Launching Pardot Careers for Military Veterans

We have big news for military veterans who want to launch careers in the Salesforce ecosystem. The Sercante team is working with a nonprofit organization that’s well known in the Salesforce world to revamp its entire sales and marketing technology stack while enabling the expansion of Pardot training programs. 

Sercante is donating $140,000 in pro-bono company resources to Merivis, which is an organization that eases the transition to civilian life for military veterans and their families. Merivis provides resources for veterans and military spouses pursuing careers in cloud computing by coordinating learning cohorts that work to gain specialized skills and certifications. 

The pro-bono donation from Sercante will revolutionize Merivis fundraising efforts by equipping the team with a robust marketing strategy that has digital-first experiences built in. Sercante is also donating Pardot training programs to Merivis members who want to gain specialized technology skills to help them launch their new careers.

The ultimate goal of the donation is to get Merivis ready for rapid growth so they can continue to change lives for military families while addressing global talent shortages that make it difficult for companies and organizations to fill technical job roles.

 

Donation expands Pardot training programs for Merivis

The donation to Merivis is expanding training programs for military veterans and their spouses who want to work in Pardot as they launch their civilian careers. While Merivis has offered Pardot training to members in the past, the donation will expand training and create a 40-student cohort that will focus on all things Pardot. 

To design programming for the cohort, Sercante team members worked with the team at Merivis to combine existing Sercante Pardot training content with the Merivis method of training. 

The Merivis Pardot training cohort program includes:

  • Content from Salesforce Trailhead
  • One-on-one coaching
  • Virtual learning sessions
  • Soft-skills work to gain professional development competencies

Merivis Logo

Merivis prepares for rapid growth

The $140,000 donation to Merivis also includes a significant amount of technical support hours from the Sercante team. Merivis will use the support hours to increase the impact of their efforts using Pardot and the Salesforce platform, which will enable Merivis to scale their marketing strategy as the organization continues to grow.

Since 2015, Merivis founders Hector Perez, Kate Perez, and Joe Castro, have worked to build the nonprofit organization to provide real-world training to military veteran families as they transition to civilian careers in technology. More than 500 military veterans and their spouses have completed the training programs. 

Members of the Sercante team will apply their technical knowledge of Pardot and the Salesforce platform to configure and optimize CRM tools for Merivis. Optimizing the technology stack for the nonprofit is enabling Merivis to reach the right audience at the right time while saving time and money for the team.

“We’re a small team of people wearing many hats. Sercante is swooping in to optimize our marketing technology stack so we can increase our impact while using fewer resources. Ultimately, the donation will help us to grow as an organization and expand our transformational training programs to more individuals so they can gain in-demand skills to launch new technology careers,” said Kate Perez, co-founder and executive director of Merivis.

 

Get involved with Merivis

We highly recommend supporting Merivis however you can. Whether you’re a military veteran or someone who supports them or a member of the Salesforce community, there are a few ways to get involved with Merivis. 

 

Donate to Merivis

Merivis relies on donations and volunteers to keep everything running smoothly. So, making any type of donation goes a long way. You can choose from several different donation levels depending on your level of commitment.

Learn more about making a donation to Merivis here.

 

Join a Merivis Cohort

Here’s how military veterans can get in on the action.

You can apply to join a Merivis training cohort if you are a current service member, veteran, or military spouse. If approved, you’ll get between two to five weeks of virtual training, which typically requires 5-10 hours of commitment per week.

The goal for each cohort is to work toward Salesforce certifications, like the Pardot specialist or Pardot consultant certification.

Visit this page to learn more about joining a Merivis training cohort.

 

Be a Volunteer Coach

Volunteering is a great way to give back while learning more about yourself and the community. Merivis has a few ways to participate in the program as a volunteer:

  • Salesforce Coach and Content Lead – Mentor Merivis program members either in a group or individually.
  • Volunteer Instructor – Certified Salesforce professionals who volunteer to lead training sessions are essential to the Merivis program.
  • Resume and Mock Interviews – Veterans entering the workforce get help from volunteers to perfect their resume and practice interviewing skills.

Complete the form here to apply to volunteer for Merivis. You’ll bring more professionals into the Salesforce ecosystem while enabling military veterans to launch new careers — and probably meet incredible people while learning new skills along the way.

 

Tell us About Your Experience

Volunteering to teach others how to work in Pardot or other Salesforce clouds not only cements concepts in your mind, but it also provides a vital lifeline to people looking to break into the ecosystem.

Have you volunteered your Pardot skills for a nonprofit organization or Salesforce user group? Tell us about it in the comments below!

By |2021-10-19T14:02:20+00:00September 27th, 2021|Categories: Career, careers, Marketing Automation, Marketing Operations, Pardot, Pardot Training, Salesforce|
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Sercante is the first Salesforce-recognized Pardot PDO

We have big news to share. Sercante is the first Salesforce-recognized Pardot PDO!

