Creating records

To create a record (by using Contacts as the example), follow these steps (which can be applied to all Create New Items on the picklist):

1. On the home page, select the Contact option on the Create New picklist, as shown in Figure 5-1.

   A New Contact page appears in Edit mode.

2. Complete the fields, as necessary.

   Even while you’re in Edit mode, the Create New picklist is available.

3. When you’re done, click Save.

   The Contact detail page appears. Here, you can begin tracking information.

Resurrecting records from the Recycle Bin

Occasionally, you delete a record and regret it. Don’t panic — the Salesforce Recycle Bin gives you 15 days to restore recently deleted records, including any associated records (such as activities deleted in the process) and your credibility.

To restore a deleted record, follow these steps:

1. On your sidebar, click the Recycle Bin link.

   The Recycle Bin page appears. If you’re an administrator, use the View picklist to view and restore records deleted within the last 15 days by other users.

2. Navigate the list as you would a normal list page until you find the desired record or records.

3. Select the check box(es) in the Action column corresponding to the record(s) that you want to restore.

   You can click the Select All link to select all the records on the page.

4. When you’re done, click the Undelete button.

   The Recycle Bin page reappears, and a link to your restored record appears in the sidebar below Recent Items.

   There is a maximum amount of space that the Recycle Bin can contain, before it starts automatically deleting the oldest files first, as long as they’re at least two hours old. The space is 25 times your organization’s total megabytes (MB) of storage, which you can find by choosing Setup ⇒ Administer ⇒ Data Management ⇒ Storage Usage.

Saving time with hover links

At the top of any record’s detail page is a row of several links. Each link corresponds to a list of other records related to the current one. The label for each link consists of the name of that type of record, as well as the number that are related. So, when you’re looking at an Account detail page, instead of scrolling down the page to see whether any contacts exist, you can see how many exist right at the top. But wait, it gets better: You can click the link and immediately jump down to the bottom of the detail page to where that related list is normally found. And if you want to be even more efficient, instead of clicking the link, just hover your mouse over it. Salesforce will show you a preview of the related list that even includes buttons to create new records and clickable links to existing ones.

Using links and buttons on the detail page

At the top of any record’s detail page, you can use several links and buttons to perform different actions. Go to any detail page and try these out:

• Toggle between list and details. If you’ve arrived at a record from a list view, you’ll see in the upper left of the page a Back to List link. Click that to return quickly to your list view. Then click the Back button on your browser to return to the detail page.
• Edit a record. Click the Edit button to edit the record (if you have permission to do so). The record appears in Edit mode. Click the Cancel button to return to the detail page, or click Save to save the record.
• Delete the current record. Click the Delete button to delete the current record that you’re viewing (if you have permission to do so). Click the Cancel button in the pop-up window if you change your mind about the deletion.
• Share the record with other users. Click the Sharing button. (This button doesn’t appear on all records.) Click the Back button within your browser to return to the detail page.
• Quickly jump to the corresponding related list farther down the page. Click the related list “hover links” at the top of each detail page, if enabled by your administrator. Alternatively, hover your mouse over the link to open a snapshot of the records displayed in that related list.
• View a printable version of the page in a new window. Click the Printable View link in the upper right, and then click the Print This Page link in the upper-right corner of the window to print a copy of the entire page. Believe it or not, some users still like to print good old-fashioned hard copies that they can review while traveling (hey, we can’t always have access to the Internet or a cellular connection).

Modifying records with inline editing

To cut down on the number of steps you have to take when you update records in Salesforce, you can edit fields directly in detail pages.

Make sure that your administrator has enabled this feature.

Follow these steps to edit a field directly in that detail page, without having to go to another page. Salesforce calls this inline editing.

1. Hover your mouse over any field on a record that you own (or have permission to edit).

   Figure 5-3 shows the email address of a contact within a company being updated.

   An icon appears to the right of a field, telling you whether you can edit that field. Here’s what the various icons mean:

   • Pencil: This icon appears to the right of editable fields, which become highlighted.
   • Padlock: This icon appears to the right of fields that you can’t edit.
   • None: You can edit a field that doesn’t have an icon, but not with the inline editing feature. You have to edit the record the old-fashioned way, using the Edit button.
2. Double-click an editable field and update the information in that field.
3. Press Enter to complete editing that field.

