Cloudy's Chalkboard: Use a Workflow to send an Email

Using workflows in salesforce.com to automate your business processes saves you time, money and frustrating busywork. Today, we will set up a workflow to send an email. Emails can be automatically sent not only to salesforce.com users, but to other employees, business partners, and customers. Merge fields in the email template can bring in the recipient's name as well as other information from their record.

If you are not yet using workflows, you might not know when you should use one! Here are some examples of when you might use a workflow to send an email:

-When an Opportunity worth more than $50k is Closed-Lost, the sales manager should be notified for follow-up.
-When a Sales Rep completes a demo with a client, a Thank You email should be sent to the client.
-When a new Account is created in a given geographic location, the regional manager should be notified.

These specific examples might not apply to your business, but can help you start thinking about the kinds of events and processes in your org that should trigger an automatic email or alert.

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Let's use the example of the Thank You note after a demo. After completing a product demo with a contact, the Sales Rep marks a custom checkbox called "Demo Participant"  on the contact records of the participants.  When this box is checked, we want to automatically send out a personalized thank you email to that contact.

Step 1: Create the Email Template

The Merge Fields on your template should be related to "Contact." For step-by-step instructions to create an email template, check out Cloudy's Chalkboard: How to Create an Email Template. Be sure to mark the "Available for Use" checkbox before you are done!

Step 2: Create the Workflow Rule

• Go to Setup>Create>Workflow & Approvals>Workflow Rules and click "New."
• Select the object where the trigger action will occur. (In this case, "Contact".) Click "Next".
• Name and describe the rule. As a best practice, begin the rule name with the name of the object, or an abbreviation thereof. (When you have a lot of workflows, this helps keep related rules grouped together in the list.)
• Under Evaluation Criteria, choose "created, and any time it's edited to subsequently meet criteria".
• Under Rule Criteria, define the field values or formula test that will trigger the action. For this example "Contact: Demo Participant" + "equals" + "TRUE"
• Click "Save & Next"

Step 3: Add the Workflow Action

• Select "New Email Alert" from the Add Workflow Action menu. A new screen will appear.
• Add a short description (the unique name will auto-pupulate based on the description).
• Select your email template from the lookup.
• Under Recipient Type, select "Email Field" and from the dual panes below, select the correct contact email address.
• Click "Save." On the final screen that appears, click "Activate".

You are ready to test your workflow!

If you would like help adding process automation to your salesforce.com, Contact Us!

Cloudy's Chalkboard: Email Template Pro Tips!

In Cloudy's last two posts, you learned how to set up salesforce.com email letterheads and templates. Once you get started with email templates, you won't want to quit! The possibilities for saving time and streamlining processes are many, but you will encounter questions and roadblocks as your imagination kicks in. Here are a couple of Cloudy's favorite Pro Tips for getting the most out of Email Templates:

Pro Tip #1: Merging information from related records

You may have noticed that unlike elsewhere in salesforce.com (such as in the advanced formula editor), the Merge Field menu does not allow you to navigate through layers of related records to grab the Merge Field you want. For instance, if you are sending a Contact-related email, you cannot insert a field from their related Account record.

Get around this by adding a formula field to the Contact record which captures the related Account field that you need for your email! You don't have to put this field on your page layout, and you may want to give it a distinctive name and description so that you and other administrators can easily remember its function.  ie. "THIS IS AN EMAIL TEMPLATE FORMULA FIELD!"

Pro Tip #2: "Sending User" Information

If you have numerous reps all using the same Template to email Contacts, you may want a way for each rep's contact information to populate in the template automatically - for instance, as a personalized "signature".

Simply select "Sending User Fields" from the "Select Field Type" picklist.  Whereas most of your template merge fields must come from the Object that the email will be related to (ie. "Contact"), the Sending User fields are an exception.

This merge field will allow the recipient to easily call the rep who sent the email.

**IF YOUR "SENDING USER" MERGE FIELDS ARE NOT POPULATING CORRECTLY: check that the correct user information is entered on the User record!

Pro Tip #3: Dynamic URLs

You can add a basic URL link by:
1: Type the text as you would like it to appear and highlight it.
2: Click the LINK icon on the tool bar.
3: Enter the web url in the box that appears.

But what if you don't want to link to a STATIC website, and instead you want to send a dynamic/individualized URL based on the record you are sending from?

Simply create a URL field on the primary object, and populate it with your individualized URL links. Then on your template, follow the same steps as above but paste the MERGE FIELD for your new URL field in the text box.

You now have a dynamic URL link that will change based on the record it is sent from!

These are just a few of Cloudy's favorite email template tips.  If you have more questions about advanced functionality with salesforce.com email templates, Contact Us!

Related Posts:

Cloudy's Chalkboard: How to Create an Email Letterhead

Cloudy's Chalkboard: How to Create an Email Template

Cloudy's Chalkboard: How to Create an Email Template

Hopefully you are already using the emailing capabilities of salesforce.com to not only streamline and automate your email processes, but to capture relevant records of all your client communications!

Last time, Cloudy illustrated the steps to create an email letterhead. A themed letterhead with your logo will give your emails a consistent, branded look and feel. Today we will create an email template.  

