Salesforce CRM Administration Handbook E-Book

Krzysztof Nowacki

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 484

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Do you aspire to be a successful Salesforce administrator or consultant? If yes, then this step-by-step guide is for you. Written by certified Salesforce professionals, the Salesforce CRM Administration Handbook will take you through the intricacies of Salesforce, covering objects, records, automation, and much more while also prepping you for the Salesforce certification exam.
Starting with an overview of the capabilities and limitations of Salesforce, you’ll progress toward a holistic understanding of system architecture with real-world examples, including workarounds that enable the successful completion of projects. As you delve deeper, you’ll learn about the fundamental concepts of a CRM system, its purpose, and the pivotal role of an administrator in the Salesforce lifecycle. You’ll also explore the basic structures of the entire Salesforce system and navigate confidently through the intricacies of security, automation, and reporting in the Sales/Service Cloud.
By the end of this book, you’ll have the confidence you need to navigate Salesforce’s backend seamlessly, implement configuration changes effortlessly, and communicate fluently in Salesforce terminology.

Leseprobe

Salesforce CRM Administration Handbook

A comprehensive guide to administering, configuring, and customizing Salesforce CRM

Krzysztof Nowacki

Mateusz Twarożek

Salesforce CRM Administration Handbook

Copyright © 2024 Packt Publishing

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First published: April 2024

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ISBN 978-1-83508-569-1

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For my parents and all who’ve supported me along the way! Your support means the world to me.

– Krzysztof Nowacki

I would like to dedicate this book to my loved ones – my daughter Zosia, my wife Alicja, my parents, my sister and her family, my parents-in-law, and everyone who has supported me.

– Mateusz Twarożek

Contributors

About the authors

Krzysztof Nowacki is a Salesforce Certified Administrator and Consultant with 15+ years of experience in CRM and HR software implementations and consultancy for key international accounts in various industries (including FMCG, pharmacy, retail, manufacturing, finance, and SSC/BPO). He is also a speaker at conferences and a lecturer in postgraduate studies.

Mateusz Twarożek is a certified Salesforce administrator and consultant boasting 14 years of IT industry experience. Currently, he serves as the Head of Quickstarts for Salesforce Admins in the CEE region and acts as a consultant. His expertise spans system design in diverse sectors such as fintech, sales, manufacturing, and education, with a notable specialization in the NGO sector. As a conference speaker, he takes pleasure in disseminating his knowledge and insights within the community. Beyond his professional endeavors, he is a devoted spouse and parent who cherishes family time and has a personal interest in solving logical puzzles.

About the reviewer

Matt Thomas is a Salesforce Certified Professional with several certifications including Administrator, Data Cloud Consultant, and Business Analyst. As a consultant in different industries, he works with Salesforce CPQ, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud, and Marketing Cloud. He holds an MBA from Carroll University and is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP). He enjoys hiking with his family, running ultramarathons, and attending U2 concerts with his wife.

Table of Contents

Preface

1

Getting Started with Salesforce

Starting with Salesforce

Exploring the Salesforce Admin role

Main responsibilities of a Salesforce Admin

Customization

Training and troubleshooting

Skills

Salesforce certification exams – what can you expect?

Pros

Cons

Analyzing Salesforce exams

Setting up your Salesforce account

Free Salesforce environments

A tour of Salesforce – getting around the interface

Home – where your Salesforce journey begins

The four riders of significance – Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities

Search Bar

List Views

Related lists

Setup access and direct object setup access

Summary

2

Salesforce Architecture

Understanding multi-tenant architecture

Multi-tenant structures

Single-tenant structures

Hybrid structures

Discovering Salesforce orgs – what does it mean?

Salesforce instances and PODs

Where is my Salesforce org located?

Summary

3

Getting to Know Data Management

Overview of the data model

Salesforce apps

Objects, fields, and records

Importing and exporting data

Exporting and importing Salesforce data

Exporting data via Report Export

Import data via Data Import Wizard

Exporting and importing data via Data Loader

Exporting and importing data via Workbench

Deleting data

Deleting records manually

Mass deleting records via Data Loader

Deleting records via Salesforce Flow

Restoring the data

Record types

Custom settings and custom metadata

Custom settings

Custom metadata

Summary

4

Lightning Experience

Transitioning from Salesforce Classic

Introducing Lightning Components

Customizing Lightning pages – Lightning versus Classic

Record page layouts

Working with existing Lightning page layouts

How to create (or edit) a new Classic page layout

Creating a new Classic compact layout

Related lists

Salesforce for mobile

Summary

Further reading

5

Objects in Salesforce

Standard/custom objects

Junction objects

How to create a junction object

External objects

How to create an external object

Summary

6

User Management and Security

User management

Password management

Controlling system access

Profiles, roles, and permission sets

Sharing settings and organization-wide defaults

Organization-Wide Default

Sharing rules

Field-level security

Login policies and MFA

Summary

7

Automation Tools

Approval processes

Flow Builder

Apex triggers

Salesforce AI

Einstein for Sales

Einstein for Service

Einstein for Marketing

Einstein for Commerce

Einstein for Data

Einstein Copilot

Summary

8

Reports and Dashboards

Creating reports

Report folders

Report builder

Report types

Dashboards

Best practices in designing dashboards

Summary

9

AppExchange and Custom Applications

Introduction to AppExchange

Salesforce Labs Apps

Installing and Managing App

Summary

10

Service Cloud

Introduction to Service Cloud

Case management

Summary

11

Sales Cloud

Seller Home

Leads

Accounts

Contacts

Activities

Campaigns and Campaign Members

Opportunities

Opportunity Contact Roles

Opportunity Products and Quotes

Opportunity list view versus Kanban view

Forecasts

Summary

12

Salesforce Administrator Exam Preparation

Exam format and scoring

Online Proctored

Onsite Proctored

Study strategies

Salesforce resources

Non-Salesforce resources

Practice questions and mock exams

Answers:

Tips and tricks for exam day

Before the exam

During the exam

After the exam

Summary

Further reading

13

Continuing Education and Career Development

Staying up to date with Salesforce releases

Joining the Salesforce community

Advanced certifications and career pathways

Preparing your CV and presenting your Salesforce-specific skills and experience

Utilize your network

Engage with the Salesforce community

Maximize networking opportunities

Summary

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface

Greetings! Welcome to the world of Salesforce administration. The Salesforce CRM Administration Handbook is a comprehensive analysis of the functionalities of Salesforce that you need to know to become a Salesforce Certified Administrator. This book also includes practical tasks that you will be able to perform with us.

