Salesforce.com® For Dummies®

Book description

Ready to start solving business challenges with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software? Interested in the latest enhancements and updates to Salesforce.com? Salesforce.com For Dummies, 3rd Edition, has just what you need!

Salesforce.com is like an assistant for your sales, customer service, and marketing efforts — one that never takes a day off and never asks for a raise. Because it’s an Internet service, you sign up and log in through a browser, and it’s immediately available. Salesforce.com For Dummies, 3rd Edition shows you how to choose the right edition of Salesforce.com, and then how to use it to:

  • Prospect, manage accounts, develop contacts, and calculate forecasts

  • Manage your customers and your teams, and close more business

  • Analyze, migrate, and maintain your data

  • Track and resolve customer service issues

  • Generate and pursue more sales leads and boost your revenue

  • Use Salesforce with Google AdWords and manage your Internet marketing

  • Integrate Salesforce.com with ERP applications for greater value

  • Make sales data available to sales reps, managers, and executives

  • Follow the sales process from lead to close and see how to maximize your productivity

  • You already know how competitive business is today, so there’s no time to lose! Salesforce.com For Dummies, 3rd Edition gets you going with this all-important CRM technology right away.

    Table of contents

    1. Copyright
    2. About the Authors
    3. Authors' Acknowledgments
    4. Introduction
      1. Updates to the Third Edition
      2. How to Use This Book
      3. Foolish Assumptions
      4. Icons Used in This Book
    5. I. Salesforce Basics
      1. 1. Looking Over Salesforce
        1. 1.1. Using Salesforce to Solve Critical Business Challenges
          1. 1.1.1. Understanding your customer
          2. 1.1.2. Centralizing contacts under one roof
          3. 1.1.3. Expanding the funnel
          4. 1.1.4. Consolidating your pipeline
          5. 1.1.5. Working as a team
          6. 1.1.6. Collaborating with your partners
          7. 1.1.7. Beating the competition
          8. 1.1.8. Improving customer service
          9. 1.1.9. Accessing anytime, anywhere
          10. 1.1.10. Measuring the business
        2. 1.2. Extending the Value Chain
          1. 1.2.1. Synchronizing with Outlook
          2. 1.2.2. Integrating with your Web site
          3. 1.2.3. Connecting to other Web sites
          4. 1.2.4. Integrating with other applications
          5. 1.2.5. Managing other business processes
        3. 1.3. Deciding Which Edition Is Best for You
      2. 2. Navigating Salesforce
        1. 2.1. Getting Familiar with Basic Terms
        2. 2.2. Accessing Salesforce
          1. 2.2.1. Setting up a password
          2. 2.2.2. Logging in
        3. 2.3. Navigating the Home Page
          1. 2.3.1. Managing your calendar
          2. 2.3.2. Tracking your tasks
          3. 2.3.3. Using dashboard snapshots from the home page
          4. 2.3.4. Accessing information with the sidebar
            1. 2.3.4.1. Finding items with Search
            2. 2.3.4.2. Creating new records
            3. 2.3.4.3. Revisiting recent items
            4. 2.3.4.4. Getting more out of your home page sidebar
        4. 2.4. Navigating the Apps
          1. 2.4.1. Discovering the AppExchange app menu
          2. 2.4.2. Finding out about the tabs
          3. 2.4.3. Discovering a tab home page
            1. 2.4.3.1. Using the Views menu
            2. 2.4.3.2. Building a custom view
            3. 2.4.3.3. Reviewing the Recent Items section
            4. 2.4.3.4. Reviewing common reports
            5. 2.4.3.5. Tooling through the Tools section
        5. 2.5. Using the Create New Drop-Down List
          1. 2.5.1. Creating records
          2. 2.5.2. Resurrecting from the Recycle Bin
        6. 2.6. Detailing the Record
          1. 2.6.1. Tagging records
          2. 2.6.2. Using links and buttons on the detail page
          3. 2.6.3. Modifying records with inline editing
          4. 2.6.4. Capitalizing on related lists
          5. 2.6.5. Looking things up with lookup hovers
        7. 2.7. Getting Help and Setting Up
      3. 3. Personalizing Your System
        1. 3.1. Using the Personal Setup Menu
        2. 3.2. Modifying Your Personal Information
          1. 3.2.1. Updating your user information
          2. 3.2.2. Changing your display
            1. 3.2.2.1. Modifying your tabs
          3. 3.2.3. Customizing pages
