June 08, 2021

Michael Gutierrez, Salesforce Developer, Global SaaS Support Services

Salesforce’s Summer ’21 release packs in another load of updates! To save you from reading through hundreds of pages of release notes (which, by the way, we do as part of our service for our customers), we’re here to provide you with a snapshot of our favorite improvements.

Note: You may already have access to Summer ‘21. The release dates for Summer ’21 are May 15, June 4, and June 11-12, depending on your region.

What I like best about this release is how it allows my fellow Salesforce admins, developers, and architects to really flex their technical muscle. Let’s break down the top three features that caught our attention to help you achieve a Customer 360 environment.

1. Sales Cloud: Pipeline Inspection & Einstein Lead Scoring

Pipeline Inspection gives sales teams a prioritized and singular pipeline view that lists their most promising deals. This will be a game-changer for companies that have a high volume of pipeline opportunities. Pipeline Inspections should also free up sales managers from tedious pipeline review meetings and that means more time to help their teams achieve more closed-won deals.

Einstein Lead Scoring provides functionality to score different types of leads separately for more accurate scoring. This feature is especially helpful if an organization has multiple types of leads. Lead scoring has also been simplified with the addition of a new guided setup tool. Example: You can score leads from specific sources (e.g., tradeshow, inbound, partner, etc.) differently and then let Einstein determine the conversion pattern for each lead segment.

2. De-bugging Flow Enhancements

The question architects and developers must often answer is, “Should I use Flow or Apex to solve automation requirements?” Because Apex offers better debugging tools than Flow, Apex is often the choice of architects and developers. However, this goes against Salesforce’s preference of using native configurable tools for automation, as opposed to writing custom Apex code.

In this release, Salesforce has finally addressed the issue with new Flow debugging tools that uncover insights into errors and ensure consistent and accurate development of future flows.

Prior to this enhancement, to test a flow you would have to follow these steps: 1) activate the flow, 2) create the data that you “think” will work for your test, and then 3) navigate back to the flow builder for refinement. That’s a lot of time-consuming work! Flows can now be run without the extra setup steps while creating debug logs. This should enable faster workflow analysis and deployment.

Not only are flows up to 10x faster than process builders and traditional workflows, but they are also more extensible. This opens the door for more declarative solutions (e.g., drag-and-drop) that are flexible and better for custom code when necessary. (See Salesforce’s Record Trigger Automation – Guide Overview to understand when Apex should be used instead of Flow.)

3. Analytics: PNG Downloads and Auto Add Fields (Beta)

One-click .PNG dashboard downloads allow users to download an entire dashboard directly into .PNG files. Previously, users could only download a single dashboard component. Now they can download the entire dashboard with one click. This feature makes it easier for users to capture dashboards for presentations and saves them from the hassle of creating and editing screen shots.

Auto Add Fields (Beta) in custom reports will be a big timesaver for admins who are required to build and maintain ad hoc reports. Adding new fields to custom reports, especially when you have many custom report types, can be very time consuming.

Luckily, Salesforce is on this and has released a new Auto Add field function in this release. When admins create a new custom report type, all the fields for that object type will be available when the report is created. This is a great example of how a simple fix can provide a lot of value. Thank you, Salesforce!

Sorting Through the Noise: We Do It for You!

Despite the value of each major release, many companies are challenged to keep their Salesforce ecosystem up to date with the newest features. What’s often overlooked is how effective the latest Salesforce features are at keeping your company’s and your customer’s data secure and connected. Continuous innovation through Spinnaker Support’s managed services program ensures that your company maximizes your Salesforce investment and stays technologically current – on this release and all others.

Contact us today to get the most out of your Salesforce investment.

Salesforce Links:

Salesforce Summer ’21 Release Notes

Record Trigger Automation – Guide Overview