An Account is an organization or company that you want to track.  Examples: City of Albany; Solar City. 

Planned task or event, optionally related to another type of Record such as an Account, Contact, Lead, or Opportunity. Examples: Call to confirm status; Email an application.

A Campaign is a grouping of contacts used for marketing outreach.  It can be the vehicle for a direct mail program, seminar, print advertisement, email, or other type of marketing initiative. Campaigns have been organized into a hierarchy reflecting the NYSERDA Organizational Chart. 

The Program Campaign type allows program staff to create their own non-marketing campaigns in order to organize contacts, leads, and accounts. 

Chatter is a Salesforce collaboration application that helps you connect with people and share business information securely and in real time. Groups may also be created to collaborate with a group of users. For more information on creating Chatter groups, take a look at the “Chatter at NYSERDA” and “NYSERDA CRM Naming Conventions” documents referenced in the Appendix at the end of this document. 

Contacts are the individuals associated with the Accounts. 

Convert is the button on the Lead record that allows you to change a qualified Lead into an Account, Contact, and, optionally, an Opportunity. Information from the Lead fields are transferred into the appropriate Account, Contact, and Opportunity fields. 

A Lead is used to track prospects. It has the lowest data quality threshold (it only requires that you enter a name and a company), and it will often be the initial place an individual enters the system. 

Objects represent database tables that contain your organization's information. All the tabs in the top menu bar are objects i.e. Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Campaigns, etc. 

An Opportunity can be added to an Account or Contact and used to track interactions such as a response to a NYSERDA offering or an indication that an Account is a prime candidate to partner with NYSERDA. 

A Record is a single instance of a Salesforce Object (i.e. an individual Lead, Contact, Opportunity, etc.). For example, “John Jones” might be the name of a Contact Record, and “City of Miami” might be the name of an Account Record. 

Related lists are information sections of data on an object’s record. You can view campaigns, opportunities, notes and more that are related to that record. To view a record’s Related Lists, click the Related tab. 

A Report returns a set of Records that meets certain criteria and displays it in organized rows and columns. Report data can be filtered, grouped, and displayed graphically as a chart. Reports are stored in folders, which control who has access.

Salesforce includes prebuilt applications (or “apps”) for customer relationship management (CRM) ranging from communication and outreach tracking to partner relationship management, marketing, and customer service. The 2 most used/relevant apps are NYSERDA CRM and NYSERDA Program.

Tabs display those Objects and other content embedded in the current application.

Logging into Salesforce (Production) 

There are two ways for a NYSERDA employee to login to Salesforce. 

Single Sign On (SSO) within the NYSERDA network: 

1. Login to Salesforce (Production) from the NYSERDA Launch page at launch.nyserda.org  
2. Click the box labeled “Salesforce”. 
3. You will land on your “Home” page 

From outside the NYSERDA Network: 

1. Go to nyserda.my.salesforce.com 
2. Click the "Log in with Employee Network Credentials" link
3. You will be presented with the secureAuth login where you will enter your NYSERDA network username and password. You will then need a pin from your secureAuth app to access Salesforce.

There are two user interfaces for Salesforce that look and work a little different. The Lightning interface is preferred when you are using the CRM. When you login to Salesforce you may see the classic view which looks like: 

If you see the “Switch to Lightning Experience” link, then you have been granted access to switch to the Lightning interface if you prefer that one or want to use the CRM (which is recommended). If you do not have this link you can request it via a helpdesk ticket. 

The Lightning Interface looks like: 

If you need to switch back to the Classic interface, you can find the link to switch back under the icon in the upper right. You should see the “NYSERDA CRM Lightning” in the upper left, but if you don’t, click the 3 square box in the upper left and search for “NYSERDA CRM Lightning” so that you are in the right place. 

A search bar called Global Search is located at the top of every page within Salesforce, and you may search for any Object or Record.  It is important to search for an existing Record (i.e. Contact or Account) before creating a new Record to help avoid creating duplicates. Type in your inquiry and press Enter to view results. 

