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Service Cloud Consultant Certification Tips

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We like to encourage our team to keep on developing and learning new skills. And our new Salesforce Certification Help page is continually being updated. One of the latest exams to be included is the Service Cloud Consultant Certification. It was one of our newest recruits, Luke Menzfeld who passed this exam. Below are his thoughts and tips on passing this Trailhead cert.

Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant Certification

 

What made you decide to take the Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant exam?

Mainly to test my knowledge of Service Cloud having worked on a number of practical client projects. 

 

How did you approach the prep for the exam?

Assess: I started with a detailed review of the exam guide and evaluated my strengths and weaknesses pre-preparation. I then prioritised the development areas based on the topic weighting.

Study: To study I used Focus on Force, Salesforce Help, Salesforce Answers and YouTube. I found a mixed method approach helpful. 

Test: Mainly it was testing my knowledge using Focus on Force in the initial stages, but this exam suits practical testing. Ask yourself, could you configure it, could you evaluate one function vs another, or could you make an informed recommendation given a scenario? If you’re unsure, it’s good to get hands on and test the functionality out for yourself. 

Repeat: I repeated the assess, study and test cycle multiple times to ensure that I felt confident prior to taking the exam. If there are questions or topics which wasn’t 100% clear, start from the beginning and work it through until it was clear

 

Was it a difficult exam? And any tips for people planning on doing the exam? 

The Service Cloud exam covers a broad range of topics, don’t underestimate the time involved in preparing for the exam. Be comfortable with what each section of the exam is assessing using the exam outline, then prepare accordingly with that in mind. I would never say there’s an easy exam. It’s much more a case of being sufficiently prepared. If there’s something you’re a bit rusty with or haven’t experienced first hand then get hands on in a developer org. Establish escalation rules, build/customise a service console. Don’t forget to test out Onmi-Channel skills routing to make sure you’ll have no surprises.

 

What does passing the Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant Certification exam mean to you in terms of your daily work at Cloud Galacticos? 

Passing the exam was really just the beginning. The Service Cloud offers great business value for clients in terms of what it can deliver out of the box. I look forward to working on additional projects for further knowledge and practical delivery. Formalising the exam means that I can pass that knowledge on and make informed recommendations to help service organisations run efficiently.

 

Do you have any other certs you plan to take in the future? 

Yes. There are a number of the Consultant Certifications I’m interested in. I have a goal of completing the Platform Developer certification in 2021 to enhance my project delivery.

 

Anything else you want to add?

Book the exam! The rest will fall into place. It all starts with that first step…

 

About Cloud Galacticos

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. We have people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, York, Sheffield and London. If you are looking for a Salesforce partner with experience who can help you make the most of your org, why not give us a call?

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Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant Cert

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We like to encourage our team to keep on learning and developing their Salesforce skills, especially as we operate in a fast moving and dynamic environment. One of our newest team members, and most recent to gain a new certification is Luke. He passed his Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant Certification. We caught up with him to find out more…

 

What made you decide to take the Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant Certification?

I wanted to formalise my knowledge and experience related to Sales Cloud both for myself and also for future clients. I always try to make continued learning part of my routine.

 

How did you approach the prep for the exam?

I usually follow a set format for exam preparation, but took a slightly different approach this time. Here’s a mix of the steps that I took, with some recommendations:

  • Always start with the exam guide and review it thoroughly. Make sure you know what the exam is actually assessing.
  • Find the suggested Trailmix on Trailhead for the certification and assess where you stand. Have you already completed 50% of the content? Great, what’s left? How will you tackle it? Are any of your knowledge gaps linked to the topics in the exam outline? Which are weighted the highest? This will get you started on the right track.
  • I picked up a Udemy course from Mike Wheeler which provided 11 hours of content covering the full range of topics on the exam. This was a very useful material to start my preparation. Credit to Mike Wheeler. Don’t underestimate how long it will take you to work through this volume of content.
  • Next up was the Focus on Force content which is a staple for any exam. If you’ve completed the steps above and are on your way with your preparation, then tackle one or two of the full exams to identify which areas need your focus. Prioritise, study, sit the topic exams and repeat. Credit to Martin Gessner, particularly for providing the ‘Full Screen’ option for the study guides…  It’s a game changer!

 

Was the Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant cert difficult, and any tips for people thinking of doing this exam?

This exam pressured me for time. Whilst I wasn’t shocked by the questions and content, I only just completed one full review in addition to the time taken to complete all of the questions.

