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

Makeover Magic: Page Layouts!

One of the most impactful things you can do in your salesforce.com to increase adoption, satisfaction, efficiency, and productivity among your users is to give your page layouts and related lists a makeover. 

It's true!  While custom fields, relationships, formulas, workflows and reports are the workhorses that make your salesforce.com such a powerful tool, it is hard to harness that power if the environment is not optimized.  New users can be confused and discouraged by complex customizations that are cramped and cluttered.  And as you know, poor user adoption leads to bad data and frustrated admins!

Check out these dramatic before & after photos to see the difference a page layout makeover can make.

Page Layout Detail View:

Related Lists

Take a look at your records with these ideas in mind.  For even more about page layouts, check out this post from Mike at buttonclickadmin.com: How to Make Your Salesforce Page Layouts Awesome.

If you would like some help optimizing your salesforce.com org, Contact Us!  The consultants at Redpath are experts in salesforce.com evaluation, field utilization analysis, data validation and cleanup, and general salesforce.com tune-ups.  

Cloudy's Chalkboard: Creating Dashboards

Salesforce.com reports are a powerful tool for understanding your data, but when you have many reports, levels of complexity, and large amounts of data, it can be a lot to take in.  Charts and Dashboards are the best way to create snapshot views of your data.

Good dashboards give executives the answers to the questions they care about most, give managers a handy tool to drive meetings, and give users an organized view of the things they need to prioritize.  If you have never created a dashboard, here is a step by step tutorial to get you started.

Step 1: A dashboard is simply a visual representation of a collection of reports, so the first step is to create or identify the folder where you will store these reports.  If Cloudy is creating a Sales Dashboard, he will create a new report folder and call it "Sales Dashboard Reports."  Since report privacy is set at the folder level, now is the time to think about who gets to see this data and make the appropriate settings on the folder.  To create a new report folder, go to the Reports tab, click the folder icon at the top right of the folder menu, and select "New Report Folder."

Step 2: Create Summary or Matrix reports showing what you want to represent with your chart components  (Tabular reports cannot be used for dashboards).  The Format settings menu is found in the Preview pane of the Report Builder; if you are relatively new to report building, start with a Summary report!  Save your reports in the folder you created in Step 1.

Step 3: Create or identify the folder where you will store your dashboard.  As with reports, privacy is determined at the folder level, so consider those security questions now.  To create a new dashboard folder, go to the Reports tab, click the folder icon at the top of the left hand folder menu, and select "New Dashboard Folder."

A table can be configured to link
directly to the listed records.

Use a pie chart to show
proportions against the total.

Step 4: Create your Dashboard by going to the Reports tab and clicking the "New Dashboard" button.  Using the drag-and-drop interface, add the chart types you want to use from the "Components" tab, and then find the matching reports from the "Data Sources" tab and drag them onto the correct components.  You can use the same report for more than one chart if you want to represent the data in more than one way.

A gauge shows progress
toward a goal or a limit.

A grouped line chart show data
trends over time
                               

Step 5: Customize your chart components.  You can add a title, subtitle, and footer simply by clicking in those spaces.  Click the wrench in the upper right corner of each component to view further formatting options.   (For a tutorial on one advanced formatting option, see Cloudy's Chalkboard - Grouped Bar Charts)

When you are ready to view your completed dashboard, Click "Save As" and save the dashboard to the correct folder, then click "Close."  On the Dashboard viewing page, a "Refresh" button appears at the top of the page.  Your dashboard will not refresh automatically; you must either click the button or schedule refreshes to occur regularly by clicking the down arrow next to "Refresh" and selecting "Schedule Refresh."  On this page, you will also see the option to have a dashboard emailed to you or any other user on a recurring schedule.  This is a great way to keep managers or teams up to date.

If you have other questions about using dashboards, please leave a comment below, or Contact Us!

Cloudy Cumulus is part of Redpath Consulting Group, based in Minneapolis, MN (c) 2012

Clean ALL the Data!!! Part II

When it comes to defeating dirty data in Salesforce.com, the best offense is a good defense: start by giving your records, layouts, and fields a major tune-up.  

1) Eliminate all the unneeded fields cluttering your records.  

2) When possible, use pick lists instead of free-entry fields to reduce the impact of typos.  

3) Establish naming conventions and standards for record-completeness and make sure your users understand them.

4) Go over your page layouts and check the tab-order on your records to ensure that the settings are optimized for efficient data-entry.

5) Make the most important fields “required” on the page layout to ensure complete data entry.

6) Implement some helpful validation rules on fields that tend to accumulate errors to help your users check themselves.  

Talk to your users to make sure that the new required fields and validation rules are helpful to them: a heavy-handed application of these rules can be annoying and hurt user adoption, but when used judiciously, they are good for all!  Make sure that users understand how to search for dupes BEFORE entering new information in the system.

Once you have established these standards for clean data entry, apply them to all your data sources, whether lists, syncs, imports, or web-to-lead sources.  If you have not already, consider installing DupeCatcher in your org.

