Helpful Consulting is run by Richard Durrant - a technically minded individual who prides himself on being able to engage with all stakeholders at whatever level they operate. 

Certified on the Salesforce platform since April 2009



The main thing to consider is that software is used 'by people' and has a massive impact on their lives, both from a commercial standpoint, but also from a wellbeing point of view.

Real world business solutions are not just thought experiments, or playgrounds for IT people to come up with a cutting edge solution with unnecessary complexity.


We like the maxim of Occam's Razor: The simplest {valid} solution is usually the best.

Rich Durrant - Jan 2024

Project Lifecycle

Whether a new client to Salesforce, or an existing customer, the following engagement process ideas would apply. We understand each company has different ways of working but some standard industry best practices would overlay each step.

1

Analysis

Understanding your business processes and requirements is key. Aligning to standard Salesforce functionality and defining custom solutions aids project direction.

All stakeholders would be considered and a project sponsor on your side would act as a subject matter expert; helping to define requirements and managing 'political issues'.

2

Project Planning

Working to define tasks for all parties with associated delivery gates helps the project run smoothly. This is a team effort and all stakeholders are considered.

Collaboration via Jira is suggested with supported diagramming on Miro.

3

Implementation

Comprising of standard functionality configuration, installation of AppExchange partner app, or a custom build; this is where stakeholders see the solution taking shape.

The use of sandboxes for trialing solutions, as well as user acceptance testing, aids confidence in the build.

4

Go-Live

At any point it is possible to deploy components to 'production' once signed off. An agile approach allows for multiple deployments within a single project, or a final everything-at-once can be completed. All driven by your requirements at the time.

5

Training

Documentation and training sessions can be used to manage user expectations and allow for a successful buy-in from day 1.

(Go-Live and Training go hand in hand. They are shown here in a linear process for ease of display.)

6

Support

Things happen. This is why the support phase is crucial to making sure the solution is working and bugs/issues are actioned as quickly as possible. 

A chance for users/stakeholders to feedback is also important to help the business succeed in any future activities.

Testimonials


Richard immediately understood the scope of our business requirement at a conceptual level and was able to technically profile and detail the solution with a methodology that conveyed a great deal of trust and integrity around his proposal and service offering.

Throughout the project Richard was constantly challenged to deliver solutions that work around the core, fixed OOB elements of Salesforce and he was able to find an appropriate path that delivered to meet our expectations and requirements balancing the constraints of the software framework with the real-world practicalities of system users integration with bespoke CRM Solutions.

We will continue to use Richard for our Salesforce Development and are happy to request and also recommend his excellent service, expert knowledge and helpful advice.

David C

Testimonials

Richard is excellent in understanding the needs of the organisation in changing an existing CRM system into the most successful programme in the world: Salesforce CRM. He is very quickly familiar with what the needs of the organisation are in terms of priorities and the need to get the CRM system to handle a number of business issues and will deliver an excellent integration. Highly recommended also if no CRM system exists at the moment.

Cees Z

Testimonials

Richard helped us enormously with customising and implemeting a bespoke Salesforce solution to help develop the sales function of our social enterprise. Richard took great care to understand our business needs and provided a great level of support post-implementation.

Craig G