          4. 3.2.4. Granting login access
        3. 3.3. Working with Salesforce Remotely
          1. 3.3.1. Synchronizing with Outlook
            1. 3.3.1.1. Installing and configuring Connect for Microsoft Outlook
            2. 3.3.1.2. Backing up your data
          2. 3.3.2. Working offline
        4. 3.4. Importing Your Contacts
    6. II. Tracking Sales
      1. 4. Managing Accounts
        1. 4.1. Getting Familiar with the Account Record
          1. 4.1.1. Understanding standard fields
          2. 4.1.2. Customizing account fields
        2. 4.2. Creating and Updating Your Accounts
          1. 4.2.1. Adding new accounts
          2. 4.2.2. Updating account fields
        3. 4.3. Organizing Your Accounts
          1. 4.3.1. Using account views
          2. 4.3.2. Creating custom account views
          3. 4.3.3. Reassigning account ownership
            1. 4.3.3.1. Reassigning a single account
          4. 4.3.4. Building parent/child relationships
        4. 4.4. Performing Actions with Account Related Lists
          1. 4.4.1. Defining contact roles
          2. 4.4.2. Displaying an account's opportunities
          3. 4.4.3. Viewing cases
        5. 4.5. Maintaining Your Account Database
          1. 4.5.1. Merging duplicate records
          2. 4.5.2. Deleting account records
      2. 5. Developing Contacts
        1. 5.1. Understanding the Contact Record
        2. 5.2. Customizing Contact Information
        3. 5.3. Entering and Updating Your Contacts
          1. 5.3.1. Entering new contacts
          2. 5.3.2. Importing your contacts and accounts
          3. 5.3.3. Updating contact fields
          4. 5.3.4. Cloning an existing contact
        4. 5.4. Organizing Your Contacts
          1. 5.4.1. Using contact views
          2. 5.4.2. Creating custom contact views
        5. 5.5. Developing Organizational Charts
        6. 5.6. Performing Actions with Contact Related Lists
        7. 5.7. Merging Duplicate Records
      3. 6. Managing Activities
        1. 6.1. Reviewing Activities
        2. 6.2. Creating Activities
          1. 6.2.1. Creating an event
            1. 6.2.1.1. Viewing events in your calendar
            2. 6.2.1.2. Using pop-up reminders
          2. 6.2.2. Creating a task
          3. 6.2.3. Logging a call
        3. 6.3. Organizing and Viewing Activities
        4. 6.4. Updating Activities
          1. 6.4.1. Assigning activities
          2. 6.4.2. Completing a task
      4. 7. Sending E-Mail
        1. 7.1. Understanding E-Mail Fields in Salesforce
        2. 7.2. Setting Up Your E-Mail
          1. 7.2.1. Personalizing your e-mail settings
          2. 7.2.2. Building personal e-mail templates
        3. 7.3. Saving Third-Party Emails to Salesforce
          1. 7.3.1. Activating Email to Salesforce
          2. 7.3.2. Identifying your Email to Salesforce address
          3. 7.3.3. Saving an e-mail to Salesforce
        4. 7.4. Sending E-Mail from Salesforce
          1. 7.4.1. Creating and sending e-mail
          2. 7.4.2. Using e-mail templates
        5. 7.5. Sending Mass E-Mail
        6. 7.6. Tracking E-Mail
          1. 7.6.1. Viewing e-mails in Activity History
          2. 7.6.2. Tracking HTML e-mails
        7. 7.7. Integrating with Outlook E-Mail
    7. III. Driving Sales
      1. 8. Prospecting Leads
        1. 8.1. Introducing the Lead Record
        2. 8.2. Setting Up Your Leads
          1. 8.2.1. Adding new leads
          2. 8.2.2. Cloning an existing lead
          3. 8.2.3. Importing your leads
          4. 8.2.4. Sharing your leads
        3. 8.3. Organizing Your Leads
          1. 8.3.1. Using lead views
          2. 8.3.2. Creating custom lead views
          3. 8.3.3. Accepting leads from a queue
        4. 8.4. Following Up on Leads
          1. 8.4.1. Finding and merging duplicate lead records
          2. 8.4.2. Tracking leads with related lists
          3. 8.4.3. Updating lead fields
          4. 8.4.4. Converting qualified leads
        5. 8.5. Maintaining Your Lead Database
          1. 8.5.1. Making use of lead queues
          2. 8.5.2. Creating assignment rules for automatic routing
          3. 8.5.3. Transferring leads
          4. 8.5.4. Changing the status of multiple records
          5. 8.5.5. Mass-deleting lead records
      2. 9. Tracking Opportunities
        1. 9.1. Getting Familiar with the Opportunity Record
        2. 9.2. Entering Opportunities
          1. 9.2.1. Adding new opportunities
          2. 9.2.2. Cloning an opportunity
        3. 9.3. Modifying Opportunity Records