Having taken these steps to prevent dirty data, you may now turn your attention to cleaning up an existing mess. Here are two of Cloudy's favorite clean-up tools:

DemandTools: This is the go-to app for administrators looking to clean up their org. According to the provider, "DemandTools contains modules for data deduplication, normalization, standardization, comparison, verification, import, export, mass delete to name a few." It offers a free trial, free subscriptions to non-profits, and significantly reduced rates for small to medium businesses.

Data Quality Analysis Dashboards: This FREE app provides a set of dashboards that give you a quick and easy view of data quality in your org, especially as it relates to record completeness. You can quickly see which types of records in your org are most in need of remedial attention, which fields are most often being ignored, and how individual users rank in terms of data entry performance. The app offers great out-of-the-box functionality, and can easily be customized to show you what you really need to see.

If you would like help with dirty data prevention, remediation, and user training, Contact Us!

Click Here to read Clean ALL the Data!!! Part I:  Cloudy's report on how dirty data hurts your business.

Cloudy Cumulus is part of Redpath Consulting Group, based in Minneapolis, MN (c) 2012

Clean ALL the Data!!! Part I

What does it mean to have dirty data in your Salesforce.com org?

Here a few common kinds of dirty data:

Duplicate Data:  Various users in your org unknowingly create three entries for the same account.  Confusion reigns and time is wasted when users try to track down the account and its correct related records.

Missing Data: Busy users leave fields blank in their rush to move on to other tasks. Reports become inaccurate and automatic processes are derailed as critical information is missing in action.

Incorrect Data: Human error results in inevitable typos or data entered in the wrong field.  Poorly enforced data entry policies mean one rep might enter a country as "USA" and another enters it as "U.S."  As a result, filtered reports and list views are missing essential data.

As a result of dirty data, your business cannot make good decisions because your reports and forecasts are incorrect. Your customer service reps lose their edge because they can't find accurate or complete information on customers who call in. Your Salesforce.com user adoption goes from bad to worse as your employees feel that their Salesforce.com data is inaccurate and unhelpful.  The bottom line is wasted time and money.

The good news is this does not have to happen!  Tune in next week to learn Cloudy's favorite strategies to clean up, and better yet, PREVENT dirty data in your Salesforce.com org.

If you can't wait until next week and want help cleaning up your dirty data today, Contact Us.

Cloudy's Chalkboard: Grouped Bar Charts

Salesforce.com charts and dashboards create useful snapshot views of your data.  Bar charts are popular because you can easily add valuable detail to a basic bar chart by using groupings.

Look at Cloudy's examples below and then follow the step-by-step instructions to create a grouped bar chart for your report or dashboard:

Step 1: Create your report.

You need to include at least 3 fields:

-Record Name or ID (ie. Activity ID)

-Group Category 1 (ie. Activity Type)

-Group Category 2 (ie. Assigned to)

Check your filters:

-Set the date filters to the time frame you are interested in.

-Add any other filters needed to zoom in on the records you want to see.

Summarize:

-In the report Preview pane, select the Format drop-down and choose "Summary."

-Drag the Group Categories into the Summary drop zones in any order you wish.

Step 2: Create your chart.

You can create a chart on a dashboard or on the report itself. 

Chart Editor:  

(these instructions assume a horizontal bar chart.  Switch X and Y axis instructions in the case of a vertical bar chart)

-If you are on the report itself, the Chart Editor appears automatically when you add a chart.  If you are on a dashboard, click the wrench icon to open Chart Editor.

-Click the "Chart Data" tab

-For the X-Axis, choose the correct measurement metric (ie. Record Count, $ amount, etc.)

-For the Y-Axis, choose the first Group Category you want to see.  These will be the bars on your chart.

-Next, click the "Group By" drop down and choose the OTHER Group Category.  

-Select the type of Grouped Bar Chart by clicking the icons below the Group By menu.  For stacked grouping like the example above, click the middle icon.

Click OK to view your Grouped Bar Chart!

Read more of Cloudy's Salesforce.com step-by-step instructions:

How-to install an App in your sandbox

If you would like help creating these or other dashboard components, CONTACT US

Learn more about our Salesforce.com services HERE

Cloudy Cumulus is part of Redpath Consulting Group, based in Minneapolis, MN (c) 2012

Guaranteed Salesforce Success with this 1 Weird Old Tip

Cloud-based computing, social connectivity, and 360 degree views of your data are the keys to business success at a new level. 

If you have moved your business to the cloud with Salesforce.com CRM, you are no doubt looking forward to these benefits.  But what if you have found that instead of embracing this powerful tool, your teammates are keeping secret stashes of Excel files, tracking email the same old way, and only leaving crumbs of data in your new CRM system?

These complaints are all too common, but it does not have to be this way!  The number one key to success with Salesforce.com CRM is training!  

Trying to launch a new CRM system without good training is like trying to run your new car without gas.  It simply won’t work, and you’ll end up using the old way to get around.

The Redpath Team of certified Salesforce.com consultants has experience delivering training presentations, worksheets, webinars, recorded tutorials and 1 on 1 consultations to teach admin and data management skills. 

Contact us for a free hour of consultation to get started.

Cloudy Cumulus is part of Redpath Consulting Group, based in Minneapolis, MN (c) 2012