To broaden your search results, you may use an “*” to bring up results that include any Object or Record that contains those characters. 

Once you have searched Salesforce and confirmed that there is no existing Record, you can click the drop down arrow next to any Object tab to create a new Record.  

OR click into the specific Object (i.e. Lead, Account, Contact) that you would like to create a Record in and click on the “New” button near the top right of the screen. 

The purpose of utilizing this shared system is to allow anyone at the Authority to search for and obtain any pertinent information about a NYSERDA stakeholder.  Therefore adding new and relevant information to each Record is imperative. 

 All objects on the navigation menu have a List View that organizes and displays records that are filtered based on certain criteria. You can create additional list views that are visible only to you.

Example: Creating a private list view for Accounts

Almost all records display a Details tab and a Related tab. The Related tab shows a list of additional object related to that record. Additional information about the record are displayed here. You can create new related records by using the buttons on each Related List.

Finding a Contact Record to Update

Use the Global Search to enter the name of the Contact that needs to be updated. Ensure the Account the Contact is assigned to matches the company your contact belongs to. There may be multiple Contacts with the same name but assigned to different Accounts for a reason i.e. Jane Smith can be assigned to the Volkswagen Account and another Jane Smith contact is assigned to the Tesla Account.

In addition to checking the Account, there are other ways to help determine which Contact record to use:

• look for records that are more 'active' and have an activity history like emails, calls, tasks etc
• check what campaigns, if any, the Contact belongs to
• confirm if the Contact has any program partnerships (if applicable)

What Can be Updated?

After the correct Contact record has been located, all fields on the record can be updated except the Account Name assigned to the record. If the Contact doesn't associate with the Account listed anymore, select the "No Longer with Company" checkbox.

A lead is a contact at any entity (company, institution, organization, etc) that NYSERDA or its contractor would like to interact with for the purpose of outreach, but do not yet.

A Lead record assumes that your “lead” is a new contact at a  new account; therefore, a lead record contains a unique combination of Contact and Account fields. Once that lead is established and ready to be converted, those fields will be transferred to a new or existing Account, and a new contact.

The 2 Lead record types that should be used are NYSERDA Lead and Outreach Lead:

NYSERDA Leads are used primarily for Web-To-Lead functionality and hold generic contact information. 

Outreach Leads hold a lot of information specific to the NYSERDA Outreach process, including the ability to delineate specific program outreach.

Leads can be imported from an Excel sheet or manually entered. To import Leads, submit a Jira ticket and include the Leads Import template file with all of your Leads.   

  Submit Jira Ticket   Lead Import Template

To manually create a new Lead in Salesforce:

Leads should be converted to once the Lead relationship develops and/or that relationship involves a project. They can be converted into Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities. You may want to convert a lead to an Account in the following situations: 

• When the Lead shows interest in applying for a program (Opportunity)
• When needing to create Sites/Locations 
• When needing to create Contact Roles 

To convert a lead, select the Convert button at the top of that Lead record to bring up the “Convert Lead” screen. In the Convert Lead screen, you will need to make the following selections:

Account - A new Account can be created, or the Lead can be converted to an existing Account. If the Account name matches an existing Account, Salesforce will display it as an option rather than creating a new one. You can also search for an Account. 

Contact - A new Contact can be created, or the Lead can be converted to an existing Contact. If the Contact name matches an existing Contact, Salesforce will display it as an option rather than creating a new one. You can also search for a Contact.

Opportunity - A new Opportunity can be created, or the Lead can be associated to an existing Opportunity. You can also search for an Opportunity or opt to not create an Opportunity when the Lead is converted by selecting the checkbox under the Record Type.

Your name will default as the Record Owner, and the Converted Status will default to Qualified. These fields can remain unchanged.

