Salesforce, the most advanced and used CRM software, offers you versatile customer management and marketing opportunities to grow your business. With the advanced features, however, it might be confusing or too complicated for newbie users.
If you have started using Salesforce recently or intend to add it to your marketing tools soon, you would want to get the best out of it. We help you to unveil some of the most useful features, shortcuts, tips, and tricks to advance your understanding of the CRM for optimal performance.
These are seven of the best tips to note when using Salesforce for your business.
1. Synchronize Your Events and Contacts
As a marketer, you want to have all your contacts ready so that you can send your messages by the press of a single button. Copying your contacts from various sources might seem a daunting experience, especially when you are new to some piece of software. A simple contact import tool will do you wonders, and that is what Lightning Sync does.
With Lightning Sync, you can keep all your contacts up to date within your Salesforce marketing account for more accessible communication. You can configure this feature with both Outlook and Google to synchronize both contacts and events. You can also configure it to work according to your needs. One-way configuration allows you to import items from your Gmail or Outlook to Salesforce, while the bi-directional option allows you to sync events in both ways. This is an ideal feature for you to keep your calendar up-to-date even when you are out of the office.
2. Make Your Navigation Easier Using the Einstein Search
For beginners, Salesforce has too much information, many options, and menus to go through. Sometimes, what you are looking for is buried deep in the menus that it would take you many minutes to find it. Some features might be too overwhelming to locate. Luckily, robust software with many Salesforce consulting partners, Salesforce has a perfect build to handle all your needs.
The Einstein Search on Salesforce improves workflow by making your navigation easy. Unlike search features that only highlight text or menus with exact words, Salesforce’s search works like Google Search. It digests the information you type and brings out the relevant pages you might be interested in. This makes it a lot easier to find the exact reports, menus, options, configurations, or messages you wanted to refer to for faster processes.
3. Employ Chatter for Easier Collaborations
Sometimes, you need to respond to customer requests, your manager needs your input, or want a colleague to help you update some report. Managing all these might seem like an uphill task. Thankfully, Chatter is there to help you to simplify the processes.
This social tool within Salesforce helps you to communicate directly with clients and your partners from any record. You can start a conversation whenever you need clarification or assistance to ensure that you deliver your best. Chatter allows you to send files or post comments and tag others to add their input to the current issue.
4. Make Use of Tracking Alerts
It is essential to stay in the know when changes happen on your lists and processes. With tracking alerts, you can send notifications to all parties when there are new leads or tasks to accomplish. You also need reminders for follow-ups and waiting lead conversions. Email alerts also work based on various actions.
To set up your notifications, go to the email settings menu. You can use the search function to quickly get to the “Email Alerts” menu item. Choose an email template to work with and provide the email ID of the recipient for the notifications you are setting up. Use the workflow process builder to set the actions that will trigger your email notification. You can create various notifications based on the processes or actions to make your work easier.
5. Make Life Easier with Chrome Extensions
Google Chrome is a robust browser with its extensions. But did you know that the Chrome extensions can make your Salesforce life easier? There are various extensions you need to check out on the Chrome Webstore. For instance, the Salesforce Lightning extension improves your workflow with Gmail. When you are signed in to Gmail, you can view your Salesforce activities, which analyzes your messages to give you detailed information about new developments.
Ebsta is another Chrome extension you may need for your business while doing other stuff around the web. The extension creates a cross-reference of the information you may need about profiles and other data between a web page you are viewing and your Salesforce customer base.
6. Create Automated Reports to Your Email
Apart from tracking alerts, you can set up emails for all the reports after various activities or events. These can further be customized based on duration – like weekly or monthly reports. You need to create the reports you want to receive emails for. You can find the configuration under the Reports tab.
Whatever type of reports you want to create (revenue, leads, etc), you can schedule automation for the same types after a given period. This option is available when you click on the “Run Report” link, and you need to opt in the “Schedule Future Runs” option. Then you should enter your desired duration and the email address to receive the reports.
7. Create Easy Schedules Via the Salesforce Inbox
The Salesforce Inbox allows you to send messages to your prospects instantly. It comes with templates you can customize and automate as responses or schedules. While you can easily communicate your messages to email, you would want to create a quick schedule with your client so that you can close that business deal.
Salesforce Inbox comes with a feature that makes it easier to plan meetings with your clients. When you enter a schedule in the message body, it becomes clickable. Instead of the to and fro responses trying to figure out the best time, customers can choose their most appropriate time and create the plan as a response. Furthermore, Salesforce Inbox comes with a tracking feature so that you know when your email was opened.
Summing Up
Using Salesforce to empower your business is one of the greatest investments and achievements. Since the software offers you a lot of features, you may want to configure it to fit your needs. Various options, tips, and shortcuts will help you to get the most out of Salesforce. Choose what works for you so that you can make your marketing life easier.
