A Salesforce Consultant’s Top Package Picks
As a seasoned Salesforce consultant, I have encountered numerous client requirements that extend beyond the capabilities of out-of-the-box solutions. Good practice before passing this requirement to a developer on your team is to scour the web for a package. In doing so, I have found some gems that I want to share with you. These packages not only address specific needs but also conserve valuable resources, allowing you to redirect your efforts where they matter most.
My primary go-to sources for discovering these packages are the official Salesforce AppExchange and Unofficial SF. In this blog post, I’m excited to share my discoveries with you, offering insights into packages that can truly elevate your Salesforce experience. We’ll take a deep dive into each package, exploring their functionalities and presenting use cases. Whether you’re a Salesforce administrator, developer, or business leader actively engaged in the implementation process, you will walk away with actionable insights to streamline workflows, improve data management, and boost overall productivity.
Field Trip
Imagine the following use case: Your business has been using Salesforce for a while, but over time, business processes have changed and customisations have been made, likely by different contributors. Consequently, numerous fields across multiple objects may now be obsolete or redundant, leading to cluttered pages where users find themselves endlessly scrolling to locate the relevant fields.
You are tasked with cleaning up these fields, but look no further! The Field Trip package exists on the AppExchange that analyses field use in your org and it is free to install.
After installing the package, you run analysis per object, and then you interpret the results using a set of standard reports. Armed with this information, you can engage with business stakeholders and management to pose critical questions about the necessity of certain fields. Which fields are no longer in use? Can we eliminate them? Is retaining this information essential for historical purposes? With these insights, you’re well-equipped to initiate a cleanup process.
In our extensive experience, simplifying page layouts and guiding users to input only essential information when needed significantly enhances Salesforce adoption and usage. It’s the key to not just cleaning up your Salesforce instance but also ensuring it remains streamlined and efficient over time.
DLRS
The conventional Roll-Up Summary fields in Salesforce come with notable limitations, and one of the most significant is their requirement for a Master-Detail Relationship between the Parent and Child objects. If your needs extend to rolling up field values from child to parent in scenarios involving a lookup relationship, your solution is at hand with DLRS.
DLRS or Declarative Lookup Rollup Summary is a free, open source, unmanaged package that provides a low code way for creating a roll up summary field in lookup relationships, eliminating the need to seek developer assistance. The underlying magic is performed by Apex triggers working behind the scenes.
Upon installation, a user-friendly app surfaces in the app launcher for system administrators, allowing for the straightforward configuration of roll-up summaries through a point-and-click interface. Similar to the out-of-the-box roll-up summaries, DLRS permits the setting of criteria to filter the specific child records you intend to roll up to the parent. It’s a seamless and efficient way to achieve complex roll-up functionalities without relying on extensive code development.
Dynamic Flow Progress
When using Screen Flows, it often occurs that multiple screens are configured. For end users, it can sometimes seem endless and unclear where they are in a specific “action plan” or series. Declaratively, this is not possible at the moment, so you would need a developer to create a component for you.
Fortunately, to resolve this challenge and offer users a clear indication of their progress within the wizard, the Dynamic Flow Progress package proves to be invaluable. Developed by Salesforce Labs, this package is freely available, providing different types of progress indicators, as illustrated in the figure below. Once installed, these indicators seamlessly integrate as screen components in your Screen Flow. Configuration becomes a breeze as you fine-tune the settings by specifying parameters tailored to your requirements.
An example scenario could involve a wizard presented within a Customer Experience (Community) platform, enabling users to submit a housing request. This process entails navigating through several steps, and concurrently, various records across multiple objects must be generated in the background.
Navigate Everywhere
Another valuable enhancement for screen flows is the free Navigate Everywhere package from Unofficial SF. This package incorporates redirection elements that can be seamlessly integrated into your screen flows. The redirection options vary, spanning from a straightforward redirection to a record generated during the flow to a more sophisticated redirection, such as a ‘Create Record’ popup with pre-filled fields.
To illustrate, consider a scenario where a screen flow is initiated from an Account to facilitate the creation of an Opportunity and Quote (CPQ) within a unified wizard. Upon completion of the flow, the user is automatically redirected to the newly generated Quote, eliminating the need to navigate through the Account to the Opportunity and subsequently to the Quote—streamlining the process for a more user-friendly experience.
PDF Butler & Sign Butler
A recurring set of requirements that consultants frequently encounter involves the generation of documents and the facilitation of e-signatures. By eliminating manual data entry, companies can save time and resources while improving their brand image. These particular needs often arise in the context of quotes, contracts, and invoices, and given our status as a Revenue Cloud implementation partner, we consistently receive such requests at Reditus.
Meeting these requirements, especially when they extend beyond the platform’s out-of-the-box capabilities (such as the Quote PDF generator), typically necessitates custom development. Fortunately, we have the advantage of relying on PDF Butler, our trusted document generation partner. Among their various offerings, PDF Butler and Sign Butler have been our primary choices, both of which are paid add-ons for the platform. Another noteworthy option is Collaboration Butler, which facilitates seamless integrations between Salesforce and SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, and Google Drive.
After installation, a point & clicker can configure accurate, professional-looking documents, as well as offer the ability to configure easy e-signing, and others, depending on the purchase offering(s).
An illustration could be that after contract generation, the contract document is automatically generated and emailed to the client to sign. Upon signature, the signed document is sent back to the salesperson so that he/she can complete the document with his or her signature.
Key Takeaways
Upon encountering a requirement that defies declarative fulfilment, your initial step should involve scouring the AppExchange or conducting a search on Google to discover a package that aligns with your needs. A lot of free packages are readily available, and in certain instances, opting for a paid package might prove to be an optimal solution for your company or client. Should you require assistance with your Salesforce implementation or seek further details on any of the packages, feel free to reach out to our team—we’re here to help.