As you may already know, Salesforce is a platform that empowers businesses with its robust automation and management capabilities. In the realm of Salesforce, administrators play a pivotal role in overseeing the platform’s functionalities, ensuring smooth operations, and driving business success. This book serves as your comprehensive guide to mastering Salesforce administration, specifically tailored to prepare you for the Admin exam.

Many resources cover features related to Salesforce, but in this book, we also focus on exam preparation and future career development. Additionally, we detail two of Salesforce’s most popular products, Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, so this book serves not only as a resource for Salesforce Certified Administrator exam preparation but also as a first step toward obtaining additional Salesforce certificates, such as Sales Cloud Consultant and Service Cloud Consultant.

Drawing from years of experience in the Salesforce ecosystem and insights gathered from interviews with industry-leading Salesforce administrators and consultants with whom we have worked over the years, this book provides practical advice, best practices, and real-world scenarios to equip you with the skills needed to excel in Salesforce administration.

As per the latest analyst reports, Salesforce is a leader in the CRM space, with continued exponential growth projected in the coming years. With this growth, the demand for skilled Salesforce administrators is set to skyrocket. This book prepares you not just for the present but also for the future, ensuring you’re equipped to handle the evolving challenges and complexities of Salesforce administration.

Whether you’re embarking on a new career path or seeking to enhance your existing skills, this book is your roadmap to success in Salesforce administration. Let’s dive in and unlock the full potential of Salesforce together.

Who this book is for

This book is for those embarking on their journey with Salesforce for the first time, aspiring to become Salesforce Certified Administrators in the future, and all Salesforce users who want to extend their current knowledge related to Salesforce.

The primary focus of this content is directed towards three key personas, namely the following:

People without hands-on experience with Salesforce – If you’ve ever thought about working in the Salesforce ecosystem but don’t know where to start, then this book is for sure for you. It’s sufficient to have a basic understanding of how the software works. The rest you will learn from us.

Salesforce beginners wanted to pass the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam – People with a few months’ experience with Salesforce who want to prepare themselves for the Salesforce exam.

Salesforce junior consultants – These people will be able to complete their knowledge with this book, as we cover elements that can easily be overlooked in our day-to-day work.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Getting Started with Salesforce, offers a thorough introduction to Salesforce, the premier CRM platform. Discover its powerful features for enhancing sales, service, and marketing processes. Learn about the Salesforce Admin role, essential skills, and the prestigious Salesforce Admin Certification Exam. We provide step-by-step instructions for setting up your account and efficient navigation techniques. Additionally, a comprehensive glossary helps you master Salesforce terminology.

Chapter 2, Salesforce Architecture, uncovers Salesforce’s platform architecture in detail. This chapter covers topics such as multi-tenancy, understanding Salesforce Orgs’ role in managing users and customization, and Salesforce instances and pods. You will gain insights for building a robust Salesforce environment.

Chapter 3, Getting to Know Data Management, offers a deep dive into Salesforce’s data realm. It covers the data model, including objects and fields and their organizational roles. You’ll explore data import/export techniques, mapping, and best practices for maintaining integrity. By the chapter’s end, you’ll master managing objects and fields, as well as importing/exporting data within Salesforce.

Chapter 4, Lightning Experience, covers the move from Salesforce Classic to Lightning Experience and how to personalize Lightning pages. Explore the benefits, plan for user adoption, and learn to create custom Lightning components. This chapter describes how to use the Lightning App Builder for page customization to gain skills to transition smoothly and enhance the user experience in your Salesforce Org.

Chapter 5, Objects in Salesforce, delves into the world of Salesforce objects to discover standard and custom objects, junction objects, and external objects. The chapter covers how to tailor Salesforce to your business requirements.

Chapter 6, User Management and Security, guides you through the intricate world of user permissions. The chapter discover the roles of user profiles, roles, and permission sets in defining access, explores sharing settings, organization-wide defaults, and field-level security to ensure data protection. You will also learn about login policies and two-factor authentication for enhanced security.

Chapter 7, Automation Tools, provides a comprehensive guide to mastering three critical aspects: approval processes, Flow Builder, and Apex triggers. This chapter brings practical insights and step-by-step instructions to streamline Salesforce customization. Additionally, the chapter will explore the AI features available in Salesforce.

Chapter 8, Reports and Dashboards, covers creating reports, report types, and building dashboards. The chapter gives insights and guidance on generating powerful reports and customizing them. The chapter also covers building interactive dashboards for data-driven decisions.

Chapter 9, AppExchange and Custom Applications, explores AppExchange, Salesforce’s marketplace for pre-built applications. The chapter covers navigating AppExchange, selecting and installing apps effectively, and managing and maintaining apps.

Chapter 10, Service Cloud, provides a comprehensive guide to Salesforce’s Service Cloud and delves into the intricacies of case management. The chapter covers key features and capabilities, as well as effective case management techniques, including case creation, assignment, escalation rules, and resolution best practices.

Chapter 11, Sales Cloud, provides a comprehensive guide to Salesforce’s Sales Cloud, focusing on lead and opportunity management. This chapter explores key Sales Cloud features, including campaign management, lead capture, qualification, and opportunity management. The chapter also covers Account and Contact management and pipeline forecasting.

