SMB study plan

SMB · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 7 hours per week

Week 1

Salesforce Fundamentals for Small Business

Define each core Salesforce object (Account, Contact, Opportunity, Lead, Case) and explain how they relate in a small-business data model
Map the standard Sales Cloud and Service Cloud feature set to common small-business scenarios without consulting notes
Differentiate standard vs custom objects and list three cases where a custom object is justified
Describe the Salesforce sharing model at a conceptual level (org-wide defaults, roles, permission sets)

One-page object-and-relationship diagram plus a 15-question self-quiz scored at 80% or higher

Week 2

Configure a lead-to-opportunity conversion path and explain what fields carry over
Build a simple opportunity sales process with at least three stages and stage-specific requirements
Explain products, price books, and opportunity line items and when a small business needs them
Set up a basic forecast or pipeline view and interpret what it reports

Working sandbox pipeline with 5 sample opportunities moving through 3 stages, plus a screenshot-free written walkthrough of each stage transition

Week 3

Design a case intake process including case origin, priority, and assignment rules
Configure at least two case escalation or support-milestone style thresholds and justify the numbers
Explain queues, omni-channel routing concepts, and when each suits a small team
Connect the sales pipeline to post-sale case creation in a described end-to-end flow

Written case-routing design doc covering intake, assignment, and escalation with rationale for each threshold

Week 4

Build a knowledge article structure and map articles to case resolution steps
Define service metrics a small business should track (first response, resolution time, reopen rate) and how each is calculated
Explain entitlements and service contracts at a conceptual level and identify when they are overkill
Describe how a self-service portal or help center reduces case volume

Service KPI definition sheet with formulas, targets, and data sources for five metrics

Week 5

Explain the difference between leads, contacts, and marketing audiences and how consent applies
Build a simple email campaign flow from audience selection to send to response tracking
Describe how campaign members and campaign influence connect marketing to pipeline
Outline a small e-commerce or storefront scenario and identify which Commerce features apply

Campaign plan one-pager with audience criteria, message cadence, success metrics, and pipeline attribution method

Week 6

Distinguish reports from dashboards and select the right report format for five business questions
Design a dashboard for a small-business owner with no more than six components and justify each
Explain report filters, groupings, and summary formulas well enough to build a pipeline-by-stage report
Identify data quality risks (duplicates, missing fields, stale records) and propose two controls

Report and dashboard specification listing components, filters, groupings, and the decision each supports

Week 7

Explain what flow automation can do versus what requires code, using three small-business examples
Design one automation (for example lead assignment or case escalation) as a trigger, condition, and action sequence
Describe Agentforce at a conceptual level: what an agent is, what data it needs, and where a human must stay in the loop
Identify two automation risks (recursion, over-notification) and how to prevent each

Automation design spec for two flows with trigger, entry conditions, actions, and failure handling written out

Week 8

Complete two timed full-length practice sets and log every missed question by domain
Re-study the two weakest domains using targeted notes rather than full re-reads
Re-explain each domain's core concepts aloud in under three minutes per domain
Confirm exam-day logistics and build a one-page formula and concept cheat sheet

Score log showing both practice attempts, domain-level accuracy, and evidence of improvement in the two weakest domains

Week 2: Score 75% or higher on a 20-question Domain 1 and 2 mixed set and explain lead-to-cash flow from memory

Week 4: Score 75% or higher on a 20-question Domain 2 and 3 mixed set and produce case-routing and KPI docs without notes

Week 6: Score 75% or higher on a 25-question mixed set spanning Domains 1 through 5 and justify every dashboard component chosen

Week 8: Score 80% or higher on two consecutive full-length timed practice sets with no domain below 70%