What Does a Salesforce Developer Do?

Salesforce developers design, build, and maintain custom applications and integrations within the Salesforce platform to meet an organization’s specific needs. 

Salesforce developers leverage their technical expertise and understanding of the ecosystem to optimize the platform’s functionality, streamline business processes, and improve user experience.

Salesforce Developers design solutions, code, develop integrations, troubleshoot issues, and ensure the platform runs smoothly. 

They collaborate with business analysts, project managers, and end-users to gather and analyze requirements for new applications or enhancements. 

If your business needs customized solutions, you can hire developer to create dynamic and scalable Salesforce applications that meet your company’s changing needs.

The Core Responsibilities of Salesforce Developers 

To understand what Salesforce developers do, it is essential to understand what they must do as part of their jobs. 

Here are six different Salesforce developer responsibilities:

Collecting and Understanding Business Requirements

A Salesforce developer begins by understanding what their client wants and how a Salesforce product will make it happen.

Gathering requirements involves speaking with project managers, essential individuals among the clients, and prospective end-users regarding what they want and potential pain points. 

Developers can work with business analysts to understand and improve Salesforce for new applications or upgrades. Finding the right CRM expert is important for businesses to make setup easy and customize Salesforce properly.

Salesforce developers can better understand business requirements by:

• Translating functional business requirements into technical specifications.
• Meeting with project managers to determine CRM needs to determine precisely how the implementation or upgrade will proceed.
• Engaging with sales, marketing, and customer service teams to understand their needs and translate them into effective Salesforce solutions. 

Custom Salesforce Solution Design and Development

Salesforce modularity has long been its most significant selling point, allowing any business to build on top of a robust, feature-rich platform. 

Here’s how Custom Salesforce solution design and development would proceed:

• Planning, designing, and building customer Salesforce applications, features, and integrations within the Salesforce platform. Companies can pick between native and third-party integrations.
• Building personalized solutions within the Salesforce platform from the Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and other clouds. 
• Building solutions using Lightning Web Components (LWC), Apex, and other Salesforce development technologies.
• Using programming languages like Apex, Visualforece, LWC, and web development technologies like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. 
• Building Lightning web components and Visualforce pages. 

Salesforce Implementations 

A Salesforce implementation is the bread-and-butter of every Salesforce developer because they help implement custom solutions onto the Salesforce platform. 

A Salesforce implementation is the bread-and-butter of every Salesforce developer because they help implement custom solutions onto the Salesforce platform.

Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive implementation service or need to integrate the Salesforce platform with external systems, developers use Salesforce APIs for smoother data exchange between Salesforce and external systems.

The developers are also tasked with data migration and management, ensuring that the data moves safely and accurately and is stored properly. 

QA/Debugging/Testing 

A Salesforce implementation is a technical process that many experienced Salesforce developers have done many times.

However, each implementation must go through an audit before being made live for use.

Here’s how Salesforce developers work on cleaning up any issues in their implementations:

• Ensuring the quality and performance of Salesforce solutions through rigorous testing and debugging.
• Conducting thorough testing of Salesforce applications.
• Identifying and resolving bugs and technical issues.
• Overseeing the quality assurance process, including thorough testing and debugging, and managing the deployment of new features or applications.
• Ensuring code quality and adherence to best practices.
• Testing the stability and functionality of the application.

Salesforce Maintenance and Support 

As powerful as the Salesforce CRM is, it still requires routine maintenance and upkeep to ensure everything runs properly. 

Here’s how Salesforce developers help with maintenance and support:

• Providing support and maintenance for Salesforce applications, e.g., troubleshooting and resolving issues.
• Maintaining existing Salesforce applications to prevent disruptions and bottlenecks.
• Troubleshooting and resolving issues that can slow down or stall operations. 
• Performing operational support, enhancements, and bug fixes as needed to the Salesforce.com platform.
• Providing training and support to end-users on Salesforce applications and best practices to ensure they know how to make the most of their tools.

Post-Implementation Documentation  

Following a implementation, Salesforce developers are required to write the post-implemenation documentation containing a variety of content for users. 