          1. 9.3.1. Updating opportunity fields
          2. 9.3.2. Rolling up opportunity data onto the account record
          3. 9.3.3. Reassigning opportunity ownership
        4. 9.4. Organizing Your Opportunities
          1. 9.4.1. Using opportunity views
          2. 9.4.2. Creating custom opportunity views
          3. 9.4.3. Defining contact roles
      3. 10. Tracking Products and Price Books
        1. 10.1. Discovering Products and Price Books
          1. 10.1.1. Defining standard product fields
          2. 10.1.2. Understanding the different types of pricing
        2. 10.2. Using Products and Price Books
          1. 10.2.1. Adding products to opportunities
          2. 10.2.2. Updating product details for an opportunity
          3. 10.2.3. Adding and updating schedules on opportunities
          4. 10.2.4. Searching for products
          5. 10.2.5. Creating custom views for products and price lists
        3. 10.3. Building the Product Catalog
          1. 10.3.1. Planning products for success
          2. 10.3.2. Adding products to the product catalog
          3. 10.3.3. Changing product details in the product catalog
        4. 10.4. Setting Up Schedules
          1. 10.4.1. Enabling schedules for your company
          2. 10.4.2. Adding and updating a default schedule
        5. 10.5. Managing Price Books
          1. 10.5.1. Adding to the standard price book
            1. 10.5.1.1. Adding standard prices while creating products
            2. 10.5.1.2. Adding or editing standard prices for existing products
          2. 10.5.2. Creating a custom price book
          3. 10.5.3. Adding products to a custom price book
          4. 10.5.4. Making global changes to price books
            1. 10.5.4.1. Changing activation on price books
            2. 10.5.4.2. Cloning price books
            3. 10.5.4.3. Deleting price books
      4. 11. Managing Your Partners
        1. 11.1. Understanding the Partner Lifecycle
          1. 11.1.1. Understanding a day in the life of a channel manager
          2. 11.1.2. Understanding a day in the life of a partner
        2. 11.2. Managing Your Channel with Salesforce Partners
          1. 11.2.1. Creating partner accounts and contacts
          2. 11.2.2. Assigning leads to partners
          3. 11.2.3. Reducing channel conflict with deal registration
        3. 11.3. Accessing Salesforce Partners as a Partner
          1. 11.3.1. Understanding your Partner Portal home page
            1. 11.3.1.1. Verifying your account information
            2. 11.3.1.2. Contacting your channel manager
            3. 11.3.1.3. Creating new records
          2. 11.3.2. Viewing and updating your leads
          3. 11.3.3. Managing your opportunities
        4. 11.4. Setting Up Salesforce Partners for Your Channel Team
          1. 11.4.1. Granting partners access to Salesforce Partners
          2. 11.4.2. Customizing the Partner Portal
    8. IV. Optimizing Marketing
      1. 12. Driving Demand with Campaigns
        1. 12.1. Understanding Campaigns
          1. 12.1.1. Creating a new campaign
          2. 12.1.2. Modifying the member status
        2. 12.2. Building Target Lists
          1. 12.2.1. Using rented lists
          2. 12.2.2. Importing new campaign members
          3. 12.2.3. Targeting existing members with the Integrated Campaign Builder
            1. 12.2.3.1. Adding members from a campaign record
            2. 12.2.3.2. Adding members from a custom report
            3. 12.2.3.3. Adding members from a view
        3. 12.3. Executing Campaigns
          1. 12.3.1. Delivering an online campaign
          2. 12.3.2. Executing an offline campaign
        4. 12.4. Tracking Responses
          1. 12.4.1. Capturing leads from Web forms
          2. 12.4.2. Generating HTML
          3. 12.4.3. Viewing and testing the form
          4. 12.4.4. Manually updating member statuses
            1. 12.4.4.1. Adding a member to a campaign
            2. 12.4.4.2. Updating the status of a current member
          5. 12.4.5. Mass updating campaign statuses
            1. 12.4.5.1. Mass updating all member statuses in a campaign
            2. 12.4.5.2. Mass updating all member statuses in a report
      2. 13. Building Your Internet Marketing Channel
        1. 13.1. Understanding Internet Marketing
        2. 13.2. Introducing Salesforce for Google AdWords
          1. 13.2.1. Signing up for a Google AdWords account
          2. 13.2.2. Linking your Google AdWords account
        3. 13.3. Integrating Lead Tracking with Google AdWords
          1. 13.3.1. Creating a Web-to-Lead form
