New Course: Salesforce Admin Classic Interface

Jamie Grettum, our newest trainer, just released her first course, Salesforce Admin Classic Interface. Jamie's new course aims to help Salesforce administers quickly get up to speed on the basics of Salesforce.

During the 36-video, intermediate-level course, Jamie will cover everything an admin needs to be successful using Salesforce Classic, including topics such as how to manage users, create different types of reports, and various Salesforce customization options.

We asked Jamie about her new course, how learners can get the most of the training, and more.

Q: Why should companies train their IT professionals on Salesforce Classic? What value does developing Salesforce skills bring to an organization and admins? It comes down to saving time and money. In-house admins can quickly load lead data, create or modify reports and dashboards, and react more knowledgeably to requests from users. Expecting an out-of-house provider to keep track of your business needs and properly configure Salesforce is risky and will likely leave you disappointed.

Q: Who should learn Salesforce? What kind of career will Salesforce skills set you up for in or outside the IT industry? I train Salesforce admins who come from finance, marketing, sales, customer support, and IT. If you are a "systems thinker" and get the basics of the role of a CRM in a business setting, you can learn to be a successful Salesforce admin. The ecosystem around Salesforce is vast. It can lead to consulting, development, sales leadership, and business intelligence positions.

Q: From a learner perspective, what did you keep in mind when creating this course? When an admin is first learning Salesforce, there are literally thousands of topics they could study. In designing this course, I chose to present the core features and functionality required in the first months of managing a Salesforce org. Plus, there are topics that self-taught admins miss. This course fills in those blanks.

Q: Any out-of-the-box tips for learners to get the most out of your course? Join a local user community! Salesforce has local (or virtual) user communities that will extend your learning and will introduce you to an amazing network of willing, generous advisors. The community is also your best channel for details on release features.

Q: What was your favorite Nugget to create in this course? It's a toss-up between "What to do when a user is Fired", and "Top Report Builder Support Questions" Supporting any technology used by a Sales department is daunting! I love sharing insights that are not obvious, or are usually learned "the hard way."

Q: What's the most important thing you hope learners take away from this course? Users need to trust that you know Salesforce and that you understand how they use it. Plus, there is a lot to master. The most effective way to learn is to get your hands on the keyboard and start creating, testing, and exploring.

Q:What course(s) or certification(s) should learners complete before diving into your Salesforce Admin Classic Interface course? There are NO courses or certifications or prerequisites needed to dive in. In fact, Salesforce recommends that anyone planning to take the Salesforce Admin certification course or sit for the certification exam, has six months to a year of experience as a Salesforce admin. So even Salesforce has traditionally expected you to jump into the deep end and figure it out, which is not effective. This course is specifically designed to get you started on that initial 6-12 months where you are getting your practical experience as an admin I teach what you need to know to be effective during that period.

Q:What course(s) or certification(s) should learners look to jump into after they complete your Salesforce Admin Classic Interface course? Continue learning the Salesforce admin advanced topics such as access controls and other user record security topics, plus more advanced user record and data access features.

Q: This is your first course for CBT Nuggets! Why did you want to join the CBTN team? What has surprised you about the CBTN organization since you started? It comes down to the reach! For the past few years, I have worked with one or two clients each week, via live virtual learning sessions. Working with CBTN allows me to share what I know with everyone who needs it, with no time or capacity limits. The flexibility of the Nugget approach allows me to keep the content fresh and updated, passing on all my best advice, even as it morphs over time with new releases. What has surprised me the most is how much fun I had collaborating with the other amazing trainers and learning from them as I created this new course.

Q:How did you get started working with Salesforce? What is it about Salesforce that keeps you interested to keep learning and teaching it? I have been working with Salesforce since 2010. I was asked to take on the management of a critical project for the migration of an older CRM onto Salesforce. After completing that project, I was hooked. I've spent the last four years teaching Salesforce sessions every week to end users and system admins, plus admin certification prep classes.

Q: In your trainer bio, you mention that you enjoy going on road trips. What is your favorite road trip that you've been on in the last few years? What made it so great? A few years ago, I traveled to Eastern Oregon for my Uncle Vic's last trip back to the family ranch. That year, Uncle Vic was 84 years old, and wanted to go with his little brother (Don, then 79) and eight other family members to one more high school reunion, and see their old stomping grounds for possibly the last time. We spent several days there watching the Miner's Jubilee parade (Dancing Mexican ponies! Little girls twirling batons!), visiting local museums, trail rides, and seeing their old friends. The highlight was spending an afternoon walking around the old family ranch hearing stories of their childhood spent there in the 40s and 50s, then eating lunch on the banks of the creek where the old guys used to swim and fish as small boys.

Start diving into Salesforce Admin Classic Interface today!

Learn more about the CBT Nuggets Learning Experience.