Salesforce Business Consultant

Job Description

Salesforce Business Consultant/ Solution Architect Key Responsibilities:

• Client Advisory & CRM Transformation.
• Lead discovery workshops with manufacturing clients to understand strategy, sales and service models, channels (direct, OEM, distributor, dealer), and key KPIs.
• Assess current CRM/legacy landscape, identify gaps, and define a Salesforce-centric target state.
• Design CRM transformation roadmaps with Salesforce as the strategic CRM platform, including phases, scope, and rollout plan.
• Redesign end-to-end business processes (Lead-to-Opportunity-to-Order / Quote-to-Cash, Key Account Management, After-Sales & Service, Warranty, Field Service, Partner/Dealer Management) aligned to Salesforce best practices.
• Act as trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders (Sales, Service, Operations, IT leadership) on CRM strategy, governance, and operating models.

Salesforce Solution Architecture & Design:

• Own end-to-end Salesforce solution architecture for manufacturing CRM engagements, primarily across Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Experience Cloud, and, where relevant, Manufacturing Cloud, Field Service, Revenue Cloud/CPQ, and CRM Analytics.
• Define data model, object relationships, security model, environment strategy, and integration patterns with ERP (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, Infor), MES, PLM, pricing engines, and other systems.
• Produce solution blueprints, high-level design, and effort estimates; ensure designs are scalable, maintainable, and aligned to Salesforce best practices and platform limits.
• Guide functional consultants and technical teams during delivery, reviewing user stories, configurations, and customizations for alignment with the solution design.
• Contribute to internal accelerators, templates, and industry-specific assets for manufacturing CRM.

Pre-sales, Demos & Proposals (Consulting/SI Context):

• Partner with sales and account teams to qualify opportunities and define solution and delivery approaches.
• Lead Salesforce demos tailor-made for manufacturing scenarios (e.g., key account planning, complex opportunity management, CPQ
• quoting flows, warranty and service flows, dealer/distributor portals, field service scenarios).
• Prepare solution slides, architecture overviews, and walkthroughs for client presentations, including oral RFP defenses.
• Translate RFP/RFI requirements into Salesforce-based solutions and clearly documented scope, approach, and assumptions.
• Build and articulate the business case and ROI for CRM transformation, linking Salesforce capabilities to commercial and operational outcomes (pipeline growth, win rates, forecast accuracy, service response time, first-time-fix rate, dealer performance, customer satisfaction).

Change Management, Adoption & Governance:

• Advise clients on CRM governance, operating models, and Salesforce roles (product owner, key users, admins, CoE structure).
• Support definition of role-based Salesforce usage models for sales reps, KAMs, service agents, and partner users.
• Provide input to change, communication, and training plans and help design meaningful KPIs and dashboards to monitor CRM adoption and performance. Promote data quality and disciplined CRM usage (account/contact hygiene, opportunity and pipeline management, case and service data) to enable reliable reporting and analytics.

Delivery Oversight & Quality Assurance:

• Serve as design authority for one or more projects, ensuring coherence across workstreams and vendors.
• Participate in and sometimes lead key Agile ceremonies (workshops, backlog refinement, sprint planning, showcases), clarifying requirements and validating sprint outcomes.
• Identify risks and issues related to solution design, scope, or integration early and propose mitigation options.
• Support UAT planning, test scenario definition for end-to-end CRM flows, go-live readiness assessment, and hyper care.

Good to Have: Salesforce in Manufacturing cloud.

Professional Background:

• 8 - 12 years total experience, with at least 5+ years focused on Salesforce CRM (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and/or Experience Cloud).
• 4 - 6 years working with manufacturing organizations or clients (discrete, process, industrial equipment, automotive, high-tech manufacturing, etc.). Significant experience in an SI/consulting environment in client-facing roles (consultant, lead consultant, solution architect, engagement lead).
• Proven track record of leading 2 – 3 years + full lifecycle Salesforce implementations from discovery through go-live and adoption.
• Experience delivering Salesforce in ERP-integrated enterprise environments.

Education & Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business, Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related discipline.
• MBA or other advanced business degree is an advantage.
• Salesforce certifications strongly preferred such as Salesforce Certified Administrator (and/or Advanced Administrator), Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant, Salesforce Certified Service Cloud Consultant, Experience Cloud Consultant, Field Service, Manufacturing Cloud, or CPQ Specialist (nice to have), B2B Solution Architect.

Salesforce & CRM Skills:

• Strong functional expertise in Sales Cloud (accounts, contacts, opportunities, pipelines, forecasting, territory management, account hierarchies).
• Strong functional expertise in Service Cloud (cases, SLAs, entitlements, service processes, knowledge, omni-channel, service console).
• Experience with Experience Cloud for partner and customer portals (especially dealer/distributor portals and B2B self-service).

Preferred:

• Hands-on or design experience with Manufacturing Cloud, Field Service, CPQ / Revenue Cloud, and CRM Analytics (Tableau CRM).
• Solid understanding of Salesforce architecture components (data model, security, sharing, integration options, environment and deployment strategy). Ability to design meaningful reports and dashboards that align with manufacturing KPIs (sales funnel, win/loss, margin, forecast accuracy, service SLAs, partner performance).

Industry & Business Skills:

• Familiarity with manufacturing-specific concepts such as Make-to-Order, Make-to-Stock, Engineer-to-Order, channel sales models, dealer networks, installed base/assets, service contracts, warranties, and field service operations.
• Ability to translate business needs from sales, service, and operations into Salesforce capabilities and realistic roadmaps.
• Strong commercial acumen in the consulting context (scope management, estimation, risk assessment, identification of upsell/cross-sell opportunities).

Consulting & Soft Skills:

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, confident in workshops and executive-level meetings.
• Strong stakeholder management and facilitation skills, able to navigate complex client organizations and competing priorities.
• Analytical, structured, and outcome-driven, comfortable operating in ambiguous environments and creating clarity for clients and teams.
• Experience leading and mentoring junior consultants and collaborating with distributed onshore/offshore delivery teams.