As a Account Engagement administrator, you are the king of the Account Engagement castle.  But now your castle is moving into the Salesforce kingdom.

The need for Account Engagement admin’s to get Salesforce Administrator rights is important because Account Engagement functionality intertwines with Salesforce with every new release.

Often, marketers don’t have the appropriate Salesforce access to do their job. I’ve seen marketers struggle updating engagement history dashboards, adding new campaign types or creating new custom fields.

I’ve successfully navigated Salesforce administrator stingy-ness.

I’m going to share what I learned to help you find your place in the new, blended Salesforce ecosystem.

Before we start, I want to make a point about Salesforce administrators.  An effective Salesforce admin is doing her job by limiting access to Salesforce. She is trained to assign the minimum profile setting and use permission sets to grant more system access as needed.

The problem is that marketers’ profiles are too limited at the get-go.

It prevents them from doing their job effectively. While sales and marketing might be on the same level in the company org chart, marketers often need more Salesforce access than sales users.

In every instance when I was denied Salesforce admin access, it was eventually granted because I kept showing what I couldn’t complete.

With this in mind, I have created a list of tips with how Account Engagement admins can ask for Salesforce Admin Access:

Get certified

It’s hard to say “No” to Salesforce access to a certified administrator. This is a bold request for an already time-strapped marketer, but getting the Salesforce Administrator certification is a great idea.

Studying for the exam exposes you to configuring the platform and managing users.  You will feel more comfortable because you will understand how Account Engagement and Salesforce talk together.  It will also allow you to get more out of Salesforce features and capabilities.

Respect your powers

“With great power comes great responsibility.” This is a quote from the movie “Spiderman”. (Scene when the grandfather talks to young Spiderman who just discovered new super powers)

Reassure your team that giving you Salesforce administrator access will not create havoc.  You will treat that access with respect.  Only use it for what you need.  If you are not familiar with something, DON’T TOUCH IT!

Help your Salesforce admin

 I was with a client’s Salesforce admin debating the appropriate level of Salesforce access for their marketers.  When I explained that Salesforce sync errors will need to be corrected weekly (if not daily), the already-stretched Salesforce admin was instantly more flexible on granting access.

Take screen shots

When I get limited Salesforce access, I make a list of my key tasks and take screen shots of my challenges.  I add arrows and text with messages like “Unable to add campaign type” or “Missing access to add custom field.”

You need to show, not tell.

Providing screens shots helps executives experience the situation and interpret the descriptions of the images.  Telling is flat and boring. Showing the VP of marketing what you’re missing  usually gets the discussion moving in the right direction.

Tell a story

If you need to tell, use a story.

An effective tactic is telling a story about the ideal situation.

In a previous role, I walked the VP of marketing through a tale about access to systems.  My story had characters and described  how I was previously able to create a field in Salesforce and Account Engagement and upload the necessary data to move forward efficiently with their ABM initiative.  A new corporate policy denied this capability.  I depicted how losing this access affected work product and timing.

Explaining how marketing initiatives could be curtailed prompted action to reinstate Salesforce Admin rights.

Shutup and listen

If you are denied Salesforce admin access, stop and listen.  An effective negotiator is a detective.  She asks probing questions and then shuts up.  The Salesforce admin will tell you where they have concerns – all you have to do is listen.

Expand permissions of your assigned profile

Often larger companies have greater restrictions on system access.  Sometimes you have to know when to stop.  In this case, I create a list and request the most versatile profile with added permissions necessary to complete my marketing tasks.  Often this gets very close to system administrator access.  😊

 

Need help navigating the Account Engagement and Salesforce ecosystems?

Contact me to discuss your needs.