Salesforce.com For Dummies

How to Navigate the Salesforce Home Page

Salesforce.com can help immensely with managing your customers and, more importantly, your customer relationships (CRM, or customer relationship management, is the hot acronym in the business world today). Knowing how to make the most of the Salesforce home page can help you immensely in making the most of what Salesforce.com has to offer. This list describes options available on the home page:

• Tabs: Click the tabs to navigate Salesforce. When you click a tab, the tab’s home page appears with sections for views, tools, and reports to help you manage your work.

• AppExchange app menu: Use the AppExchange app drop-down menu to switch between sets of tabs most used by different types of Salesforce users.

• Create New drop-down list: Select an item on the Create New drop-down list to create new records in Salesforce such as accounts, contacts, and opportunities.

• Recycle Bin: Click the Recycle Bin link on the sidebar if you’ve deleted a record(s) in the last 30 days that you want to restore to keep your job.

• Calendar: Use the home page calendar to keep track of your schedule in Salesforce. With the calendar view icons, you can jump to different time periods and view the calendars of other users or resources.

• My Tasks: Use the My Tasks section to stay up to speed on your to-do items.

• Search: Find information fast in Salesforce by entering keywords and clicking Search. A search results page appears with lists of records that match your search.

• Recent Items: Use Recent Items to open records that you recently visited.

• Messages and Alerts: View Messages and Alerts for important communications from your Salesforce project team or managers.

• Custom Links: Click links in the Custom Links section on the sidebar to quickly access important Web sites or corporate applications.

• Personal Setup: Click the Setup link in the top-right corner to go to the Personal Setup page and modify your personal settings. If you’re an administrator, use Personal Setup to customize, configure, and administer Salesforce.

• Help and Training: If you need help, click the Help and Training link in the top-right corner.

How to Get Help in Salesforce

Salesforce.com is a helpful and efficient tool that can help manage your customer relationships, and CRM, or customer relationship management, is what business is all about these days. But what happens when you need help managing Salesforce.com? Make use of the tips in this list to get back to managing your customers with ease:

• Contact your system administrator. If you’re the administrator, proceed to the next point.

• For reinforcement training, click the Help and Training link in the top-right corner, and then click the Training tab in the window that appears.

• For help documentation, click the Help link on most pages of Salesforce page or the Help and Training link to access the help guide.

• For general support, click the Help and Training link, and type keywords related to your question into the Search bar. You’ll get a list comprised of suggested solutions that include Help topics.

• If all else fails, click the Help and Training link, then click the Support tab. On the Support tab, click the Find Solution button to search the knowledge base or click the Log a Case button to initiate a formal inquiry.

How to Do Everyday Operations in Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is designed to help you do your customer relationship management (CRM) tasks with ease. You use it to track leads (unconfirmed leads are suspects in Salesforce-ese), establish relationships between customers and hierarchies among them.

To accomplish common, everyday tasks in Saleasforce.com:

• Access sales collateral: Click the Documents tab and in the Find Documents section, enter keywords to search for sales collateral.

• Add a deal: Go to an Account detail page for the related customer, and then select the Create New Opportunity item on the sidebar. Complete the fields including the Stage and Close Date fields, and then click Save.

• Create a report: Click the Reports tab and then click the Create New Custom Report button. Follow the steps through the wizard and click the Run Report button when ready.

• Create a reusable focus list: Click a relevant record tab and click the Create New View link in the corresponding Views section. Complete the settings for the view and click Save.

• Establish org hierarchies: Create records for contacts of an account. Click the Edit button on a contact record and use the Lookup icon next to the Reports To field to associate the manager. Click Save.

• Export a report: Go to a report and click the Export to Excel button. Follow the steps to export the report.

• Initiate a customer service inquiry: Go to a related record detail page (such as an account or contact) and select the Create New Case item on the sidebar.

• Log a call: Go to a related record detail page and click the Log A Call button on the Activity History related list. Complete the fields and click Save.

• Look at your calendar: From the home page, click the calendar view icons to find your desired view.

• Manage a campaign: If you have campaigns and the proper permissions, click the New Campaign button on the taskbar. Fill in the fields and click Save.

• Merge duplicate records: On a Lead detail page, click the Find Duplicates button. For merging accounts, click the Merge Accounts link in the Tools section on the Accounts home page. For merging contacts, go to an Account detail page and click the Merge Contacts button on the Contacts related list. In each situation, follow the steps in the merge wizard to complete the operation.

• Schedule a meeting: Click the New Event button on your home page, complete the record, and click Save.

• Send an e-mail: Go to a related record detail page (such as a contact or lead) and click the Send An Email button on the Activity History related list. Complete the fields and click Save.

• Set up a to-do: Go to a related record detail page (such as a contact or account) and select the Create New Task item on the sidebar. Complete the fields and click Save.

• Set up parent/child relationships: Create records for parent and child accounts. Click the Edit button on a child account and use the Lookup icon next to the Parent Account field to associate the parent. Click Save to reunite the family.

• Track a company: Select the Create New Account item on the sidebar, complete the record, and click Save.

• Track a person: Go to an Account detail page where the person is employed, and then select the Create New Contact item on the sidebar. Fill in the record and click Save.

• Track a suspect: Select the Create New Lead item on the sidebar, fill in the record, and click Save.

• Transfer a record: Assuming you have transfer rights, go to a record detail page and click the Change link in brackets next to the Owner field. Complete the fields and click Save.