5 Things I Wish I Knew as a New Salesforce Admin
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“When I started working in Salesforce, I didn’t feel like an admin — I felt like a detective solving crimes I didn’t know had been committed.”
5 Essential Tips for New Salesforce Admins
Every Flow was a mystery. Every validation rule, a riddle. Every error message felt like the system was actively mocking my journalism degree.
And the worst part? Everyone assumed I knew what I was doing.
Spoiler alert: I absolutely did not.
Here are the five things I wish someone had whispered in my ear during those first overwhelming months — back when I thought “debugging” was something you did to get insects out of your code.
1. Flows Can Fail Silently (And They Will)
The hard truth: Just because a record saved doesn’t mean your Flow worked.
I learned this the painful way when a client called asking why their “automated follow-up emails” hadn’t been sending. The Opportunities were updating. The status was changing. Everything looked perfect.
Except the Flow was failing at the email step. Silently. For three weeks.
What I wish I’d known: Debug Logs are not optional. They’re your best friend, your safety net, and sometimes the only thing standing between you and a very awkward phone call.
Start doing this now:
Set up Debug Logs before testing ANY Flow
Check every path, not just the happy path
Look for those little yellow warning triangles — they’re trying to help you
Test with real data, not just the perfect scenario you created
The moment it clicked: When I realized that “No errors” doesn’t mean “It worked.” It just means Salesforce didn’t crash.
2. Multi-Select Picklists Are Chaos in Reporting
The scene: You build a beautiful Flow that updates a multi-select picklist. Everything works perfectly. You’re feeling confident.
Then someone asks for a report.
The reality: Multi-select picklists in reports are like trying to organize a drawer full of tangled earphones. Technically possible, but you’ll want to throw something.
What I wish I’d known: If you have any control over the data model, avoid multi-select picklists. If you don’t have control (and someone insists they need to select “multiple things”), learn how to handle them in Flows and Reports before you promise anything.
The workaround: Sometimes you need separate objects or junction objects. Sometimes you need formula fields. Sometimes you need to have a gentle conversation about whether they really need to select multiple values.
The lesson: Multi-select picklists are seductive in setup and punishing in reality.
3. Document As You Go (Your Memory Will Lie to You)
The lie we tell ourselves: “I’ll remember why I built it this way.”
The truth: You won’t. Not even close.
I once spent 45 minutes trying to figure out why I had built a validation rule that seemed to serve no purpose. I was ready to delete it when I found a Slack message from eight months earlier: “Quick fix for the accounting team’s data entry issue.”
What I wish I’d known: Future-you is a different person who won’t have access to present-you’s context, coffee level, or recent conversations.
Start doing this now:
Add descriptions to EVERY custom field
Comment your Flow elements (even the obvious ones)
Keep a simple project log with “Why I built this” notes
Include the business context, not just the technical specs
The game-changer: I started treating documentation like breadcrumbs for future-me trying to find my way home.
4. Naming Conventions Aren’t Just for Neat Freaks
The moment of truth: When you have 47 Flows with names like “Update_Account_Flow_New” and “Fix_Contact_Thing_v2” and you can’t remember which one does what.
What I wish I’d known: One bad Flow name becomes five bad Flow names. Chaos is contagious.
The system that saved me: Object_Action_Type
Account_UpdateIndustry_RecordTriggered
Contact_SendWelcome_ScheduledEmail
Opportunity_ValidateAmount_BeforeSave
Why this matters: Clean orgs aren’t just prettier — they’re more efficient. When everything has a clear, consistent name, you spend less time hunting and more time building.
The bonus: Future team members (or clients) will think you’re incredibly organized. You’ll know the truth, but they don’t need to.
5. Start Building Your Project Library Now
The revelation: Even a simple Google Doc with basic project info will turn you from reactive to proactive overnight.
I started with this simple template:
Object(s) touched
Business use case
Flow logic summary
Testing instructions
Date completed
What happened next: I stopped feeling like every project was starting from zero. I had reference points. I could see patterns. I could reuse logic instead of recreating it.
The compound effect: Six months of consistent documentation became a library. A year later, it became a competitive advantage.
The Meta-Lesson
None of these insights came from Trailhead modules or certification study guides. They came from failure, frustration, and the gradual realization that being a good Salesforce Admin isn’t about knowing everything — it’s about building systems that help you work smarter.
What This Really Means
You don’t need to be perfect. You need to be consistent.
You don’t need to remember everything. You need to document the important things.
You don’t need to solve every problem from scratch. You need to recognize patterns and build on previous work.
Your Next Steps
Pick one of these five areas and focus on it for the next week:
Set up Debug Logs and actually check them
Document one existing Flow or automation
Rename one confusingly-named component
Start a simple project log
Create a testing checklist for your most common builds
Small, consistent improvements compound into major advantages.
Remember: Every expert was once a beginner who felt lost. The difference is that experts built systems to handle the complexity instead of trying to keep it all in their heads.
Your future self will thank you for starting today.
About the Author: Jeremy Carmona is a Salesforce consultant specializing in nonprofit implementations. With 13+ certifications and experience managing millions in online donations, he helps nonprofits maximize their Salesforce investment.
Follow him on LinkedIn for more cautionary tales and hard-won wisdom from the Salesforce trenches.