Presenting Salesforce MVP: Marilo Meta

Welcome to Titan Talks, your destination for best practices and advice from all the greatest Salesforce professionals who enrich our community.

Today, we chatted with Marilo Meta, who explains his Salesforce journey in Albania.

Marilo is passionate about Salesforce and has been a part of the ecosystem for the last 8 years. He has attended Dreamforce events and has made many connections with MVPs and GCLs, who motivated him to pursue his goals with Salesforce. Keep reading for all the highlights from this podcast, and find out Marilo’s advice for the young leaders in the community.  

Alice: Hi, everyone, and welcome to Titan Talks. We have a very exciting episode today, where we’re joined by Marilo Meta. He’s a Salesforce MVP and has been doing compelling things in the community.

Welcome, Marilo. How are you doing?

Marilo: Hello everyone. Thank you for the invitation.

Alice: Wonderful. Let’s kick this off. How did you begin your Salesforce journey? And what sparked your passion for the Salesforce ecosystem? Where did it all start?

Marilo: Yeah, actually, I started my Salesforce journey approximately eight years ago. It was 2017/2018, when I was working in Washington, D.C., for an international organization, in an open government partnership. They had just started using Salesforce and Slack.

I was their knowledge management and information technology specialist. They assigned me the task of checking Salesforce because it was new for all of them. Since, they had just started working with Salesforce, they needed to learn more about the system to share their knowledge with the organization.

The organization had approximately 60 employees, so it was my first huge task. The organization helped me learn, and they sent me to Dreamforce in 2018. It was my first Dreamforce, and I met many people there.

Some people were Salesforce MVPs and CGLs. From that point, I started doing more with the community—not only working with the company and its Salesforce system but also going broader for the community. The Salesforce Community Group Leaders and MVPs shared different tips on how to promote the CRM system and expand it.

From that moment, I started working more within the Salesforce ecosystem and the social community. When I returned to Albania in 2019, I started the Salesforce chapter here, where I could be the community group leader in Albania.

Alice: Oh, that’s a super interesting journey, which brings me to my next question. You’ve played a very key role in building the Salesforce community in Albania. Do you want to chat a little bit about that and also what it’s like to build Salesforce in nontraditional territories or territories outside of the US?

What’s this journey been like for you?

Marilo: When I started my journey in 2019, Salesforce was pretty new in Albania. At first, it was very difficult for me.

But I think it was the best way to start it in a country where many companies don’t know about this technology. Nonetheless, it was the best path because we created a local user group. So, Salesforce people could join a community in Albania. The local user group is where people like me can meet others.

The local user group was small, but we had the opportunity to meet regularly every month to share our knowledge, expertise, and best practices. These meetups foster more community and collaboration. So, after becoming friends or being invited by colleagues, we started sharing more on social media and online platforms.

After that, we started organizing more training sessions for people interested in Salesforce. After one year and a half, we also started partnering with local businesses, education institutions, and NGOs. This, I think, helped to boost community engagement in the town.

Alice: Sure, and in your experience in this time frame, do you find any particular industries or areas where Salesforce has taken off the most in Albania?

Marilo: Yeah, actually, the financial industry here in Albania because there are many companies in this sector. These would be other institutions, unlike your banks, but financial organizations using Salesforce. Also, the other consultant companies use Salesforce, and I have seen this year with my company the request from retailers to use the CRM system.

However, due to the price, they still need to decide when to sign up for Salesforce. So, I’ve seen some retail companies ask us questions, mainly because they want to get a CRM, as they don’t have one. In the last year, I’ve seen a boost in requests from retail companies here in Albania.

Alice: Wow, that’s really interesting. So you have your own company? Please tell us a little bit about that and a time when you’ve managed to improve a function. Were there any common roadblocks that you faced?

Marilo: Yes, actually, two years ago, we started the company. My colleague and I had previously implemented Salesforce for other companies. Then, we hoped to start the company here in Albania because of our involvement with the ecosystem, which was the organization founded in 2017.

The organization has the Salesforce nonprofit package, which is free for 10 user licenses. This helps to boost the organization’s work for those 10 users.

Since 2017, we have had the opportunity to use Salesforce for our operations and organizational enhancements. Since starting the company, I have already been given information on how to become a Salesforce consultant partner.

It was a smooth process to become a Salesforce consultant partner. Since then, we have been working with other companies, so I can share my experience with one business from the UK. They needed the B2B Marketing Cloud.

So, they chose to be in Account Engagement and needed it. We actually had the target of two weeks to implement their B2B solution. We executed Salesforce Account Engagement within two weeks for the company.

Another small business case involved a retail company from Albania that needed to innovate its sales and customer service. However, it didn’t have Salesforce, so we implemented Salesforce Sales and Service Cloud in their company to stream down their sales over time, enhancing customer service operations.

I can say that for these two examples and others, there were some roadblocks. One of the main ones has been the resistance from the employees to change the way they work. They’re in their comfort zone and don’t want a new solution.

They think it’s complicated and want to stay safe. So, there is opposition to change even if it is better to improve. This is one of the main blows we have seen during implementation as consultants.

We have also seen data migration challenges and integration issues with existing systems. It depends on which system they have, their existing integrations, and their legacy systems.

So, these have been the roadblocks.

Alice: Yeah, and on that note, what is the most powerful tool for helping people change their minds or shift the mindsets of those unwilling to adapt to a new way, even if that method is more efficient and saves a lot of time? What do you think is effective?

