As a Single Salesforce admin for my org, I wear many hats. I’m the admin, the developer, the business analyst, and the consultant. But my role is part of Sales Operations, so I’m also a data guy, a communications guy, and overall a support guy. But did I also mention the life I live outside of the working world? I’m a husband, a dad to 2 boys (7 years old and 4 months old), an MBA student, and a marathon runner (although the 4-month old and MBA have altered my training schedule a smidge). So how does my org get my full attention, even when I’m not at my desk? Here are a couple of my favorite tips and tools that keep things movin’ along.
Like many other companies, my org has its nuances on how Salesforce.com data is organized. Our data structure has been set by data coming in from an upstream external process, and drives other processes downstream. Therefore, integrity of the structure is critical. I used to spend hours every week exporting data through DataLoader and analyzing in Microsoft Access, only to find a few small fixes. Now, when a critical field on the Account or Contact object changes, I receive an email alert with a URL to a report…with values passed into pv0, pv1, et cetera (https://na#.salesforce.com/00Oxxxxxxxxxxxx?pv0={!Object.Field}). When I’m not at my desk (i.e. in a meeting or on the treadmill), the link in my email pops open Safari and goes straight to a report allowing me to quickly review if any action is required on my part when I get back to the office, or if I can ignore and move on. It also allows my users to continue contributing information without holding them up by invoking pesky validation rules.
Does your org use Leads, but those who create the Leads don’t always check the “Lead Assignment rules” checkbox? Yep, that’s me raising my hand! Even though it requires me to maintain my Lead assignment responsibilities in 2 places, I have an email alert set-up to notify me when a Lead is generated, and if the creator and owner are the same person, I can run a Flow which evaluates the Lead information to ultimately assign the correct owner, all in one click from an email. So when I’m in the waiting room at the pediatrician’s office and I don’t feel like watching “Finding Nemo” for the 46th time, I can still keep the process moving.
Like many of you, I may be the only Admin in my org, but I’m not the only member of my team. As part of Sales Operations, I have other responsibilities for both sets of customers…internal (Sales, Customer Service, etc) and external (the capital-C Customers). Sales Operations is responsible for sending communications about changes in services, and we use Cvent as our delivery mechanism. Cvent offers a Salesforce.com integration, but only to import contact data from the CRM to Cvent. While the “Request Update” function is great for refreshing the standard Salesforce.com Contact fields, it offers nothing for updating custom fields. Enter in Clicktools, our survey delivery application…also integrated with Salesforce.com. At the bottom of every Cvent email is a dynamic link to a Clicktools survey where that contact will find his or her information already passed in and ready to be refreshed. Once the survey is submitted, it automatically refreshes Salesforce.com, and my contact data is ready for the next email distribution. By empowering the customers to update their own information, you are ensuring data cleanliness, but also ease that burden off both you and your sales reps, allowing all to focus on keeping the process moving.
So how many of you have an iOS device? Keep your hand up if you frequently use the standard Notes application. Sure, it’s great to capture a really quick note that you’d want to write down before it slips your mind. But if your intent is to watch the note evolve, you’re faced with 2 options: either be chained to that device, or email/text it to yourself and have disconnected versions as time goes on. Because I find myself in front of different devices at different times, Notes is not the solution for me. When I purchased my personal PC for my MBA in 2012, the Evernote Desktop app was pre-installed. I had heard of it, but never really explored it. After realizing there was a security component, I created a few notes. I then played a game I like to call “innocent explorer” and wandered over to evernote.com. I entered my login credentials. There were my notes. I was sold.
Evernote is my go-to tool for practically every note I could possibly need to worry about. It’s on the desktop of my personal PC. It’s on my personal iPhone. It’s on my company iPad. It’s always on a tab in my web browser. I have a note dedicated to bigger fixes needed on my house. I have a note for restaurants I’ve been told I need to try and movies I need to see. I have a note dedicated to this week’s MBA assignments. And…I have multiple notes dedicated to Salesforce.com. One note captures ideas for little fixes and bigger projects I want to tackle when I have time <insert chuckle here>. Another note is dedicated to ideas from attending the Kansas City User Group meetings and listening to the ButtonClickAdmin and Marketing Over Coffee podcasts during drive time (don’t worry, I use the microphone to actually create the notes). And in an effort to save paper, I’ve stopped carrying around a pen and notepad and now capture all of my meeting notes using Evernote with the Bluetooth keyboard on the IPad. Evernote’s mobility allows me to capture all of my random thoughts for future exploration, regardless of where my brain is at the moment. It’s in the cloud, it’s easy to use, and it’s…wait for it…free! Bonus feature…Evernote now integrates with Salesforce.com! Full disclosure, I haven’t had a chance to explore the integration, but Evernote’s representatives at Dreamforce were in full force at the Cloud Expo in November. The integration allows notes to be embedded into record detail pages, and solidifies another connection between apps in the cloud to help business move more quickly. Other cloud-based note-taking applications are out there, including Microsoft OneNote (stores notes on SkyDrive and integrates with Outlook), Any.DO (has more of a to-do list feel), and Simplenote (available on Kindle). There is a flavor for everyone, including the tried-and-true pen and paper. Ideas come can at any and all times, and if you wear as many hats as I do, you don’t want to lose any of them!
Time. That one pesky commodity that just doesn’t stand still. Our society has been fortunate enough to see technology explode an exponential rate, allowing everyone to do more and in better ways. But while the quantity of work to be done has grown, time still moves at the same rate. This can be especially troubling […]
Hi, my name is Dale Ziegler, and I have been a single Admin since January 2011. I’m happily married, so not that kind of single. In this context, single Admin means I don’t have a team of developers on staff, or any other Admins to help keep the lights on in my company’s Salesforce.com org. […]
This weekend I was fortunate enough to spend time with fellow evangelist Mary Scotton who was teaching a Girl Develop It class on Salesforce in Atlanta. Girl Develop It is a nonprofit organization that exists to provide affordable and judgment-free opportunities for women interested in learning web and software development. Through in-person classes and community support, Girl […]