In terms of tips for the exam itself, make sure you know Opportunity Management, Account Management, Campaigns, Forecasting & Project Delivery inside out.

In general, put the hours in, have a plan, tackle the highest weighted topics with study, discovery in a developer org and practical research. Don’t go into the exam with any assumptions. It’s in your hands to check it out beforehand. 

 

What does passing the Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant cert mean to you in terms of your daily work at Cloud Galacticos?

If anybody has project demand for a multi-currency, Enterprise Territory Management project with Cumulative Forecasting & Quota tracking then get in touch! Day to day I’ll pass this learning and advice onto clients and the team where required to support project work.

 

Do you have any other Salesforce certs that you plan to take in 2021?

Yes, I have lots of plans for future certifications into 2021. A mixture of formalising existing knowledge but plenty of opportunity for new knowledge and skills too. The process demands a lot of extra time, study and effort but I’m yet to complete one where I haven’t seen value or have learned lots of things that I didn’t know before I started.

 

About Cloud Galacticos

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. We have people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and London. If you are looking for a Salesforce partner with experience who can help you make the most of your org, why not give us a call?

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Salesforce Sharing and Visibility Designer Cert

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Everyday is a school day at Cloud Galacticos. We like to encourage our team to keep on learning and developing their Salesforce skills, especially as we operate in a fast moving and dynamic environment. One of our most recent team members to gain a new certification is Val, who passed her Sharing and Visibility Designer Cert. We caught up with her to find out more…

 

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE EXAM?

As a fan of Trailhead, I’m a big believer in constantly challenging myself to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of Salesforce. I have enjoyed completing some Superbadges to cement knowledge gained from working with Salesforce.

A few months back, I decided to embark on a journey to become a Certified Application Architect. Subsequently passed the Certified Salesforce Platform Developer I as my first step on that road.

 

HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE PREP FOR THE EXAM?

I conducted some research into other people who had taken and passed the exam. The consensus seemed to be that the first approach is to review the exam guide. Then to conduct a self-diagnosis of the areas I knew well, and those I know fairly well (and may need to refresh). Finally, those which I was aware of but had never touched before.

From there I focussed on the items in my list which needed the most attention. Then I embarked on a combined mission of completing Trailhead badges (and one Superbadge) which covered the subjects and/or reading up from help.salesforce.com. I also created online flashcards for the areas I would need to revise later, which helped a lot.

 

WAS IT A TOUGH EXAM AND ANY TIPS FOR PEOPLE THINKING OF DOING THIS EXAM?

It was harder than I expected. I was glad I’d gone into some detailed study on Apex sharing and sharing within communities. Additionally, there were more questions than expected about scalability issues. So I can’t stress enough the importance of knowing all areas inside out!

And as a member of the Ladies Be Architects group, I found some great posts and links there, which helped me to focus on study areas.

 

WHAT DOES PASSING THE CERT MEAN TO YOU IN TERMS OF YOUR DAILY WORK?

As a Senior Consultant at Cloud Galacticos, my role includes designing and implementing solutions on the Salesforce platform. So it is important to make sure the knowledge that goes into providing our customers with advice and solutions is correct and up to date. It includes studying areas of functionality that I haven’t personally touched on, but which could come up as important in my next project.

 

DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER CERTS YOU PLAN TO TAKE IN THE FUTURE?

The last step towards Certified Application Architect for me is to take the Data Architecture and Management exam. So that is going to be my next focus. Wish me luck!

 

ABOUT CLOUD GALACTICOS

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. We have people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, York, Sheffield, and London. If you are looking for a Salesforce partner with experience who can help you make the most of your org, why not give us a call?

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Team Member Gains Conga Composer Certification

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Everyday is a school day at Cloud Galacticos. We like to encourage our team to keep on learning and developing their Salesforce skills, especially as we operate in a fast moving and dynamic environment. One of our most recent team members to gain a new certification is Nkosi, who passed his Conga Composer Certification. We caught up with him to find out more…

 

What Made You Decide to Take the Exam?

I did the Conga cert because I have been using Conga products for two of our clients, which involves contracts and Batch document generation so to validate my experience it made sense to do the certification.

What Was Involved?

The exam involved knowledge of the full suite of Conga products. From a Salesforce perspective knowledge of Advanced SOQL queries is essential. You also need to understand Microsoft Word and PowerPoint merge functions well.  The exam consists of 50 questions, 60 minutes long, and open book.  But don’t let it being open book fool you, there is no time to look up anything!

