January 2025 – Salesforce Silver

Flow

Why Flow Design Matters in Salesforce

by Simone

Picture this: a flow in your Salesforce org, ticking away for years. It triggers when the Opportunity stage changes. It populates start and end dates. This is much like Opportunity History. Yet, it is easier to access for external systems.

I hadn’t touched this flow in years. My philosophy was, “Never change a running system.” But as our Sales process changed, this flow was one of the many components needing an update.

The Problem with the Old Flow

This was a fast field update flow. However, it had one glaring issue. There were way too many pink elements (you know, those “Update Records” ones). It worked, sure, but it was messy and hard to follow. Every update required wading through a swamp of elements, making it a pain for anyone to troubleshoot or change.

Starting Fresh: A Design Approach

Before diving into Flow Builder, I grabbed a pen and paper. Yes, old school! I sketched out ideas to streamline the flow, reduce decision elements, and make it easier to understand at a glance. The goal? Less complexity, more clarity.

Here’s what I ended up with:

No More Pink Elements: All updates are handled with Assignments.
Simplified Decisions: One Decision element evaluates stages sequentially, with a second check for closed stages.
Smarter Logic: Validation rules take care, that Users do not jump Opportunity stages. Our new flow triggers on changes between stages without considering stages being bypassed. For one specific Opportunity type, additional checks make sure dates are assigned correctly. We also have a second decision element on closed Opportunities evaluating the previous stage.

The Results: A Faster, Cleaner Flow

The revamped flow isn’t just easier to read and maintain; it’s also faster. The old flow clocked in at 0.78 seconds, while the new one completes its job in 0.65 seconds. It might not seem significant. However, when you’ve got hundreds of flows running in your org, those milliseconds add up.

Old Flow
Old Flow running time
New Flow
New Flow running time

Lessons Learned

Don’t Fear the Redesign: Just because something works doesn’t mean it’s optimal. Take the time to revisit and rethink old flows.
Keep It Simple: Use Assignments and Decisions wisely. Avoid cluttering your flow with unnecessary elements.
Measure the Impact: Even small performance improvements can have a big cumulative effect in a busy org.

Flow design is more than just a technical exercise; it’s an art. A well-designed flow saves time, reduces errors, and makes life easier for everyone in your org. So, the next time you’re tempted to leave that “running system” untouched, ask yourself: could it run better? Chances are, the answer is yes.

What’s your experience with cleaning up old flows? Share your stories and tips in the comments!

Salesforce Learning

New Year’s Resolution: Certifications!

by Simone

The past year has been a whirlwind of exciting projects—eliminating technical debt, building complex automations, and streamlining sales processes. It was a year full of collaboration and innovation. But let’s be real—when you’re deep in the day-to-day grind, some goals naturally take a back seat. For me, that was earning more Salesforce certifications.

Then came the wake-up call. You know that moment when you see an email from Focus on Force reminding you that your subscription has expired? Yep, that was me. My Platform App Builder (PAB) study guide and exam access had lapsed, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Fast forward to the quiet, reflective days between Christmas and New Year. I decided to use that downtime to recharge and refresh my Salesforce knowledge. I was ready for a challenge and jumped back into the world of exam prep. Those Focus on Force practice exams prepare you for that special knack Salesforce questions and answers have, which make you question everything. For that Focus on Force is the ultimate prep tool for me.

And on January 6th, I officially added the Platform App Builder certification to my Salesforce journey! 🏆 It’s a great reminder that growth doesn’t have to follow a perfect timeline. Sometimes, it’s about making progress when the opportunity arises, even if it’s not part of some grand master plan.

A Quick Tip for the PAB Exam

Now, no spoilers about the exam (we all know the rules!), but I can share a couple of tips:

After a year of working with Salesforce, you should have a solid foundation. If you’ve created or updated Mobile Apps, Lightning Record Pages, used Change Sets, and made reports and dashboards, you already have experience to tackle some PAB questions!
Just passed your Salesforce Admin cert? Keep the momentum going! In my experience, about 60% of the PAB questions overlap with the Admin exam, so you’re already halfway there.

