Cloudy's Favorite Apps: SyncApps by Cazoomi

So your Salesforce org is up and running, and you are starting to think about how to connect it to other systems.

If you are like many others, Email Integration is at the top of your list. Email integration can be a big slippery subject, as there are many possible requirements, and just as many possible solutions! 

Recently, Cloudy discovered a solution that is both robust AND user friendly: SyncApps by Cazoomi offers an "integration framework", capable of connecting Salesforce with many common Email platforms (among other things). 

Let's see how SyncApps by Cazoomi is able to connect Salesforce with one popular Email Marketing tool, MailChimp.*

To get started, sign up for a free trial SyncApps account and create a "Sync Profile" for your Salesforce-MailChimp connection. 

• The setup wizard walks you through the process, where you will enter your login credentials for both platforms, and select the sync options you prefer from a list of check boxes. 
• The wizard also allows you to specify which Salesforce object to sync your lists with: Campaigns, or a new custom object called "Marketing Lists". Cloudy likes the custom object; it's nice and simple, and keeps your Salesforce campaigns less confused.
• If you choose to sync MailChimp email responses as well as lists, these will sync to Salesforce Campaigns. Each MailChimp email you send to a synced list creates a new Salesforce Campaign, with the current list members as Campaign Members, logging opens, clicks, and bounces on the Campaign Member record. The Campaign will display summary totals of opens, clicks, and bounces for that email.
• When you look at a Contact record in Salesforce, you will see which MailChimp groups they belong to (in the "Marketing Lists" related list, if you use it) and the details of their interactions with each individual email in the Campaign History related list. 

Here are screen shots of an example setup, and a chart that explains how the sync will work:

Action:	Sync result
Salesforce side
NEW Contact is added to Salesforce with NO email address, and is not added to a Marketing List.	Nothing
NEW Contact is added to Salesforce WITH email address, but is not added to any Marketing List	Nothing
NEW Contact is added to Salesforce with NO email address and IS added to a Marketing List	Nothing
NEW Contact is added to Salesforce WITH email address, and IS added to a Marketing List	Contact will be added to MailChimp Master List and added to the matching SyncApps Groups
Existing Contact Name is updated in Salesforce	FN and LN will be updated in MailChimp Contact with matching email address
Existing Contact Email is updated in Salesforce (and this contact is on at least one Marketing List)	The email will be updated on the contact in MailChimp
Existing Contact has “Email Opt-Out” Checked in Salesforce	Contact will be opted out in MailChimp too.
Contact is DELETED	Email address is deleted in MailChimp (**If this option is selected in sync settings**)
MailChimp Side
Existing Contact Email is updated in MailChimp	The matching contact in Salesforce will be updated as well.
Existing Contact Name is updated in Mailchimp	If the “MailChimp Update Form” was used, the update will push to Salesforce. Otherwise, the change in MailChimp will be overwritten by data in Salesforce.
NEW Contact is added to MailChimp but is not added to a SyncApps Group	New Contact is created in Salesforce
NEW Contact is added to MailChimp and IS added to a SyncApps Group	New Contact is created in Salesforce and is added to a Marketing List
Existing Contact Unsubscribes from all lists thru MailChimp	Salesforce Contact will be removed from all Marketing Lists and "Email Opt-out" is checked "true" (**if this option is checked in sync settings**)
Existing Contact updates subscriptions thru MailChimp - ie. Unsubscribes from one group, and/or Subscribes to a different group	Salesforce Contact will be removed and/or added to Marketing Lists, accordingly
Subscriber is DELETED	Contact will be removed from synced Marketing Lists

If you would like Cloudy's help implementing SyncApps by Cazoomi for your org, or evaluating other tools for your integration Contact Us!

*If you use MailChimp, you may have noticed they offer a free Salesforce integration. Cloudy does not really recommend using this sync, as it has some serious downsides and limitations: it does not sync opt-outs, it can only sync new subscribers as leads (not contacts), it creates copious amounts of records which can get you into a bind with data storage, and customer support is limited.

Read about more of Cloudy's Favorite Apps:
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Apsona 
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: More from Apsona!
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: DupeCatcher
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Rollup Helper
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: FormAssembly
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Conga Composer
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: FlipTop Social Profiles
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Mass Edit + Mass Update + Mass Delete

Cloudy's Favorite Apps: MORE from Apsona!

One of Cloudy's Favorite Apps just keeps getting better!

Apsona has long been one of Cloudy's top picks for enabling all kinds of easy data management tasks in salesforce.com. 
Now there is an add-on that allows easy merges to documents, spreadsheets, or email. Read on to see how easy it is to set up a merge for Thank You letters - in batches or one at a time!

(**note: this demo uses Salesforce + Non Profit Starter Pack with 1:1 model. Other data models and merge processes will vary in the details**)

First create a Word document with merge fields for the data you wish to pull in to your Thank You - this probably includes data from both the Donation record and the Contact record of the Donor. Upload this doc to the "Documents" tab in salesforce.com.

