5 Pro Tips for Salesforce Developers
I’m lucky to work in the Salesforce Success Cloud because I get to
meet a lot of dynamic people interested in finding unexpected paths to
success. Dev teams, in particular, are a lot of fun to work with because
they’re always looking for new ways to innovate. We get so many
questions from developers that we thought we should share our top five
pro tips for developers who are innovating on Salesforce. Check out the
list below for some great ideas from the folks here at Salesforce Success Cloud that will help you transform the way your team gets things done.
1. Rehearse metadata migrations.
When
building a custom app, don’t postpone your metadata migrations until
the very end of development. “Practice your metadata migrations early
and throughout development between Sandbox orgs so that you have a
better idea of the time and people that will be required to conduct the
actual production deployment,” says Shawn Franklin, CSG Product Senior
Manager. You can also create your own custom metadata types which will
decrease upfront work and reduce time spent on updates to configuration.
2. Catch bugs before they bite.
More
than 50% of customer-reported bugs are unique to a single organization.
To avoid being that one org that people complain about, make sure to
develop and test in an isolated environment with Sandbox before you
launch. “Your dentist says, ‘you only floss the teeth you want to keep’
and we say, ‘you only test what's critical to your business,’” says Mark
Ustinov, Release Manager. Take advantage of the 4-5 week Sandbox
Preview window to test for regressions before your production org is
upgraded to the newest major release version this winter.
3. Use integration patterns.
When
you need to integrate the Salesforce Platform with your on-premise
applications, make it easier on yourself by referring to existing Salesforce integration patterns.
“Get to production as fast as possible and have the most stable,
scalable, and maintenance-free set of applications possible,” says Shawn
Franklin, CSG Product Senior Manager. Become familiar with the
integration capabilities and options available. Salesforce’s own
consulting architects use our published integration patterns as
reference points during architectural reviews and are actively engaged
in maintaining and improving them.
4. Move away from email.
Trying to collaborate using email can get complicated really fast. Switching to Salesforce Chatter
is a much better way to keep track of all the moving parts — but you
have to make sure everyone’s on board with the change. “A formal change
management agenda makes the transition to Salesforce Chatter a fun and
smooth transition,” says Sean Ouimette, Success Specialist. “When moving
away from email threads to Chatter, create a formal change management
agenda to outline your vision.” Establish an appropriate timeline for
user adoption and make sure executive leadership will help you pave the
way for change through their example.
5. Keep WIIFM top of mind.
Let’s
face it: innovation isn’t always welcomed by everyone in an
organization. When communicating with end users about change, always
make sure you’re answering the question, “What’s in it for me?”
Otherwise, your coworkers might not see any point in going along with
the change. “Using the WIIFM principle ensures your end users feel like
you're relating to them, not just telling them what to do,” said
Katherine Flowers, Senior Principal Success Specialist. Communicating
why they should embrace the changes you’re implementing will make new
things more palatable to end users and help them make the most of the
latest Salesforce releases so your business can continue to thrive.
Innovation
isn’t going to happen by accident. Successfully steering an
organization to a more innovative place takes consistent, methodical
action and a little bit of experimentation. It’s a continuous path of
discovery and these tips are just the beginning. How will you find your
path to success? Get some great ideas in the latest blog post from By
Jamie Domenici, VP, Customer Success and Adoption at Salesforce. And if
you missed the earlier post in our pro tips series with ideas for
productivity, be sure to check that out here.
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