At Incloud, we love Salesforce, we believe in it, we dream about it. But we also know that not everyone is a Salesforce fan, and that many people are still apprehensive about using this CRM platform. We also understand the importance of making full use of Salesforce and optimizing its use to improve your productivity.
That’s why we’ve decided to write this blog post: to offer you a few tips and tools to help you get the most out of Salesforce and enjoy a seamless experience.
Tip 1: Customize the Salesforce interface
Make your Salesforce environment your own! By customizing the Salesforce interface, you can create an interface that reflects you and your unique needs. Imagine having quick access to the information and features that are most important to you. Among other things, customizing your interface can also enable you to view relevant data on a dashboard that will provide you with valuable information at a glance.
The Incloud tip: Here’s how to leverage the Launcher app to simplify navigation, customize your interface and make Salesforce even easier to use:
- Log in to Salesforce, go to Configuration (gear icon), then select “Home”.
- Under “User Interface”, choose “Lightning Experience Application Manager” to create or customize an application.
- Click on “New Lightning application”, then provide the desired details (application name, description, logo) and select the desired navigation elements.
- Adjust the navigation style, the required elements and assign users as required.
- Click “Save & Finish”, and your customized interface is now available in the Application Launcher.
Tip 2: Adopt Salesforce keyboard shortcuts
Say goodbye to useless clicks and hello to efficiency! Salesforce keyboard shortcuts are real magic formulas that will save you time and boost your productivity. From creating new records to navigating between different Salesforce sections, these shortcuts will become your secret weapons. You can even create your own customized shortcuts to suit your specific needs.
Here’s a list of our favorite keyboard shortcuts to inspire you:
- G + D: Go to “Application launcher dashboard”.
- G + H: Go to “Home
- G + C: Go to “Chatter
- G + P: Go to “People
- G + W: Go to “Global Search
- Ctrl + Shift + M: Open or close utility bar (if available)
- And finally, if you have to choose just one, we recommend this one: Shift + / to display keyboard shortcuts
Tip 3: Automate routine tasks
Free up time for what really matters! Salesforce automation tools are designed to simplify your day-to-day life by taking care of routine tasks. They’ll help you save precious time, reduce manual effort and focus on what’s really important.
For our part, the two tools that come to mind when we hear “automation” are Process Builder and Workflow Rules, and we wanted to share their main differences with you:
- Complexity: Process Builder enables you to set up more complex, multi-criteria processes, while Workflow Rules work best for single if/then statements.
- Actions: Process Builder supports more actions, such as creating a record, updating any linked record and calling Apex code. Workflow Rules can only perform four types of action: creating tasks, updating fields, sending outgoing messages and sending e-mail alerts.
- Order of operations: Process Builder lets you control the order of operations in the automation process, whereas Workflow Rules do not.
As you can see, the Process Builder is a more advanced tool, capable of doing everything that Workflow Rules can do and more.
Tip 4: Master Salesforce reports and dashboards
Get ready to become a data specialist! Salesforce reports and dashboards will be your faithful allies for data analysis and decision-making. Reports let you visually represent your Salesforce data in tables, matrices or graphs to identify trends and monitor indicators.
Dashboards, meanwhile, are collections of reports, presented in a visually appealing way for a quick overview of data. They are customizable, composed of different visuals (e.g. bar charts) and can be programmed to refresh automatically and email users the latest data.
Here’s how to get started using these two tools:
- To create a report, access the “Reports” tab, select the desired report type, apply filters and criteria, then customize the report layout. Once the report has been created, click on “Save” and specify the report folder and visibility parameters.
- To create a dashboard, access the “Dashboards” tab and click on “New dashboard”. Then choose the report(s) to be included in the dashboard, organize them as you wish and customize the dashboard components. Save the dashboard and define its visibility parameters, making it available for users to consult and interact with the data.
Tip 5: Keep up to date with the latest Salesforce versions and training courses
It’s true, the tech world is constantly evolving, and that goes for the Salesforce environment too, so it’s essential to stay up to date. We wanted to share with you our favorite core resources to help you stay informed and improve your Salesforce skills.
- Follow official Salesforce blogs and sites, such as the Salesforce Blog and the Salesforce Training and Help Center.
- Join the Salesforce Trailblazer community to connect with experts, participate in forums and access the latest news and updates on products and services.
- Attend Salesforce events, such as Dreamforce, world tours or local user groups, to discover new features and connect with the Salesforce community.
- Subscribe to Salesforce newsletters and email updates to receive timely information on product releases, webinars and training opportunities.
- Follow Salesforce’s official social media channels, including Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, for real-time updates, announcements and educational content.
At Incloud, we believe in the enormous potential of Salesforce and want to help you get the most out of this CRM platform. Don’t hesitate to put these tips into practice and explore the additional resources we recommend to further develop your Salesforce expertise and make your working life easier, more productive and more enjoyable than ever.
Click here to ask us anything about Salesforce!
