Teaching your clients how to fish
Summary
Many clients prefer mentoring over having consultants do all their Salesforce work, despite the slower pace it brings. Personalized coaching helps clients build skills beyond what Trailhead or standard training can provide, empowering them to manage simpler tasks independently. Offering mentoring sessions or office hours within support contracts can accelerate client knowledge and reduce future dependencies on consultants.
Takeaways
- Clients often want mentoring alongside support services, not just full hands-on help.
- Mentoring slows progress but builds client Salesforce capability over time.
- Consultants need patience and readiness to provide effective personalized training.
- Consider including working sessions or office hours in support packages.
- Empowering clients reduces their reliance on consultants for simple tasks.
When presenting options to a client for a monthly support contract, I’ve noticed a common request. Rather than you simply do all the work on their behalf, a lot of clients want to be mentored. This presents an interesting dynamic. On one hand, showing them how to do things will definitely slow things down. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but if there’s a lot to accomplish, you’ll need to keep this in mind. You also need to have lots of patience and actually be ready to mentor. Not everyone is prepared for this. On the other hand, clients want to improve their Salesforce skills. Trailhead and other training platforms can help, but at a certain point, nothing beats a personalized trainer. I see it like owning a house. You don’t want to have to call your general contractor everytime you want to change the lightbulb. Some things you want to be able to do yourself. And building up that knowledge can be greatly accelerated with a tutor.