4. After you finish editing all the fields you want for that record, click the Save button for the record.

   If you happen to delete information in a field that requires something in it, don’t worry. Salesforce has a couple stop-gap measures to prevent you from messing things up. An Undo arrow icon appears before you save the record, and Salesforce is smart enough to remind you about required fields before letting you save your changes.

Capitalizing on related lists

Related lists. Say it three times so you don’t forget the term. By designing the page with related lists, Salesforce enables you to gain 360-degree customer visibility and ensure that more detailed information is only a click away. For example, if you open an Account detail page for one of your major customers and scroll down below the record fields, you can see multiple contacts, activities, opportunities, cases, attachments, and so on listed as links from organized related lists. And if you don’t see these links, you have work to do.

Looking things up with lookup hovers

On any detail page, you can hover your mouse over a lookup field to get a pop-up preview of that other record’s contents. Figure 5-4 shows a preview of the account record by hovering over a contact’s company name.

A lookup field is any field that actually links to another record. A lookup field’s content is underlined to show that it acts as a link to another record. (Just don’t confuse lookup fields with the set of related lists that appears below the main body of a record’s detail page.)

Creating an event

When you want to schedule activities that have a particular place, time, and duration, use event records. By using event records, you and your sales teams can keep better track of your calendars.

You can create an event from your home page, its calendar views, or the Open Activity related list of a record. The best method to choose often depends on what you’re doing. If you’re carving out meetings on a specific day, add events from your Home tab calendar’s Day View. If you’re working on a customer deal, you might create the event from an opportunity record. The end result is the same.

If you’re just getting accustomed to filling out records in Salesforce, create events from the record that’s most directly associated with the event. By using this method, many of the lookup fields are prefilled for you. So, when you save, you ensure that you can find the activity quickly because it’s linked to all the right records.

To create an event from a relevant record (such as a contact or account record), follow these steps:

1. Enter a name in the search field in the upper left, next to the Salesforce logo. Search for the record to which you want to link the event.

   For example, if you want to schedule a meeting about an account, you search for the account name.

   When you click Search, a Search Results page appears.

2. Click the name of the particular record you want.

   The record’s detail page appears.

3. Scroll down to the Open Activities related list on the page and click the New Event button, as shown in Figure 5-5.

   A New Event page appears. If you created this event from a relevant record, the name of the person or the related record is prefilled for you.

4. Fill in the relevant fields.

   Pay close attention to the required fields highlighted with a vertical red bar. Depending on your company’s customization, your event record may differ from the standard, but here are tips on some of the standard fields:

   • Assigned To: Defaults to you. Use the Lookup icon (the little magnifying glass) to assign the event to another user.
   • Subject: The event’s subject, which appears on the calendar. Click the combo box icon. A pop-up window appears, displaying a list of your company’s event types. When you click a selection, the window closes and your selection appears in the Subject field. To the immediate right of your selection’s text, customize the subject by adding a brief description. For example, you might click the Meeting link and then type Define Requirements to explain the event’s purpose.

   • Related To: The standard event record shows two drop-down lists that you can use to link the event with relevant records, as shown in Figure 5-6. One relates to certain types of records — an account, opportunity, or case. The other relates to a person — a contact or lead. First, select the type of record and then use the associated Lookup icon to select the desired record. For example, if you select Opportunity from the first drop-down list, you can use the Opportunity icon to find a specific account.

     If you use the Related To fields on activities, you’ll rarely have problems finding an activity later. For example, if you sell through channel partners, you might associate a meeting with a partner contact, but you might relate the meeting to an end-customer account. When you save the event, it appears on the related lists of both records.

   • Time: Allows you to specify the start time and end time. You can use basic shorthand and avoid unnecessary keystrokes. For example, type 9a for 9:00 a.m. or 2p for 2:00 p.m.
   • Recurrence: Allows you to create a series of events that repeat over a duration of time. This saves you from manually re-creating an event for each occurrence. You can set the frequency of the event, and optionally, when the last occurrence of the recurrence (got that?) happens.