This process includes:

• Creating and maintaining technical documentation, including design specifications, test plans, and user guides.
• Writing documents and providing technical training for Salesforce staff.
• Writing and perpetually updating documentation encompassing technical specifications, user manuals, and version release annotations.
• Maintaining user manuals and release notes for teams to learn.
• Sharing knowledge and best practices with the team to maximize the effectiveness of the Salesforce implementation.

Salesforce Developer Essential Technical Skills

We’re now at the business end of the article, listing down which technical skills every Salesforce developer needs in their arsenal, including the following:

Apex Programming 

The Salesforce developer should have an in-depth understanding of Apex, Salesforce’s default programming language. 

They must be able to write effective, scalable code that adheres to industry best practices, e.g., triggers, controllers, and classes. 

Salesforce developers must understand governor limits and security in order to build a system that runs smoothly and without bottlenecks. 

Additionally, developers need to be able to troubleshoot and debug Apex code in order to weed out anything that could cause problems post-deployment. 

Lightning Web Components (LWC)

Salesforce deverlopers need to understand how to use LWC as a tool for Salesforce development.

They must know how to build UI components with LWC while understanding the Aura framework and component-based development principles. 

Experienced developers understand how to integrate LWC with Apex and Visualforce without compromising on a user-friendly system design. 

Furthermore, Salesforce developers must be experienced in:

• Experience in creating engaging interfaces improves user interaction and system efficiency.
• Building dynamic, responsive, and reusable elements.
• Designing responsive interfaces that enhance user interaction and streamline workflows, aligning with current business needs

SOQL and SOSL

SOQL and SOSL are query languages use in Salesforce for data retrival from Salesforce databases. 

Salesofrce develoeprs must know how to use SOQL to query Salesforce data and SOSL for text-based searches. 

They must know how retrieve records from several objects using relationship queries while applying aggregate functions like SUM or COUNT. 

Developers must know how optimize SOQL queries for better performance while and use SOSL for smoother, more accurate full-text based search queries across different objects. 

Why is SOQL and SOSL experience so important?

Because using these query languages helps users look up specific organizational data when required, further improving database management.

Additionally, understanding Error Handling in Salesforce is crucial when working with SOQL and SOSL. Poorly optimized queries can lead to errors, such as hitting governor limits or performance bottlenecks. Developers must anticipate and handle these errors efficiently to ensure smooth system operations

Visualforce 

Also known as Briefly, Visual force is a legacy UI framework often used for maintenance purposes. 

Despite newer tools being available, Visualforce is also used to build custom Salesforce interfaces, pages, components, and controllers that use standard and custom tags. 

Salesforce developers must have experience with integrating Visualforce with Apex, SOQL, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for interactive and visually appealing designs.

Salesforce APIs

The main Salesforce APIs include the:

• REST API
• SOAP API
• Bulk API

Each API must be able to integrate Salesforce with external systems using APIs and developers must be proficient in REST and SOAP APIs, middleware tools, and integration techniques.

The best Salesforce developers have experience with applications like Outlook and Google Suite, enabling a seamless data transfer and workflow automation, boosting productivity and operational efficiency.

Data Modeling

Salesforce developers must know how the Salesforce data model works, allowing them to design and build scalable data architectures with custom objects, fields, and relationships that they also know how to create.

Experienced Salesforce developers are proficient with validation rules, automation tools, and indexing for better performance optimization. 

Proper data modeling includes taking care of data migration and integration for better, more seamless operations. An integration expert can ensure that data flows smoothly between systems, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. 

Data is the new oil and every business needs the best tools and practices for effective data management and analytics. 

Security Features 

Salesforce developers must have the following security expertise:

• Salesforce security model (roles, profiles, permissions).
• Adhering to Salesforce’s security model and apply appropriate data access controls.
• Preventing common vulnerabilities (SOQL injection, XSS).
• Understanding how to apply appropriate data access controls

The Importance of AI in Salesforce Development 

AI has finally arrived and is changing the world all over in every we imagined it would and then some. 

Companies, teams, and individuals are able to do better, more accurate, and more efficient work unlike anything they’ve done before. 

Salesforce has integrated AI into its core operations with Einstein AI, providing AI-driven insights, automation, and recommendations directly within the platform.

