Salesforce Scoop: Winter '21 is Live!

Salesforce has three releases a year: Spring, Summer, and Winter.  It's always a really exciting time here as we see what goodies are in the new release!  Here are some of our faves:

SALES CLOUD: Opportunity deal change highlights mean you can now quickly see with arrows when deal amounts were decreased or close dates were pushed.

LIST VIEW EMAILS: Schedule when to send a list email to ensure you're best meeting the needs of your Leads and Contacts when emailing them.

REPORTS: Two cool features: you can now get reports delivered by email in a formatted XLSX or CSV file, perfect for the execs who aren't always logged in; auto-add fields to custom report types (beta) when custom fields are added to a Salesforce object.   - LF

User Adoption Research: Quick Tips from my PhD Research

Use the power of the Diffusion of Innovations theory in your org

Research:  "Rogers, in the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (1962), explains how innovations take hold in a specific field or population, whether that innovation is an idea, object, or process or behavior.  Rogers defines diffusion as 'the process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system' (Rogers, 2003, p. 5).  Rogers outlines five key stages in technology adoption:  innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards."** 

Application:  How can you motivate your innovators and early adopters to carry the Salesforce message to the rest of your company?  How can you address the WIIFM (what's in it for me) to get the rest of your users really using?  Unlock the power of these two keys to gain accelerated adoption...which will really drive your results.  - SJG

**Taken from "How Diffusion of Innovations, Change Management, and Adult Learner User Adoption Theories Impact Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Adoption and Usage in Nonprofit Organizations" - to be submitted in defense of the PhD requirements for Shannon J. Gregg
 

Tips on YouTube: Lightning Email Templates

Lightning Email Templates, and the Salesforce Winter 21 Release are the focus of my most recent YouTube CAS Chat.  2020 began with a level of intensity that has been unmatched in recent years. Salesforce seems to have decided to double down on user accessibility with their newest announcements.  Check out my overview here.  - AD

Advice from an Expert

Q:  I was talking to my Salesforce AE about Community Cloud, and he introduced Experience Cloud instead.  What's the difference between them?

A:  Great question!  Experience Cloud is the new way to digitally engage with customers, and Community Cloud has been wrapped into that new branding.  So, Community is now Experience!

We often see Salesforce updating and changing product names as they are improved, integrated, or changed.  Some recent ones we've seen are "Field Service Lightning" dropping the Lightning to become simply "Field Service," "Einstein Analytics" becoming "Tableau CRM," and some products like IoT and data.com Connect have straight-up been retired.

Don't forget, we're happy to help you navigate your Salesforce products and roadmap in combo with your AE! - LF

Send your questions to info@cloudadoption.solutions

News & Special Events

• 10/21 - Why did the transition from Salesforce Classic to the Lightning Experience go so well for some orgs and not for others? Shannon presents a new topic/research “Lightning Time: A look at the Classic:Lightning Transition Curve” as the keynote at the California Trailblazers Series, presented by Shift3 Technologies; register free here.
• 10/23 - Salesforce presents "Essential Habits for New Admins," showcasing core responsibilities and essential habits for Salesforce admins, with Mark Baizman; register free here.
• 11/4 - In "The Power of Selling," Shannon will share the basics of building a relationship to sell, using data to uncover rather than hard sell, and how to present with power in your sales situation.  Women In Industry (WIN) Wednesdays is presented by Point Park University; session info here.
• Lunchclub is a new way to get personalized professional introductions that is perfect for pandemic networking; we just started using it thanks to a tip from our friend Amanda, and it's a powerful tool.  We have no stake in the company but we do love it; try it out here.
• Industry Week: See new ways to use Salesforce from our industry experts in healthcare, life sciences, financial/professional services, and SaaS/technology. Catch the recordings here if you're ready to be inspired!  

Hey, we appreciate you, friend.  We are constantly thinking of how to drive successful outcomes for you, the best Salesforce users on the planet, and we thank you for your unwavering support.

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." – Rumi