5. Click Save.

   The page you started from reappears, and the event appears under the Open Activities related list for the associated records. The event also appears on the home page of the user assigned to the event.

   Alternatively, click the Save & New Event or Save & New Task button if you want to immediately create another activity. A new activity record appears in Edit mode.

Using pop-up reminders

Similar to many calendaring applications, Salesforce triggers pop-up reminders about events at a set time before the event is scheduled to start. If you live your life daily in Salesforce and have the application constantly logged in on your machine, this feature will gently remind you via a pop-up window, to make sure that you don’t forget an important meeting with a customer.

Make sure that your browser’s pop-up blocker protection is set to allow pop-ups that come from the Salesforce domain. Otherwise, if your browser has the pop-up blocker feature turned on, when you create an event, a little warning box appears every time your browser tries to display a reminder box.

If, on the other hand, you’re the type that lets pop-up reminders pile up on your computer screen, or if you log in to Salesforce infrequently (what sacrilege!), you can disable this feature. From your name in the upper-right corner of the Salesforce app, choose My Settings ⇒ Calendar & Reminders ⇒ Reminders & Alerts and deselect the Trigger Alert When Reminder Comes Due check box, along with any of the other boxes that are selected by default. Remember to click Save after you finish.

Creating a task

Some sales reps refer to tasks as action items; others call them reminders or to-dos. Whatever your favorite term, use task records when you want to remind yourself or someone else of an activity that needs to get done.

You can create a task from the My Tasks section of your home page or from the Create New drop-down list on any page within Salesforce. We use both methods, depending on whether we’re planning out our weeks or strategizing about a particular account, contact, or other record.

To create a task from the relevant record, follow these steps:

1. Enter a name in the search bar for the record to which you want to link the task and click the Search button.

   For example, if you want to set a task to review a proposal that relates to an opportunity, search for the opportunity name. After you click Search, a Search Results page appears.

2. Click the name of the record you want.

   The record’s detail page appears.

3. Select Create New Task from the sidebar or click the New Task button on the Open Activities related list of a record, as shown in Figure 5-7.

   Either way, the result is the same. A New Task page appears.

   When creating tasks, go to the record that the task is most directly related to before adding the task. By taking this path, you ensure that your task is easy to find because it’s automatically associated with the correct record and its account. For example, if you’re creating a task to follow up on an email to a contact, you most likely add the task from the contact record.

4. Fill in the relevant fields.

   Like the event record, your fields may vary, but here are some tips on adding a task:

   • Assigned To: Defaults to you. Use the Lookup icon to assign the task to another user.
   • Subject: The task’s subject, which appears on the My Tasks section of the Assigned To’s home page. Click the combo box icon. A pop-up window appears, displaying a list of your company’s activity types. When you click a selection, the window closes and your selection appears in the Subject field. To the immediate right of your selection, add a brief description. For example, you might click the Send Letter link and then type Introduction to explain the task’s purpose.
   • Related To: Shows two drop-down lists that you can use to link the task with relevant records similar to the event fields. First, select the type of record, and then use the associated Lookup icon to select the desired record.
   • Priority: Denotes the task’s importance. High-priority tasks display an exclamation point (!) to the left of the activity on the assigned user’s home page.
   • Status: Defines the status of the task.
   • Due Date: The date by which you expect the task to be completed. This is typically optional. Clicking your cursor in this field makes a calendar window pop up; you can select a date from this calendar.

5. Click Save.

   The page that you started from reappears, and the task displays under the Open Activities related list for the associated records. The task also appears in the My Tasks section of the home page of the user who’s assigned to the task.

   Make sure that you set your My Tasks view on the home page so that your tasks are included in the filter. The view defaults to Overdue, which can confuse some people when they don’t see a recently created task in that area.

Always link your tasks with the relevant records in Salesforce. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing valuable customer information that might have been captured in that task.

Logging a call

Sometimes, you perform a task and just want to log the activity after the fact. For example, a contact calls you on the phone, or you get stopped in the coffee room by your boss to talk about a customer issue. In these situations, instead of creating a task, saving it, and then completing it, use the Log a Call feature.