Marilo: It’s to go for user adoption. The user needs to adopt the process to become familiar with and be happy with the solution. For that to happen, the user needs training and to be approached with the proper communication.

It’s also important to imagine yourself as your guest, customer, or employee and show them how to do it. For example, a user may resist change but be comfortable doing 123 tasks that take seven times longer to complete than using your system.

In this case, you can present to the user the same process but with your new system for about half the time. Then, you can train the user to be happy with the new adoption.

Yeah, so this has been the case!

Alice: Great, that’s a really interesting perspective. On another note, how can Salesforce and other digital tools empower young leaders and equip them for social change? You worked with LDA Europe.

How do you leverage technology to foster leadership in the Western Balkans?

Marilo: Yes, actually, I think digital tools are very important for leadership in general—not only for communities or individuals but even for governance and society. In this region, we have public services, and the solutions are providing technology to address more citizens.

This is very helpful because it provides a short time to implement solutions. It also allows everyone to access public services, such as receiving a syndicate or doing everything the government tells us. These general technology tools are essential.

Also, with the community and in the organization, leveraging the best digital platforms gives me and my team the resources and the capability to drive social change. In this case, you can ask why or how this can be done. So, using Salesforce and Slack, as we have been doing since 2017, provides us with resources and capabilities to:

• Manage our data.
• Collaborate with our team and external team.
• Communicate with our team, external team, and others.

All of these features help a leader, in my opinion, to:

• Organize initiatives
• Check progress
• Engage with the community

LDA Europe leverages this technology by integrating Salesforce with our platforms. For example, when organizing a conference, we check the engagement and participation. We also have a project to check the donors and facilitate membership programs to foster a culture of data-driven decision-making.

This can be difficult if you don’t have this culture. But it’s important to note data can be used to foster this culture and to be more coordinated altogether. By empowering young people with these tools, I think we enable them to lead projects more efficiently and to advocate for their cause.

They can start an initiative, manage its data, check engagement, and create the report. So, they can drive this 360° aspect of the initiative’s management. In the end, they can have a good social impact.

Alice: That’s a great answer and super inspiring. What’s on the horizon for LDA Europe? What’s your next sort of milestone? Is anything new in the works on your horizon?

Marilo: Actually, for LDA Europe, we have been expanding. We have been in Albania as an organization, opening branches in Kosovo in 2018. This year, we opened in Serbia and North Macedonia.

We are working with Montenegro now to open a branch so we can have common projects. Many Erasmus Plus and EU project funding that are localized for the Western Balkan. For the Balkan region has to achieve this we need collaboration, communication, and power in our organization. Young people have to achieve this and be prepared for the region’s funding, initiatives, and EU initiatives.

And so we are looking forward to this.

Alice: Yeah, it’s absolutely inspiring. You wear a lot of hats. You’re a Salesforce MVP, which is a massive accolade. You run a company, and you’re involved in LDA Europe. How do you manage your time and priorities and effectively carry out all this wonderful work?

Marilo: Thank you for supporting this. I enjoy all this work since 2018. Sometimes it has been difficult like managing:

• The organization
• The NGO
• The company
• The Salesforce community

But what I found in my case is to set clear goals. This has been very practical for me. Try to define it as the organization would, with SMART goals, which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals.

These goals help you define a specific, measurable, and achievable goal, which provides a clear distinction so you don’t get confused while prioritizing tasks.

Between all of this, identifying high-priority tasks has been very important. So, what is needed for every business? Focus! That is the main part.

Every management and business organization needs focus. Identifying high-priority tasks requires attention and focus on those tasks first. I have used project management tools like Atlassian and Asana before.

For a company to prioritize tasks, another part I’ve seen has been to delegate. The delegation part has helped me manage different activities.

If you want to keep everything for yourself, it’s very difficult. You’ll lose focus. So, it’s important to delegate and empower other people to take responsibility. This has been helpful in my practice and my continuous learning.

Of course, with Salesforce, all the time is continuous learning. New technology is advancing, so constant learning and staying updated with the latest certifications and trends is essential.

Alice: Yeah, I agree with that, especially in the Salesforce ecosystem, which, as you say, is evolving constantly. You’re a global peace ambassador; you inspire a lot of young people. What are your top tips for aspiring young leaders who want to make a difference in their community?

Marilo: I actually wrote the title of Global Peace Ambassador from Global Peace Chain. Since 2016, I have participated in many conferences and youth activities for peace and solidarity.

My suggestion as an aspiring leader is to lead with passion and integrity. I think with genuine passion, we call on others to follow and support us. If you are genuine and passionate, the others will feel, see it, and follow all the others who share the same passion. They will all follow and support you when you lead with integrity.

Additionally, I think one has to be open to learning and collaboration. It’s important to listen to others, learn more, share this information, collaborate with others, and involve diverse groups. Listen to different perspectives and work together towards common goals from diverse outlooks.

Alice: Wow, that’s wonderful. That brings us to the end of our questions, Marilo. I can speak for all of our audience and say this has been a fascinating conversation and also a really inspiring one about the power of Salesforce, not just to implement projects or make waves in the commercial world but also to inspire a new generation.

I’m particularly impressed by what you’ve achieved in Albania. I hope we’ll chat again soon. Thank you for your time.

Marilo: Thank you Alice.

*Note: This article is an edited transcript of the interview with Marilo Meta.

We hope to see you soon!

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