Best Practices for Implementing Salesforce CRM - Cloud Experts

Get these must-have administrator toolsMake everyone productiveAs the administrator, there’s a lot you can do to make everyone’s job easier—including your own.Productivity tools for administrators include resources you can use to efficiently manage users,processes, and tasks:• Import wizard – Use these wizards to easily import comma-separated (CSV) data files—such asaccounts, contacts, leads, solutions, and custom objects—into Salesforce CRM records. Use thesewizards for imports or updates of less than 50,000 records.• Force.com data loader – If you need to import more than 50,000 records, or if your data sets arecomplicated, use this tool. For example, if your sales territories change, you may need to transfer largedata sets without limitations.• Workflow – Automate your company’s business processes with workflow actions such as email alerts,task updates, field updates, and outbound messaging.• Formula fields – Use custom formula fields to create specific calculations tailored to specific businessneeds. For example, you can create a formula field on an opportunity that calculates the expected numberof days left to the close date of that opportunity.• Public groups – To simplify record sharing and synchronization, create groups of users that fit aparticular role or share a territory.• Account/sales teams – Create account teams that work together on an account and define eachmember’s role. You can also create sales teams that work together on sales opportunities. A typical salesteam might include an account manager, a sales representative, and a pre-sales consultant. With teams,you can see at a glance who’s working on a specific account or opportunity.• Process visualizer – Use this tool to get a visual representation of your approval process so everyoneunderstands each part of the process at a glance.• Profile management – Create lists of profiles and use them to compare profile settings, print profilelists, and make mass updates across multiple profiles.Productivity tools for end users help them communicate more efficiently with customers and prospects,find information more easily, and access the application while they’re on the road. Note that access to thesetools depends on the user’s profile.• Integration with Lotus Notes/Outlook – Set up desktop integration so users don’t have to switchapplications when working with Lotus Notes and Outlook. Individual users can download this toolwithout the administrator’s help.• Email templates – Set up email templates to enforce high-quality, standard communications—and tosave your reps time and headaches. Both users and administrators can create templates.• Tagging – Set up tagging to make finding information fast and intuitive.• Opportunity genius – Enable this feature to help reps find opportunities that are similar to their dealsand were closed successfully.BEST PRACTICE 2