When you click the Log a Call button, you’re simply creating a task record that has a Completed Activity Status. To log a call, go to the record that the call relates to (an account or lead record, for example) and follow these steps:

1. Scroll down to the Activity History related list and click the Log a Call button.

   The Log a Call page appears, displaying fields for a completed task at the top of the page and fields for a follow-up activity at the bottom of the page.

2. Fill out or modify any of the fields to log the call.

   The Status field is preset to Completed, as shown in Figure 5-8.

3. If applicable, add another related task by filling out the fields below the Schedule Follow Up Task header.

   Although certain fields are labeled as required, the follow-up task is optional.

4. Click Save when you’re finished.

   The detail page that you started from reappears. The call record appears under the Activity History related list. If you set up a new follow-up task, that record appears under the Open Activities related list.

Instead of using the Notes feature in Salesforce to track details of your interactions with customers and prospects, we recommend using Log a Call to record this type of information. Tasks allow for easier reporting, timestamping, editing, and viewing capabilities. You can even track interactions with multiple people at once using the Shared Activities feature. If you don’t see this feature when creating a Task, ask your Salesforce Administrator to turn it on.

If you’re an administrator and someone asks you to allow Shared Activity tracking, you could enable that by choosing Settings ⇒ Customize ⇒ Activities ⇒ Activity Settings ⇒ Allow Users to Relate Multiple Contacts to Tasks and Events. However, this is an irreversible request, and you should reflect on the majority use case for this. For example, in some financial services businesses, tasks often involve contacts in addition to your prospect. However, no one’s going to use this (maybe not even the person who asked for it) unless it’s properly announced, along with benefits derived from its use.

Assigning activities

Sometimes, you may create activities and assign them to others (intentionally, not because you’re trying to shirk your duties). Sales development reps often do this as they set up meetings for their account executives. Salesforce lets you easily reassign tasks and events.

To assign an activity, open the activity record and follow these steps:

1. Click the Edit button.

2. Click the Lookup icon to the right of the Assigned To field.

   A pop-up window appears, displaying a list of your Salesforce users.

3. Use the Search field to search for the user or select the user from the list.

   After you make a selection, the pop-up window disappears, and your selection appears in the Assigned To field.

4. Click Save.

   The activity record reappears, and the Assigned To field has been modified.

Completing a task

When you’re done with a task, you want to gladly get it off the list of things to do. You can mark a task as complete from your home page or from the Open Activities related list in which the task link is displayed.

To complete a task, follow these steps:

1. If you’re viewing the task from an Open Activities related list, click the Cls link (Salesforce shorthand for “Close”) to the left of the task. If you’re looking at the task on the home page, click the X link in the Completed column.

   Both links have the same result when clicked: The task appears in Edit mode, and the Status field changes to Completed. (Your company might have its own terminology for the Completed status.)

2. Type any changes and click Save.

   Some reps update the Comments field if they have relevant new information. The detail page reappears, and the completed task now appears under the Activity History related list.

Personalizing your email settings

When you send an email via Salesforce, the recipient can receive the message just as if you sent the email from your standard email program. The email message appears as if it came from your business email address, and you can use a standard signature to go with your message. And if the recipient replies to your email, that reply email comes right to your standard email inbox. To pull this off, though, you need to personalize your email settings in Salesforce.

To set up your email, follow these steps:

1. Choose Your Name ⇒ My Settings ⇒ Email ⇒ My Email Settings.

   The My Email Settings page appears in Edit mode.

2. Modify the first two required fields, as necessary, to specify the outgoing name and the return email address.

3. Select the Yes radio button if you want to send a blind carbon copy (BCC) to your standard email inbox.

   That way, you can still keep emails in customer folders in your email application.

4. Modify the Email Signature field.

   If you’re personalizing your email settings for the first time, you might notice a default signature from Salesforce. This message appears at the bottom of your email in lieu of your signature. Unless you’re using Personal Edition, go ahead and change it.

5. Click Save.

   The Email page under Personal Setup appears, and your settings are modified.

Building personal email templates

If you ask your top sales reps about sending email, they’ll probably tell you that they don’t re-invent the wheel every time they send certain messages to customers. It’s a waste of their time, and time is money. Instead, they use templates and form letters to send the same message with less work.

