Are you new to Salesforce or FinancialForce? Or do you want to upgrade your skills? Read on!

There are lots of resources that can help you go from novice to expert in these awesome platforms. You can learn how to use Salesforce and FinancialForce through guided training programs, technical documentation, learning videos, and release previews. There are support communities where you can ask questions and get help when learning something new or getting stuck. Your biggest challenge might be knowing where to start.

Here’s a simple plan to fast-track learning Salesforce and FinancialForce:

1. Set a goal.
Have a clear goal of what you want to accomplish. Figure out what you want to learn and go for it. Picking a certification or training path to complete is a great way to start. There are enough learning resources available to help you achieve your goal.

2. Binge learn.
Deep diving into the learning experience is a great way to growth hack your Salesforce or FinancialForce career. Start doing some Trailheads, watch videos, and practice your learning. Depending on your company’s software license, you might also have access to some free premium training.

3. Take notes.
Save links to resources you find valuable. Some examples include Trailheads, help pages, and blogs. Save them to a tool like Google Docs or Notion, where you can keep your links organized while recording notes from things you learn during training and implementation. This is like your own Knowledge Base that you can reference whenever you need help.

4. Review what you learn.
It is a good practice to refresh your knowledge regularly. You’ve built your Knowledge Base in the previous step, now regularly review it. You may build a solution once and then not see it again for many months. Regularly reviewing the lessons you’ve learned will help increase your learning curve.

5. Practice makes perfect.
Practicing what you’ve learned in a live instance might be risky. That’s why several demo options allow you to practice without breaking anything. Trailhead gives you access to Salesforce Training Orgs, and FinancialForce gives you access to your MDO (Demo Org with FinancialForce products installed). OpMentors has a Demo Org with solutions we have created and installed for our most common customer use cases. Take advantage of these resources to learn the packages and test-build solutions.

6. Ask lots of questions.
The Salesforce and FinancialForce environments are robust systems that are constantly being updated and enhanced. It’s impossible to know everything about every functionality, so ask lots of questions. Most users are more than happy to share their knowledge. If you get stuck on a process or custom solution, don’t be afraid to ask for help. The communities described in the next step are a great place to ask questions.

7. Interact with communities.
Join Community Groups and Partner Portals for products that you may be implementing. You’ll get access to vast Knowledge Bases and can find solutions to most problems. If you don’t find the solution, you can ask fellow users for help. The FinancialForce Community can even send you email updates whenever a question is asked or answered. This is also an excellent resource for learning about known issues and solutions.

8. Attend release previews.
Product Managers lead these webinar-like previews, which are a great place to ask questions and get real-time answers. You’ll learn about new features, updates, and what’s on the roadmap for upcoming releases. This knowledge will help you as you create custom solutions for your clients.

These are just a few tips for fast-tracking your learning experience of Salesforce and FinancialForce. Try them and see what works best for you. There are numerous other resources that we didn’t include in this post, such as blogs and YouTube videos. We’ll share some of our favorites in upcoming articles. Good luck with your learning, and let us know how it goes!

Annette Tarrabini