Career Spotlights
Salesforce
Functional Consultant
Whatever the Salesforce role, use our guide to benchmark your salary or contact rate, or to uncover what you should be paying employees in your team.
How much do Functional Consultants make?
Header
United States ($)
United Kingdom (£)
Germany (€)
Junior pay band
100,000 – 146,000
48,500 – 62,250
55,500 – 76,250
Header
United States ($)
United Kingdom (£)
Germany (€)
Senior pay band
146,000 – 169,000+
62,250 – 75,000+
76,250 – 106,250+
Header
United States ($)
United Kingdom (£)
Germany (€)
Contract rate
102 – 153 (p/h)
450 – 725 (p/d)
654 – 819 (p/d)
40 hours
Freelance Functional Consultants work an average of 40 hours per week
43 hours
Permanent Functional Consultants work an average of 43 hours per week
53%
of Functional Consultants are satisfied with their salary, down slightly from 54% in our last survey
73%
of Functional Consultants are satisfied with their job, up from 69% in our last survey
What factors impact your earning potential as a Functional Consultant?
We asked current Salesforce professionals what factors were most important in upping your earning potential in that role.
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years of technical experience with Salesforce | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Exposure to large projects | 95% | 5% | 0% |
|
Becoming a Salesforce product specialist (e.g. working with Salesforce Industries [Vlocity], CPQ, FSL, Sales and Service Cloud) |
91% | 10% | 0% |
| Years of experience in IT | 91% | 5% | 5% |
| Salesforce certifications | 81% | 14% | 5% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 62% | 29% | 10% |
| College/University degree(s) | 57% | 29% | 14% |
| Working with AI | 52% | 33% | 15% |
Years of technical experience with Salesforce
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 100% | 0% | 0% |
Exposure to large projects
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 95% | 5% | 0% |
Becoming a Salesforce product specialist (e.g. working with Salesforce Industries [Vlocity], CPQ, FSL, Sales and Service Cloud)
| Satisfied | Neutral | Dissatisfied |
|---|---|---|
| 91% | 10% | 0% |
Years of experience in IT
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 91% | 5% | 5% |
Salesforce certifications
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 81% | 14% | 5% |
Specific vertical industry experience
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 62% | 29% | 10% |
College/University degree(s)
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 57% | 29% | 14% |
Working with AI
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 52% | 33% | 15% |
What steps should you take to become a Functional Consultant?
Education
As with similar roles across the ecosystem, 74% of Functional Consultants hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. However, only 22% consider that a degree is needed to work with Salesforce, while 57% consider a degree to be an important factor when it comes to increasing earning potential.
Certification
All of the Functional Consultants who took part in our survey are certified, while, 86% of certified professionals believe that having a certification makes you a more valuable candidate.
Currently, there are no role-specific certifications designed for Functional Consultants like those built for roles like Developer and Administrator. That said, once you’ve earned a Salesforce Administrator certification then you can move on to a considerable range of Consultant-related, app-focused certifications, building your own accreditation portfolio based on the products you want to work with.
You can choose from:
- CRM Analytics and Einstein Discovery Consultant
- Data Cloud Consultant
- Education Cloud Consultant
- Experience Cloud Consultant
- Field Service Consultant
- Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Consultant (formerly Pardot Consultant)
- Marketing Cloud Consultant
- Nonprofit Cloud Consultant
- OmniStudio Consultant
- Sales Cloud Consultant
- Service Cloud Consultant
What Salesforce certifications do Functional Consultants hold?
Salesforce Certified Administrator
95%
Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
71%
Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant
62%
Salesforce Certified Service Cloud Consultant
57%
Salesforce Certified Business Analyst
52%
Roles that can lead on to becoming a Functional Consultant
Functional Consultants excel at understanding business needs, mapping processes, and documenting requirements. Their skill set often aligns with roles like Salesforce Administrator or Business Analyst, serving as a strong foundation for their career path. However, the transferable nature of their abilities means many Functional Consultants come from diverse backgrounds in business analysis or project management, including roles like:
- Systems Administrator
- Business Analyst
- Non-tech professionals who've used Salesforce as an end user/customer
What skills and experience should a Functional Consultant have?
Technical skills for Salesforce Functional Consultants
- Salesforce platform experience: : Deep understanding of Salesforce core functionalities, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and other modules
- Business process mapping: Proficiency in documenting and analyzing business processes
- Requirements gathering: Skill in eliciting and documenting business requirements
- Solution design: Ability to design Salesforce solutions based on business needs
- Configuration and customization: Knowledge of Salesforce configuration and customization options
- Data analysis: Proficiency in data analysis tools and techniques to identify trends and patterns
- Reporting and analytics: Expertise in creating reports, dashboards, and utilizing analytics tools
- Change management: Ability to manage change and communicate effectively with stakeholders
- Project management: Understanding of project management methodologies
Soft skills for Salesforce Functional Consultants
- Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Problem solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
- Stakeholder management: Ability to build relationships and manage expectations
- Collaboration: Effective teamwork and collaboration with cross-functional teams
- Facilitation: Skill in leading meetings and workshops
- Presentation skills: Ability to present complex information clearly and concisely
- Business acumen: Understanding of business operations and strategies
- Adaptability: Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and priorities
- Attention to detail: Meticulous approach to data and process analysis
- Customer focus: Understanding and meeting the needs of end-users
What are the opportunities for progression for a Functional Consultant?
Salesforce Functional Consultant
Senior Salesforce Functional Consultant
Salesforce Solution Architect
Are you looking to hire Salesforce professionals?
Are you a job seeker?
MASON FRANK’S
CAREERS AND HIRING GUIDE
KEY FINDINGS 2025
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables to allow you to compare your compensation or benchmark your teams’ salaries or rates no matter their role in the Salesforce ecosystem.
