Given the rate at which Salesforce has grown over the last five years, sometimes it can be difficult for professionals to get a measure of where they fit into the ecosystem and what they are worth. What’s more, it’s important to be aware of what Salesforce’s vast user base is saying about the technology, so you can decide how to move forward in your career based on product adoption and patterns in the market.
The Mason Frank Salary Survey is the largest annual independent study of the Salesforce community. It is an invaluable resource for Salesforce professionals, partners, and customers looking to gather insights into the working culture of the technology ecosystem, and to benchmark salaries, benefits and market trends.
Here is a selection of findings from the 2018/19 survey report, with context on what this means for you as a Salesforce professional and how you can use the information to better your career standing.
An Italian in Salesforce
While commentary on Salesforce usually focuses on the USA and UK, the ecosystem extends all across Europe. Professionals working in Italy will be pleased to learn that their salaries are in line with the industry standard and, in some cases, are higher than one would expect in other major European countries.
For example, a junior-level technical/functional consultant in Italy can expect to earn around €34,000, which is the same as in the Netherlands, but €1,000 more than in Spain. However, it’s substantially lower than in Germany, where a junior technical/functional consultant can expect to earn around €62,000. If you’re willing to travel to find a new permanent contract, Germany would be a good place to look!
Specialist roles are very well paid in Italy. A junior-level Technical Architect can expect to earn around €40,000, which is €6,000 higher than in France. Solution architects are also clearly in high demand, as a junior-level profession of this specialism can earn up to €76,000. For perspective, a junior-level solution architect in the UK earns in the region of £60,000, which converts to around €68,000.
Which Salesforce product is the most in-demand?
One of the more exciting elements of working with Salesforce technology is the way the platform keeps evolving by developing new and innovative solutions for businesses around the world. The downside of this for Salesforce professionals is that if you don’t catch wind of industry trends, you can soon be left behind.
Salesforce is ultimately a sales-centric platform, so it may come as no surprise to learn that the most popular standalone Salesforce product is still Sales Cloud—82% of respondents to the Mason Frank Salary Survey reported proficiency in Sales Cloud, compared to Service Cloud (63%), Community Cloud (44%), and Marketing Cloud (31%).
The popularity of Sales Cloud shows no signs of dwindling, with 52% of respondents indicating that Sales Cloud was the most in-demand product over the last year. Despite being the least prominent of the major Salesforce products, Marketing Cloud was predicted to be the most in-demand product over the next 12 months. This could be attributed to Salesforce’s recent acquisition of Mulesoft, which will make it easier than ever to harness and utilize customer data across multiple Salesforce products.
Where do Salesforce professionals work?
With Salesforce being a cloud-based CRM, the ability to access data online makes it far easier to find remote permanent and contract roles. Despite this, 89% of respondents to Mason Frank’s salary survey were employed on a permanent, full-time basis. It’s an interesting finding given the value and accessibility of the contract market in Salesforce.
Salesforce is the world’s number one CRM for a reason, and there is a substantial number of businesses around the world now utilizing products from the Salesforce business suite. In fact, 50% of all respondents indicated they work for an end user/Salesforce customer, with 41% working for a partner.
What is the experience level of the average Salesforce professional?
Experienced Salesforce professionals are in high demand, with employers always on the hunt for skilled and experienced pros to lead projects and implementations. The majority of professionals working in the ecosystem have between zero and six years of experience; 37% reported 0–3 years’ experience, while another 37% reported 4–6 years of experience. Only 6% of respondents to the Mason Frank study have over 10 years of experience on the Salesforce platform. If you are one of these professionals, you are part of a very exclusive group!
Are you a Trailblazer? If so, what rank are you? Did you know that around 22% of Salesforce professionals hold more than 100 Trailhead badges? This demonstrates the success and growth of Trailhead, given that just 9% of respondents to Mason Frank’s salary survey last year reported holding over 100 badges.
As well as Trailhead, Salesforce professionals have also embraced the technology’s certification structure, with 77% of respondents to the survey now holding at least one certification. As you would expect, the most popular certification is the entry-level Salesforce Certified Administrator credential, while just 6% were a Marketing Cloud Certified Email Specialist.
If you are not yet certified, you may be interested in learning that 39% of respondents reported an increase in salary after gaining certification. This could be a fantastic way to increase your earning potential, particularly as 75% of certified respondents reported that their employer contributed to the cost of certification—it’s an even better investment if you’re not paying for it!
What to take from this information
We can take several things from these findings. Firstly, becoming a Sales Cloud expert is a safe bet—it’s the most popular standalone Salesforce product by far, and given its dominance in the CRM market, it’s never going to go away.
By contrast, Marketing Cloud is predicted to be the most in-demand product over the next 12 months, and given that only 6% of respondents were a Marketing Cloud Certified Email Specialist, this could well be a niche worth exploring if you haven’t yet settled on a specialism.
If you are already deep into your Salesforce career, always be mindful of how much your experience is worth. Download Mason Frank’s 2018/19 Salesforce salary survey in full for a detailed exploration of salaries, sorted by location, role, technology, and level of experience.
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