Chapter 12, Salesforce Administrator Exam Preparation, provides a comprehensive guide to preparing for Salesforce certification exams. The chapter offers insights into the exam format, scoring criteria, study strategies, and tips for exam day. This chapter helps you understand the exam structure, develop a study plan, and practice with sample questions. This chapter also covers the techniques for managing exam-day stress and maximizing performance.

Chapter 13, Continuing Education and Career Development, explores continuous education and career development in the Salesforce ecosystem. The chapter covers strategies for staying updated with Salesforce releases and leveraging resources. The chapter explores the benefits of joining the Salesforce community and offers insights into advanced certifications and career pathways.

To get the most out of this book

When reading a book about Salesforce, it’s essential to have a basic understanding of the Salesforce platform and its fundamental concepts, such as data management, automation, and customization. Familiarity with IT application administration, support, and monitoring will also be beneficial for comprehending more advanced topics covered in the book.

Software/hardware covered in the book

Operating system requirements

Salesforce

Windows, macOS, or Linux

Apex

Windows, macOS, or Linux

Salesforce Lightning Web Components

Windows, macOS, or Linux

The Salesforce test environment, called Salesforce Developer Edition, should be created. This can be done at https://developer.salesforce.com/signup. Additionally, the reader should have access to the Salesforce Trailhead platform (accessible at https://trailhead.salesforce.com/), as access to both will be needed to perform the tasks described in the book.

Disclaimer on images

Some images in this title are presented for contextual purposes, and the readability of the graphic is not crucial to the discussion. Please refer to our free graphic bundle to download the images. You can download the images from https://packt.link/gbp/9781835085691.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “The use of the setPassword() API for resetting passwords.”

A block of code is set as follows:

trigger myLeadTrigger on Lead (before insert) {     // Your code here }

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “Place some action buttons on the record page such as Edit, Clone, Delete, and so on.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

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1

Getting Started with Salesforce

In this chapter, we provide a comprehensive introduction to Salesforce, the leading CRM platform. We’ll explore the features and capabilities that make Salesforce a powerful tool for streamlining sales, service, and marketing processes. Delve into the Salesforce Admin role, understanding the primary responsibilities and essential skills required for success. Learn about the prestigious Salesforce Admin certification exam, including its format, the covered topics, and the benefits it brings to your career. Discover how to set up your account with step-by-step instructions, ensuring a smooth entry into the platform. Dive into the interface as we guide you through efficient navigation techniques, allowing you to explore Salesforce’s features and functionalities effortlessly. Furthermore, master the Salesforce terminology with a comprehensive glossary that demystifies key concepts and empowers you to communicate effectively within the platform. By the end of this chapter, you’ll have the tools and knowledge needed to confidently embark on your Salesforce journey and unlock its full potential.

In this chapter, you will learn about the following topics:

Starting with SalesforceThe Salesforce Admin role – primary responsibilities and needed skillsThe Salesforce certification examSetting up your Salesforce accountA tour of Salesforce – getting around the interface

Starting with Salesforce

We have always tried to record all kinds of information, sometimes to immortalize it, other times to show it, but most importantly, to not forget this information.

Let’s start with the main question – what is CRM? Its software, named after the acronym derived from customer relationship management, helps companies manage customer interactions. Every business needs a database where it can record the data of its contractors and their history, transactions, and price lists. This used to be recorded in notebooks and notepads, later in Excel spreadsheets (some companies still use them as their main customer database), and now, one of the leading CRMs in the world is Salesforce.

Is Salesforce like a crystal ball that will boost sales, and phone calls and emails will make themselves? No! (Although emails can be sent automatically.) But thanks to CRM, businesses will be able to do the following significantly:

Serve the customer better: Automation will do all the necessary tasks for us, remind us of a forgotten customer, and free employees from repetitive actions that always take up precious time and divert attention from the key elements of the business – such as relationships.Understand the customer better: The system enables understanding and anticipating the needs of customers, generating sales trends, and most importantly, taking care of them and the business’s relationship with them.Increase customer engagement: With tools that allow tracking of customers and their interactions with the business, personalizing content directed to them, and knowing their preferences and tastes, businesses are able to get to know their customers. Consequently, businesses can direct and adjust their business strategies to the style of their customers.Achieve better sales results: As we have already pointed out, Salesforce is not a crystal ball predicting the future, but if we know our customers, then those customers know us and our product. And that is already another step toward achieving excellent sales results.

“Well, give me a CD with this system and let’s install it,” some customers might say. But Salesforce is not software that we install on a server or local disk; it is a cloud solution. Thanks to this, everyone can have access to their data.

Salespeople can check their customers during business trips, the marketing team can check the results of their campaign during an event, and the service technicians can make necessary notes from anywhere in the world. The system is a multi-layered ecosystem that is scalable and meets the needs of the customer. What does this mean? This means that customers who want to use sales support elements do not have to purchase the entire solution along with marketing and service desk support.

The available system functions are included in individual licenses. Purchasing a Salesforce license is a subscription model. The customer purchases a specific type of license that offers a certain range of functionality for a period of 12 months.

The prices of the license at the time of writing for the Sales Cloud range from $25 to $300.

Salesforce servers are located in many parts of the world such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia.

Is customer data safe? Of course; Salesforce is certified for compliance with many security standards, including ISO 27001, SOC 2, and FedRAMP.

The Salesforce solution is directed to customers of different sizes. From greenfield-type customers who have no previous experience with the system, to huge corporations that expand their systems to enormous sizes, whose administration and maintenance are handled by large, specialist IT teams. Currently, this cloud solution is used by over 150,000 customers in 190 countries. Among the customers using Salesforce, we will find companies such as Spotify, Amazon, Canon, Toyota, Walmart, Uber, and many others.

