ESSENTIALS

Quick Start Guide

Choose your path and get started with setting up key features in Salesforce Essentials.
 
 

1. The Basics of Essentials

Understand the basics of working with your data in Essentials.
 
Bring in your data from spreadsheets to Essentials through data import. If you intend to enter your data manually, skip to the next chapter.

STEP 1

Data cleanup is recommended prior to import and the process itself will look different for everyone. It is important to remove any duplicates from your file to prevent errors during the import. Here are some other tips to consider: correct incomplete or incorrect information and fix spelling/punctuation errors.

STEP 2

Verify that the headers in your file match the spelling of corresponding fields in Essentials. To check these fields, click on the gear from the top right-hand corner of your screen to open a dropdown menu, and then click on “Setup”. Click on “Object Manager” on the left-hand side of your screen and select the Object (Contacts, Accounts, etc.) you will be importing into. You will find the full list of fields for an Object under “Fields & Relationships”. Create custom fields for any headers that do not match with any Salesforce fields by clicking the “New” button on the right-hand side of the “Fields & Relationships” section.

STEP 3

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu, and then click on “Setup”.

STEP 4

On the left-hand side, use the search bar to search for the keywords, “data import.” Select “Data Import Wizard” from the search results. Click the button, “Import My Data” and follow the instructions to import your data.
Stay on top of your records with the activity timeline.

STEP 1

Click on “Log a Call” to log the details of a phone call and associate the call to the appropriate records.

STEP 2

Click on “Email” to draft and send an email. You can embed images and links, format the text, add an email template, and much more.

STEP 3

Click on “New Task” to set a reminder for yourself or your team.

STEP 4

Click “More” to expand the menu of options. Click on “New Event” to log details about a meeting or event.

STEP 5

Click on the “Chatter” tab to share updates and type the “@” symbol to mention your teammate on the record.
Einstein Activity Capture (EAC) syncs your email and calendar event information from Google/Outlook to the record’s activity timeline.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Basic Sales Setup”.

STEP 2

Scroll down to find the “Further Setup” tile on the lower right-hand side. Click on “Connect to Email and Activities”.

STEP 3

Choose your email provider (Gmail/Office 365/Exchange) and a new window to connect your email.

STEP 4

Click on “Check it out!” to exit this screen.

STEP 5

A green banner will appear at the very top of your screen. Click on “Update Sharing Settings” to determine if you want to share the content of your emails or keep them hidden from others.

STEP 6

Click on any record and locate the “Activity” tab to see these emails in the activity timeline.
Install Salesforce Inbox to bring the power of CRM into your Google/Outlook email inbox.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Setup”. On the left-hand side, use the search bar to search for the keywords, “gmail” or “outlook”. Select “Gmail Integration and Sync” or “Outlook Integration and Sync” from the search results.

STEP 2

Click on the toggle switch to turn the integration on. Scroll down the page and click on the “Edit Settings” link next to the “Inbox in the Gmail/Outlook Integration” section. From the newly opened window, click on the toggle switch next to the “Make Inbox Available to Users” section and your screen will refresh. Under the “Who Can Use Inbox” section, click on “Assign Permission Sets” link.

STEP 3

If you intend to use EAC to log emails automatically, you can skip this step. If you intend to log emails one-by-one, click on the “Inbox without Einstein Activity Capture” permission set then click on the “Manage Assignments” button. Click the “Add Assignments” button to add the appropriate users.

STEP 4

Navigate back to the “Integration and Sync” page to find the link to install Inbox. After installation, you can start using the side panel in your Gmail/Outlook inbox. Please note: the Gmail integration will not be available for personal (non-Google Workspace) accounts.
You can bring the power of CRM with you wherever you go on mobile. Let’s take you through a preview of the mobile app.

STEP 1

From your mobile device’s app store (Apple App Store/Google Play Store), search for ‘Salesforce’ to find the Salesforce mobile application. Install the app and login with your username/password.

STEP 2

Stay on top of your to-do list with your Tasks view.

STEP 3

Create and edit data on the mobile app as you normally would on the desktop version. View key details about your records and any related activities.

STEP 4

Click the “More” button at the top of your screen to expand your options. From this expanded menu, you can log activities on the go.
 
 

2. Tracking Customers and Closing Deals

Manage your sales pipeline effectively so you can sell smarter and faster.
 