For businesses seeking to maximize their AI potential, professional consulting services can help tailor these advanced tools to meet specific organizational needs.

One of the biggest transformations AI brings to Salesforce development is through predictive analytics where AI algorithms analyze vast datasets to identify patterns and predict future trends. 

AI-driven insights facilitate personalized marketing strategies, improving engagement rates significantly.

AI is also automating tedious and time-consuming tasks, allowing developers to focus on more strategic and creative work. 

Tools like Einstein Automate can reduce manual data entry, streamlining workflows and increasing productivity. 

Moreover, AI is simplifying data cleanup by automatically finding duplicates and inconsistencies in CRM data, reducing the time spent on manual data cleansing.

As a Salesforce developer, embracing AI technologies like machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) is crucial. 

Developers can now build intelligent and predictive apps by learning about AI algorithms and data modeling and using the Salesforce Einstein AI platform. 

Apart from Salesforce’s own AI offerings, developers also have access to a broad range of third-party AI tools and services, such as chatbots, analytics platforms, and sentiment analysis tools, which complement Salesforce development. 

Tools like GitHub Copilot assist with code generation, making it easier for developers to write code and boost their productivity. 

The integration of AI ultimately redefines operational efficiency, allowing professionals to focus on strategic initiatives rather than mundane activities.

Soft Skills Required For Salesforce Developers

If you’ve gotten this far, you understand a Salesforce developer’s job and everything expected from them which seems like a lot but there’s one more thing – soft skills.

Having strong soft skills are useful because developers are required to collaborate with teams and stakeholders to discuss business requirements, solve problems, and build an implementation plan. 

The main soft skills required for Salesforce developers include:

Strong Communication Skills

Combining technical expertise with strong communication skills equips Salesforce developers with a multi-faceted skill set that shows that they understand the technical aspects and can explain them to stake holders.

Strong communication skills involve explaining complex technical in simpler terms that make sense to non-technical people including leadership and teams. 

Salesforce developers must develop great communication skills because it ensures smooth operations and more effective collaborations.

Effective Problem Solving

Salesforce developers are hired to solve a business’s problems with a Salesforce implementation, including any and all challenges.

They must have strong problem solving and troubleshooting skills that allow them to create personalized Salesforce solutions along with solving complex problems with data-driven solutions.

The best Salesforce developers see a business with flawed systems and use their experience to solve any organizational problems that comes their way. 

Constant Adaptability 

The Salesforce platform was built to take advantage of the constant adaptability required as the internet began spreading far and wide. 

Salesforce’s modularity is one of the reasons why it is used across industries and niches for various functions. 

Similarly, Salesforce developers must also constantly update their skillsets with the latest information and phase outdated skills out of the mix.  

The best Salesforce developers must have a willingness to learn and swiftly adapt to the different tools, systems, and technologies that are pushed by Salesforce. 

Constant adaptability should be higher on this list because of how important it is for Salesforce developers to remain competent. 

Teamworking Skills

Collaboration is key to project success and Salesforce developers often work closely with administrators and business analysts, making teamwork a valuable asset. 

The ability to work well in a team helps with achieving shared goals and leads to successful project completion.

Salesforce implemenations extend across several functions involving several teams and departments making it essential for Salesforce developers to have impenetrable teamworking skills. 

Rigorous Attention To Detail

A strong Salesforce implementation involves getting several smaller things right in order to make the main system run smoothly. 

Laser precision is the bare minimum for Salesforce developers working on an implementation because even minor coding or configuration errors result in significant bottlenecks during development and deployment. 

A rigorous attention to detail helps Salesforce developers ensure absolutely everything is in order and guarantee that the system runs exactly as expected. 

Final Thoughts 

Salesforce Developers drive business success by designing and implementing custom solutions on the Salesforce platform. 

They analyze business needs, develop applications, and ensure seamless integration with other systems, playing a vital role in optimizing CRM functionality and enhancing user experience.

As Salesforce continues to evolve, skilled developers remain in high demand. 

Embracing continuous learning and specializing in emerging technologies like AI and Lightning Web Components will ensure a rewarding and impactful career in the Salesforce ecosystem.

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