The merge fields needn't conform to any rules or format conventions - just call them whatever makes sense to you.

Next, create a report on the Donation Contact Roles tab in Apsona. Pull all of your merge field data into the report. Add any filter terms as needed, for example:

-Filter so that Donation "Stage=Posted/Closed Won"

-Consider creating a custom checkbox on donations that marks "Thank You Sent"; filter so that the report only shows un-thanked donations. 

If you don't see this tab, you must first create a custom tab "Configuration" under "Settings", then "Clear Cache" under settings to make it visible.

Run the report to preview the data. The list you see should be a complete list of un-thanked Donations. If everything looks good, you are ready to create your merge; click "Merge/Mail" at the top of your report.

Pro-Tip! If you want your Merge to *AUTOMATICALLY* update a field on a record, such as a "Thank You Sent" checkbox, you must include the ID field for that record in the report (ie. Donation ID).

The Merge Wizard that appears will walk you through the merge setup: Your uploaded Word template will be available to select, and you will be able to match your Word merge fields to the data columns in your report. Finally, note the options available in Step 4 of the merge: 

You can log a Task on each donation record, showing that a Thank You was generated. Even better, you can update a field on the record with a given value. 
For this process, check the custom "Thank You Sent" checkbox on the Donation record. You filtered the Merge report so that it only pulls donations where "Thank You Sent=False"; now you can run the Merge and it always creates a perfect set of the latest Thank Yous!

When it's time to create the next batch of Thank Yous, there is no need to go back to the report on Donation Contact Roles. Your new Merge can now be found and run under Settings>Merge Actions. 

One more amazing feature of Apsona Merge is the ability to very easily create a Merge Button on a record. For this example, a button right on the donation record can generate quick, one-off Thank Yous as needed. To create it, simply go to Settings>VF pages & buttons, look up your Merge, and click the "Generate code" button.

Copy this code into a new "Button" on Donations and add it to the Donation page layout. Now you can create a one-off Thank You on a Donation with a single click.

These Thank You letters look great, Cloudy!

If you would like some help evaluating this tool for your salesforce.com, please Contact Us!

Read about more of Cloudy's Favorite Apps:
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Apsona (Part 1!)
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: DupeCatcher
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Rollup Helper
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: FormAssembly
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Conga Composer
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: FlipTop Social Profiles
Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Mass Edit + Mass Update + Mass Delete

Cloudy's Favorite Apps: Mass Edit + Mass Update + Mass Delete

What do you do when you want to edit the addresses of a couple dozen contacts?

Or what if you need to update the Stage of numerous Opportunities at once?

Or might you wish to quickly delete all Leads who have had no activity in the past year?

This is the type of important data management that keeps your salesforce.com vital, but if it is a hassle, it might not get done.  These jobs are too small to bother with data loader, but as you search, open, and edit each record individually, you will surely wish there was a better way.

One of Cloudy's favorite FREE apps makes this possible:

Mass Edit + Mass Update + Mass Delete -- the name says it all!  After the easy installation of this app, all you need to do is go to the Search Layouts page of the standard object where you would like to use this button.  (Step by step instructions appear in the install guide on the app)

The new buttons will appear on any list view on those object tabs. For specific data management tasks, you may want to create filtered list views that narrow down a list to the records you want to Mass Edit/Update/Delete.  ie. "All Contact with No Mailing Address", "All My Opportunities in Negotiation", or "All Leads with No Recent Activity".  You will have a chance choose specifically which records you are going to edit/update/delete from a list by checking the box next to the record.

Here is an example of a "Mass Edit" view of Contact records.  
From here it's a snap to edit all four records at once and then save!  
Use Mass Edit when you want to Edit multiple records at once, but with different information for each one.  For instance, each contact above likely has different phone and address information.

Here is an example of a "Mass Update" view of Opportunity records.  
From the list view, select several Opportunities to update, and on this page choose the field to update (Stage), and the value to update to.  Use Mass Update when you want to update multiple records with the SAME information.  For instance, I can change all of these Opportunities to "Closed Lost".

BONUS:
Once you are in the groove of using Mass Edit + Mass Update + Mass Delete for your small-batch data management needs, you might wish you could use the buttons on custom objects, or that you could customize the Mass Edit fields available.  Since this free app is an "Unmanaged Package", it is possible, and easier than you might think, to extend its capabilities in these ways. You can find some how-to help among other app users on the "reviews" tab of the appexchange listing.

If you need more customization, training, or help, please Contact Us!

For instructions on test-driving an App in your salesforce.com sandbox:
Test Drive an App in your Salesforce.com Sandbox

More of Cloudy's Favorite Apps:
Dupe Catcher
Conga Composer
Form Assembly
Rollup Helper