Ensure that none of your customers fall through the cracks by customizing your own sales process. Each business has a different process for prospecting and selling. In this chapter, we’ll walk you through the steps to customize your own Lead and Opportunity stages.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Basic Sales Setup”.

STEP 2

Scroll down to find the “Further Setup” tile on the lower right-hand side. Click on “Set up your Team’s Sales Process”.

STEP 3

Choose a template to start with. If you do not see a business type similar to yours, we recommend choosing “Sales” to start with. You can always make changes later on.

STEP 4

On this screen, you can edit your sales stages for both Leads and Opportunities. Add new stages by clicking on the “New” button. Click and drag stages to re-order as necessary. You can remove any stages by clicking on the trash bin icon next to the stage. Once you have made the appropriate changes, click the “Done” button located at the bottom right of this screen.
With Essentials, you can capture all of your unique business data with fields. Customize your data by creating custom fields to get a full view of your customers. You can apply the same step below for any other object like Opportunities.

STEP 1

Click on the “Leads” tab from your navigation bar and then click on any Lead record. From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Edit Object”.

STEP 2

Click on “Fields & Relationships” to see the list of fields for the Leads object. Click the “New” button to create a new field.

STEP 3

Select a field type that corresponds to the kind of data you will enter into that field. Customize the new field by assigning a label and filling out other required information (this will differ depending on the field type). Click the “Next” button to progress through each screen. It is recommended to leave the settings as-is for the next screens (“Establish field-level security” and “Add to page layouts”). Click the “Save” button to exit.

STEP 4

Edit the new custom field on the Lead record. Repeat the same steps for Opportunities to capture more details about your sales deals. Here is the new Lead field we just created.
Leads help you track, report, and market to your prospective customers. When a Lead is interested in purchasing, you can turn it into an Account (company), Contact (individual), and Opportunity (sales deal) through a process called lead conversion.

STEP 1

If you want to carry over the custom lead information, you will need to re-create those fields on the appropriate target object (Account, Contact, and/or Opportunity). Click on the “Opportunity” tab and then select any Opportunity record. From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Edit Object”.

STEP 2

Click Fields & Relationships then click the New button to create a new field. Assign a label to the field, designate access, and save the field. Ensure that this custom field matches exactly with the field on the Lead object.

STEP 3

Click on “Object Manager” from the left-hand side of your screen. Search and select “Lead” from the list of objects. Click on “Fields & Relationships”.

STEP 4

Click on the button “Map Lead Fields” located on the right-hand side of your screen. Click on the tab for the appropriate object (Account, Contact, or Opportunity) and then select the custom field you just created from the dropdown list. Repeat this same process for any other Lead fields you want to transfer over through the conversion process.

STEP 5

When a Lead is ready to purchase from you, click on the Lead record and then click on the “Convert” button located on the right-hand side of the Lead record. You can choose an existing Account, Contact, and/or Opportunity instead of creating new records. Click the checkbox next to “Don’t create an opportunity upon conversion” if you do not want to create a new Opportunity. Click the “Convert” button when you are ready.
Create custom views to narrow your focus on the right deals.

STEP 1

Click on the “Opportunities” tab from your navigation bar and then click on the small gear icon to open up a dropdown of “List View Controls”. Click the “New” option to create a new list view. Assign a name for this new view and if you want this to be visible to others or just yourself.

STEP 2

Filter options will expand on the right-hand side. You can add filters by clicking “Add Filter”. This is where you can segment your Opportunities by region, industry, close date, etc. Click the “Save” button to save your filters.

STEP 3

Utilize the “Kanban View” to see a full view of your sales pipeline. Click on the “Display As” option on your right-hand side to transform the view from a table to the kanban. Click and drag deals to the next stage to update your pipeline.
Navigate back to the “Integration and Sync” page to find the link to install Inbox. After installation, you can start using the side panel in your Gmail/Outlook inbox. Please note: the Gmail integration will not be available for personal (non-Google Workspace) accounts.
Summarize your Salesforce data in reports and surface the report data in a visual manner through dashboards. Reports and dashboards give you a full view of your data and help you make informed decisions.

STEP 1

We would recommend using an existing report as a template for your report unless you would like to create a new report from scratch. Click on the “Reports” tab from your navigation bar and then click on the “All Reports” option on the left side of your screen. Select a report from this list to start with.