In your standard sales process, you probably send a variety of emails to customers, including

• Letters of introduction
• Thank-you notes
• Responses to common objections
• Answers on competition

Although you do need to personalize a message to fit the specific details of a customer, you probably use certain effective phrases and sentences over and over again. Instead of searching for a prior message and cutting and pasting, you can create personal email templates and improve your productivity.

To create a personal template, follow these steps:

1. Choose Your Name ⇒ My Settings ⇒ Email ⇒ Email Templates.

   An Email Templates page appears.

2. Select the My Personal Email Templates folder in the drop-down list, if it’s not already set to that.

3. Click the New Template button.

   Step 1 of the New Template Wizard appears.

4. Select the radio button for Text, HTML, Custom, or Visualforce to set the type of email that you want to create, and click Next.

   • Text: Uses a basic text-only template without any formatting
   • HTML: Uses a previously created letterhead and supports HTML formatting
   • Visualforce: Lets you create an email template within a Visualforce page
   • Custom: Lets you paste previously created HTML code as your template

   The next page of the wizard appears, and the content of the page depends on the choice you made. Using HTML is most common and has certain advantages, both from appearance and tracking standpoints, but older email programs cannot receive HTML email.

5. If you select Text in the previous step, complete the template fields provided (see Figure 5-9) and then click Save.

   You can use the template only after you select the Available for Use check box.

   After clicking Save, a Text Email Template page for your new template appears in Saved mode with an Attachments related list.

6. (Optional) Attach a document.

7. If you select either HTML option (HTML or Custom) in Step 4, enter the properties for the email template and click the Save & Next button.

   If you choose to build your email template with a letterhead, you have to select a previously created letterhead and then a layout by using the drop-down lists provided. After you click the Next button, the Step 3 page of the wizard appears.

   You can create HTML or Custom email templates only if you have the Edit HTML Templates permission. See an admin if you don’t have the right permissions.

8. Create the HTML version by typing and formatting the content and copying and pasting merge fields.

9. Click Preview to review your work and, when you’re done, click the Save & Next button.

   The Step 4 page of the wizard appears.

10. Enter the text version of the email template.

    Customers who can’t or don’t want to receive HTML emails can receive the text version. If the message is similar or identical to the HTML version, click the Copy Text from HTML Version button and modify the content as needed.

11. Click the Save button.

    An HTML or Custom Email Template page for your new template appears in Saved mode with an Attachments related list, which you can use for attaching standard documents.

We show you how to use your email template in the later section “Using email templates.”

Creating letterheads

If you’re a system administrator, you can create and save custom-branded letterheads to ensure that all your templates have a similar look and feel.

To create a letterhead, follow these steps:

1. Choose Setup ⇒ Administer ⇒ Communication Templates ⇒ Letterheads.

   If this is your first time visiting, an Understanding Letterheads page appears. You can bypass it by clicking the Next button.

2. Click the New Letterhead button.

   The Letterhead Properties section of the New Letterhead Wizard appears.

3. Select the Available For Use check box. Then fill in the required fields marked in red and optionally enter a description.

   If you don’t want to let anyone use the letterhead just yet, you can leave the Available For Use check box deselected for now.

4. Click the Save button.

   The Letterhead Details section of the New Letterhead Wizard appears (see Figure 5-10). This is where you can graphically design your letterhead.

5. Click the Edit Background Color button.

   The Background Color window opens with the default color as gray. You can set it to any HTML color code or use the Paint Can button to select from a color chart. When you’re done, click the OK button to close the window.

6. Click the Select Logo button.

   The Attach File window opens to let you select from any image that has already been uploaded to the Documents tab in Salesforce. When you find the file you want, click its name to select it and close the window.

   Make sure the document is marked as an externally available image.

7. Click the Edit Header Properties button.

   The Header Properties window opens. You can specify the background color, the horizontal and vertical alignment, and the height of the Header section to ensure that your logo looks great. When you’re done, click the OK button to close the window.

8. Click the Edit Top Line button.

   The Top Color and Height window opens. If you don’t want a top line, you can set the line color to the same as your background and set the height to 0. When you’re done, click OK to close the window.