What are the Benefits of the Cert?

Conga is the leading document generation software it is likely to become a default option for document generation for most business given the current Covid-19 situation for contracts etc. I think becoming Conga Certified is a great way to demonstrate your expertise to your employer, earn recognition from your peers, and gain status as a respected member of Conga’s certified admin community.

Was it a Tough Exam?

Yes, it was. With it being a fairly new certification program there is not much material to use, so it’s either you know the product, experience, or read through the entire documentation.  The other issue about the exam is once you move to the next question you can’t go back to review the last question. So you have to get it right the first time and given you have approximately one minute per question, it doesn’t give you many options.  I passed it on the second attempt. The first attempt was to get the idea what the exam entails, however the questions change on each sitting.

What Does Passing the Cert Mean to you in Terms of Your Daily Work?

Most importantly, it means the clients have confidence in that I can deliver their requirements. I’m also currently working on Batch documentation requirement for a client which involves Conga Trigger, and Conga Merge, plus many other functions. 

Do You Have Any Other Certs You Plan to Take in the Future?

Yes, from the Conga University, the next one will be Contracts which I hope to take soon. While for Salesforce, I’m in the process of sitting the Salesforce Architecture exams as well as the NPSP cert.

 

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Two Team Members Become Salesforce Certified Nonprofit Cloud Consultants

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At Cloud Galacticos, we like to encourage our team members to keep on learning and developing their skills. Especially as we operate in a fast moving and dynamic environment. Here’s our CEO, Phil Walton, and CTO, Neel Meghani talking about their recent success on passing the Salesforce Certified Nonprofit Cloud Consultant test.

PLEDGE ONE PERCENT

Phil says, “Cloud Galacticos have been working with nonprofit organisations for a long time now. I am not even sure the Nonprofit Success Pack (or Starter Pack as it used to be) was even around back then! As well as working with a number of nonprofits on long term projects, we also volunteer with a nonprofit each year as a part of our belief in Pledge 1%. We thought it was about time we got the certification to go with our experience. So Neel and I took on the challenge!

SALESFORCE NONPROFIT CLOUD CONSULTANT CERTIFICATION

Phil continues, “The Nonprofit Cloud Consultant cert is pretty new, only announced in Beta in 2018. The questions are based around the use of the Nonprofit Cloud and Nonprofit Success Pack. It also covers general Salesforce knowledge and Consultancy skills (‘What would you do if…?’). The general breakdown is:

Nonprofit Domain Expertise 18% of the exam

NPSP Settings and Administration 20% of the exam

Nonprofit Cloud Implementation Strategies & Best Practices 21% of the exam

Nonprofit Cloud Solution Design 24% of the exam

Nonprofit Cloud Data Management 11% of the exam

Nonprofit Cloud Analytics 6% of the exam

SALESFORCE TRAILHEAD

Phil concludes, “I have been using NPSP for years, but there are always areas you only discover when you have to study a subject. I mainly used Trailhead. This Trail was useful particularly in getting me up to speed with Engagement Plans. But also there were Modules covering GAU Allocation, and which Account model to use.”

Neel adds, “My main resource for studying for the NPSP exam was the Nonprofit Cloud Consultants Training & Certification Guide. This in addition to Trailhead gave me the confidence to sit the exam. One area of I felt was important was the Domain knowledge which some of was new to me. Also ensure you brush up on standard Salesforce subjects like Sandboxes, Lightening Flow, Process Builder etc.”

SALESFORCE KNOWLEDGE

Neel concludes, “Being the best in Salesforce means a mixture of skills. Communication, logic, business acumen, and a blend of Salesforce experience and Salesforce knowledge.  Also, certifications alone are not enough, but they do show a level of knowledge. Finally, show the desire to put time aside to learn these skills.”

 

Useful Links

Link to individual articles and trails relating to each subject area https://partners.salesforce.com/s/education/general/Nonprofit_Training 

Trailmix: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/trails/fundraise-with-nonprofit-success-pack-npsp 

Trailmix – includes Engagement plans & campaigns: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/trails/engage-constituents-with-nonprofit-cloud 

Link to the exam guide: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/help?article=Salesforce-Certified-Nonprofit-Cloud-Consultant-Exam-Guide

 

ABOUT CLOUD GALACTICOS

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. We have people all over the UK including London, Manchester, Leeds, Oxford, and Bristol.

If you are looking for a Salesforce partner with experience who can help you make the most of your org, why not give us a call on 020 7101 0795, or click here.