STEP 2

From the bottom left corner, you can add or remove columns. Add or remove groupings for your report data above the columns section. The “Filters” option next to the “Outline” tab on the left-hand side allows you to set filters and see a subset of your data. Click on the “Add Chart” button located on the top right of the report builder to create a visual representation of the data pulled into the report.

STEP 3

Click the downward-facing arrow next to the “Save” button on the right-hand side of the screen to open a dropdown of options. Click on the “Save As” option to save a copy of this report and assign it to a public or private folder.

STEP 4

Click on the “Dashboards” tab from your navigation bar. Select any dashboard from the list or click “New Dashboard” to create a new dashboard. Click the “Edit” button from the top right corner of the dashboard. Click the blue “+ Component” button to add the new report you have just created. You can choose a different report chart or pull in the chart from the report. Click “Add” to see the new component and move it to another area of the dashboard by dragging and dropping the report to another area.
 
 

3. Managing my Contacts

Cultivate strong relationships with your contacts by setting up these five features.
 
Capture all of the information you need to personalize your outreach with customers through custom contact fields.

STEP 1

Click on the “Contacts” tab from your navigation bar and then click on any Contact record. From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Edit Object”.

STEP 2

Click on “Fields & Relationships” and then click the New button to create a new field.

STEP 3

Select a field type that corresponds to the kind of data you will enter into that field. Customize the new field by assigning a label and filling out other required information (this will differ depending on the field type). Click the “Next” button to progress through each screen. It is recommended to leave the settings as-is for the next screens (“Establish field-level security” and “Add to page layouts”). Click the “Save” button to exit.
Create targeted views so that you can stay on top of your outreach. An advantage to creating custom Contact list views is the ability to mass email all contacts in a single view.

STEP 1

Click on the “Contacts” tab from your navigation bar and then click on the small gear icon to open up a dropdown of “List View Controls”. Click the “New” option to create a new list view. Assign a name for this new view and if you want this to be visible to others or just yourself.

STEP 2

Filter options will expand on the right-hand side. You can add filters by clicking “Add Filter”. This is where you can segment your Contacts by region, title, etc. Click the “Save” button to save your filters.
Store performance metrics of your marketing communications and campaigns. You can associate Opportunities, Leads, Contacts, etc. to campaign records to track what kind of campaigns worked best in driving results.

STEP 1

To find Campaigns, click on the nine dots located in the top left-hand corner of your screen - this is the AppLauncher. Type in “Campaigns” into the search bar and select “Campaigns” from the search results.

STEP 2

Click the “New” button to create a new campaign.

STEP 3

Track the results of your campaign and its effect on your Leads and Contacts by adding them as Campaign Members. Click the “Add Contacts” or “Add Leads” button next to the Campaign Members section. A window will appear allowing you to add the relevant individuals. You can select the appropriate individuals or all contacts by clicking the checkbox located in the top left corner of your contact list.

STEP 4

If you want to send a mass email to members of this campaign, click on the downward-facing arrow next to the “Add Contacts” button in the “Campaign Members” section. Add an email template to personalize your outreach and click the “Send” button when you are ready.

STEP 5

Once you start receiving responses to your mass email, you can update these metrics directly from the Campaign. From the Campaign, click the “View All” link in the “Campaign Members” section. To update the status of the Campaign Member, click the checkbox next to the individual and then click the “Update Status” button. In this example, we’ve received a response from one of the mass email recipients and now we’re changing the status from “Sent” to “Responded”.
Send a personalized mass email to your Leads and Contacts.

STEP 1

Click on the “Contacts” or “Leads” tab from your navigation bar. Click on the checkbox next to each contact that you would like to send a mass email to then click on the “Send List Email” button to prepare your email.

STEP 2

You can also send a mass email to all of the contacts in a list view. Select a list view and then click on the “Send List Email” button.

STEP 3

Craft your subject and the email content. You can leverage email templates by clicking on the Email Template icon on the bottom left corner.
Track the results of your mass email with an email status report. Keep in mind that when you set up this report, it will not retroactively show you the results from past list emails. It is important to set this up from the very beginning if you intend to track these results for all outgoing emails.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Basic Sales Setup” or “Setup”.