Using the Salesforce web to lead functionality, we are able to create public facing forms that allow the capturing of lead information directly into a specified campaign.

For example, a web to lead form can be added to an outreach website to collect customer information. The information is collected and creates a new Lead in Salesforce.

For more information, please contact your Salesforce Liaison.

When adding a new account, you will be asked to choose a “Record Type” for which there are 2 choices. 

Business Account just means this is a company under which you will be adding contacts. This should be used the majority of the time. 

Individual Account is for residential customers or individuals that are not representing a company in the CRM. This would rarely be used. The name would be something like ‘John Smith Individual Account’ and it would have one contact under it, “John Smith”. 

Contacts can be created from multiple places in Salesforce. Here are the most common 3 places:

Finding a Contact Record to Update

Use the Global Search to enter the name of the Contact that needs to be updated. Ensure the Account the Contact is assigned to matches the company your contact belongs to. There may be multiple Contacts with the same name but assigned to different Accounts for a reason i.e. Jane Smith can be assigned to the Volkswagen Account and another Jane Smith contact is assigned to the Tesla Account.

In addition to checking the Account, there are other ways to help determine which Contact record to use:

• look for records that are more 'active' and have an activity history like emails, calls, tasks etc
• check what campaigns, if any, the Contact belongs to
• confirm if the Contact has any program partnerships (if applicable)

What Can be Updated?

After the correct Contact record has been located, all fields on the record can be updated except the Account Name assigned to the record. If the Contact doesn't associate with the Account listed anymore, select the "No Longer with Company" checkbox.

Duplicate Management 

Duplicate management features are set up and turned on by default for business accounts, contacts and leads. Here’s how duplicate management works:

• When a user tries to save a new record , the record is first compared with existing  Salesforce  records to identify possible duplicates. The criteria used to compare records and identify the possible duplicates are defined by a  matching rule . 
• Next, a list of possible duplicates is returned. What happens when the record being saved is identified as a possible duplicate depends on what ’ s defined in the  duplicate rule. For example, the duplicate rule could block users from saving the possible duplicate record or allow them to save it anyway. Both the Block and Allow options include an alert, which tells users why they can’t save the record and what to do about it. The Allow option includes the ability to report on the duplicate records.

How to Select Which Account & Contact Record to Use

When duplicate results display for Accounts and Contacts, first look for the one that most closely matches your search criteria. Look for records that are more completely filled out with information, have activity history, project history, has a supplier ID, etc. More often than not, the erroneous duplicate record will have little-to-no activity on the record.

To create a new Opportunity record, click the drop down arrow on the Opportunities tab and click New Opportunity. Select either a NYSERDA Opportunity or Outreach Opportunity. All fields marked with a red asterisks (*) must be entered:

Opportunity Name - Create a name to keep track of your Opportunity. Most naming conventions include the contact's name and company or program for which they're interested in applying.

Account Name - Enter the Account associated with the Opportunity. If the Account doesn't exist, a new one can be created within the same window.

Close Date - Enter a date you think the Opportunity will occur. It can be any date in the future.

Stage - Select a stage that is the best description of where the Opportunity progress is or the project application status.

NYSERDA Opportunity vs Outreach Opportunity

NYSERDA Opportunities are used to delineate prospective projects and/or applications.  Outreach Contractors use Opportunities to note when programmatic outreach is being performed on the Account.

Creating a New Task

Tasks can be created on Lead, Contact, and Opportunity records. Click the New Task button to create a task. Subjects prepopulate if you click in the Subject field, or you can type a custom Subject.

Tasks can be assigned to different users or queues. The due date, priority and additional comments can be added to the task, also.

Events can be created for Accounts, Contacts, Leads, and Opportunity records. Click the New Event button to create an event. Fill in all required fields and any additional details about the event. Subjects prepopulate if you click in the Subject field, or you can type a custom Subject.

