So you're ready to hire a Salesforce developer. Your team hates using Salesforce, adoption is in the toilet, and you're not getting the ROI you expected from your expensive CRM investment.
I've got bad news. Most Salesforce developers will make things worse, not better.
I'm not being dramatic. After 10+ years of watching companies hire the wrong developers and get burned, I've seen the same mistakes over and over. The developer has impressive certifications, talks a good game about "Apex coding" and "Lightning components," and then delivers something technically impressive that nobody actually uses.
Harsh, but true. Salesforce certifications prove someone can pass a test, not that they can solve real business problems. I know "Salesforce Certified Developers" who couldn't figure out why a company's sales team was avoiding Salesforce (hint: it was because the quote process took 27 clicks).
Don't get me wrong – technical skills matter. But they're maybe 30% of what makes a developer valuable. The rest is business sense, communication skills, and understanding how real humans work.
Forget the technical mumbo-jumbo. When I'm helping clients interview Salesforce developers, we focus on questions that reveal how they think.
I once watched a client ask a developer with seven certifications: "Why do you think our reps aren't logging their calls in Salesforce?" The developer launched into a speech about Lightning components and user interface design. Wrong answer. The right developer would have said, "I don't know yet - what happens when they try?"
Another revealing question: "Our CEO wants to completely rebuild our instance. Where would you start?" The developer who immediately agrees is dangerous. The one who asks "What's broken about your current setup?" might save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
My personal favorite: "Tell me about a time you told a client their idea wouldn't work." This separates order-takers from actual consultants. Good developers push back when clients are heading down expensive rabbit holes.
This reminds me of a construction client from a few years back. They were convinced they needed a custom integration between Salesforce and their project management software. Three developers had already quoted them around $50K for the work.
We brought in a developer who did something crazy: he spent two days just watching how their team actually worked. Turns out, the problem wasn't technical at all. Project managers were getting information too late in the process.
His solution? Two automation rules and a simple dashboard that cost about $5K to implement. No fancy integration required. The client was initially disappointed – they'd been ready to spend big money on a complex solution. Six months later, they called it the best technology investment they'd ever made.
The really frustrating part about hiring Salesforce developers is that the interview process itself is broken. Technical skills are easy to test, so that's what most companies focus on.
I've sat in interviews where developers were grilled about Apex triggers and API callouts, but nobody asked them how they'd approach user adoption challenges. It's like hiring a translator based only on their grammar knowledge, not whether they can actually help people communicate.
Here's a better approach: give candidates a real problem your team is facing. Skip the technical details initially and see how they approach understanding the issue. The ones who jump straight to technical solutions are showing you exactly how they'll approach your project – and it's not good.
Had a developer tell you they can rebuild your entire Sales Cloud in six weeks? They're either lying or dangerously naive.
Salesforce projects always take longer than expected. Always. Not because developers are bad at estimating (though many are), but because requirements evolve once people see working software.
A financial services client hired a developer who promised a complete rebuild in two months. Eight months later, they were still waiting. The developer wasn't necessarily incompetent – the client just didn't realize how many decisions would need to be made along the way.
Good developers build in buffer time and set realistic expectations. Be very suspicious of any timeline that seems too good to be true.
Here's the approach that actually works: forget the grand visions of Salesforce perfection. Find the one process that's causing your team the most daily pain, and fix that.
A healthcare client was ready to drop $200K on a complete Salesforce overhaul. We convinced them to start smaller – fixing their patient referral tracking process, which was causing the most complaints. For $15K, we delivered a solution that their team actually used and loved.
That success created momentum. The team noticed that Salesforce could really make their lives easier, not difficult. The following year, he faced additional processes one by one by one by one, in which each successful building was final.
Finding a good Salesforce developer is less about technical chops and more about finding someone who takes the time to understand what's actually broken in your business. Look for developers who ask uncomfortable questions, push back on unnecessary complexity, and focus on how your team actually works - not just how a demo looks impressive. And remember: If your team hates using Salesforce, adding more complex features will not solve the problem. Start by working smoothly. Fancy stuff may come later.
And remember: if your team hates using Salesforce, adding more complex features won't fix the problem. Start by making the essential stuff work smoothly. The fancy stuff can come later.