Salesforce
19 May 2022
‘Salesforce Trailhead – the fun way to learn’ is the tagline for Salesforce’s online learning platform. There’s no risk of the CRM software provider being sued under the Trades Description Act for this claim. It does exactly what it says on the tin – teaches tech skills, business skills and soft skills in a different and enjoyable way.
Put simply, Trailhead is a series of online tutorials that teach professionals how to use every aspect of the Salesforce product suite. These tutorials earn the user globally recognised certifications proving their knowledge and understanding of particular elements of the Salesforce software. These include: Lightning Experience; Leadership; Google; Artificial Intelligence; App Building; Equality; Apple; Management; Reports and Dashboards; Amazon; Presenting; Application Lifecycle Management; Gift Hub and many more.
To make the tutorials fun, and therefore more appealing and inductive to learning, Trailhead uses a gamification process which harnesses our natural desire to explore and play. Users access a library of courses on every subject related to Salesforce. These courses are part of series called Trails. They can be completed in a prepared, curated package or can be done individually, either in a custom-made trail, or one course at a time. There are also instructor-led classes and workshops available through Trailhead Academy.
Trailhead’s courses engage employees by combining industry concepts with amusing and creative subject matter. For example, in Build a Battle Station, users create a code-free project management app to build a galactic battle station in space. Another project asks Trailblazers to create an automated communication system in Salesforce Chatter and Process Builder, so they can communicate with rovers on Mars.
Trailhead’s gamified points system incentivises you to complete more courses. Levels, also called Trailblazer Ranks, are ranks you can achieve within that system. The higher the rank you reach, the greater your level of experience in the Trailblazer community, which adds credibility to your achievements.
You rise through the ranks by completing courses and challenges. Completing a challenge typically earns 500 points, and quizzes earn 100. There are seven ranks in total, with the highest requiring 50,000 points to unlock.
When courses are completed, users receive Superbadges and certificates in either customer-facing or the software development side of the Salesforce suite. Most certifications require multiple Superbadges to complete, as well as a final exam. These are recognisable accreditations and successes can be posted on LinkedIn and used to further careers.
When you sign up, you automatically become a member of the Trailblazer community. Trailblazers are fellow Trailhead users from around the world who host meet ups, networking events and forums discussing all things Salesforce. As well as building your network, you can ask questions, share experiences and discuss issues without worrying that the other person is going to glaze over, as your friends and family might do.
Trailhead is beneficial to all the departments within a company that use Salesforce. Trails have a variety of levels, so users can start at the level of expertise that’s relevant for their role.
Trailhead is free to use and is accessible to all. However, if you want to publish content, participate in the gamified point system and earn certificates, you’ll need to subscribe to MyTrailhead for $25 a month per user.
With MyTrailhead, you also get additional access for employees, and you can customise your branding. This enables you to develop your own courses or training environments for their employees. An additional $2 per login or $5 per member allows users to enable MyTrailhead or customers and partners, so their clients and industry partners can access Trailhead’s content as well.
These are just some of the benefits you’ll gain as a Salesforce user when using Trailhead. If you want to learn more about Salesforce, reach out to the experts at Cognition24 for help. Whether you’re just getting started with your org, or adding new functionality and need a helping hand, our experts can point you in the right direction.
Get started with Trailhead here.