As a Salesforce Pardot product development outsourcer (PDO) partner, we support the development of custom solutions that other vendors own and maintain.

While the Pardot PDO recognition is new to us, we’ve helped companies develop Pardot extensions and integrations since 2018. This includes our own suite of products.

 

What is a Salesforce PDO Partner?

Salesforce customers who don’t have the CRM expertise or resources can turn to Salesforce-recognized consulting partners. Most Salesforce ISVs have in-house developer teams to tackle complex customizations and integrations.

Consulting partners help with everything from product ideation, development, support services, and even sales and marketing consulting and services. 

Salesforce PDO Partners complete at least one project with any PDO specialization with a Salesforce Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score greater than 4.2/5.0.

In a way, PDO partners focus on the future of Salesforce by extending platform functionality faster than Salesforce can!

They types of projects PDO partners work with include:

  • AppExchange Listing, Trials and Demo
  • Architecture & UX Design
  • Development/QA/Release Management/Security Review
  • Ideation/Business Model/Value Prop
  • Marketing Support
  • Package Review & Optimization
  • Product Support

Additionally, Salesforce PDO partners understand the complexities that go into creating secure apps. 

The Salesforce security review process can be tricky to navigate. So it’s helpful to engage a PDO partner for their experience with the process. PDO partners can save time and avoid the headache of multiple security reviews.

Take all of that and layer on Pardot

Sercante gained the recognition of being the first Pardot PDO partner after we helped a number of companies build integrations with and extensions to Pardot. We also maintained an average 4.9 CSAT score on top of getting the work done.

And that’s the main difference with Pardot PDOs. We are expert-level consultants and developers who know how to bend the Pardot API to our will. 

 

Sercante Labs is where the Pardot PDO magic happens

The PDO side of the Sercante house lives within Sercante Labs. 

Operating as an independent division of the top Pardot System Integrator (SI), Sercante, Sercante Labs is led by VP of Engineering, Adam Erstelle, and VP of Product, Mike Fazio, with investment from Sercante founder Andrea Tarrell.

Mike explained the role of Sercante Labs in the Salesforce ecosystem.

“The vision of Sercante Labs is three-fold. One, we want to help ISVs build awesome extensions to Pardot and to bring more value-added integrations to the Pardot ecosystem. Second, we are building our own suite of products to continue to expand the power of Pardot. And third, we are focused on fostering meaningful relationships with the Salesforce ISV ecosystem in order to make sure we can collectively deliver a full package of useful products and services to our customers,” Mike said. 

The Sercante Labs division of the company is divided into three segments: 

Product Development

We build products and packaged solutions to support our clients’ needs. 

Prospect Updater is a solution we’ve created over the past few years based on real-life needs of our clients who wanted to automate their way to cleaner data. Additionally, we have a full suite of apps available and others in the works.

 

Product Development Outsourcing (PDO)

We support the design, build, and go-to-market strategy of custom Pardot integrations and Salesforce AppExchange solutions that are owned and managed by other vendors. 

 

ISV & External Partnerships

We interpret existing third-party technology options and areas for growth to core Sercante business. 

We hatched our Pardot-Zoom integration from this idea. The integration we built is more robust than the one Zoom currently offers.

 

Sercante Labs materializes Pardot dreams

Demand for extending Pardot functionality is growing rapidly as marketing teams use automations and integrations to make life easier for everyone.

“We used to say ‘wouldn’t it be nice if Pardot _____’. Now we get out there, build those solutions and share them with others,” Adam said about the founding of Labs.

Recognition from Salesforce as the first Pardot PDO solidifies the work Sercante Labs has done already and enables us to venture even further into uncharted Pardot waters.

“And it’s great that we now have the recognition to prove we can help others take action on their Pardot app ideas as well,” Adam concluded.

If you’re interested in our products or PDO services, drop us a line. We’d love to help however we can.

By |2021-06-03T18:40:20+00:00June 1st, 2021|Categories: CRM, Marketing Automation, Marketing Operations, News, Pardot, Salesforce, Sercante News|Tags: , , , , , |
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The Curse of the Unruly Import

Every year, when the date in the corner of my screen turns to October, I still get the chills thinking of it. No amount of pumpkin spice latte can warm my bones; no cozy fire can break the cold grip it still has on my very soul.

But here I am, telling my story, hoping someone can avoid the Curse.

It was a Monday, and was to be a momentous day for at least one person at our firm – our new CEO, whose email announcement would go out to our entire database in a news release later that morning. Not trusting this task to anyone else, it fell on my shoulders, as leader of our nascent marketing operations group.

