In the fast-paced world of Salesforce, it’s easy to get comfortable in your lane. You find your niche—Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Field Service—and focus on building deep expertise. But staying in your lane for too long can lead to missed opportunities, limited growth, and, ultimately, professional atrophy.
At Cloud Journey Group, we’ve seen firsthand how stepping out of our comfort zones has propelled both individual careers and company growth. Here’s how getting out of your lane can help you grow, along with real-world examples of how it’s been done successfully:
1. Meeting New Partners
The Salesforce ecosystem thrives on partnerships. Stepping outside your usual network to engage with new partners opens doors to fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and collaborative solutions.
One of our consultants connected with a ISV partner specializing in healthcare apps while attending a Salesforce event. By learning more about these apps, they were able to introduce innovative solutions to a healthcare client who needed exactly that combination of tools. The collaboration not only helped the client but also expanded our team’s expertise in healthcare technology.
Pro Tip: Attend local Salesforce community events, Dreamin’ conferences, or webinars hosted by ISVs to expand your network and learn about adjacent tools and solutions.
2. Learning New Skills
Innovation in the Salesforce ecosystem is constant, with new tools, features, and clouds being introduced regularly. By exploring areas outside your specialty, you give yourself the chance to develop new skills, gain certifications, and grow as a professional.
One team member, specializing in Sales Cloud, took on the challenge of learning Field Service Lightning for a manufacturing client. Through Trailhead and hands-on experience, they became certified and delivered a solution that improved the client’s operations significantly.
Pro Tip: Use Trailhead modules and real-world projects to experiment with new Salesforce products. Certifications in areas like Tableau or CPQ can also make you a more versatile resource.
3. Avoiding Professional Atrophy
Sticking to what you know can feel safe, but it also comes with risks. Over time, your expertise can stagnate, and you may find yourself outpaced by others who are willing to adapt and grow.
One of our senior consultants realized they were repeating similar projects and sought out opportunities to work on internal initiatives. This experience introduced them to new Salesforce automation tools, leading to innovative processes that saved our company time and resources.
Pro Tip: If you feel stuck, take on internal initiatives, volunteer for cross-functional teams, or seek out mentorship to find areas for growth.
4. Enhancing Cross-Cloud Expertise
Salesforce is designed as an interconnected platform, and developing cross-cloud expertise is one of the best ways to grow. Understanding how different products work together makes you more valuable to clients and enables you to design holistic solutions.
One consultant specialized in Service Cloud but decided to shadow a project involving Revenue Cloud. By observing and collaborating with a more experienced colleague, they learned how to integrate billing processes into customer support workflows, which became a key differentiator for future projects.
Pro Tip: Pair up with colleagues who specialize in other clouds and request to shadow their projects. The hands-on learning can be invaluable.
5. Solving Business Challenges Instead of Just “Building” Solutions
When you step out of your lane, you stop thinking about the technology alone and start focusing on solving business challenges. This shift in perspective can elevate your ability to design creative, high-impact solutions.
Our co-founder began her Salesforce journey by focusing on solving business problems rather than just building technical tools. By deeply understanding the challenges of the organization, she created solutions that transformed their processes and set the stage for long-term success.
Pro Tip: Partner closely with your clients or internal stakeholders to understand their challenges deeply. Approach every project with the mindset of solving a business problem—not just delivering a technical implementation.
The Bottom Line
Getting out of your lane isn’t just about stepping into something new—it’s about staying curious, embracing challenges, and building the connections and skills needed to thrive in the Salesforce ecosystem.
At Cloud Journey Group, we encourage our team to continually grow and explore. It’s what allows us to deliver exceptional value to our clients while driving our own professional development.
What’s one way you’ve stepped out of your lane recently? Let’s connect and share ideas for growth.
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