What Does A Salesforce Developer Do? Roles, Responsibilities, Skills And More

Salesforce – the world’s #1 CRM platform, is unquestionably a ‘Customer Success Platform’. It has given a totally new meaning to customer relationship management.

Salesforce services offer a global transformation as one of the most well-recognized and leading cloud-based CRM solutions around the globe. The insightful customer relationship that it generates, intelligent business returns that it acquires and efficiency that it earns are proof enough to prove its superiority in the world of CRM.

Who is behind the success of Salesforce?

It is surely, the taskforce involved – Salesforce Developers, Salesforce Administrators and Salesforce Consultants. Of the trio, the entire workforce of Salesforce Developers is the backbone of the entire CRM who lead the projects further and form the foundation stone of any Salesforce implementation.

Good Read: Salesforce Spring ’20 Release Promises Advanced Features & Products

Salesforce Developers – Who Are They?

Salesforce Developers, also known as SFDC developers, aim towards turning each project complete with their professional development skills. Salesforce developers are supposed to have certain inbuilt skills and they can even, enhance their learning through certain certifications.

The task force is in huge demand in major industry segments like financial services, healthcare and hospitals, IT and computer software, marketing and advertising etc.

They work relentlessly on the Salesforce platform but there is a multitude of roles and responsibilities that they hold, owing to the vastness this software solution holds. These lot of programmers are involved in major areas like Salesforce customization, configuration and building custom apps for Salesforce.

There are certain skill sets that are required to be an efficient Salesforce developer. There are certifications available that can add on to the skill set, though not mandatory. Some of them are Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder, Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I & II.

Some of the major programming languages that the Salesforce Developer is supposed to know are Apex, Visualforce, HTML and JavaScript. They must be knowledgeable in Salesforce system components like Visualforce page, 3rd party integration, customized function development etc. Also, with Salesforce related applications like Lightning App Builder, Force.com and Heroku.

Major Roles And Responsibilities Of A Salesforce Developer

It is a big job, after all. There are significant roles and responsibilities associated with a Salesforce Developer, here are they:

Salesforce Application Specific:

• Salesforce Customization requirement handling as and when the need comes
• Salesforce Configuration including user interface with all relevant choices
• Application development for peer Salesforce developers
• Designing business portal along with components like page layouts etc.
• Ensuring complex customer workflows into Salesforce specific outputs
• Mapping functional needs to Salesforce functionalities
• Creation of technical approaches and plans to encompass all needed procedures

General:

• Analysing customer requirements and then designing and developing the application to meet those needs
• Ensure thorough collaboration with other team members / analysts / testers / designers for a comprehensive output
• Seamless integration with third party systems
• Creation of mobile / web applications
• Identification of business processes followed at major departments and subordinate offices
• Maintenance of user roles to ensure no security lapse / breaches
• Proper training and orientation to all involved, involving gap analysis

Key Skills Needed To Be An Efficient Salesforce Developer

Technical Skills:

• Fundamental object-oriented programming concepts
• Basic knowhow of C# and JavaScript
• MVC style of designing
• Data management, modeling
• Visualforce and Apex fundamentals
• Lightning framework
• Developer console
• Web services, SQL, Salesforce Object Query Language
• jQuery, AngularJS, Bootstrap

Soft Skills:

• Communication / Interpersonal Skills – Competence to collaborate and work smoothly with other taskforce / clients with equal ease and confidence
• Analytical Skills – Detailed analysis of customer requirements and to be able convert that into appropriate design and code
• Problem Solving Skills – Ability to manage and monitor bugs / errors and find relevant solutions quickly
• Project Management – To some extent, developers must have basic project management skills to execute their portions on time and gel well with each other

Good Read: Migration From Salesforce Classic To Lightning – How To Make The Switch Easy

Why Is the Role Of A Salesforce Developer Interesting?

Look at the amazing statistics, above, that show the role wise job openings and increasing demand for Salesforce professionals, especially Salesforce developers. If you wonder why, there are reasons enough that justify the demand for Salesforce developers.

Have a look why:

• Association with pioneering and futuristic platform
• Intermingling with a dynamic and intelligent community group
• Collaboration with a global technology leader
• Widespread job prospects
• Variety of training chances and good quality documentation
• Increased monetary returns and paybacks

How Can Salesforce Developers Help Overcome Hurdles?

There will surely be certain roadblocks for developers to be experts. Here are certain key guidelines that can help them be strong and accurate in their areas:

• Attempt to have Platform Developer – PDI certification, that will surely help in gaining expertise
• Understand and grasp Salesforce admin roles and responsibilities for better functioning
• Attempt to clear the Scrum Master certification to expand your portfolio
• Make the most of the local Salesforce community group and avail all knowledge sharing forums
• Take guidance from the technical advisor to stay on the right path
• Start using Salesforce StackExchange for answering all your questions
• Keep a record of all errors/problems that are encountered and troubleshoot to find their solutions

Salesforce Developer Salary Details:

According to Mason Frank Career Survey, the average Salesforce developer salary across different countries around the globe is as under:

The average Salesforce developer salary in the US is $109,200 at an entry-level and $144,00 at a senior level.

In Canada, it is $114,300 at an entry-level and $132,450 at a senior level.

In the UK, it is £ 52,050 at an entry-level and £77,000 at a senior level.

According to indeed.com, the average salary for a Salesforce developer is $115,821 per year in the United States and $1,250 cash bonus per year.

According to payscale, the average salary for a Salesforce developer, in Canada is $76,973.

The average salary of a Salesforce developer in the USA is $86,043.

On A Wrapping Note

Salesforce developers are in the limelight now. It starts with being a Salesforce developer and on garnering experience and expertise, they can move on to higher levels becoming a Salesforce architect or a Salesforce consultant.

In the world of Salesforce Development & Customization Services, the developers’ task force plays a significant role. There is an increasing rush of newbies to achieve the skills that Salesforce developers must-have, which is proof enough to showcase its demand and popularity! The sky is the limit for Salesforce CRM and the driving force behind it – their task force!