The first email I saw that morning was from our Northeast Regional Sales manager, Dan. Timestamp: 2:24 a.m. He’d been at a tradeshow Friday and apparently in addition to free pens, he also got insomnia.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]m
Subject: URGENT IMPORT NEEDED

Hey – got all these leads from the Widgets and Witches show on Friday in Salem. Can you upload them AS damn P in the morning so we can send out a follow up? These are hot leads man and I need to make quota.

Despite it being Monday, despite the fact I’d not had a drop of coffee yet, I opened the file. What I beheld cannot be described to any mortal without instilling fear and loathing into even the purest of hearts.

It was a data horror show.

Dan had obviously been under the influence of some kind of drug when he gathered these leads. There was a “Fullname” column. The first 10 emails were either “[email protected]” or “[email protected]” Job titles were a mix of all caps or no caps. There seemed to be a nonsensical amalgamation of random data across columns – leads from Atlanta had Connecticut as the state. New York’s famous zip code appeared in the same row as a lead from Wichita. It then hit me like Frankenstein’s bolt of lightning: HE HAD SORTED THE COLUMNS INCORRECTLY!!

I immediately popped my head over my cubicle and yelled in Dan’s general direction, “Good GOD man, what did you do??!?!!”

That part, thankfully, was in my head.

I was told this later by marketing colleagues who’d gathered nearby, drawn by the incessant tap-tap-tapping of my pen against the desktop.

Coincidentally – or not – it was then that Jim made his presence known by Slacking me good morning. Given the state of our industry, Jim, the latest member to join my team, was green. Proverbial wet behind the ears. Listed Mailchimp as a skill on his resume. I had no choice but to groom him and teach him the Ways of the (Marketing Operations) Force.

Hey dude – saw that email from Dan. No worries – I took care of it. Happy Monday!

I glanced again at the email. DAN HAD CC’D JIM. My fingers took to the keyboard with the fury of a thousand scorned ghosts:

What do you mean you took care of it???

His reply seemed to take hours to travel the tubes.

Dan came to me this morning. He said he’d screwed up the sorting, and also told me that he was worried we already had some of the people in Salesforce. So, I just downloaded our global database, did some Excel magic to match everyone, and BAM – we’re all set! .

Bing again:

Even ticked the “global” box

Global box? What global box?

Bing: Another Slack. From the VP of Marketing. The urgency of her words seeming to pierce my monitor. Was the news release ready to go, she inquired? I replied confidently:

You bet – I scheduled it before I left on Friday. Sending at 11:30am.

“Scheduled it”…I remember this vaguely from Friday. Deep in the mid-afternoon torpor of a post-bar-b-que lunch, I decided help my future Monday self and take care of the email for him.

Excellent – thanks. Had a bad weekend! Just want this to go right.

A curious tone and surprising emotional confession from a superior? Maybe this will line me up for a promotion…

My daydream ending, I decided I’d check the news release email before explaining the finer points of data integrity to Jim.

Under Lists, I couldn’t believe what my optic nerve was relying to my brain:

Company News (0)

Zero? Zero? How can it be zero? My heart racing, thumping, pounding from my chest I darted out of my cubicle and over to Jim’s.

“Tell me about the global box?? What global box did you tick?” I screamed, grabbing him by the V-neck of his office casual golf shirt.

“The box to update stuff globally when you’re importing prospects!” he said. “The one in Pardot!!”

“The one under ‘select action’??!?!” I yelled.

“Uh, I think so,” he said, looking to the ground, searching his brain.

“That was the global opt-out option! YOU’VE OPTED OUT OUR ENTIRE DATABASE!!! OUR ENTIRE DATABASE!!!” I sunk dramatically to the floor, out of breath, a pressure on my chest I was unfamiliar with. IT WAS THE CURSE.

When I awoke, it was well-past 11:30am. The news release that should’ve gone out, did not. In the end, a call to support was made. The data, restored. The email went out the next day. Jim was made to take a remedial course in Excel and was never allowed to import leads again.

BUT IT WAS SCARY. For a hot minute.

And each year on that day, no one is allowed to import anything into Pardot on that day, lest the Curse of The Unruly Import strike again!

By |2019-10-29T15:52:39+00:00October 28th, 2019|Categories: CRM, Email Design, Email Development, Marketing Automation, Marketing Horror, Marketing Operations|Tags: , , |
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The Ghost

“It’s fine, I just wish they’d follow the process, ” I sighed. “I was able to get the email out before lunch, so it’s off my plate now.“

The wind blew, causing a swirl of crunchy leaves to dance across the path. I took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air, and exhaled slowly. Dark clouds were approaching, but the sun was still visible overhead and I could feel its warmth pour over me as if it was trying to comfort me.

