In a shining example of the good that can come when business users are empowered on the Salesforce platform, and how powerful training can be in the right hands, The Warranty Group (TWG) share their success story.

As one of the world's premier global providers of warranty solutions and related benefits, with operations in more than 35 countries and nearly 1,700 employees, TWG wanted to make the best use of the cutting-edge technology they had invested in. The decision was made to launch an “all-cloud” journey complete with full-scale data conversion, with the aim of fully sunsetting their legacy systems by the end of 2018.

Involving no less than 15 Salesforce products, TWG wants functionality such as providing dealers and customers with a portal to search the system for any policy and claim, and the ability to perform some policy self-service. They also want to develop a new, state-of-the-art, mobile-friendly dealer dashboard portal.

TWG quickly realized they would need to invest in their people, to empower them on the platform, if they wanted to make their monumental goal a reality. Two keen “Accidental Admins” were at the front of the line.

“I remember hearing the word Salesforce in all my meetings and not knowing what it was,” shares David Gore, now Global Salesforce Administrator. “I saw that many of my co-workers needed Salesforce training and they, like me, had so many questions on how and why it was designed the way it was. I started to teach myself, but quickly became frustrated with that infamous screen: Insufficient Privileges!

Then, it happened. I was told to sign up for the Administration Essentials for New Admins class and to become Administrator certified. And TWG was actually going to pay for my enrollment in Salesforce training courses, as well as cover my certification exam fees. I felt like I had won the lottery!

I loved every minute of it. At the end of the course, it was time to sit for my certification exam. Then I saw that magic word...PASS. A few months later and I was the official system admin, sending change sets off to IT left and right. Not a day passed that I didn’t find a great update to send to them. I started making training videos and holding webinars, as well as study sessions for other employees that wanted to get certified while I went on to study for my Advanced Administrator certification.

It was while I was studying for certification number two that I started to use Trailhead. What an amazing tool! As a Cub and Boy Scout, I loved earning the badges. I'm almost a Mountaineer now, and still use Trailhead as my go-to guide when I need reminders on certain concepts.

With the excellent training I received, together with the confidence the business has in me, I now travel the world, both physically and virtually, to promote and train our field staff on this exceptional platform–I wouldn't have it any other way.”

David’s hard work didn't go unnoticed. He was promoted to Global Salesforce Administrator and now runs a team of business employees who are all Administrator certified. Together, they design and deploy processes globally without needing to get IT involved at all. It is the epitome of a true success model–knowing the business, designing for the business, and delivering for the business.

Paul Risk, Chief of Global Applications and Architecture, is thrilled at the results: “David is the key lead on our Sales Org. He rarely ever needs help from IT on anything, and manages the org globally. Since he took over as Global Director of the Sales org, 166 deployments have been successfully completed and 100% of them did not need IT involvement. We are about to hit a year since we have needed IT resources.”

Michelle Daniels, Salesforce Business Analyst, was also keen to step up to the plate. “When I heard Paul talk about the plans for our company, I was blown away. I was proud to hear I was part of a company that was going to be doing something that sounded so cutting edge. I knew I wanted to be an active participant in that.

I found out about an Administration Essentials for New Admins private class that was being hosted at TWG in January 2016. I wanted to know some basics before going into the class, so I did the Admin Beginner trail on Trailhead. The course started and it all began to click into place.

I studied for my Administrator certification in the evenings and every weekend for a month. I read the book we had received in class from cover to cover more times than I can remember. I used the Salesforce Help and Training page to look up any concepts that didn’t make sense to me and used Trailhead to supplement my learning, scoring a ton of Trailhead badges along the way! I watched the Who Sees What: Data Visibility How To's video series several times…that really helped me understand security. And finally, I quizzed myself using the knowledge questions from the class and the study guide.

After a month of studying, I registered to take the certification exam. I really thought I was ready and was crushed when I saw that word FAIL. I’m not going to lie, I cried (a lot!). But looking back now, I realize it made me see how badly I actually wanted that cert. Three weeks later I went back for my retake and I passed! I’ve never been so happy. It was such a rewarding feeling to have worked so hard. Earning that certification definitely wasn’t easy, but it was totally worth it.

By then, I was hooked. I talked my boss into letting me assist on some projects. It seems so silly now, but I’ll never forget that the first thing I got to help with was creating a custom object. I was just so happy to have a sandbox and be a part of the process. Now I've even taught myself Communities, specifically Community Builder, and am proud to say I have since built an online portal for one of our biggest customers. I developed an email-to-case functionality for them, resulting in an enhanced customer journey that enables all their agents to better assist on calls through the tracking of inbound emails.

During all of this, I also joined the Chicago Salesforce User Group. Being part of a community that was so welcoming and willing to help with anything made me feel so great about choosing to become a part of the Salesforce world. I now walk away from every meeting having learned something new and with a refreshed attitude as to why I wanted to be part of the Salesforce Ohana to begin with. Learning is addicting and it’s neverending in Salesforce. There is so much that is possible, and that’s what I love.”

Michelle doesn’t just help out with small projects when she has time, but has since been promoted to her current role of Salesforce Business Analyst and works on getting the most out of the Salesforce platform for TWG all day, every day. She’s also just passed her Advanced Administrator certification (congratulations Michelle!) and will be taking the Service Cloud Administration course soon.

“Michelle is a shining example of what happens when a company invests in smart people,” says Paul. “She took the initiative to get trained and get her Salesforce certification, and is now able to do things that used to have to be done by IT. Michelle’s Salesforce expertise enables TWG to move its technology closer to our customers, allowing us to respond faster and more precisely to their needs and market conditions. I wish we had 10 more like her!”

Isn't it time you empowered your people to get the most out of your Salesforce investment? Learn more about how you, too, can support your teams to become Salesforce trained and Salesforce certified.