Salesforce.com Summer 16 – Service Cloud New Features

Salesforce.com Service Cloud New in Summer 16The New Features of Service Cloud in Salesforce.com Summer 16 include the enancements in Field Service, Console Changes, Social Customer services and some other minor changes. Salesforce.com is now releasing most of the new improvements in Lightning version only and hence most of the new features are released only in Lightning.

Here are some of the major changes to Service Cloud in Salesforce.com Summer 16 release:

Field Service Enhancements

Field service was released in previous version. Now additional features have been released for Field Service:

  • Knowledge articles can be added to Work Orders
  • Field Service Lightning is now GA. In this a dynamic scheduling console with smart scheduling capability based on technician skill level, travel time, location, and other service factors can be made
  • Milestones on Work Orders can be created which will help you link entitlements to work orders. (Available only in Lightning Experience)
  • Work Order Hierarchy can be created

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Salesforce.com Summer 16 – Sales Cloud New Features

The New Features of Sales Cloud in Salesforce.com Summer 16 are mostly related to Lightning. Salesforce.com is now releasing new improvements in Lightning version only. Here are some of the major changes to Sales Cloud in Salesforce.com Summer 16 release:

Changes to Salesforce Editions

Salesforce has come down to three editions – Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited. With this change more features like Offline Connect, Contracts, Console and Limited Functionality of Entitlements is available with Professional Edition. Knowledge and Live Agent are now part of Unlimited Edition of Service Cloud. [Read more…]

Force.com Enhancements in Salesforce.com Summer 16 Release

The release date of Salesforce.com Summer 16 Release is just few weeks away. In this post we are discussing about the key Force.com Enhancements in Salesforce.com Summer 16 Release. This is first article of the series in which we will be highlighting the enhancements coming up in Summer’16 in salesforce.com

Enhancements to Customization

Lightning App Builder

  • With Lightning App Builder we can create and edit the Lightning Experience Pages. The administrators can add components while detail page can be added based on a standard page layout.
  • One of the most awaited enhancement is that we can now customize the default home page and assign the custom pages to different profiles.

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How to prepare release notes for your Appexchange app?

Release notes for appexchange appsIf you are a Salesforce.com ISV vendor and have an app listed on Appexchange – the Salesforce.com app marketplace – you may be coming up with the new releases few times in a year. Are you maintaining release notes of the application properly? In the post we will be discussing the advantages of having the good release notes and how to prepare them.

Release notes for an Appexchange app may not be very different from any other app – however our focus is more on Force.com apps. We have seen many of the appexchange apps never maintaining the release notes properly. Their customers find it tough to figure out what is available in which release. Unfortunately Appexchange listing does not gives a provision to add release note. this leaves vendors to publish release notes elsewhere.

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Zoho CRM best practices

Zoho CRM best practicesZoho CRM is one of the popularCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) tool for small business. Worldwide many SMBs use Zoho CRM to manage their customer facing processes. This article explores some of the best practices for effectively using Zoho CRM.

What can you do with zoho crm?

Zoho CRM enables organizations manage their Prospects/Customers/Contacts in one place while helping them in tracking their Sales Pipeline and Forecasting. The users can track their Marketing Campaigns to evaluate the RoI of marketing efforts. The module related to Customer Support helps in Case and Solutions Management. For more detailed Customer support Zoho also has helpdesk and support softwares. Zoho CRm also helps users in Inventory Tracking and Supplier management.

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How to build a lean and effective CRM Consulting Practice

How to build a Lean and effective CRM Consulting PracticeIf you are in the process of setting up a new CRM consulting practice or business then this article has few takeaways for you. Having worked with some of the CRM consulting startups – helping them manage their non customer facing processes – we have come up with our recommendations for building an effective CRM consulting practice. We have helped many of our clients grow from a “Single person” consulting business and transform into a “Multi location, Multiple Consultant team” practice within a short period. [Read more…]

Odd Even Assignment of Records in Salesforce.com using Workflow Rules

Odd Even Assignment in Salesforce.com using WorkflowsHave you encountered the requirement where you want to assign all Even numbered records to one person and all Odd records to another? Here is a simple solution using the workflow rules that can help. You can use this on custom objects or even on objects that do not have Assignment rules. The requirement can also mean assigning the alternate records to two persons. This is similar to Round Robin assignment to two persons using workflow rules.

Lets define the requirement as:

Assign all records of an object that are of even number to “Joe” and odd number records to “Mary”. The odd or even number can come from a custom field “Record Number”.

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Evaluate if your ORG is ready for Salesforce Lightning

Salesforce Lightning LimitationsSalesforce.com Lightning User Interface has been launched two releases ago. Lightning Experience is the new modern UI of Salesforce.com with some new features that are only available in Lightning. Many of the items that were not available in initial release are now available. However there are still some feature that are not available in Lightning UI and may pose a speed-breaker if your company is considering moving to the Lightning User Interface. This post is targeted for Salesforce.com administrators and may contain some technical terms that an end user may find difficult to understand. [Read more…]

What to consider before submitting your app for Salesforce.com Security Review

Salesforce.com Security Review PassedThis article is for you if you are a new ISV vendor or you are new to Salesforce.com Security Review process. If you are planning to submit your app for security review – here are few items that you must consider before submitting your app.

Salesforce.com Security Review is the process of assessing your application’s security before it is listed on Salesforce.com Appexchange. Appexchange is prestigious Business to Business marketplace of Salesforce.com where over 2000 apps are listed. Security review is done by Salesforce.com Security review team. Think of security review as an additional benefit – with your app getting certified for Appexchange. Security review helps companies sell to enterprises by meeting their expectations of security. [Read more…]

What to look for in an offshore partner for your Salesforce Consulting Business?

What to look for in an offshore partner for your Salesforce Consulting Business?If you have a Salesforce.com consulting business – you may be interested in working with an offshore partner. The reasons could be taking the advantage of low costs in offshore markets or having an expert team to quickly work on your projects or it could be that you want a partner to take care of development / programmatic customizations while you focus on client engagement. Whatever is your reason – in this post we will be exploring some of the qualifications you should look for in an offshore partner before you select one.

With Salesforce.com being a popular product suite there are many offshore companies that have become Salesforce.com partner. On Appexchange alone there are over 700 consulting partners listed. In India (one of popular offshore destination) there are over 50 consultants. In addition to this there may be many companies that offer Salesforce.com services but are not a registerd partner. Considering the large base of consulting companies it makes sense to evaluate the offshore partner carefully and methodically. [Read more…]