“Have you told them they aren’t following the process? Maybe they just don’t know,” Nancy inquired, trying to give our co-workers the benefit of the doubt.

“Of course! I sent them over the documentation, and explained everything before. I know they felt really bad about this last minute request. I was able to move some things around, so it’s not a big deal. I was a little stressed over it, but it always helps to get outside and walk during lunch,” I said as I pulled out my phone to check the time and see how many steps I took during my lunch break.

Before I was able to check my steps, I noticed the bright red notification badge on the Slack icon increase from 5 to 6 messages. Now 7. My anxiety incrementally increased in tandem with the the number of notifications. I opened Slack.

Randy: Hey.
Randy: I think there might be a problem.
Randy: With that email we sent earlier.
Randy: Can you take a look?
Randy: Where are you?
Randy: I’m at your desk.
Randy: I guess you’re at lunch…

I took another deep breath and held onto it for a few moments before slowly releasing it.

“Another reason why rushed emails are a bad idea, ” I mumbled while opening the Gmail app to check my tests for what could have possibly gone wrong.

Me: Yeah, I’m outside walking. What’s wrong? I’m looking at the tests I sent to myself and I’m not noticing anything obvious?
Randy: It’s the button. We got a few replies saying it’s linking to example.com, but it’s working fine for me. Idk.

I click the button in my Gmail test, and it redirects exactly as I expected.

Me: Yeah, I’m not noticing an issue. I’m on my way in. I’ll check it as soon as I get back to my desk.

“What’s wrong?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t know. Something with the button, but it seems fine to me. Probably nothing, but I’m going to go check it out.”

I rushed back to my desk. My department was still deserted, the lights switched off. The only signs of life being the distant laughs and chatter pluming up the stairs from the cafe downstairs while everyone finished up their lunch breaks.

The glow of my screen illuminated my face like a specter while I cracked open my editor to investigate. My mouth dropped open in horror as I gasped, “it’s a… a…“

Suddenly the lights switched on, “it’s a what!?” I jumped as my manager cut through the silence like a knife.

“It’s a ghost… ” I said quietly as I winced while eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting.

“What are you even talking about?” My manager laughed as the rest of my team filtered back to their desks.

“The button. In the email we sent earlier. There’s some markup that helps our buttons to look the same in Outlook as it does in other email clients. But it’s hidden everywhere else. Like a… ghost… We forgot to update the link. So people using Outlook are being linked to example.com.” I explained frantically.

And from that day forward I was never the same. I learned that emails in Outlook don’t need to look exactly the same as every other email client, as long as they are functional and get the message across.

By |2019-10-15T18:28:14+00:00October 21st, 2019|Categories: Design and Development, Email Design, Email Development, Marketing Horror, Marketing Operations|Tags: , , |
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Don’t be a BCC Ghoul this Halloween…

This story comes to you from the deepest, darkest depths of a Marketing Operations professional’s soul. It’s a tale that one wishes to forget. The most horrifying surprise of all surprises.

As a Marketing Operations professional, you work tirelessly all year to ensure every email that goes out on your company’s behalf is perfect. On brand, technically formatted correctly for delivery, developed for optimal conversions and metrics, following a standard naming convention, structured for ease of reporting, the list goes on – and that list is also opted in, valid and compliant.

Processes are in place and most people, even the werewolves of the group, tend to follow the established processes.

Then, one dark and spooky Halloween morning, you receive an email to your inbox. Huh, it looks like one of the branded templates you usually send out of your marketing automation platform, but why is the header reduced to 100px wide? Where is the formatted company footer? This isn’t the approved font color and weight for our headers. Wait a second, this isn’t addressed to me, it’s to Chad. [GASP!] CHAD!

As you recall, you replied to Chad’s request that we can’t email a significant portion of his German contact list because they have not confirmed their opt in to receive Marketing communication. Sending to them would be a GDPR violation. He also did not like that he couldn’t change the headers to a different color because it wasn’t approved according to your company’s brand standards. But he replied with a cheeky “You’re awesome. Thanks so much for your help!” and moved on.

Freaking Chad. Don’t be Chad.

It is never ok to paste a branded, formatted template into Outlook, tweak it and BCC your entire audience. Marketing Operations is here to help you be a Marketing superhero! They have worked with creative to perfect the template – EVEN FOR OUTLOOK RECIPIENTS. They have read the ever so exciting GDPR documentation to ensure your company’s Marketing efforts are in compliance. They have worked hard to ensure your sender reputation is maintained and held to the highest standard.

Don’t be the ghoul that ruins your team’s Halloween this year. Don’t be Chad.

By |2019-10-15T20:16:16+00:00October 15th, 2019|Categories: CRM, Email Design, Marketing Automation, Marketing Horror, Marketing Operations|Tags: , , |
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