Salesforce is a multi-module tool. This means that it has many different modules dedicated to specific needs, which will now be described briefly, and in the following chapters, you will learn much more about them:

Sales Cloud is a solution tailored to the needs of commerce. With it, you can manage the sales cycle from acquiring a lead to winning an opportunity and selling products/services and much more. This module, thanks to its built-in tools, enables the use of forecasting and numerous reporting tools.Service Cloud is a tool dedicated to every service/help desk. Everyone has had to call a hotline to get help with a particular matter of life at some point. It’s highly likely that your data has been recorded in Service Cloud. Thanks to its structure, it stores your data and your query in cases.Marketing Cloud and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is a marketing pair that will manage marketing aimed at B2B or B2C. Automated emails and marketing paths are just a fraction of what you can achieve in the software of the marketing duo.Commerce Cloud is nothing more than a booster for your online store. It helps manage online stores, both for B2B and B2C. It personalizes product recommendations and facilitates promotion management, and can do much, much more.Experience Cloud, formerly known as Community Cloud (for many, this name will forever remain in their hearts), allows you to create pages, portals, forums, help pages, and others for customers, partners, or users. The drag-and-drop editor facilitates page management for administrators.

Are these all the clouds? No. There are many solutions that facilitate work in various business sectors. Thanks to this, Salesforce easily adapts to even the most complex tasks and needs.

Tip

Get a basic understanding of every Salesforce Cloud, its core features, and how it is helping the business to fulfill its goals, as questions related to this topic may appear on the Salesforce Certified Associate exam.

You already know that there is a Salesforce, how powerful it is, and how much it can bring to the life of any business. However, it is worth remembering that every system needs its own custodian, someone to look after how the system works and make changes to it. You will find out about this person in a moment – the Salesforce Admin.

Exploring the Salesforce Admin role

Every system requires a custodian, a person who can implement changes in structure, fix bugs, or create a new user. Although many of these changes can be automated, a human will always be necessary for system management or even its setup. That’s what a Salesforce superhero – a System Administrator – is for. The Admin role is extremely important, but it may differ across systems. Many companies may define the responsibilities of this role differently. Sometimes it involves system maintenance, sometimes user management, and sometimes deploying previously created system solutions. The main task of Administrators is to manage and adapt the system to the needs of the customer. Thanks to these changes, the system should also meet the business goals of the organization. System Admins often combine technical knowledge with the use of soft skills when in contact with the client.

So, whether it’s changes in the system, creating automation, or custom reports, the Salesforce Admin role is key to business. It happens that other roles, such as SF Developer or SF Solution Architect, perform administrative duties, but these are scenarios in which employees perform tasks dedicated to another position.

In conclusion, the Salesforce Admin is a key role for a business. Thanks to this role, the optimized system works better and more efficiently, and users can enjoy more efficient processes and a user-friendly structure. In the following points, we will look more closely at the main duties of the Administrator and what skills the “ideal” Sys Admin should have.

Main responsibilities of a Salesforce Admin

Once, Peter Parker (AKA Spiderman) heard from his uncle: “With great power there must also come great responsibility.” It is the same with a System Admin. Remember, you are the company superhero and you need to help them. Here are your responsibilities.

User management

As mentioned earlier, administration equals user management.

But it’s not just about creating new users, but also about elements closely related to the user: License, Profile, Role, Permission Set. System Administrator is a role in which one of the main tasks is creating new profiles and assigning them to specific users. Knowing what necessary access users should have, the specialist can create a profile dedicated to them and assign it during the creation of new access permissions. If the profile does not meet all requirements, it can be supplemented with a Permission Set, in which access can be granted in a trimmed manner and given to individual users. When setting up new access to the system, it is important to check the license to be granted and the profile. If the company uses a hierarchy, the user should also have a role assigned to them.

But what would user management be without creating, updating, or deactivating users? With appropriate access, the System Admin can make these kinds of changes. Fun fact! You can’t remove a user from the system; the only option is to deactivate the user by unchecking the “Active” checkbox.

Roles/permissions management

Salesforce is a software in which roles and permissions play a huge role. As mentioned earlier, the main element granting access is profiles, but what if a given department, consisting of two groups, needs a default set of access, but also two separate access permissions data dedicated to them? Then the System Administrator creates a Permission Set, which is a set of access permissions to data elements, objects, or features in the system.

Assigning roles, on the other hand, plays an important role in the structure of the company, thanks to which the administrator will build a hierarchy of employees in Salesforce.

How often have you found data in your system such as Jane/Joe Doe or QWERTY? Often, users want to enter something quickly using so-called “dummy details.” That is, they enter incorrect data to quickly create a record in the system. And it is the System Administrator who stands guard over the integrity of the data (imagine them standing on a high building with a flowing cape and a large “A” on their chest). The Sys Admin must ensure that the data entered into the system is correct, unique, and above all, true. Salesforce has the appropriate tools that help achieve data cleanliness, such as the following:

Validation rules that check the correctness of data entered by usersDuplication rules that regulate the possibilities of creating (or not creating) records with the same dataApproval processes, which are requests for data acceptance on the record (e.g., the amount of discount on the opportunity)

To achieve high cleanliness and integrity of data, the Administrator will use the full range of tools offered by Salesforce.

But what if it turns out that users are exceptionally creative and find a way to create duplicated data and introduce Mr. QWERTY 321321321? Then, a red code lights up above the Admin’s head and a data audit needs to be carried out. Such audits may include checking for the following, among other things:

Duplicates (e.g., 2 x Mrs. Jane Doe with the same email)Data inconsistencies (e.g., Acme Corp and Acme Corporation as two different accounts)Data errors (in the text field – e.g., email: edward.scissorhands@acmewithout .com)

The Admin should be able to detect these types of errors, correct them, and set up the appropriate safeguards that will act preventively. Regular data cleaning will keep the database clean and accurate. As we all know, a good admin is the best friend of any department where mass import/export is used. This is also one of the essential skills that an admin must master. For such actions, they can use Data Loader, Data Import Wizard, or Salesforce Inspector. Are any of these particularly recommended? Each Administrator or person dealing with mass data management has their own style and favorite tool for these tasks.

