A Look Ahead...

In the weeks to follow, I will be mapping out suggested workflow processes and procedures for automatically updating and maintaining the data within salesforce from external resources and working with the SCI staff on perfecting the process. This will come in handy when working with matriculating students as their data is captured in an admissions report. However, some students may be manually entered depending on circumstance (ex. non degree seeking students)and felt it was necessary to cover the basics :)

In order to achieve this automation, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the salesforce id's and reporting features. So this upcoming week will contain a few short videos on how to create a basic report (referencing data dictionary), Saving the report for public use, as well as exporting report data and working with id's. I would also like to provide videos on downloading and installing CRM Demand Tools.

Finally, I plan on assessing the current data dilemma regarding Filemaker Pro. I will be providing a list of suggestions as to the migration of the student data from last point of import. As well as begin research on App Exchange regarding Constant Contact (ESP) and integrated services provided for potential future installation if deemed beneficial.

Week 4 & 5 - Leads

Weeks four and five are all about leads. From manually creating a basic lead record, copying a lead record for more efficient data entry, finding duplicate records & merging, creating list views and filters when browsing & navigating the lead interface, using tags to create personalized lists as well as a section dedicated to associating leads with campaigns, and finally converting a lead into a person account this section gives a fairly thorough look at end user's interaction with the leads features. The PowerPoint slide show provided in the salesforce user guide also contains additional notes and insights on using these tools and as always videos are easily accessible in the screencast side bar of this blog.

Week 3 - Campaigns

Salesforce provides the "Campaigns" object to track marketing projects such as Open House Events, Information Sessions, Print Advertisements, Mailers, Email Blasts, etc. Campaign information fields include (but not limited to) campaign name, date, location, time, description, and budgetary information which are all stored within a campaign record. Campaigns provide a summary of member responses as well as aggregated stats such as the number of total converted students aiding in calculating a Return on Investment (ROI).

Prior to my use of Salesforce, I found it nearly impossible to calculate a ROI as the leads I did track were contained in various spreadsheets consisting of Open House attendees as well as some general inquiries. Information regarding the marketing project details were stored in my calendar, financial expenses were contained within a separate financial system, and lead emails were often left unassociated to affiliated messages in my inbox. Salesforce makes it possible for me to track this data with the use of Campaigns (and supporting information) by associating leads and tracking their converted status I am able to determine the marketing project's effectiveness. In the midst of an economic recession, it is crucial to be able to identify whether or not a marketing campaign is effective and, among many others things, salesforce provided me the ability to do just that.

Campaigns can also be associated with a Parent Campaign in order to create groupings or hierarchies. These groupings are essential when attempting to create a quick report on aggregated data as (at this point in time) many of the credit programs using salesforce are all utilizing the "Credit Campaign" record type. Parent campaigns are one way to group and differentiate your marketing projects from other groups. These parent campaigns can also be beneficial in creating a new "campaign view" to create a much more user friendly campaign list. Views allow an end user to easily navigate through the campaigns affiliated with their program removing the noise of unrelated projects.

It is a suggested best practice to utilize campaigns when creating a web to lead form. In this sense, Campaigns are used to group the leads from a particular form to the lead itself indicating which websites (or web to lead forms) are the most successful. For example, was the cost of the print ad worth the number of leads and/or converted leads generated? A properly established web to lead form affiliated with a campaign, in this case "Print Ad" campaign of some sort, allows you to track the number of responses and determine whether their prospective lead records converted into student accounts. All you would need to do is add the url of a web to lead form on the Print Ad which would track to a Print Ad campaign created within SF. I will be providing detailed information on creating a basic web to lead form in upcoming weeks.

Campaigns are also valuable when working with other Email Service Provider (ESP) apps such as Vertical Response. The ability to track campaign responses to an email blast within the individual lead record is very useful. For example, by viewing a prospective student record you could see which marketing campaigns they attended, which email bast they opened, clicked, bounced, or unsubscribed. I will be providing much more information regarding Vertical response in the upcoming weeks.

As always, a PowerPoint slide show and videos have been uploaded to the "Salesforce Guide" video page. The videos are also uploaded to screencast.com and easily accessible from the right side bar. Feel free to comment with questions :)

Week 2- Email/Calendar Integration

It is important to integrate your email (& Calendar Sync) service in order to track all communications with a student lead, account or contact within the sf record. By attaching an email communication to a record, you no longer have to scroll or search through your inbox looking for a msg. So I felt it was important to take some time creating a few videos that walk you through the steps of setting up Connect for Outlook as well as the setup and use of the "Email to salesforce" feature. I also created a PowerPoint slideshow that documents many of these steps. Please visit the Salesforce Guide (videos page) to access this documentation.

Despite being a salesforce user for a few years, I am quite new to these services. I did muddle my way through much of the setup, but hopefully the videos I created will prevent you from encountering the same stumbling blocks.


Connect for Outlook
Pros

• Allows Outlook users to install a plugin which provides an easy to use toolbar by providing a user the ability to attach a message task to an exisiting sf lead or contact


• Allows the end user to search the pre-existing records within the system for the affilated email address and provides the end user the ability to select the record in which to attach the email from Outlook


• End users can also choose to affiliate an email message with a case


• Email/Calendaring items/tasks can also be marked for sync to sychronize the infomration from Outlook to SF

Cons

• Download/Install of Outlook plugin required
  
• The "Quick Add" feature allows you to add a lead, contact, or case from Outlook to salesforce if a record with the affiliated email address is not located.Unfortunately, this "Quick Add" does not work well with organizations using record types as it does not allow you to specify the record type to be attached. The "Quick Add" feature automatically assigns the new lead or contact to the default record type specfied within the system. I have posted an idea (suggested improvement) to the idea exchange in hopes the "idea" will be well received by the sf community and promoted accordingly. If the "idea" receives enough votes, it could be implemented within the next version rollout. To promote this idea on the idea exchange click here to login & promote the idea :)


• Connect for Outlook only supports synchronization with a single Outlook folder. If you have multiple contact folders only one can bebe specfied for synchronization.


• Although the button displays promeniently on the toolbar, the "Always Marc for Sync" feature is not generally recommended as it will sync every record with no concern for record associations




Email to Salesforce/Appirio Calendar Sync
Pros



• Email to Salesforce is easy to setup and use. Simply add the email address(es) you wish to send student mail (and have it stored within the sf record) to the "My Accpetable Addresses" area and copy the "email to salesforce" address provided.


• Once "Email to Salesforce" is setup you can easily log an email message to a student within the sf record by placing the "Email to Salesforce" address on the BCC line of the msg.


• Appirio Calendar Sync allows you to synchronize your Google Calendar with your SF Calendar


• Using Appirio Calendar Synch for Google Calendar allows you to easily view shared co-workers calendars within the sf platform
  
• A Security Token is needed for the Connect for Outlook setup. Please review the videos and/or PowerPoint slides for additional help




Cons



• The DCEO Google domain is currently not configured for "Email to Salesforce" as settings require "domains support at least one of the following protocols: SPF, Sender ID, or DomainKeys. When this option is enabled, salesforce.com uses these protocols to verify the legitimacy of the email sender's server. If the server passes at least one protocol and does not fail any, salesforce.com processes the email. If the server fails a protocol or does not support any of the protocols, then salesforce.com does not process the email." I am working on resolving this issue and will keep you posted on my progress. I will also be sure the new Division of Continuing Studies (DoCS) Google domain is initally setup to accomodate the "Email to Salesforce:" feature.



• A Security Token is needed for the Appirio Calendar Sync setup. Please review the videos and/or PowerPoint slides for additional help