Quick Texts can be used on Tasks in the Comments field. A Quick Text lets you insert predefined messages, like greetings, answers, and common responses. Click inside the Comments field and then click the message icon that pops up. You'll then be able to select a prewritten message to populate in the Comments field.

Emails can be sent from Contact, Lead, and Opportunity records. Rather than sending an email from Outlook, you can search and open the Contact or Lead record and compose an email in Salesforce:

Salesforce provides the option to create and Activity as either a Task or an Event. Most Activities may be recorded as Tasks. An Activity should be created as an Event only if the Activity was an event in which outreach was conducted broadly to multiple existing or potential Customers and/or Strategic Partners. Events have additional fields (e.g., Event location, Agenda, etc) that may be filled out if useful.

Campaigns are a way to group all of your contacts together in a list which allows Marketing to send out an email to all the campaign members. To add an individual to an existing Campaign you must first open the Lead or Contact Record. 

Only Salesforce Administrators and Marketing and Communications staff can create new Campaigns to be utilized for mass email purposes.  Program staff members can create new Program Campaigns without submitting a help ticket or going through marketing. These campaigns are not to be used for mass email sends. 

Who can manage a campaign?

Only campaign owners can make changes to a campaign. Campaign owners are assigned when the Contact Import List campaign ticket is created. The person making the request will be the campaign owner unless otherwise noted in the ticket.

What changes can be made to a campaign?

The campaign owner may update the Contacts and Leads associated to the campaign. If there are less than 5 updates needed i.e. adding or removing 5 Contacts or Leads, then the campaign owner may make those changes. If more than 5 Contacts or Leads need to be added or removed on the campaign, create a new Campaign Import ticket request to have the Marketing team make the mass updates.

When the Marketing team sends out email blasts, an email shell campaign is created to use for the marketing email send out. The other campaigns, i.e. source campaigns, are used to identify who the email blast should go to.

Example:

The NY Sun team wants to send an email blast to Residential and Non-Residential customers about an upcoming workshop. The Marketing team creates a new campaign to send the email blast and uses the NY Sun Residential and NY Sun Non-Residential campaigns as the source campaigns. The new workshop campaign email will be sent to all members in the NY Sun Residential and NY Sun Non-Residential campaigns. A report is then generated from the marketing email send.

Overview

Any time a Campaign Import List is requested, the Marketing Team will ask for which Interest Area to associate the campaign. There is a general opt-in list that sends 1 to 2 emails per month based on those interest areas.

Subscriber Preferences

A customer can update their subscriber preferences by visiting https://portal.nyserda.ny.gov/CustomerPreferences. After customers update their preferences, it's updated in Salesforce on a monthly basis. 

As a reminder, users can always update their preferences to be resubscribed to an interest area. It is good practice to occasionally send your contacts the Customer Preferences link to resubscribe.

The simplest way to track CRM Outreach activities as they related to email sends is to create a Program Import List for the outreach activity invitees. Submit an email request and advise which campaigns should be used for the email send.

Program communications are not sent through Marketing Cloud. Program communications should be sent via Outlook. Campaign member lists can be exported from Salesforce to use in your Outlook email. 

Marketing communications include NYSERDA branding, can be seen as a marketing deliverable, and are sent through the Marketing team.

• The major difference between sending marketing emails through Outlook vs Marketing Cloud is Marketing Cloud gives the recipient the option to unsubscribe. Communicating to stakeholders needs to be from Marketing Cloud (via the Marketing Team). Make sure there is the ability to offer an unsubscribe option. 
• Don't send any emails to campaign members from Salesforce. Use Outlook or submit a request to the Marketing team.
• When updating anyone about public facing items, the email send needs to go through the Marketing team.

It is possible to run a report that someone else has saved in a public or shared folder.  

To run a report click the drop down arrow at the far right of the screen on the report line and click Run. 

To export a report click the drop down arrow at the far right of the screen on the report line and click Export.