Tip

If you want to efficiently input data into the system, prepare upload templates for your users and teach them to fill in data in the correct structure. Remember, you are the Salesforce specialist, not your users. A correct data structure in the upload template will save you a lot of time.

Customization

This mysterious-sounding word is one of the most important in the daily tasks of a Salesforce Admin. It should be remembered that Salesforce in the out-of-the-box version is a tool that is not tailored to the client’s vision at all. Opportunities have their default stages, on Account – apart from the website and telephone, you will also find a fax field, and the contacts do not contain many data fields.

This is where the administrator, who, like Michelangelo, sculpts Salesforce for business needs, steps in. Customizing the system is an extremely important process, which can last for either of the following:

Periodically – in the form of projectsConstantly – as part of system management

System configuration can contain many elements, from changing branding, adding new fields, and changing settings, to creating completely new home page layouts. These tasks are often repetitive, such as creating a field or removing it, but among the tasks, there are also those that require more time and practice, such as automation. When Salesforce announced the retirement of Process Builder and Workflow Rules, fear befell people who effectively avoided Flow, the only native low-code tool currently available in the Salesforce ecosystem. Thanks to its user-friendly interface, Flow has become popular not only with Administrators but also with other people working on improving the company’s org. It is important to remember what I mentioned at the beginning: each company follows its own policy and scope of work for Administrators. So, in one business, it will only be structural changes, and in another, it will be automation and deployment between environments.

Training and troubleshooting

Once the system is configured and populated with data, what’s left for the Administrator – to sit back and enjoy the lack of tasks? Of course not.

Every company hires new employees, many of whom might not have worked in the industry before, and an even larger number may not be familiar with Salesforce. This is another task assigned to the Administrator: it’s up to them to guide users through the ABCs of Salesforce.

The training can be broken down into the following segments:

Salesforce basics: Logging in, creating records, inputting data into fields, creating custom reports, and so onCompany processes in Salesforce: An introduction to sales/service processes, essential data in records, set approvals/validations, automation, and so on

Tip

If you want users to remember something from your training, ask questions, show examples on the existing org, and remember that you are speaking to users unfamiliar with SF. Therefore, adjust your language and try to explain everything from the basics.

Often, users, even unknowingly, will encounter a scenario that wasn’t tested during the solution design. They then look to specialists for help. With various solutions such as ticketing tools, emails, or service cases, the Sys Admin can efficiently address user issues. Typically, resolving user issues involves checking their profiles, permission sets, and general object settings. Communication with users is crucial in such situations, allowing the Admin to replicate the problem and immediately solve it.

A highly useful feature when addressing user issues is the login as user option available under Setup -> User -> Login next to the user:

Figure 1.1: Login as user

With this, the administrator can view the system from the user’s perspective, enabling a quicker resolution to the problem at hand.

Tip

If you don’t want to be logged out every time after using login as user, change the session settings in Setup -> Session Settings -> Deselect Force re-login after Login-As-User. This way, the system won’t force a re-login after you switch back.

Skills

Working in the Salesforce environment is not solely based on knowledge of the system.

Many beginner Administrators have never dealt with this system before. Maybe they’ve heard of it but never had any experience with it; many of them will have studied cultural studies, sociology, computer science, or agriculture. Is this an obstacle to starting work as an Admin? No. What matters are willingness and knowledge of SF (or a great desire to get to know it), and it’s good to have analytical, problem-solving, communication, and project management skills (e.g., agile skills).

However, it’s worth noting that many companies offer internships for Administrators and various academies that prepare future Administrators. Quite recently, Salesforce launched a program for women who want to return to work after a break related to motherhood, illness, or other personal reasons, and their goal is the SF environment. The program is called “Bring Women Back to Work,” and as the name suggests, it is exclusively for women. After a 12-month training cycle, SF helps these women enter the job market by sending their resumes to program partners.

Do you need to have all these skills to be a good Admin? I think they are not must-haves, but rather nice to have, because with them and the right knowledge, you can achieve the title of Certified SF Admin. There’s more on this in the next section.

Salesforce certification exams – what can you expect?

To be certified or not to be certified? That is the question! I often receive this query from Salesforce newcomers seeking advice on establishing a career in Salesforce. The straightforward response is, “Yes, certainly, you should obtain Salesforce certifications.” The more considered answer is, “It depends.” You’ll frequently come across a common description on many LinkedIn profiles of Salesforce experts – “2x Salesforce Certified,” “5x Salesforce Certified,” “21x Salesforce Certified” – showcasing their number of Salesforce certifications. Should you follow the same path? Yes, you can. Is this the only path? No, it is not. Allow me to elucidate this using an analogy my jiu-jitsu trainer shared with me during my first tournament, when I found myself facing a rather intimidating individual covered in many tattoos, who happened to be my next opponent. My trainer’s words were, “Tattoos do not fight.” This statement holds true universally and can be applied to the Salesforce realm as well. Essentially, having a multitude of certifications doesn’t always equate to genuine proficiency in Salesforce.

Throughout my IT career, I’ve encountered numerous Salesforce professionals possessing “just” one or two certifications who were exceptionally skilled in Salesforce. To put it simply, practical experience always outweighs certifications – always. However, this doesn’t negate the value or importance of holding Salesforce certificates. Allow me to outline some pros and cons concerning obtaining Salesforce certifications.