9. Click the remaining buttons to make additional edits to your letterhead.

   You can configure the middle and bottom lines, the footer properties and logo, and the body background color, just as you did in the previous steps.

10. Click the Save button.

    A preview of your new letterhead is shown. You can always make additional changes by clicking the Edit Letterhead button.

Creating and sending email

You can initiate your outbound email from many different records in Salesforce, including opportunity, account, case, campaign, lead, and contact records. To create and send an email, go to the relevant record and follow these steps:

1. Click the Send an Email button on the Activity History related list.

   A Send an Email page appears, as shown in Figure 5-11. The Email format is in Text, with a Switch to Format link appearing to the right of it. Alternatively, click the Send an Email button in the HTML Email Status related list to default to HTML format. Either way, if you change your mind, you can always switch formats on the Send an Email edit page.

   If you have organization-wide email addresses set up in Salesforce, you can select one as your From address. If not, your email address will default as the From address.

2. Decide in what format you want to send your email:
   • Switch to Text Only: You want to send the message using only text — no HTML. A dialog box appears to warn you that any HTML formatting will be removed. When you click OK, the box disappears, and the format is switched.
   • Switch to HTML: Send your message in HTML format. If you decide to send your email with HTML, you get an added bonus of being able to track your email (see the later section “Tracking HTML emails”).

3. Type the recipient’s name in the To field and then click the Lookup icon at the right of the field to search for the contact or lead.

   A pop-up window appears, containing a search tool and a list of search results.

   If you send an email from the relevant lead or contact record, you can eliminate this step because the To field is prefilled. But remember to use the Related To field to associate the email to other records, such as an opportunity.

4. Select the correct person by clicking the name, or refine your search by modifying the name or using wildcards; then click Go.

   When you select the recipient, the pop-up window disappears, and the To field is populated with your selection.

5. Use the Related To drop-down list to associate the email with the correct type of record, and then click the Lookup icon to the right of the adjacent field to find the exact record — similar to the process in Steps 3 and 4.

   Depending on which record you started from, the Related To drop-down list might already be filled.

6. In the Additional To field, type additional primary recipient emails.

   These folks get their email on the To list. They don’t have to be contacts or leads.

7. Clicking the CC link or the BCC link lets you copy other contacts or users to the email.

   A pop-up window appears, containing a drop-down list for co-workers at your company and for contacts of the account. Select names in the Contacts list box, use the double arrows to include them as recipients, and then click Save. The pop-up window disappears, and the CC and BCC fields reflect your selections.

8. Click in the CC or BCC fields and add additional email addresses, as needed.

   Salesforce allows you to send emails to people who aren’t contacts, leads, or users. Just type the email address directly in this field.

   If you want to use an email template, stop here and go to the next section.

9. Complete the Subject and Body fields of the message and then click Send.

   If your contact or lead in the To field doesn’t yet have an email address, this absence is flagged before you send the email. A Click Here to Edit the Email Address link appears that you can click to associate an email address with the record without having to leave your Send an Email page.

   The record that you started from reappears, and a link to a copy of your email appears in the Activity History related lists of the records that you linked.

Using email templates

In the section “Building personal email templates,” earlier in this chapter, we show you how to create a personalized template. In this section, you find out how to send an email that uses a template you created. First, create an email (as described in the preceding section), and then follow these additional steps before you send it:

1. Before you modify the Subject and Body fields, click the Select Template button at the top of the page.

   A pop-up window appears, displaying a list of available templates.

2. Click the Folder drop-down list and select the folder where you saved your template.

   The pop-up window refreshes, displaying a list of available templates based on your folder selection, as shown in Figure 5-12.

3. Select the desired template by clicking the relevant link in the Name column.

   The pop-up window disappears, and the page reappears with content based on the template that you selected.

4. Modify the message to further personalize the email and then click Send.

   The record you started from reappears, and a link to a copy of your email appears under the Activity History related lists of the linked records.

Due to Saleforce’s presence in so many sales organizations, a whole ecosystem of third-party vendor applications have sprouted that sync externally sent emails with Salesforce. Go to www.appexchange.com and search in the Email and Calendar Sync category to learn about the options available with your email system.