Top 3 Differences Between Salesforce Experts and Consultants
Hire Salesforce experts for developer, admin, architect, specialist, or consultant roles from Remote Resource® to align technical capabilities with business needs.
Salesforce experts and Salesforce consultants are terms used interchangeably on job portals and by job seekers.
However, these terms have slightly different meanings.
While Salesforce experts may mean a developer, administrator, architect, specialist or consultant, a Salesforce consultant will not mean necessarily either one specifically.
1. Role and Skill Differences – Scope and Focus of Work
Salesforce experts have technical roles, while Salesforce consultants have advisory roles.
Hire Salesforce Experts
Hire Salesforce experts who encompass a variety of skill-based roles – whether you hire developers, administrators, architects, or specialists – basically denoting technical expertise within the Salesforce ecosystem, in platform features, or in specific modules like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, etc.
They usually adopt an execution-focused approach to work with systems and tools as a part of core tech teams, performing tasks like coding, configuration, testing, customization, integrations, or data management – with expertise in the essential Salesforce coding languages like Apex, Visualforce, and Lightning.
Let us look at a detailed breakdown of four key Salesforce Expert job roles: Developer, Admin, Architect, and Specialist.
Hire Remote Salesforce Developers
Salesforce Developers solve technical challenges through code, building custom features, integrating systems, optimizing performance, and using tools like Apex, LWC, APIs, and DevOps platforms. Remote Resource® provides you with the top 10% Indian developers.
Hire Salesforce Administrators
Salesforce Administrators streamline workflows, manage data, build reports, support users, and maintain the system to ensure smooth, efficient, and accurate platform usage across teams.
Hire Salesforce Technical Architect
Salesforce Technical Architects lead system design for complex projects, ensuring scalability, integration, performance, and governance while bridging business needs with deep technical expertise.
Hire Salesforce Data Specialist
Salesforce Data Specialists ensure data accuracy, integrity, and compliance by managing migrations, creating reports, enforcing governance, and conducting audits using ETL tools and Salesforce data models.
Hire Salesforce Consultants
A Salesforce consultant helps businesses by directly interacting with their clients and assisting them on their Salesforce platform use. Unlike Salesforce experts, who perform technical tasks such as coding, configuration, or architecture, consultants operate at the intersection of tech and business strategy.
They gather information about business requirements and design solutions accordingly to ensure successful user adoption. While they may possess moderate to strong technical skills, their primary strengths lie in communication, problem-solving, and strategic thinking.
Let us look at a detailed breakdown of four key Salesforce Expert job roles: Functional Consultant, Business Analyst, Solution Architect and Project Manager.
Salesforce Functional Consultant
Salesforce Functional Consultants translate business needs into Salesforce solutions using configuration tools, managing requirements, testing, and training without writing code, bridging clients and technical teams.
Salesforce Business Analyst
Salesforce Business Analysts focus on analyzing business needs, mapping processes, writing user stories, and supporting change – bridging strategy with system functionality using strong analytical skills.
Salesforce Solution Architect
Salesforce Solution Architects design scalable, multi-cloud solutions; fill gaps in business with technical architecture; and guide teams to manage integrations, ensuring timely delivery across complex systems.
Salesforce Project Manager
Salesforce Project Managers oversee end-to-end project delivery – balancing scope, timelines, budgets of projects; while ensuring client satisfaction, leading cross-functional teams and overlooking quality, profitability, and stakeholder trust. Whether looking for project managers or business analysts, hire developers experienced in the Salesforce ecosystem only from Remote Resource®.
2. Project Lifecycle – Collaboration and Specialization
Salesforce experts and consultants align strategy with code using user stories and reviews.
A Salesforce consultant and developer generally work together as a team through every stage of a project; that might look like this, step by step.
Step 1: Assessing Needs
The first step of any project requires a thorough assessment of specific project needs – best understood by meeting key stakeholders – and overall business goals, while keeping current processes and possible risks and feasibility in mind – tasks which are taken up by hired Salesforce experts.
Step 2: Process Flows
Next, the consultant creates user stories and process flows and outlines a rough sketch of what needs to be created, so the developer can design the system accordingly by choosing the right tools and planning the steps to build it.
Step 3: Configuration
The consultant may use point-and-click tools like Flows and page layouts to build the solution, while the developer helps them when more complex logic or limitations arise. For custom development solutions that include languages like Apex code or Lightning Web Components, the developer may take full charge.
Step 4: Testing
As the project moves into the testing phase, your hired Salesforce experts may create test scenarios and support users during UAT, while the remote Salesforce developer works on fixing bugs in the code, handles quality assurance and delivery, and improves overall performance.
Step 5: Launch
Here, the consultant instructs users by managing key communication and support through implementing effective change adoption with instruction manuals or guides – while the developer focuses on smooth deployment and system stability.
Step 6: Post-Launch
After launch, the consultant manages feedback and user issues, while the developer solves technical problems – both roles of hired Salesforce experts stay in sync through clear documentation, regular meetings, and shared tools like Jira. Remote Resource® provides you with end-to-end project lifecycle management capabilities.
3. Company Size and Maturity- Specialization of Role
Salesforce Expert and Consultant roles differ in small, medium, and multi-national organizations.
In a small company or startup, a single professional usually overlooks multiple roles. For instance, a Salesforce developer here does everything from configuring systems, writing code, handling user training, to solving technical issues. Likewise, a Salesforce consultant directly interacts with founders or department leads to gather requirements, implement solutions, and drive adoption.
In a medium-sized company, roles become relatively more defined. A Salesforce developer may work on flows, Apex triggers, and support specific modules, while a Salesforce consultant might collaborate with business teams, assess and map requirements to system capabilities, and oversee user acceptance testing.
In multinational corporations (MNC) because the division of labour is highly specialized, the Salesforce professionals take on specific roles only. Salesforce experts work on Lightning development, data architecture, or global integrations. Salesforce Consultants work as Engagement or Change Managers or CRM Strategists. They collaborate with other teams to manage enterprise-level rollouts and oversees quality alignment with industry best practices.
As a company’s size grows, so do the tools and infrastructure it uses- from minimal in startups to full-scale in MNCs. Therefore, the career trajectory of professionals also mirrors this structure. Contact Remote Resource® right now to hire remote Salesforce developers exclusively.
