Customisation of your Salesforce system – Some tips
Salesforce allows for very easy customisations. Custom fields, validation rules, workflows as well as Processes and Flows are all available in a non-code, point and click interface. This is one of the best things about Salesforce but it is also potentially one of the most challenging! It is very easy to “over-engineer” your system using Salesforce customisation and make it cumbersome, and difficult to use. This is bad for both users and administrators alike. As an implementation consultant I get all sorts of requests during the initial setup and over the years I have learned what is good practice and what does not work. Here are some hints and tips I have put together on managing customising your Salesforce system.
When thinking about creating new fields, make sure that there is not already an existing standard (or even custom) field that could be used instead. Although you do not need to show all fields on the screens to the user, any fields that the user has access to will be seen when creating list views or reports. It can be very frustrating to find two fields with similar (or worse same) field names and you must try to figure out which one to use!
Don’t go overboard on mandatory fields. Data Quality is important but understanding the user experience is equally so. It is possible to use validation rules in place of mandatory fields in some cases, like for example making one form of contact (phone, mobile or email) required on a client contact.
Similarly, don’t go overboard on the validation rules either. Where possible ensure your error messages are clear. If you have lots of validation rules you might consider providing an error code in the message, it will make troubleshooting the specific issue easier if you do get calls from your users.
Workflows are a really powerful feature, but also need to be treated with care (especially if you are using workflows to send outbound emails). I like to phase rollouts of workflow rules during implementation as I think it is better for the users to understand the process manually first. Once the users are happy with the process you can automate it without confusion. This is also really good for user adoption as there is a continuous improvement to the system and processes.
Process Builder is very powerful as it allows even more functionality than the standard Salesforce workflows. You can automate the creation of records, mass updates on related objects and post custom updates to chatter. When you couple Process Builder jobs with Flows you can do custom roll-up summaries on non-parent-child relationships without the need for custom code. However, beware, the error messaging from Process Builder jobs is not very user-friendly so you need to test your process builder jobs thoroughly prior to launch.
Managed well, customisation of your Salesforce system will make your users happy, keep the system being used, and improve your company productivity. Just remember to avoid doing too much customisation without considering the points above.
First posted on Jobscience.com Blog in 2017.