Get to Know Our Consultants: Jo Ann Lewis and Carolyn Fischer

Last week, Jo Ann Lewis and Carolyn Fischer traveled to the Idealist Consulting headquarters and joined us for some in-house updates, events, and teambuilding. Jo Ann and Carolyn came to Portland for the week to get to know the company a bit more, and here’s a bit of what we learned about them in the process.

Stats
Jo Ann Lewis
Salesforce.com certified Administrator and Developer
As of June, 2015 Jo Ann has logged 49 Salesforce engagements with Idealist Consulting

Carolyn Fischer
Salesforce.com certified Administrator and Sales and Service Cloud Consultant
As of June, 2015 Carolyn has logged 30 Salesforce projects with Idealist Consulting

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Jo Ann: I was going to be an astronaut! Because it doesn’t matter if you wear four inch glasses, you can still do it, right? 

Bethany (interviewer): So would you go to Mars?

Jo Ann: I need something that returns! No one way tickets!

Carolyn: I wanted to be an architect, but also do gourmet food stuff. My first job was working at Adam’s Fairacre Farms in New York and I loved that job. 25 years later I went to culinary school, so I have fulfilled my dream a little bit.

How did you get your start with Salesforce?
Carolyn: Mine’s kind of a complicated story: I worked for a partner relationship management company called Allegis and then left and went to culinary school. Three years later I decided to contact my friend who went to work for a Salesforce consulting firm, and through networking, was hired!

Because of my work with Allegis, I knew the Partner Portal, so that’s how I got started. I had been out of technology for 3-4 years so I was nervous about getting back into it. But things change but things also stay the same. If you have project management skills and business analysis, you can anticipate the cycle of the project.

Jo Ann: Salesforce wants to know you have all of these skills - they can teach you the technology - but you have to be able to talk to clients. I started out in Sales; I was doing inside sales and we were implementing Salesforce. With the previous CRM we implemented, the service department took the lead. It was terrible, so the boss said she needed someone from sales to be on the team, and the rest is history!

How have things changed over time? 
Carolyn: Salesforce has grown into a spiderweb of other apps, other clouds, and it's just not CRM anymore. It’s gotten to be whatever you want it to be, it’s a full platform.

Jo Ann: Jon Palmer and I were talking about this the other day. If you step away from Salesforce for two years, all the answers that you used to give about what’s possible are different. Sometimes one month later the answer is different!  It’s changing constantly, and sometimes its hard to keep up with when those changes happen. The impossible has become possible, which leads you to wanting even more.

What are some highlights of your experience with Salesforce?
Jo Ann: That moment when you figure out the thing you’ve been wading through for a while, just that little happy dance that you do--I live for those moments! That’s the whole point of Salesforce; wrapping your brain around what somebody wants and figuring out how to do it for them.

Carolyn: The simplest things you can do in Salesforce can make someone’s life better-- something that used to take a client forever to do now they can do that with a click of a button. Also working with other people in different industries, with a variety of different issues. I get to know my clients like Breast Cancer Action and can contribute to their incredible mission.

Jo Ann: Right! You learn things you never knew. One group I was working with did organ donations, and you realize who’s on the waiting list and what’s available, and exactly how important their work is.

Carolyn: We get an insider view of a lot of industries and organizations.

What are your top 3 favorite apps?
Jo Ann: Clicktools, Conga Composer, and Riptide Popup Alerts; it’s simple, straightforward, and does exactly what you want it to do. And I feel for all the little ones that got beat out by the big guys. Poor little GridBuddy! I also like Zapier. I haven’t played around in it,, but I like the possibilities associated with it. o

Carolyn: Conga Composer, yep. And what about Demand Tools?

Jo Ann: It’s ubiquitous, so you don’t even think about it, but yes, I’d put demand tools in there.

Carolyn: I don’t use it that often, but Cirrus Insight is good, I like it.

What advice do you have for new Salesforce admins?
Jo Ann: Get a development organization and actually get in there! Turn on every new feature and play with them, there’s so much stuff! Also Google is your friend. And you have to learn the language of Salesforce.

Carolyn: Rob [Jordan, CEO and Founder of Idealist Consulting] actually had this advice: don't feel like you have to be an expert in everything. You can’t be, so learn what you can when you need it (and Google the rest!)

Jo Ann: Yep! Know the basics, be able to talk about what you know, think on your feet and don’t be afraid to Google!

Carolyn: For admins, I would encourage people to be open with clients about if they need a new feature, when what they really need is a new process.

Jo Ann: A lot of admins fall into the gap of doing everything requested of them without realizing when something might not be necessary or beneficial.

Carolyn: Right. And when you create a field, include a description. Think long term!

Pro Tips
Jo Ann: Whether you’re a developer or an admin, don’t be afraid to say no. The client is paying you to be a consultant, not a robot.

Carolyn: Not just a yes man. 

Jo Ann: Don’t build it just because. Of course, if they absolutely have to have something a certain way, then sure. But try to talk them into a more enjoyable experience, taking usability into consideration. Don’t go crazy building custom objects over and over, think about the user’s experience as you’re developing

We already miss having Carolyn and Jo Ann in our HQ, but they had to return to their respective lives in San Diego and Atlanta.

For another view into our team, check out the profile on our Salesforce MVP David Cheng.