If you’re a Salesforce user, have you ever wondered whether it makes you more productive or not? Your company might have invested in Salesforce, but you need proper training and user adoption to enjoy the multiple benefits it comes with.

Salesforce has several out-of-the-box features that you can start making the most of right then and there. So, read on to know the five tips regarding using Salesforce to its optimum capacity.

1. Map out the Floor of the Conference Room

If you visit the Cloud Expos page or the mobile app, you will get a list of the vendors who can be there on the Expo floor. You have the option to filter, search, and get the locations of the sponsors.

You can check those out and outline the ones you want to set up a meeting with, and afterward, when you look at the map of the expo floor, you can figure out where your important clients are, and you can highlight them to meet them. Salesforce Application Architecture and Design can come in handy in this regard.

Not mapping this out when you still have time might make you wander aimlessly through the maze of booths and waste a ton of time. Also, you can have the same rating system as in the previous case. Additionally, make sure your homework is done about the potential clients and target what you want to achieve at each booth.

2. Developing Your Hit List

It is good to have a spreadsheet open on the desktop while going through daily activities. So, every time you come across a prospect or client you consider valuable enough to meet, you can place them on the list and include all their contact details. Now, in the ‘rating’ column, you can rank the prospects as per how much you want to meet them.

For those who get the rating of “must meet,” you can go through their LinkedIn profile to get their profile picture and keep it right next to the mention of their name on the spreadsheet. You can have this all logged in Salesforce and utilize the Salesforce1 mobile platform and the LinkedIn App.

It is good to follow this technique and print it out later because internet access may not be easy while operating Salesforce. There are times when you fail to access the details fast enough to be of any use, and this technique makes sure there are no glitches like that. Printing out the spreadsheet reduces your time for reaction.

3. Important Activities, Tasks, and Emails

The core functionality of a CRM system is in using tasks, activities, and emails. You will have to insert a bit of additional data in Salesforce to use these features, but it is completely worth it.

• Activities: It lets you log all the interactions that happened with the customer, brief comments regarding the reasons to interact with the client, and record crucial meeting notes.
• Tasks: It allows you to make an action for yourself to follow up with. You get to set a reminder, a date, and a short description.
• Emails: Emails from Salesforce come with several time-saving features such as Email Templates.

4. Understanding Density and Favorites

Follow this quickfire tip to control the screen layout: you will find two options: ‘ compact’ and ‘comfortable,’ hidden in the right-hand corner menu. It will help you squeeze as much information as possible at once on the screen.

The addition of favorites is another fantastic yet simple feature. Click on the little star icon in the image next to the profile picture, and you can favorite it in the same way as you do in the case of browsers. It means that you can access all your favorite records by simply clicking the dropdown arrow beside the star.

5. Use the Reports for Analyzing the Metrics

Any Salesforce user has seen more than a report or two in their life, but the point is to be adept at creating such a report. Reports are not meant for only the admins to generate. They are really easy to make, and you have the opportunity to derive some critical insights from them, as well.

Your admin or manager will probably set up some Dashboards and Reports to show you the significant statistics and KPIs. However, if you want to gain further insights from your records, you will have to create your report. You will find it easier to include and answer the following questions there:

• What is the lead source for your biggest deals?
• What time does it take for you to close a deal?
• What industry are most of your accounts in?
• What is the resolution for most of your cases?

A quick Salesforce report can answer all the questions like these. They will give you as much insight into your and others’ work as they offer you insights about your business. You might end up finding something so significant that it changes the way your company does business.

Wrapping Up

You can catapult a business to success with the optimum use of Salesforce, and the discussion above gives you a glimpse of how to do it right. So, start following these tips from today, and you will see the results in your work soon enough.