2006
Certified Experts: 15
Total Certifications: 20
AppExchange Rating: 4.9
AppExchange Apps: 3
Hourly Price: Undisclosed
Notable Clients: NA
#3 Cloud Masonry
Cloud Masonry excels in complex system integrations and custom application development areas. Their collaborative project delivery approach ensures tailored solutions for every client. While they only began in 2018, they’ve grown into a strong organization that is already serving several top brands like JP Morgan.
Key Highlights
Founded: 2018
Certified Experts: 45
Total Certifications: 218
AppExchange Rating: 4.8
AppExchange Apps: 1
Hourly Price: $150-$199
Notable Clients: JP Morgan Chase, NRI, Direct Energy
#4 Forefront
ForeFront, with over 15 years of Salesforce experience, delivers end-to-end digital transformation solutions using cross-cloud and platform expertise. They've executed global deployments in 120 countries and 40 languages, driving innovation with their agile methodology and proprietary toolset, Maestro. Their team can help you with everything from complex data integration projects to business process optimization through custom development.
Key Highlights
Founded: 1997
Certified Experts: 75
Total Certifications: 284
AppExchange Rating: 4.9
AppExchange Apps: 9
Hourly Price: Undisclosed
Notable Clients: Petroleum Group, Pen Colors, Lamon
#5 Fury Group
Fury Group is a Houston-based Salesforce consultancy offering Salesforce implementation support for the Manufacturing, Energy, and Finance industries. They are known for optimizing processes and integrating Salesforce across various business functions. Their services expand different Salesforce products including Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, CPQ, Revenue Cloud, and Einstein AI.
Key Highlights
Founded: 2005
Certified Experts: 13
Total Certifications: 49
AppExchange Rating: 4.9
AppExchange Apps: 0
Hourly Price: $200-$300
Notable Clients: NA
#6 BuzzBold
BuzzBold is a St. Louis-based Salesforce PDO and consulting partner helping nonprofits and educational organizations leverage Salesforce through custom solutions and integrations. They are dedicated to social responsibility, offering comprehensive services and solutions for clients such as CAST Schools, Tulsa Remote, and many more. Recently, Buzzbold has been focusing on amplifying their community impact and aiding organizations in maximizing their Salesforce utilization.
Key Highlights
Founded: 2011
Certified Experts: 12
Total Certifications: 55
AppExchange Rating: 4.9
AppExchange Apps: 0
Hourly Price: Undisclosed
Notable Clients: CAST Schools, Tulsa Remote
#7 Fostering
Fostering is a Minnesota-based Salesforce partner specializing in the Financial Services, Manufacturing, and Non-profit sectors. They boast a team of skilled Force.com developers, strategic partners, and talented interns, all under the leadership of Chief Architect/Solution Designer Matt Foster. With 5/5 ratings and two apps on Appexchange, they are another top Salesforce consultancy to consider especially for Financial Services and Non-profit sector businesses.
Key Highlights
Founded: 2013
Certified Experts: 10
Total Certifications: 60
AppExchange Rating: 5/5
AppExchange Apps: 2
Hourly Price: Undisclosed
Notable Clients: Marco, Falcon National Bank
Conclusion
Success with Salesforce isn’t just about having the platform—it's about how you use it. And this is where Salesforce consulting partners can make all the difference.
Consulting partners do more than just assist with implementation; they bring specialized expertise to streamline complex configurations, customizations, and integrations, ensuring your Salesforce environment is tailored to meet your business’s specific needs.
For businesses seeking growth and efficiency through Salesforce, engaging a certified consulting partner is essential. They bring the knowledge, experience, and ongoing support that can turn a basic Salesforce setup into a powerful engine for innovation and success.
Whether you're a small business or a large enterprise, partnering with the right Salesforce Consulting Partner can make the difference between simply using Salesforce and fully benefiting from its vast capabilities.
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