Category: Salesforce

Let’s finish with part 3 of 3 of the “usual suspects” for the technical deliverables in Salesforce discovery projects.

3. Environment Release Strategy

Purpose:

• Understand the various sandboxes and their uses
• Describe how functionality will be migrated from one sandbox to another and eventually to production

Usage:

• Some sandboxes are specifically built for development while others are for proof of concepts (POCs) or testing
• Align everyone on how to move functionality from one instance to another, i.e.

Let’s continue with part 2 of 3 of the “usual suspects” for the technical deliverables in Salesforce discovery projects.

3. User Flows

Purpose:

• Understand the different actors and their interconnectivity and dependency
• Visualize the steps and easy-of-use required from each actor
• Help make decisions about the scope during the implementation stage

Usage:

• Serve as guidelines for the broader context of user experience (UX)
• Are a critical input for contextualizing the user stories
• Establish a baseline understanding of the “completeness” criteria for features within the application

Required:

• Swimlanes to divide logic per actor
• Transitions between the various actor
• Major steps taken by each user and by the system
• Decision points along the way

Example:

4.… Read the rest

When conducting a Salesforce discovery project, there are a number of technical deliverables. Here are the usual suspects:

1. Current and Future System Landscape

Purpose:

• A visual diagram representing the current state and target future state of Salesforce in context with other connected systems

Usage:

• Helps understand the breadth of technical work required
• Helps understand the key data passed in integrations
• Are a primary source for data modelling and recommendations for 3rd party apps

Required:

• Connections between Salesforce and external systems
• Name and purpose of each system
• Key data elements passed between systems

Example:

2.… Read the rest

Here’s a cheeky hack to avoid certain projects: Overprice yourself.

I’ve only done this a few times myself, as it sometimes feels a little dirty. Necessary, but nevertheless dirty.

For example, let’s say a potential client has unreasonable expectations of what Salesforce can actually do.… Read the rest

There are a couple methods to report on changes to Salesforce data.

The most common is field history. To summarize, once enabled, you can report on when field changes occur, the old value and the new values.

To enable this feature, navigate to the desired object in Object Manager and click “Set History Tracking” from the Field & Relationship menu.… Read the rest

Since several readers were intrigued by the conversion rate email from yesterday, here’s more food for thought.

I was reading the webpage Measuring Conversion Rates in Salesforce and Gabrielle has another perspective on this topic.

She defines the conversion rate as a transition.… Read the rest

A client of mine told me they want to have a Salesforce dashboard component that displays a conversion rate. I asked for clarification, and how this metric would be used. As you know, asking why is an important step before you begin the design phase.… Read the rest

Recently I did a Salesforce audit for a client. They had a number of issues with their instance, and wanted a review from an independent expert.

The main person responsible was an Accidental Admin, and wasn’t given sufficient time to design a modular and scalable data model.… Read the rest

Depending on the client and the project, or even for a particular moment, being a Salesforce consultant can feel like being a firefighter or a janitor.

A firefighter is someone who jumps into risk and uncertainty, and saves the family from the burning building.… Read the rest

Every once in a while, you’ll need to use static variables in a Salesforce automation. These variables may be different in sandboxes and in production. But once they are set in a sandbox, they don’t change often.

To illustrate the option, imagine a simple example where we want to assign accounts to a specific user.… Read the rest

There’s a temptation that just because you can rename standard objects, you should. Common examples are

• Contact –> Person
• Account –> Company
• Opportunity –> Project

Here are several reasons why this is a bad idea.

1. Inconsistency
It’s generally bad design practice to have the label and API name be different.… Read the rest

There was more great feedback from another fellow reader. This time, it was related to selecting your Salesforce champion.

I’ll paraphrase, but the question was basically, “what about choosing your champion BEFORE the project starts?”

My reply was: the champion can be picked before the actual project implementation.… Read the rest

A fellow reader provided some feedback on the email How to display warning messages using the Salesforce Lightning Design System.

His main question was, why not use Salesforce’s Einstein Next Best Action (ENBA)? That’s a great question, and so I thought to share and expand my answer with you.… Read the rest

A client recently asked me for guidance on how to display warning messages on a contact record.

These warning messages need to be dynamic; sometimes none, one, or more messages will be displayed to the user. The requirement was also to have them as undismissable.… Read the rest

Salesforce offers a few options to merge records, whether they be accounts or contacts.

The merging process is straightforward for the user; you choose which record becomes the master, and merge individual fields into the master. All related objects of the merged records are reparented, and then merged records are deleted.… Read the rest

For a period of about five years, I worked with a medium-sized Salesforce agency. During that time, I was often the lead on the more challenging projects. They were usually the projects no one else could manage, or the really big ones that scared people away.… Read the rest

My coaching students often ask me what is usually the biggest concern about a Salesforce project. You know, the one that often keeps me up at night, worrying.

The answer usually surprises them, because it has nothing to do with technology.… Read the rest

Let’s imagine, as part of a new Salesforce implementation, you need to migrate data from a legacy system. The legacy system contains people and companies and sales opportunities. So, how much data should you migrate?

Most organizations will want all the accounts and contacts, regardless of when the last contact or activity was.… Read the rest

Following yesterday’s email on At least three rounds of data migration, there is a scenario in which you need a fourth round.

This scenario occurs when there is a delay between the “final extract” from the legacy system and the go-live of Salesforce.… Read the rest

Let’s imagine, as part of a new Salesforce implementation, you need to migrate data from a legacy system. Let’s also assume the data can be exported into a .csv file. So, how many rounds of data migration should you do?

Since the title gives away the answer, let’s discuss the rationale.… Read the rest

Picking up from the question, Should you only update the source of truth? my thoughts are as follows:

Forcing users to pause using the current system and have them “swivel chair” or open another browser tab to make a change in another system is a bad idea.… Read the rest

Let’s imagine a scenario in which Salesforce needs to integrate with a system of record for account information.

This system, which we’ll call AccountSOT, is the “source of truth” for some account-related fields. This includes the account name, addresses, phone numbers, and FAXs (don’t laugh, some companies still use them).… Read the rest

Initially, tagging records seems like a good idea. And, in theory, it is. In practice however, not so much.

In Salesforce, tags are called topics. You can add the topic component to any lightning page, and then configure some basic settings such as the title, placeholder text, and number of topics shown.… Read the rest

On my podcast last week, I interviewed Ben Duncombe.

Ben is a Salesforce recruiter, helping people find their ideal jobs in the ecosystem. He also hosts a podcast and a TV show about Salesforce. He was born in London and moved to Australia several years ago.… Read the rest

The first time I heard the word “hypercare”, I thought it was a nonsensical word. I quickly grouped it with other “hyper” words, like hyperforce, hyperspeed, and hyper-ridiculous.

After learning what it actually means and why it exists, I started offering it on all my Salesforce projects.… Read the rest

When I first started my consulting business 20 years ago, I discovered you need to track income and expenses (isn’t that shocking!).

I evaluated all the cloud-based software available like FreshBooks and QuickBooks to see which was the best choice for me.… Read the rest

Salesforce projects, along with most other projects, work within three main constraints:

1. Scope (features/capabilities)
2. Time (schedule)
3. Cost (resources & budget)

These are also known as the iron triangle, which you have to admit sounds a whole lot cooler than just saying, “three constraints”.… Read the rest