Pros

There are several benefits associated with obtaining a Salesforce certificate and even attempting to acquire one:

When preparing for a Salesforce exam, you will need to study to know more about SalesforceYou will learn about topics and features that you may not have used previously so you will increase your knowledgeYou will get a nice “tattoo” that others will recognize and it will be visible as proof of your knowledgeIt may help you jumpstart your Salesforce careerIf you are a Salesforce beginner, having certs such as Admin and/or App Builder will strongly increase the chance of you getting your first Salesforce jobMore is not always better but sometimes, having the next Salesforce cert will give you hints about which Salesforce career direction to take or not take

Cons

Let’s now see the cons related to exam preparation:

You will study things you may not even touch/use outside the exam.The knowledge you will gather may be forgotten quickly if you do not use it in practice.More certs do not mean your career will rocket quicker as experience > certs, and in most recruitment processes, you will be asked about your practical knowledge.Specialization is still strongly looked for in the IT world. The market is not searching for individuals who are A-OK in every single Salesforce feature/cloud. The recruiters are searching for experts in particular features or clouds.Doing certs for the sake of having certs is wrong. Be sure that the knowledge you will get may be used practically and is in line with your career plan.

Of course, the aforementioned “cons” are not real cons, as having a certificate is almost always better than not having it, but before planning your next Salesforce cert, you need to answer an important question: what do you want to do in your life? And then, just…take the relevant exam.

Analyzing Salesforce exams

We will cover the Salesforce exam topic more deeply in Chapter 12. Here, I will only highlight the most important topics related to the Salesforce exams in general:

There are more than 20 Salesforce-related certificate types on the market now

Yes, some people have them all. No, more does not mean better.

The exams are multiselect tests

The exception is the Salesforce Associate Certification, which is currently not multiselect.

The passing score may differ but is generally around 65%

You should know that some topics require a higher score than others as their wages are higher.

You may do the test online at home or offline in one of the exam centers

As the exam centers may not be available in your area, you may always take the online exam. The online exams are proctored, so this means that you will be assisted and monitored by a proctor through a webcam.

There are official test questions provided by Salesforce

Currently, test questions are available only for Admin and Email Specialists. You can buy these official test questions to prepare yourself for those exams.

If your native language is not English, you may ask Salesforce to increase the time you will need to deal with the exam

You will get additional time if you are taking an exam in English and your native language is not English. To get additional time, you need to contact Salesforce support before the exam.

To get some certificates, you may need to achieve other certs as some are prerequisites for other exams

For example, you need to be a Certified Administrator to be able to get an Advance Administrator certificate.

There is a clear path that you can follow to become a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect, the top of the top roles in the Salesforce ecosystem

Some Salesforce certs are bound together and passing them all will ultimately give you the title of Application Architect and/or System Architect, which opens the door to becoming a Salesforce CTA – a Certified Technical Architect. The paths are known. Just follow the steps.

As I mentioned already, the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam will be covered in detail in another part of this book, so I would like to mention only that the Admin exam was, up until some time ago, the first exam that opened the doors to the Salesforce cert world. But as the exam scope is quite big and it’s better to be at least a Salesforce user on a daily basis to pass this exam, Salesforce some time ago introduced an easier exam called the Salesforce Certified Associate. Salesforce just recognized that it’s hard for Salesforce newbies to prepare for the Admin exam and start their careers without having at least a few months experience on the platform using Salesforce in the current work. The Salesforce Certified Associate is dedicated to Salesforce beginners with around three months’ experience on the platform, while the Admin cert is recommended to people with around six months’ Salesforce experience. The first three exams we recommend doing to jumpstart your Salesforce career are as follows:

Salesforce Certified AssociateSalesforce Certified AdministratorSalesforce Platform App Builder

You may ask, do I really need to do the Salesforce Certified Associate exam before trying to pass the Admin exam? The answer is simple: yes but no. Just joking. Yes, you may skip the Associate exam and go straight to the Admin exam. This is recommended especially if any of the following apply:

You are starting an SF-related job soon – let’s be brutally honest, the Salesforce Associate exam is a good start but when you have already got a Salesforce job, in 99% of cases that means you know some Salesforce and you would need more skills than are needed from Associate. Rather, you would need at least Admin skills. This is because the Associate is rather one repair wrench and when you start a Salesforce-related job (especially in consulting), you need the whole toolbox already.You are already a Salesforce user/superuser/Admin – if you are already in one of these roles, the Associate exam could be tempting as you will pass it without needing to learn it, but it will add almost nothing of value to your career. Of course, you will be “more” certified and will be able to make the “huge” change on LinkedIn, which will be changing “1x Certified” to “2x Certified” on your profile summary, but mostly, that’s it.You learn fast or you’ve worked before with other IT tools such as CRM, ERP systems, and so on.You have limited funds – Salesforce Associate is not free on a daily basis. Sometimes, Salesforce gives some random discounts that can limit the price to zero or cut the cost, but usually, you need to pay for the exam. If your funds are limited, you may consider skipping the Associate exam as the Admin certificate is much more recognizable and valued than the Associate cert.

Tip

You may already know that there is also another popular Salesforce certificate that is dedicated to programmers. It’s called Platform Developer 1. Some may say that you don’t need to do certs such as Admin or App Builder if you just want to be a programmer. They would be wrong. Salesforce is a platform where one of the most important rules is to try to not use Visualforce…Just kidding. The real rule is “try to configure before starting to code.” As Salesforce gives you a lot of customization possibilities, code-based automation options the starting point should always be declarative customization, click no code aka low code. For this reason, I recommend starting your Salesforce certificate journey with Admin, then App Builder as a prerequisite before jumping to Dev 1, even if you don’t want to be an Admin and do not know what App Builder really is.

Now that you have some basic context about Salesforce exams and being Salesforce certified, let’s see how to make the very first step toward your future Salesforce career and learn how to create your Salesforce test account.

