How will Inline Editing Affect Data Quality?

UPDATE TO THIS POST: There will be no affect on data quality because if you try to edit a field and there are other required fields on the object that are blank, the system will require those fields before you can save the record. Looks like once again, Salesforce.com thought of everything…and I need to do a little more homework before I post.

So, you have probably seen the Winter ‘08 release of one of the most requested features on the IdeaExchange – Inline Editing. This allows users to to edit individual fields without clicking the Edit button just by double-clicking on that field. It is a great and easy way to update your records.

My question – How will it affect data quality?

Hilarious Video on CRM

Check out this “new” CRM methodology…Salesforce.com, I don’t think you will have a problem with this competitor.

Thanks Wall Strip (www.wallstrip.com)

DreamForce Report – Announcements at the General Session

A full day of exciting news and great takeaways…

• The first General Session was full of new enhancements to Salesforce.com, the biggest being the new Platform-as-a-Service called Force.com. “With the Force.com platform, you can build any application, any database, any logic, and run it all on demand on our trusted, secure infrastructure. Now salesforce.com allows customers to create and run any application and even any user interface imaginable—all entirely on Force.com.” (Force.com) Mark Benioff showed how Disney, EA and Bronx Lab School has used Force.com to develop a unconventional use of Salesforce.com

• The second big news was the release of Visualforce, defined as the User Interface-as-a-Service. This allows you to customize the look and feel of the user interface on Salesforce.com including removing the tabs, recent items, related lists, etc. One of the best uses of it is going to be the ability to create new records across multiple objects. For example, you will be able to create a new account, contact and opportunity on the same page. Less clicks-more success.

• Next were two applications that will affect how every Salesforce.com is used. They are Salesforce Content and Salesforce Ideas. Salesforce Content gives you the ability to tag, share, subscribe and rate documentation that you have posted. You can create a tag cloud for all of your documentation, preview the content in the App without having to download it, subscribe to documents so that when a new version of the document comes out you will get notified, rate the documents and comment on them. This eliminates the searching for the right documents. Salesforce Ideas brings the IdeaExchange to each of the Salesforce.com customers so that you can have your own internal or external IdeaExchange specific to your organization.

• Other announcements for the Winter ‘08 release include inline editing (being able to double click on any field in Salesforce.com and edit that individual field with out having to edit the whole object), Tagging any record, recording a history of edits on Accounts and Contacts (for example, you can see when and whole last updated the phone number on an Account or Contact), Opportunity Hierarchy, Dynamic Report Headers, Campaign Hierarchies, Campaign sharing and 16 new Campaign reports.

It was a great first session and I am really excited about what is coming. What do you think of the new platform, new visualforce or new features?

Dashboards Give Quick and Powerful Insight

The power of dashboards is that the information about how your business is running is at your fingertips. You don’t have to compile tons and tons of data and spend hours and hours tallying up totals to see how your business is doing. Dashboards allow you to see clearly what’s working and what isn’t.

A great example of this was when I was presenting to high level management on Salesforce.com. After reviewing the functionality, I showed how dashboards allow users and managers to see quality reports of real time data. One of the executives stopped me and pointed out that, for the month we were looking at, cancellations exceeded sales up to that point. I remember thinking that this executive has no idea how to use Salesforce.com, but already gained insight as to a trouble area and would be able to dig deep into the problem with just a few clicks of a button. How powerful is that?!?!

What is the best way to drive adoption?

I am opening this up to discussion. What do you think is the best way to drive adoption in Salesforce.com and why?

• Training?
• Data Quality?
• Ease of Use?
• Required Use for Compensation?

You tell me…

Not in Salesforce? It didn’t Happen!

This might seem like a strong statement to make, but it is a great way to drive adoption. This mentality of only recognizing the data that is in salesforce.com as accurate information forces the users to use the system. This is a good method to use as a stick approach.

If you have tried adoptions contests, training and retraining or enthusiastic encouragement and none of it seems to be working, then it is time to move on to the stick. Talk to your sales managers and directors and help them realize how powerful salesforce.com can be to them with accurate data. Then help them to start using the phrase “If it’s not in salesforce, it didn’t happen.”

George Lucas and INXS at DreamForce ‘07

Update: it is confirmed. INXS (wikipedia) will be performing at the Gala at DreamForce. Here is the email I received from Salesforce.com to verify it:  inxs-email.jpg

It got out! George Lucas (wikipedia) will be the keynote speaker at the general session and Barenaked Ladies Foo Fighters Journey INXS (wikipedia) will be performing a private concert for DreamForce ‘07 attendees at the Monday night Gala. This information, although not verified, was leaked through Facebook and is reported on other blogs like Salesforce Watch and CRM FYI.

Make DreamForce ‘07 a Success

Here is a list of 10 things you can do to make your DreamForce experience a success:

Sandbox vs Developer Edition

A test environment for salesforce.com is crucial to change control. Salesforce.com provides the tools needed to test anything in a test environment before you implement it in your live instance. You can either test in a Sandbox environment or in a Developer environment. What is the difference? I will share what I know…

Salesforce.com Outlook Integration: A Must Have

Do you or your users have a long list of folders in Outlook for storing emails? Is it hard to search for/find the email you need? Is it tedious to have to look in Outlook and in salesforce.com for your emails and sales history? Do you wish you had one place where all of the information could be stored?

How to Search Effectively

Searching in salesforce.com seems easy…until you don’t find what you are looking for. Here are a few tips to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your searching:

Search vs. Advanced Search

Increase Adoption Through Dashboards

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to increase adoption? Enter Dashboards!

Dashboards are the most visual and fun part of salesforce.com. End users love the way they can see their data immediately represented in colorful and graphical form. They are excited to use the system knowing that their information will change the dashboard’s graphs and metrics in real time for their managers to see.

Back Up Your Data Regularly

As the admin of salesforce.com, you are responsible for the integrity of the system for your organization. That means that you need to make sure that your system is up and running properly at all times. Sometimes it is out of your control because salesforce.com might be experiencing a rare problem. But for the most part, how accessible your data is and how it is viewed by your users is up to you.

DreamForce ‘07 – You Have to Go

If you are an admin for your salesforce.com instance, then there is no were else you should be on September 16-19 than in San Francisco. Each year, salesforce.com puts on a global user conference titled DreamForce. This is a conference full of education and best practices in managing and using salesforce.com. I have gone for the past two years and am planning on going this year. There has been no other place where I have gathered so much information that directly affects how salesforce.com can help my business.

First Post…

I am no professional blogger. I only created this site to share information about how I manage my companies Salesforce.com. Salesforce.com is growing rapidly and so the more information on how to use/manage it, the better. I am going to attempt to share ideas, tips and best practices that I have and hope to get help from others comments.

I have been using Salesforce.com for over two years and have grown to love it. It’s interface really takes businesses to the next level in standardizing their internal processes. That allows them to see directly into their business and make accurate decisions from the data. Any application can do this really, but Salesforce.com is so user-friendly that the end users actually use it. That’s its advantage.

I have gained some knowledge and experience over the past couple of years and will share what I know. Feel free to share what you know also.