466 - Specializing a Salesforce Practice with Shell Black
Episode Overview
If you struggle to have consistent cash flow in your Cloud Consulting business, this interview is for you.
Listen as we discuss the benefits of specialization, maximizing leads from Salesforce, and self-generating leads.
Shell also shared his experience of getting 2 million minutes watched on his YouTube channel and gave tips on how to start your own journey.
Key highlights
- How Shell's company decided to focus on financial services as their niche within the Salesforce ecosystem due to the difficulty of keeping up with the many subproducts Salesforce acquired.
- The importance of marketing oneself and co-selling with Salesforce to close software deals. They also talked about the benefits of being brought in early in the deal cycle and the importance of technical expertise and instilling confidence in the customer.
- How he generated leads for his business through various channels such as SEO, blogging, public speaking, and personal branding. They also talked about how he created content naturally and found time to do it while still delivering for clients.
- How Shell's YouTube channel - Shell Black Whiteboard, became successful by targeting a specific audience, co-selling with Salesforce, and doing quality work to generate referrals. They also talked about the importance of understanding your audience and creating content that resonates with them.
- Strategies for attracting and retaining talent, which included investing in culture events, recognizing core values, and creating videos for their career page.
- Daily habits for scaling a business, sources of information for growth, and the challenges of hiring and onboarding new consultants in a competitive market.
- The importance of specializing in a specific industry and the benefits of having a focused customer base.
- Various topics related to running a Salesforce practice, including the challenges of finding and retaining talent, fair compensation plans, and the unpredictability of revenue due to Salesforce's sales cycle.
- The challenges of being a Salesforce partner and the importance of strategic partnerships.
About Shell Black
Shell Black is from Dallas, Texas (United States), and started consulting on Salesforce in 2005. He started his company ShellBlack.com - a Salesforce consulting and implementation firm, in 2010.
Shell holds 4 Salesforce Certifications. He has also spoken at Dreamforce (the annual Salesforce user conference) for 6 years.
In 2019, Shell has inducted Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame to recognize his contributions to the Salesforce community (one of ~250 worldwide)
Shell is the host of “ShellBlack Whiteboard,” - a YouTube channel on how to implement Salesforce (>500K views and over >2MM minutes watched)
Resources and Links