Setting up your Salesforce account

Is it even possible to learn Salesforce without working in Salesforce at your job? This question is asked many times by Salesforce Admin wannabes. The answer is: yes, yes, yes!

I like to say that the Salesforce job market has quite a low entry threshold when comparing it to other popular IT platforms such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft CRM, and so on. This is because of a few important reasons:

You may learn Salesforce on your own, at your own pace, using Salesforce’s free learning platform, Trailhead.Salesforce exams are not too expensive – this is of course a relative statement, but when comparing Salesforce exam prices to other technologies’ exam prices, the Salesforce ones are not as pricey.In addition, you can get a fully useful and free test environment that you can use to get to know the platform and customize, build, and destroy safely. In this section, we will show you how to do this.

Free Salesforce environments

There are two types of free Salesforce environments: Developer Edition orgs and Trailhead Playgrounds. Let’s see what the differences are and how to create each one.

Free Developer Edition environment

“What? A developer environment? Should I use it, given that I’m not a developer and have no intention of becoming one?” The answer is straightforward: yes, you can use it even if you are not a programmer. Think of it as a name that Salesforce has assigned to its demo account. To see a more detailed explanation, let’s take a look at how Salesforce describes its Salesforce Developer orgs on their pages: “A Salesforce Developer environment grants you access to a fully featured copy of Force.com, absolutely free, and yours to use indefinitely. Utilize the Developer Organization to stay current with the latest features, construct your own applications, and test functionalities prior to their purchase.” This implies that you can access the Developer Edition for free, forever and ever. It encompasses both Sales Cloud and Service Cloud features, enabling you to explore and experiment with both sales-related and customer-support-related functionalities within a single space.

Can you generate multiple Developer Edition environments? Yes, you can. Will you create more than one? Yes, you certainly will! Based on practical experience, I can confirm that you’ll utilize dev orgs for customizable experimentation, constructing numerous automations, preparing job interview demonstrations, and a wide array of other tasks. And you will do it a lot. For these reasons, it’s often preferable to initiate with a fresh new environment rather than attempting to “repair” the alterations you made in your existing orgs.

Free Trailhead-related Playgrounds

A long, long time ago in the Salesforce galaxy far, far away, there existed an era when the only testing environments that Salesforce provided to users were the free Developer orgs. However, with the advent of Salesforce Trailhead, a free learning platform, the demand arose for quicker and more convenient access to testing orgs. This prompted the creation of Trailhead Playgrounds to address this requirement. Essentially, Trailhead Playgrounds are akin to Developer Environments, but they can be generated with greater ease, speed, and relevance to specific Trailhead tasks.

Tip

I use Salesforce Dev environments for client demos, job interview demos, testing new Salesforce releases, and doing some experiments, while I use Trailhead Playgrounds only when doing Trailhead-related tasks.

I hope you now understand the difference between the Salesforce Developer environment and Trailhead Playgrounds. Let’s now see how to create them.

Let’s start with the Developer environment. These are the steps to create a Salesforce Developer environment:

Go to the Salesforce Developer website:

Visit https://developer.salesforce.com/signup.

Fill in the required information:

Fill in the required data such as your name, email address, password, and other details. Agree on the terms and conditions and click on the Sign me up or Create Org button at the end:

Figure 1.2: Fill in the form

Verify youremail address:

After registering, Salesforce will send you an email to verify your email address. Click on the verification link provided in the email:

Figure 1.3: Verify account

Complete theregistration process:

Once your email is verified, follow the instructions to complete the registration process. Set the password that will be used to access the Developer Account:

Figure 1.4: Set a password

Create a new Developer Edition:

After creating the password, your Developer Edition will be created and you’ll be redirected to your Salesforce org. From there, you can start building and testing applications in the Salesforce environment.

Tip

It may be important to know that besides the Developer environment, which as was said is free for a lifetime, you may also get access to other Salesforce tools/clouds. However, those accesses are time-limited (mostly for 30 days).

Now that we know how to create a Developer environment, let’s see how to create a Trailhead Playground:

Sign up or log in to Trailhead:

If you don’t have a Trailhead account, go to the Salesforce Trailhead website (https://trailhead.salesforce.com) and sign up for a free account. If you already have one, log in using your credentials.

Access Playgrounds:

Once you’re logged in, navigate to the Hands-On Orgs section of the Trailhead website (https://trailhead.salesforce.com/users/profiles/orgs). This is where you can manage your Trailhead Playgrounds:

Figure 1.5: Hands-On Orgs

Create a new Playground:

Look for an option that allows you to create a new Trailhead Playground. Click on it to begin the process:

Figure 1.6: Create a Playground

Choose a Playground name:

Give your new Playground a unique name that helps you identify it easily. The name should be relevant to what you plan to use the Playground for:

Figure 1.7: Choose a Playground name

Build the Playground:

Once you’ve filled in the required details, click on the Create Playground button. The system will then create a new Salesforce Trailhead Playground for you:

Figure 1.8: Build a Playground

Launch the Playground to access it:

After the creation process is complete, you’ll receive information about your new Trailhead Playground including its unique URL, credentials, and any other relevant details.

With your new Trailhead Playground set up, you can now access and explore Salesforce features, try out different configurations, build applications, and practice what you’ve learned in the Trailhead modules.

CreatePlaygrounds ad-hoc:

Besides creating “in-advance” Playgrounds that may be then used during hands-on Trailhead challenges, you may also create a separate/new Trailhead Playground for each Salesforce Trailhead hands-on challenge that you will be currently performing. While taking the test challenges, you will see the action button that will serve you with ad-hoc Playground creation.

Tip

Although the way to create Salesforce Dev orgs and Trailhead Playgrounds has not changed for some time, you need to remember that the process might change or evolve over time, and Salesforce may introduce new steps or change the user interface. Always refer to the official Salesforce Developer website or documentation for the most up-to-date information on creating a free Developer Edition environment.