STEP 2

On the left-hand side, use the search bar to search for the keywords, “activity settings”. Select “Activity Settings” from the search results. Search Click the checkbox next to “Enable Email Tracking” then click Save.

STEP 3

Now that you have enabled email tracking, you can create the report. Click on the “Reports” tab from your navigation bar. Click the “New Report” button and select the report type “HTML Email Status“.

STEP 4

Edit your email status report. Add more columns to your report from the bottom left corner of the report builder. Click the “Save and Run” button when you are done with making changes. Assign a name to the report and add it to a public or private folder before saving. Now, you can reference this report for any mass emails sent directly from Salesforce. Please note: this report will not show any emails logged through Einstein Activity Capture (EAC).
 
 

4. Resolve customer issues

Optimize your service operations to provide an excellent customer experience.
 
Transform email responses into customer service requests through Email-to-case. Follow up on these customer service requests by emailing and logging call activity to resolve their issues.

STEP 1

If you have a support email set up, click on the setup gear located in the top right-hand corner of your screen.

STEP 2

Under the "Recommended Setup" section, click the tile ”Connect Your Support Email“. If you have a Google support email, select the "Sign in with Google" option, otherwise, you can click on "I Have Something Else". The next steps involve connecting your email by entering your email credentials.

STEP 3

Once you have connected your email, click the “Done” button to exit this screen. Try testing it out by sending an email to your support email.

STEP 4

Any emails that are sent to your company support email will transform into a support case. You can follow-up with the customer via email and log any call activity from within Essentials.
Turn Facebook posts and tweets from Twitter into Cases that you can manage all within Essentials.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Service Setup”.

STEP 2

To set up Twitter with Salesforce, click on the “View All” link located on the right-hand side of the “Recommended Setup” area. Search for “tweet”. Select the option “Turn Tweets into Cases” to start the setup flow for connecting your Twitter account.

STEP 3

Assign yourself or your team to tackle these Twitter cases then click the “Done” button to conclude this process to connect your Twitter to Salesforce.

STEP 4

Let’s switch gears and show you the setup flow for connecting your Facebook Page to Salesforce. Click on the “View All” link located on the right-hand side of the “Recommended Setup” area. Search for “facebook”. Select the option “Turn Facebook Posts into Cases” to start the process. Enter your Facebook credentials to officially connect your page to Essentials.

STEP 5

Add yourself or team as agents that will take on these Facebook requests. Click the “Done” button to exit the flow and start assisting your customers.

STEP 6

Any tweets to your business’ Twitter handle or posts to your Facebook Page will transform into Cases. The “Case Origin” field will display where the request came from to give you instant visibility and the ability to filter these social media cases through list views.
Macros can help automate common processes to save you time.

STEP 1

To create a Macro, make sure you are in the Service Console. To get to the Service Console, click on the AppLauncher (nine dots located at the top left corner) and select the “Service Console” app. Click on the “Macros” tab from your utility bar located at the bottom left corner of your screen. To create a new Macro, click the + (plus) icon. Designate a name for your Macro and fill in any additional details.

STEP 2

In this screen, we will designate what actions will take place. This step will differ for everyone. In this example, we’ve received a case about a customer’s missing order. We require more information from this customer via email. Our agents frequently receive cases like this and would like to save themselves time from sending the initial email. We’ll create a Macro that will assign the value “Critical” for the “Priority” field as a first step.

STEP 3

Our next step is to simulate sending an email to the customer. Click on the “Email” option from the menu of options located in the middle of the case. To insert an email template that asks for the required details that was set up beforehand, click on the option “Insert Email Template” under “Select Email Action.” After inserting the template, indicate that this email must be sent as part of the Macro by clicking the “Send” button underneath the email body. Click the “Save” button at the top right-hand corner to save this Macro.

STEP 4

Open a Case that you would like to test. Click on the “Macros” option from the utility bar at the bottom of your screen. Select the new Macro you just created (“Missing Order Macro”). It will then execute the steps we outlined: assign the “Priority” field to “Critical” and send an email containing the information we require from the customer. This will save our agents time so they can focus on more complex Cases.

STEP 5

The user running the Macro will not be able to complete any other actions until the actions are fully executed. Click the “Done” button when the Macro is done executing all actions and you can move on to your other tasks.
Knowledge articles allow you to document important information for your internal team or your customers/partners.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Service Setup”.

