New to Salesforce? Here’s What You Should Focus On

Getting started with Salesforce can feel like stepping into a whole new world. The platform offers powerful tools for improving operations, gaining customer insights, and driving growth, but the number of features and options can be overwhelming at first.

Before working with Salesforce, I spent over a decade in education as a teacher, and then decided to change paths. I had always been curious about tech, and after reading articles about Salesforce, browsing through related forums and engaging with the community on LinkedIn, I ended up as a Salesforce administrator. What started as a side interest quickly grew into a new career. Today, I work hands-on with Salesforce, helping businesses make the most of the platform.

Whether you’re adopting Salesforce for the first time or just starting to explore its capabilities, here are a few areas that can help you build momentum and value early on.

Start with Trailhead and Certifications

One of the best things about Salesforce is how accessible it is for beginners. You don’t need to be a developer to get started. Trailhead, Salesforce’s free learning platform, is designed for people from all backgrounds – including those of us without prior tech experience.

Start with the beginner modules to get familiar with the basics, and then move on to Superbadges, which help simulate real-life scenarios. These give you practical experience and make you feel more prepared when working on actual projects.

Once you’ve built up some confidence, I highly recommend getting a certification. The Admin and AI Associate certifications are great starting points. For me, earning those credentials wasn’t just about validating skills – it also gave me a strong sense of progress and motivation to keep going.

Build Your Network Early

When I started attending Salesforce events in Finland, I quickly realised how close-knit and supportive the community is. Before long, you're not just learning from documentation, but from real people who have faced (and solved) the same challenges you're working through.

Networking helped me stay motivated when things felt overwhelming. Hearing how others had successfully transitioned into Salesforce, or how companies were solving real business problems, made the learning curve feel a lot more manageable.

If you’re based somewhere with a smaller ecosystem like Finland, that’s actually a strength. It’s easier to build meaningful connections – and those connections often lead to opportunities you wouldn’t expect. Whether it’s a local event, a virtual meetup, or a LinkedIn message to someone in the ecosystem, don’t hesitate to reach out. The Salesforce community is one of the most welcoming I’ve encountered.

Explore No-Code and AI Tools

You don’t need a technical background to do impressive things with Salesforce. In fact, many of the platform’s most powerful features are designed for business users.
Salesforce offers a range of low-code and no-code tools that let you build automations, set up workflows, and design user-friendly dashboards – all without writing a single line of code. That was a big relief for me, coming from education. I could see value quickly, without having to retrain as a developer.

Salesforce is also investing heavily in AI-powered tools. From smart chatbots that guide customers to the right answers faster, to tools that automatically prioritise cases or suggest next best actions, these features don’t just reduce response times – they improve accuracy and consistency, too.

If you're still early in your Salesforce journey, don't be afraid to try these tools out. They’re intuitive, practical, and they show just how much is possible – even for those of us who didn’t come from IT.

Keep Going, Even When It Feels Overwhelming

When you’re just starting out, it’s easy to doubt yourself. I’ve had moments where I felt lost – especially when working alongside colleagues with years of experience in tech. But what I’ve learned is that you don’t have to know everything right away. What matters most is staying curious, staying connected, and giving yourself permission to learn at your own pace. Reach out to others in the community, join events, and always ask questions.

Salesforce is more than just a CRM. It’s a flexible, fast-moving ecosystem – and the right guidance can make a big difference. If your company is exploring Salesforce and could use support, reach out to me at haninder.kaur@growberries.com and let’s get in touch.