With email templates you get simplicity and quality control:

• Standardize the email messages used by your team.
• Keep all messaging in line with your brand.
• Enhance speed and productivity.
• Personalize with easy merge fields.

Step 1: Create a new email template Go to Setup>Communication Templates>Email Templates.

• If you do not have any custom template folders set up, this is a good time to create one! Just click the "Create New Folder" link next to the Folders menu and give your new folder a distinctive name, such as "Your Company Name Email Templates".
• Click the "New Template" button.
• Select "HTML (Using Letterhead)" 

Step 2: Name your template

• Confirm the correct destination folder is selected.
• Check the "Available For Use" check box.
• Name your template - be descriptive!
• Select the Letterhead you created last time from the menu
• Choose an email layout; for your first template, try the "Free Form Letter" and check out the other options at another time.
• Enter a detailed description of the content and intended use of this template.
• Click "Next".

Step 3: Compose your email template Read the tips at the top of this salesforce.com page!

• Start by typing the text as you would like it to appear. Note where you would like to insert merge fields; for instance "Dear FIRST NAME,"...
• When the basic text is in place, you are ready to insert merge fields! In the "Available Merge Fields" tool bar, select the OBJECT that this email will be sent from or related to. CONTACT is the most common choice, but Leads and Opportunities are also common. The Object you choose should be the one that contains the information you want to use as merge fields.
• After selecting the object, find the field you want from the second picklist. ie. "First Name"
• The Merge Field "code" will appear highlighted in the third field of the tool bar. Copy and paste it into the correct position in your template.

• When you are ready to test the template, click next, copy your content into the Text-only editor, and click "Save." Now you will see a button to "Send test and verify Merge fields."  If the test goes well, your template is complete!

Tune in next week for Cloudy's Email Template Pro Tips!

If you would like Cloudy's help with salesforce.com templates or anything else, please CONTACT US!

Cloudy's Chalkboard: How to Create an Email Letterhead

Creating an email letterhead is the first step toward fully harnessing the power of email from within salesforce.com.
If you are not already using email within (or integrated with) your salesforce.com, let's briefly consider a few benefits of doing so:

• 360 degree view of all communication with a Contact:  As you and your teammates communicate with your contacts, all emails are tracked on the contact record so that everyone can see the full story of those interactions (alongside logged calls and other activities).

• Automation: If you are using the Enterprise or Unlimited edition of salesforce.com, email messages can be automatically sent and logged, based on criteria you set.

• Consistent messaging: By utilizing Letterheads and Templates, you can standardize your messaging, reduce the time spent composing emails, and give all your emails a consistent brand identity, using a Letterhead with your colors and logos.

Get started down this path by following along with Cloudy to create a salesforce.com letterhead like this simple example:

With just a logo and a few color choices,
 Redpath now has a letterhead that will ensure a consistent,
branded look for all of their outgoing email.

Step 1: Upload your logo (or other image) to the Documents tab in your salesforce.com. 

•  If you cannot see this tab, find it by clicking the "+" to the right of your tabs.  

• If you don't have any document folders set up, you can create one by clicking the "Create New Folder" link.  For instance, create a folder called "Logos."

• Before uploading, make sure the logo is the exact size you want for the Letterhead.  Unlike other familiar document and image interfaces, such as Word or Google Docs, you will not be able to adjust the size of the image after loading it. (If you make a mistake on the size of the image, simply replace your original image or load it as a separate document.

• Be sure to select the "Externally Available Image" checkbox!

Step 2: Create the Letterhead Go to Your Name> Setup> Communication Templates> Letterheads> New Letterhead.

• Give your letterhead a descriptive name and be sure to check the "Available for Use" checkbox. Click "Next".

• On the Letterhead edit page which appears, add your Logo by clicking the "Select Logo" button and finding the logo you uploaded in the correct folder.  If you do not see your logo in the correct folder, you probably forgot to select the "Externally Available Image" checkbox!  You can fix it by going back to the Documents tab, find the logo, click "edit" and select the checkbox.

• Click through the other "Edit" boxes on the Letterhead editor to choose colors and styles for the rest of the letterhead.

• Click the "Preview" button above the editor to see how it looks!

• Click "Save".  (You can always come back and edit it more later)

Your Letterhead is ready to use. Try it out by navigating to a contact record and clicking "Send an Email." on the Activity History related list.  At the top of the email interface that appears, you will see a "Select Template" button.  (If you do not see your template in the pop-up dialogue, you probably forgot to select the "Available for Use" checkbox!  You can fix it by going back to the Letterheads page, clicking "edit" next to your letterhead, and marking the checkbox on the edit page.) With just this set up, you can send free form emails from salesforce.com that will have a consistent company brand, and the emails will be automatically attached to the correct contact records.

Next week, Cloudy will help you reach the next level of emailing in salesforce.com by creating Email Templates!

Read more Cloudy's Chalkboard tutorials:
Cloudy's Dashboard - Create Roll-up Summaries
Cloudy's Dashboard - Creating Dashboards

Cloudy's Dashboard - Grouped Bar Charts