STEP 2

Click on the “View All” link located on the right-hand side of the “Recommended Setup” area. Search for “knowledge”. Select the option “Knowledge Setup” to start the setup flow. Note: Once you enable Lightning Knowledge you can’t disable it.

STEP 3

Designate who should author Knowledge articles in Essentials on the next screen.

STEP 4

Organize your articles into “Data Category Groups” and “Data Categories”. As an example, we’ve set the “Data Category Group” to an umbrella topic: “Shipping and Return Policy”. Under “Enter a Data Category,” we’ll add “Returns” and “Exchanges”. We can add new ones later. Click the “Done” button to exit this screen.

STEP 5

After setting up Knowledge, you can start creating content. Click on the App Launcher (nine dots located at the top left corner). Type in “Knowledge” into the search bar and select “Knowledge” from the search results. Click the “New” button located on your right-hand side to create a new article. Designate a name, URL, and any details about the article on “Exchanges” into the “Answer” field then make sure that this will be visible to our customers.

STEP 6

Assign this article to the correct “Data Category” by clicking on the downward-facing arrow next to the “Categories” section on your right-hand side.
Provide a self-service way for your customers to find solutions, articles, and a way to contact you directly through a Help Center. Your Help Center can act as an external website as well where website visitors can learn more about you and your business.

STEP 1

From the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on the gear to open a dropdown menu then click on “Service Setup”.

STEP 2

Click on the “View All” link located on the right-hand side of the “Recommended Setup” area. Search for “help center”. Select the option “Help Center Setup” to start the setup flow.

STEP 3

Assign a domain for your Help Center. Feel free to input your business’ name here.

STEP 4

Give your Help Center a name and designate the URL. You can also indicate if you want to make your site live, but we would recommend that you keep this checkbox unchecked until you are ready.

STEP 5

Add the users who will author Knowledge article content for your Help Center.

STEP 6

Set up a Contact form on your Help Center so that your website’s visitors can contact you. Add the fields you want on the Contact form then click the “Save” button. On the next screen, you will be presented the option to edit the appearance of your Help Center. If you want to learn tips and tricks on how to customize your site, click on the banner below to watch a recording of our Hands-On Workshop that walks through this process in more detail.
 
 

5. Glossary

Become an expert on the Salesforce terminology that is referenced throughout this Quick Start Guide.
 

Account:
An organization, such as a customer, partner, competitor, etc.

 

Activity:
A logged call, email, task, or event that can be recorded on the Activity Feed of any record.

 

App:
A configuration of tabs for a specific business function. For example, sales teams can use the “Sales” app because it contains tabs for tracking prospects, sales deals, and reports.

 

AppExchange:
The Salesforce business app marketplace where you can extend functionality of your org with free or paid apps from third-party partners.

 

Campaign:
A marketing initiative such as a mass email, advertisement, conference, etc.

 

Campaign Member:
A Contact or Lead associated with a Campaign.

 

Case:
A customer support request.

 

Chatter:
An internal communication channel for posting updates, sharing files, and collaborating in groups.

 

Contact:
An individual person linked to an Account.

 

Dashboard:
A group of reports on a customizable board that provides a visual representation of your data.

 

Edition:
Salesforce has different base-level editions that each contain certain limits (starting from lowest): Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited.

 

Einstein Activity Capture:
A feature that automatically syncs emails and calendar events to the Activity Feed of related Salesforce records.

 

Field:
Information (e.g., “Name,” “Company,” “Industry,” etc.) that is tracked on Salesforce records.

 

Inbox:
An email plugin that allows you to easily view/edit Salesforce data, log emails one-by-one, send availability, and more, directly from your email inbox and calendar.

 

Knowledge:
An article that can be shared with your internal team or customers.

 

Lead:
A prospect or potential customer.

 

Lightning Experience:
The modern user experience of Salesforce.

 

List View:
A single view of your data that allows you to sort and filter easily.

 

Object:
Grouping of the same types of records (e.g., Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, etc.).

 

Opportunity:
An open or lost sales deal.

 

Organization (Org):
A Salesforce account with up to 10 users (in Essentials Edition).

 

Record:
A single entity of data within an Object.

 

Report:
A customizable list of records that can be grouped and filtered for analysis.

 

Task:
An action item/reminder that can be related to a record.