          2. 13.3.2. Adding the tracking code to your Web pages
          3. 13.3.3. Confirming your Web site setup
        4. 13.4. Viewing Tracked Leads
          1. 13.4.1. Reviewing the lead source detail
          2. 13.4.2. Working your leads
          3. 13.4.3. Analyzing results with analytics
      3. 14. Driving Sales Effectiveness with Document Management
        1. 14.1. Understanding the Document Library
        2. 14.2. Building Folders in the Document Library
        3. 14.3. Adding Documents
        4. 14.4. Using Documents
          1. 14.4.1. Searching for documents
          2. 14.4.2. Sending documents by e-mail
        5. 14.5. Understanding Salesforce Content
          1. 14.5.1. Setting up Salesforce Content
            1. 14.5.1.1. Creating workspace permissions
            2. 14.5.1.2. Creating a workspace and adding members
            3. 14.5.1.3. Creating content types
            4. 14.5.1.4. Contributing content
          2. 14.5.2. Managing content
      4. 15. Performing Fast and Accurate Support
        1. 15.1. Walking through a Day in the Life of a Sales Rep
        2. 15.2. Understanding the Case Record
        3. 15.3. Creating a Case
          1. 15.3.1. Validating the contact
          2. 15.3.2. Entering new cases
        4. 15.4. Managing Cases
          1. 15.4.1. Updating case fields
          2. 15.4.2. Reassigning case ownership
          3. 15.4.3. Getting a clue on views and queues
          4. 15.4.4. Creating custom case views
        5. 15.5. Researching and Resolving Cases
          1. 15.5.1. Understanding solutions
          2. 15.5.2. Finding solutions
          3. 15.5.3. Attaching solutions to a case
        6. 15.6. Communicating the Solution
          1. 15.6.1. Responding with standard e-mail templates
          2. 15.6.2. Closing a case
    9. V. Delivering Excellent Customer Service
      1. 16. Managing Your Customer Service Solution
        1. 16.1. Preparing Your Salesforce Service & Support Strategy
        2. 16.2. Automating Case Management
          1. 16.2.1. Adding case queues
          2. 16.2.2. Using assignment rules for routing
          3. 16.2.3. Automating case escalation
        3. 16.3. Building the Knowledge Base
          1. 16.3.1. Defining the review process
          2. 16.3.2. Defining categories
          3. 16.3.3. Customizing solutions
          4. 16.3.4. Writing solutions
          5. 16.3.5. Reviewing solutions
          6. 16.3.6. Publishing your knowledge base
        4. 16.4. Capturing and Associating Cases Efficiently
        5. 16.5. Helping Customers Help Themselves
          1. 16.5.1. Launching a Self-Service Portal
          2. 16.5.2. Managing Self-Service users
          3. 16.5.3. Launching a customized Customer Portal
        6. 16.6. Improving Team Productivity
          1. 16.6.1. Using the Salesforce Console
          2. 16.6.2. Setting up the Salesforce Console
            1. 16.6.2.1. Creating your Console layouts
            2. 16.6.2.2. Customizing your mini-view
            3. 16.6.2.3. Adding the Console tab
      2. 17. Analyzing Data with Reports
        1. 17.1. Discovering Reports
          1. 17.1.1. Navigating the Reports home page
          2. 17.1.2. Displaying a report
        2. 17.2. Developing Reports with the Wizard
          1. 17.2.1. Building a report from scratch
          2. 17.2.2. Customizing existing reports
          3. 17.2.3. Building custom summary formulas
          4. 17.2.4. Adding conditional highlighting
        3. 17.3. Filtering on a Report
          1. 17.3.1. Using the Report Options section
          2. 17.3.2. Hiding and showing details
          3. 17.3.3. Filtering with the drill down menu
          4. 17.3.4. Clearing filters
        4. 17.4. Exporting Reports to Excel
        5. 17.5. Organizing Your Reports
          1. 17.5.1. Creating new folders
          2. 17.5.2. Maintaining your report library
    10. VI. Measuring Overall Business Performance
      1. 18. Seeing the Big Picture with Dashboards
        1. 18.1. Figuring Out Dashboards
          1. 18.1.1. Breaking down basic elements
          2. 18.1.2. Planning useful dashboards
        2. 18.2. Building Dashboards
          1. 18.2.1. Generating a sample dashboard
          2. 18.2.2. Cloning a dashboard
          3. 18.2.3. Developing a dashboard from scratch
        3. 18.3. Updating Dashboards
          1. 18.3.1. Editing dashboard properties
          2. 18.3.2. Editing a component
          3. 18.3.3. Modifying the layout
          4. 18.3.4. Refreshing the dashboard