What’s Next for Me?

Next up: UX Designer! 🎨 I’ve started exploring Trailhead and found some similarities with Business Analyst topics like User Stories and Business Process Mapping. I’m curious to see if these connections will appear in the exam.

What about you? What are your goals for the year? Whether it’s earning your first cert or tackling a new one, let’s keep learning and leveling up together! 🚀

Project

Building a Salesforce Playground: Interview edition

by Simone

When I was preparing for interviews, it was easy to get lost in theory and tutorials. Pre-built orgs for mileage tracking or job search processes have their place. However, they didn’t always provide the hands-on experience I wanted to show for practical scenarios. After some reflection, I realized that the best practice environment wasn’t one someone else came up with. It was one that mirrored the challenges I faced daily. It would also be useful for challenges I would encounter in an interview.

That’s when the idea hit me: build a Salesforce playground based on the exact improvements and functionalities I wanted in my current org. This approach not only sharpened my skills but also gave me an edge when solving realistic problems.

Here’s how I structured my playground, inspired by an interview exercise:

Task 1: Partner Lead Forms Creating Leads

The Challenge
Partners referring opportunities needed a seamless way to submit leads to the sales system. This task involved designing a form using HubSpot to gather partner and prospect details. It also required integrating it with Salesforce via an API to automatically create Leads.

Salesforce Playground Solution
In my playground, I did:

Design the Form: I created a basic web form using HubSpot that included fields for partner and prospect details (e.g., names, emails, company info, and reason for interest).
Connect HubSpot and Salesforce:
- I built a middleware layer using Zapier, as HubSpot integration wasn’t available in the free HubSpot version.
- I mapped HubSpot form fields to Salesforce Lead fields.
Automation Processes:
- I used a Flow to assign Leads to the relevant Partner Manager based on prospect location or type.
- I set up notifications to inform the Partner Manager upon Lead creation.
Reporting: I created dashboards to track the number of Opportunities generated by partners and their conversion rates.

If I had more time, I would have expanded this setup to include Experience Cloud and Screenflows. However, this task focused on Salesforce Sales Cloud capabilities.

Task 2: Optimizing Salesforce for Sales Contracts

The Challenge
The goal was to generate contracts with:

Products and pricing accurately configured.
Standard legal terms embedded.
PDFs generated and attached to Opportunities.

Salesforce Playground Solution
In my playground, I:

Set Up Products and Pricing:
- I created product catalogs in Salesforce.
- I added price books and discount structures for different customer types.
Automating Legal Terms:
- I designed templates for Contracts using SDocs.
- I included dynamic fields for terms, conditions, and customer-specific details.
Automating PDF Generation and Storage:
- I automated PDF creation upon Opportunity stage progression.
- I stored generated documents under the Opportunity records.
Built Automations:
- I used a record-triggered Flow to create Orders, Contracts, and Renewal Opportunities when an Opportunity moved to Closed Won.
Monitored Processes:
- I built reports to track order completion times and document accuracy.

Why I Built This Playground

Focusing on challenges like these ensured my skills stayed relevant and practical. For instance, my playground org was inspired by Splash Computers, a fictional company I created to reflect real-world needs.

Business Model: The playground could easily adapt its appearance and theme to align with any interviewing company.
Customer Types: Unique sales processes could be introduced as needed. The sales process, which went through Opportunity stages and contract creation, was both adaptable and realistic for different requirements.
Website Forms: Creating forms in Salesforce or HubSpot demonstrates an understanding of tasks that could also involve the Marketing team.
Sales Operations changes you could add:
- Managing requests through emails to case for after sales support.
- Utilise account teams for large clients.
- Document solution consultant support during the sales process via a custom object.

Takeaways

Creating a Salesforce playground based on actual business scenarios bridged the gap between theory and practice. It allowed me to demonstrate not only technical skills but also business acumen during interviews.

If you’re preparing for your next big opportunity, think about creating a playground. Ensure it reflects the systems and workflows you aspire to manage. For me, it wasn’t just a learning experience — it was a step toward mastering real-world challenges.