Salesforce Best Practices: Unlocking the Full Potential
7 min readPosted on July 06, 2023
Salesforce is the ultimate platform for customer satisfaction and support if used properly and uptop its full capacity. We have put together 8 best practices of Salesforce that will help your organization unlock the CRM platform to its full potential-
CONSISTENT DATA ENTRY STRATEGY
A consistent data entry strategy for Salesforce involves creating and enforcing clear guidelines for how data should be entered, updated, and managed within the platform.
This can include rules for naming conventions, data formatting, and data validation to ensure that all information is accurate and consistent across all records. It may also include guidelines for data ownership and responsibility, as well as procedures for data review and auditing.
Additionally, training users on the proper data entry techniques and providing them with the necessary tools to help them maintain data accuracy can be important for ensuring consistency.
DATA CLEANLINESS AND DEDUPLICATION
First and foremost question that pops into one’s mind is what does it mean by dirty data? Dirty data is inconsistent, incomplete and most often does not have a root source. It is also full of errors and contains duplicacy.
Data cleanliness and deduplication in Salesforce refers to the process of identifying and removing duplicate or inaccurate data within the Salesforce platform. This can be done using a variety of tools and methods, such as using Salesforce’s built-in duplicate management tools, using third-party deduplication software, or manually reviewing and merging duplicate records. The goal of data cleanliness and deduplication is to ensure that the data within Salesforce is accurate, consistent, and useful for business operations.
AUTOMATION WITH WORKFLOWS AND APPROVAL PROCESSES
In Salesforce, automation with workflows and approval processes can be achieved using Salesforce’s Workflow and Approval Processes feature. This feature allows users to create and automate specific actions, such as email notifications, field updates, and task assignments, based on certain conditions or triggers.
Approval processes can also be set up to route records, such as accounts or opportunities, for review and approval before they can be saved or modified.
This can help to ensure accuracy and compliance within an organization, and can help to streamline sales and other business processes.
DATA BACKUP AND RECOVERY
In Salesforce, data backup and recovery refers to the process of creating and maintaining copies of data within the system, as well as the ability to restore that data in the event of a failure or data loss.
Salesforce provides several options for data backup and recovery:
Data Export: Users can export their data in a variety of formats, such as CSV or Excel, and save a copy of it locally. This can be useful for creating backups of specific data sets or for archiving data that is no longer needed within Salesforce.
Weekly Data Export: Salesforce provides a weekly export of all of your organization’s data, including standard and custom objects, attachments, and documents.
Salesforce Shield: Salesforce Shield is a set of enterprise-level data protection features, which include point-in-time recovery, field-level encryption, and event monitoring.
Salesforce Backup and Restore: This solution provides point-in-time recovery, incremental and full backups, and disaster recovery planning.
Salesforce Platform Encryption: This solution provides field-level encryption and protects data at rest and in transit.
All these options allow users to maintain copies of their data, and restore it in the event of data loss or failure, keeping the data integrity and availability for the organization.
It is always recommended to have a data recovery plan in place, and to regularly test the restore process to ensure that the data can be recovered in case of an emergency.
USER ROLES AND PERMISSIONS
In Salesforce, user roles and permissions are used to control access to data and functionality of a user to the system. User roles determine what actions a user can perform in the system, while permissions determine what a user can see and interact with.
There are two kinds of user roles-system roles and custom roles. As suggested by name, system roles are predefined roles that come with Salesforce. These roles are assigned by the administrator to the user.
Custom roles can be created to suit the needs of an organization. Custom roles can be based on system roles and can be assigned to one or more users.
Permissions determine which records and fields a user can view and interact with, such as create, read, update, delete, and transfer. These permissions are assigned to users through their role and can also be controlled through sharing rules, field-level security, and other mechanisms.
Overall, User roles and permissions in Salesforce allow the administrator to control the access and actions of users within the platform, ensuring that sensitive and restricted data is only visible and editable by authorized personnel.
KEEPING THE SYSTEM UPDATED
Keeping the Salesforce system updated requires regularly applying updates, such as new feature releases to the Salesforce platform. Salesforce releases updates on a regular basis, and it is important to stay current in order to ensure that the system is running smoothly and securely.
Here are a few ways to stay updated in Salesforce-
Salesforce Releases: Keeping an eye on the Salesforce release calendar to be aware of the upcoming updates.
Sandbox: Using Sandbox to test the updates before deployment to your environment.
Third-party tools: Use third party tools to manage updates and deployments in an efficient way.
To take advantage of new features and functionalities that may be available, one must stay updated.
DASHBOARDS AND REPORTING
Dashboards and Reporting are important features in Salesforce that allow users to visualize and analyze data in a system.
Salesforce dashboards allow users to create visual representation of key metrics and data, such as charts, tables and graphs. Dashboards can be customized to display specific data that is relevant t a user or a team and that can be shared with others.
Salesforce reports allow users to create detailed, tabular views of data in the system. Reports can be filtered, grouped, and sorted to show specific data, and can be exported to various file formats for further analysis.
Einstein Analytics: Einstein Analytics is a Salesforce platform that allows you to create powerful and interactive dashboards, reports and analytics for your organization. It allows you to connect and analyze your data, and get insights to make better decisions.
Salesforce Lightning Report Builder: Salesforce Lightning Report Builder is a new, easy-to-use, drag-and-drop report building experience. It’s designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing users to create reports quickly and easily.
Dashboards and reports can be used to track key performance indicators, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions. They are also a great way to communicate data and insights to others within an organization, and can be shared with stakeholders and decision-makers.
TRAINING AND SUPPORT
Training and User Support are important aspects of implementing and maintaining Salesforce system.
Providing training to users is crucial to ensure that they are able to effectively use the system and take full advantage of its features. Salesforce provide various training options, including online tutorials, webinars, and in-person training sessions. Additionally, Salesforce has a trailhead platform for self-paced interactive learning on various Salesforce topics.
Providing user support is essential to ensure that the users are able to get the help they need when they need it. Salesforce provide various several options for user support including a knowledge base, a community forum and a customer support portal. Additionally, many Salesforce partners provide user support services.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion Salesforce is a powerful platform that can help organizations manage and analyze their data effectively. To get the most out of Salesforce it is important to follow best practices such as establishing clear goals and objectives, monitoring system performance and usage, keeping the system updated, using dashboards and reporting, etc. By following these best practices, organizations can ensure that they are able to effectively use Salesforce and achieve their desired outcomes.