Now that you know how to create a Salesforce Playground, let’s see in the next section of this chapter what the Salesforce interface looks like.

A tour of Salesforce – getting around the interface

In this section, we will closely examine the Salesforce user interface, delving into its most essential components. This will provide you with a better understanding of what you, as a user, will encounter. If you are reading this book, it’s likely that you have intentions to dedicate a significant amount of time to navigating the Salesforce UI. As a result, grasping the features linked to the Salesforce UI becomes of utmost importance.

Comprehending these pivotal elements of the Salesforce UI will empower you to use the platform more efficiently, thereby enhancing your overall productivity. Keep in mind that the Salesforce UI is both intuitive and adaptable, allowing for customization to cater to individual preferences. This, in turn, maximizes the potential of Salesforce, facilitating success in your business endeavors. By investing time in familiarizing yourself with these features, you can fully leverage Salesforce and harness its capabilities to drive your business forward.

In this section, we will cover the following Salesforce tabs, also known as objects:

HomeLeadsAccountsContactsOpportunitiesReportsDashboards

We’ll also cover the following Salesforce features:

Search BarList ViewsSetup accessObject setup accessRecord setup access

Home – where your Salesforce journey begins

The main home page after logging in is a crucial starting point. Here, you will find a concise overview of important information, such as tasks, calendar events, notifications, and other key data pertinent to your work. By the way, the Home tab has a really good name. I will tell you why. Because like with a real home, you will abandon it after a while, spending more time in other places such as bars, gyms, and restaurants – in other words, other Salesforce tabs such as Lead, Account, Contact, or Opportunity.

Tip

If you are a Salesforce Admin, speak with your business to understand what they would really like to see on the Salesforce home tab. If you do not do this, they will leave the house (home) and will never miss it. ;)

The four riders of significance – Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities

Moving on, the top navigation bar contains various tabs and options, facilitating seamless navigation within the Salesforce platform. This enables swift access to sections that interest you, such as Contacts data, Customers Data, and Prospects data.

The Lead: The person initially interested in your product or service.The Accounts: Companies such as your customers, partners, future customers, and competitors.The Contacts: People related to Accounts, most likely employees of Accounts. People working for your customers, partners, future customers, or competitors. People who you like. People who should like you too. ;)The Opportunities: Sales processes processed with your customers, partners, and future customers. Deals that you love. Money that they will bring. ;)

How are Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities bonded together? Let’s see a simple example to be able to understand the relations between Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities in Salesforce. Let’s map example customer data from the company “Super Sweets” to Salesforce features; let’s “take us to the candy shop”:

Account – “Super Sweets” candy shops

Contact – Adam Smith, who works for Super Sweets as an IT Director

Opportunity – Selling IT security stuff to Super Sweets and contacting Adam Smith to make it happen

So, you will keep the Super Sweets company information such as name, address, and customer status on the Account object, while people working at Super Sweets will be covered by the Contact objects. Deals that you are making with Super Sweets will be tracked on the Opportunity objects. Quite straightforward, isn’t it?

Leads

Sales users will most likely embark on their Salesforce journey right here. The term “Leads” refers to individuals we intend to reach out to, as they could potentially express interest in testing our solution, purchasing our product, or booking our service. A Lead embodies elements of an Account, Contact, and Opportunity; it represents a person (with attributes such as name, email, and phone number akin to Contact fields) associated with a company (with a Company Name field resembling an Account) that we wish to evaluate for potential interest in our offerings (indicated by the Lead’s status, similar to Opportunity indicators).

Why does the Lead exhibit such similarity to Account, Contact, and Opportunity? This alignment stems from the fact that Leads serve as precursors to these entities, as all their respective records can be generated during a procedure called “Lead conversion.” So, what precisely is Lead conversion? Allow me to elucidate using an example.

Imagine your company specializes in high-end merchandise. Someone completes an online form inquiring about your products and provides all the necessary contact details. This individual now qualifies as a Lead. It’s that straightforward. Your sales team can now reach out and ascertain the extent of their interest in the products. If, following a conversation, the salesperson confirms their continued interest in our high-end merchandise, the Lead can be elevated beyond its initial status – it becomes what you might call an “uber Lead.” The salesperson can initiate the conversion process, transforming the Lead into an Account, Contact, and Opportunity – all three records emanating from that single Lead! This process is aptly termed Lead conversion.

Throughout Lead conversion, fields from the Lead, such as Company Name, facilitate the creation of Account records, while attributes such as first name, last name, and email are employed to generate Contact records. When the Lead is transformed into an Account and Contact, the Opportunity can also be concurrently established. Opting to create an Opportunity during Lead conversion signifies the continuation of the sales journey, presenting an opening to potentially sell a product or service to the Lead.

Wondering how to trigger Lead conversion? The process is both prominent and straightforward. An action button labeled Convert exists on the Lead page. Simply click this button and work your magic!

Reports and dashboards

After a while, you will notice that your Salesforce database is growing, and after some time, you will realize that there is a substantial amount of data. Eventually, your business will also recognize this and inquire about reports that can present crucial information concerning Leads, Opportunities, Orders, and more. Be prepared! Form a friendly relationship with reports and dashboards in the Salesforce Analytics tab.

So, what exactly are reports and dashboards in Salesforce? It’s actually quite straightforward. A report is used to create a summary of existing Salesforce data. It bears some resemblance to an Excel spreadsheet, displaying data in columns and rows. On the other hand, dashboards are designed to visualize this data. Think of them as Excel graphs but integrated within Salesforce.

Reports don’t necessarily require dashboards to function; they can stand alone and remain independent. They possess strength and autonomy. However, dashboards cannot exist without reports. Dashboards are more like team players; they are often associated with numerous reports that serve as their data sources. They possess strength as well, but their power is rooted in the reports they are built upon.

Search Bar

Now, what