Navigating Salesforce
Salesforce Apps
OAR staff primarily use two apps: Recruiting and Service Console. We use the Recruiting app to manage campaigns and recruitment-focused reports and dashboards. The Service Console has customized functionality for cases, so we use the Service Console for case management. Salesforce defines an app as "a collection of fields, objects, permissions, and functionality that supports a business process". The data we use is the same regardless of app, but each app organizes and displays our data in a way that is most effective for the work we do.
Toggling Between Apps
We use the Salesforce App Launcher to toggle between apps. It is symbolized by a square of nine dots in the upper left corner of your dashboard. Click on the dots and you will see an app menu like the one below. Please see How To Toggle Between Salesforce Apps for more information and a video demonstration.
Navigation Tip: Most Salesforce objects used by OAR are on our navigation bars by default. However, there may be times when you want an object not already on our navigation bar. A popular example is Email Templates. Use the search feature in App Launcher to find Email Templates or other Salesforce objects.
Recruiting App
The Recruiting app’s navigation bar is spread out across the top of the page, enabling you to jump between campaigns, contacts, dashboards, and other object areas.
Clicking on an object area’s drop-down carrot (down-arrow) will give you the last five records you’ve opened and recent lists you’ve viewed.
Clicking on an object's name in the navigation bar opens its landing page. Once in the object, like the Campaigns example below, click on the carrot to open a menu and search bar.
By default, the Recruiting navigation bar includes Contacts, Opportunities, Campaigns, Accounts, Cases, Reports, Dashboards, Tasks, and Chatter. You are able to add additional object areas by clicking on the little pencil on the far right side of the navigation bar. Review these step-by-step directions for adding a navigation item to the Recruiting navigation bar for more information.
Service Console
In contrast to the Recruiting app's horizontal navigation bar, the Service Console features a vertical drop-down menu. In the example below, we’ve started on my homepage for the service console and have pressed the down carrot to open the navigation bar. By default, the Service Console navigation bar contains Cases, Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, Reports, and Dashboards. Please see the How To's: Step-by-Step Guides for the CRM, PC, SIS, Student Views, and Visit Bucky module of the Admissions Front Line Services Resource Canvas course for more information about navigating the service console.
Using the Search Bar
Once you get the hang of it, Salesforce has a straightforward organizational structure. However, to find what you want quickly, you can use the search bar at the top of your screen.
As you move your cursor to the search bar, you’ll see a drop-down menu appear on the left. You can use the drop-down menu to narrow your search to one object area of Salesforce (Accounts, Cases, Campaigns, etc.). If you search all, Salesforce takes your keyword(s) and gives you a host of results sorted into the various areas of our CRM. Chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for in the main results pane on the right, but there is also a handy search results menu on the left that sorts the information by area.
The image below is an example of a search all search using the keywords East High School. On the left is a summary of results indicating there are 5+ Accounts, 5+ Contacts, 5+ Campaigns, etc. containing these keywords. On the right you’ll see the results pane. Let’s say you wanted to find a specific campaign affiliated with East High School. You could click on the Campaigns link on the left to find all campaigns associated with any institution with East High School in their name, but it would likely be faster to narrow your search in the Accounts section first, finding the East High School you’re looking for out of the 50+ options, and then view the campaigns affiliated with that specific school. Handily, Accounts is the first object in the right-side results pane. Click view more on the right to see all schools with East High School in their name. Then sort by state or city to find the school you’re looking for.
See How to Search in Salesforce for a video demonstration of the search example above.
Contacts are another frequent search. If you’re looking to see if an applicant has contacted us about their application, type the student’s first and last name into the search bar and look through the contact results. Or, if the student has applied and you have found them in SIS, paste their EMPL ID into the search bar.
Salesforce Tools
The upper right corner of Salesforce contains a tool bar, also known as the lightning experience header. The tool bar has some handy features that may enhance your user experience. Scroll over each icon and from left to right you'll see that they are: Add Favorite (star), Favorites List (down-arrow), Global Actions (plus sign), Salesforce Help (question mark), Notifications (bell), and View Profile (round circle with an animal or your profile picture).
Add Favorite and Favorites List
We are able to favorite any Salesforce record. This enables us to centralize and quickly find records that are used often. Navigate to the record you'd like to favorite, then click the gray star in the lightning experience header.
We also have the ability to favorite recruitment reports and dashboards by choosing Favorite from the drop-down menu at the end of the report or dashboard row.
The Favorites List, symbolized by the down-arrow next to the Favorites star, opens a pop-up list of records you have favorited.
Global Actions
Global actions are used to add individual contacts to Salesforce and to email or log a call with existing contacts. Clicking the plus sign will open the Global Actions menu.
Global Action | Descriptor |
---|---|
Add Counselor/Advisor | Add a school, college, or university counselor or advisor contact |
Add Employer Contact | Add a contact located at a CBO, non-profit or business organization, and school contacts with roles other than counselor/advisor (ex: principal, secretary) |
Inquiry Card | Add a student contact and an opportunity affiliated to the contact in the Inquiry stage. This template mirrors the printed inquiry cards we formerly used |
Create Interaction | Add a student contact and an opportunity affiliated to the contact in the Inquiry stage. This template contains more optional data fields than the Inquiry Card template |
Log a Call | Document a call without first finding the individual’s Contact Record (must connect to a Contact or Account within the call log) |
Send an email without first finding the individual’s Contact Record (Note: the "From" line MUST be a service account like OnWisconsin, and the email will NOT be tracked in the individual’s Contact Record. For these reasons best practice is to always send emails from the Activity pane in the individual’s Contact Record) |
When one of the six options are selected a data entry box in the lower right portion of your screen pops up. Below you’ll see an image of the Create Interaction box. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk. See How to Add a Contact To Salesforce for step-by-step directions.
Salesforce Help
Salesforce has many help resources centralized in the Help & Training menu, which is symbolized by a question mark.
As we share our instance of Salesforce with the Division of Continuing Studies (DCS), you'll see that we have access to their Salesforce FAQ. However, because their business purposes differ from ours, disregard the DCS Salesforce FAQ as it is not a useful document for us.
Aside from the UW-Madison Resources section, all resources are produced by Salesforce and are sales-focused. However, there are several videos in the Getting Started section that may be useful companions to OAR's resources. Three videos that focus on optimizing and customizing your Salesforce experience are:
- Personalize Your Navigation Bar;
- Find Your Stuff with Search; and
- Use List Views to Find and Manage Your Records.
Click the carrot to the right of the Getting Started header to find these resources. As of this writing, the recommended videos are not digitally accessible for screen readers.
Other links in the Help & Training menu may take you to Salesforce's Trailhead, which is a huge, publicly accessible, database of training resources. Because they are geared toward sales and other business functions, accessing materials in Trailhead should be a last-resource, after you have consulted OAR's Salesforce team.
Notifications
Notifications are symbolized by a bell. A red number will appear on the bell when you have new Chatter messages or an action has been taken on a record that you have followed.
Profile and Settings
In the upper right corner of Salesforce you’ll see a circle with an animal (or your picture, if you've added a picture to your profile). This is your profile. Access Settings by clicking on your profile and then clicking on Settings.
A settings menu opens on the left. Click each carrot (>) to expand the menu.
Note: to add a picture to your profile, click on your name instead of settings.