        4. 18.4. Organizing Your Dashboards
          1. 18.4.1. Viewing dashboard lists
          2. 18.4.2. Building dashboard folders
      2. 19. Fine-Tuning the Configuration
        1. 19.1. Figuring Out Configuration
          1. 19.1.1. Breaking down basic elements
          2. 19.1.2. Planning configuration to achieve success
        2. 19.2. Verifying Your Company Profile
        3. 19.3. Defining the Role Hierarchy
        4. 19.4. Defining Your Sharing Model
          1. 19.4.1. Setting organization-wide defaults
          2. 19.4.2. Creating groups
          3. 19.4.3. Granting greater access with sharing rules
        5. 19.5. Setting Up Profiles
          1. 19.5.1. Reviewing the standard profiles
          2. 19.5.2. Creating custom profiles
        6. 19.6. Adding Users to Salesforce
        7. 19.7. Using Other Security Controls
          1. 19.7.1. Setting field-level security
          2. 19.7.2. Delegating administration
    11. VII. Designing the Salesforce Solution
      1. 20. Customizing Salesforce
        1. 20.1. Discovering Customization
          1. 20.1.1. Breaking down basic elements
          2. 20.1.2. Customizing for relevance
        2. 20.2. Building and Editing Fields
          1. 20.2.1. Adding fields
          2. 20.2.2. Viewing and updating fields
          3. 20.2.3. Replicating your key standard processes
          4. 20.2.4. Understanding custom formula fields
        3. 20.3. Using Custom Buttons and Links
        4. 20.4. Customizing Page and Search Layouts
          1. 20.4.1. Modifying a page layout
          2. 20.4.2. Assigning layouts to profiles
          3. 20.4.3. Changing search layouts
        5. 20.5. Managing Multiple Business Processes
        6. 20.6. Managing Record Types
        7. 20.7. Creating Dependent Picklists
        8. 20.8. Managing Workflow & Approvals
          1. 20.8.1. Creating workflow rules
          2. 20.8.2. Assigning workflow tasks
          3. 20.8.3. Using workflow alerts
      2. 21. Extending Salesforce Beyond CRM
        1. 21.1. Understanding the Force.com Platform
        2. 21.2. Preparing Your Force.com Strategy
        3. 21.3. Creating Custom Apps with Force.com Builder
          1. 21.3.1. Setting up the custom app
          2. 21.3.2. Building your custom objects
          3. 21.3.3. Modifying custom objects
            1. 21.3.3.1. Building relationships
            2. 21.3.3.2. Creating fields
            3. 21.3.3.3. Adding custom links
            4. 21.3.3.4. Changing layouts
            5. 21.3.3.5. Customizing related lists
          4. 21.3.4. Creating custom tabs
            1. 21.3.4.1. Adding a tab to a custom object
            2. 21.3.4.2. Building a Web tab
        4. 21.4. Sharing Apps on the AppExchange
          1. 21.4.1. Browsing the AppExchange
          2. 21.4.2. Installing AppExchange apps
      3. 22. Migrating and Maintaining Your Data
        1. 22.1. Understanding Your Options for Data Migration
          1. 22.1.1. Using import wizards
          2. 22.1.2. Investigating the Data Loader
        2. 22.2. Migrating Your Legacy Data
          1. 22.2.1. Determining your data sources
          2. 22.2.2. Preparing your data
          3. 22.2.3. Testing the import
          4. 22.2.4. Analyzing the test data results
          5. 22.2.5. Migrating your final data
          6. 22.2.6. Validating your data
          7. 22.2.7. Augmenting your data
        3. 22.3. Managing Your Salesforce Database
          1. 22.3.1. Backing up your data
          2. 22.3.2. Mass-transferring records
          3. 22.3.3. Mass-deleting records
        4. 22.4. Getting Help with Complex Data Tasks
    12. VIII. The Part of Tens
      1. 23. Ten Ways to Drive More Productivity
        1. 23.1. Finding the Top Five Resources
        2. 23.2. Revisiting Five Great Productivity Tools
      2. 24. Ten Keys to a Successful Implementation
        1. 24.1. Identifying Your Executive Sponsor
        2. 24.2. Building Your Project Team
        3. 24.3. Evaluating Your Processes
        4. 24.4. Gathering Requirements
        5. 24.5. Defining Your Scope and Prioritizing Initiatives
        6. 24.6. Modeling Salesforce to Your Business
        7. 24.7. Customizing for User Relevance
        8. 24.8. Importing Clean Data
        9. 24.9. Building a Comprehensive Training Plan
        10. 24.10. Connecting with Peers

    Product information

    • Title: Salesforce.com® For Dummies®
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: August 2008
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9780470318126