Add Emoji to Statement Formulas
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe the purpose of using emoji in your Spiff statements.
- Use the concat function to combine data types into one string.
- Write a formula to use emoji to show trending performance.
- Write a formula to use emoji to show performance against quota.
Before You Start
Before you start this module, make sure you complete this content. The work you do here builds on the concepts and work you do in that content.
Engage Users and Highlight Important Information
Salesforce Spiff is a leading sales compensation software that automates and simplifies the process of calculating and managing sales commissions. Commission statements are a powerful tool in Spiff. But how can you make them even better?
The answer is emoji—those expressive little icons we all know and love. 😆
In a world overwhelmed with data, it’s critical to highlight important information in a way that’s both informative and engaging. Emoji in Spiff commission statements help you do just that.
With the necessary data and some calculation skills, you can incorporate emoji into your statements to change plain numbers into scannable information. Emoji in your commissions statements can improve communication, simplify complex data, and create an engaging experience for your audience. Emoji have become a universal language. They capture attention and convey emotions, successes, and goals better than numbers alone.
In this module, you learn how to use emoji to improve the visual appeal, clarity, and impact of your statements. From representing performance milestones and targets to conveying motivational messages, you learn the process of incorporating emoji strategically and effectively. Let’s get started.
Use Emoji in Formulas
You can find the emoji you want to use in your computer operating system’s built-in emoji library or in an online emoji library.
You can use more than just icon emoji. You can also use emoji letters to change the font of your display names.
The concat function enables you to combine different data types into one text string. So when using emoji in a rule, use the concat function to make it appear with a datatype that’s anything other than a string. The syntax for the concat function is concat([list]). Remember to put square brackets around the items you want to concatenate.
For example, imagine you want to show the value in a currency field called CommissionableACV next to an emoji. The formula to populate that field is concat([CommissionableACV, “ ✅”]) and defaults to (None) for Display Format.
You can’t change the Display Format to Currency as this removes the emoji and only the numbers appear.
Show Trending Performance with Emoji
Visualizing the trending performance of commission statements over months, quarters, years, and so on, is helpful when making decisions. And when you add emoji, you make trend data about performance more engaging and insightful.
For example, to create a metric card that shows whether you’re trending under or over quota, create a worksheet calculation using an if function. Let’s call it YourTrendThisQuarter.
You can use the QuarterlyARR value as the quota currently achieved and the QuarterOfAnnualQuota value as the total quota. If the quota currently achieved is greater than the total quota, the statement shows that you’re trending over quota. Otherwise, it indicates that you're trending under quota.
To make sure that the messages ✅ Trending Above Quota and 🔻Trending Below Quota are displayed as intended, enclose them in quotation marks within the formula. This makes sure that the messages are written exactly as specified.
Here’s the combined formula: if(QuarterlyARR>QuaterOfAnnualQuota, "✅ Trending Above Quota", "🔻Trending Below Quota").
Now all that’s left to do is add the calculation as a metric card in the statement. The formula automatically generates the proper message based on whether the representative is trending over or under their quota for the specified period. This provides a clear indication of the rep's performance in relation to their quota and helps track their progress.
This same formula can be used with other values to customize the message, emoji, what’s measured, and more.
Use Emoji to Show Performance Against Quota
Most companies measure performance against quota. How can you show that measurement? A percentage is informative, but why not go further and provide the amount required to reach the quota, along with a special congratulatory message upon success?
To achieve this, you incorporate a few additional worksheet calculations into the trending performance formula from the last section. Here’s how.
The first new calculation is a Remaining Quota calculation. This calculation involves subtracting the quota currently achieved from the total quota. Using the fields QuarterofAnnualQuota and QuarterlyARR, the formula is QuarterofAnnualQuota-QuarterlyARR. That formula determines the remaining amount the representative needs to achieve during the rest of the quarter.
Next, create an attainment worksheet calculation. Let’s include a special message in this calculation! If the quota currently achieved is less than the total quota, show an Under Quota message. Conversely, if the quota currently achieved is more than the total quota, show a Quota Achieved message.
The formula for this calculation is: if(QuarterlyARR < QuarterOfAnnualQuota, EnterpriseAEUnderQuotaMessage, EnterpriseAEQuotaAchievedMessage).
If that formula looks familiar, that’s because it’s similar to the if formula you created in the last section—only without the emoji. The emoji in this formula are stored in other variables. Let’s create those variables now.
First, create the Under Quota Message—or, EnterpriseAEUnderQuotaMessage as a worksheet calculation. Use the concat function and the Quota Performance calculation value you created earlier. The formula is concat([round(QuotaRemaining, 2), ” remaining”, ” ⏳”]).
There are a few important elements to explore in this formula: concat and round.
As you learned earlier, the concat function enables you to combine different data types into one text string. In this case, you incorporate the Quota Performance summary calculation and append “ remaining ⏳” to the end. Because these are two distinct elements, separate them with commas and enclose them within parentheses to maintain clarity and proper formatting. Remember to include a leading space inside each set of quotation marks or your card will appear as 83000.00remaining⏳ without spaces
The round function rounds the Quota Performance calculation to two decimal places, to simplify how it appears and make it easier to understand the statement.
The final component to build is a Quota Achieved message—or, EnterpriseAEQuotaAchievedMessage as a worksheet calculation. This is a simple formula that uses the concat function, but because you aren’t incorporating another field, your message will consist only of Quota Achieved 🏆. The formula is concat([“Quota Achieved”, ” 🏆”]).
Now include your Attainment calculation as a metric card in the statement. This provides the appropriate message if a rep is under quota or has achieved quota.
Creating this card improves the visual appeal of a rep’s statement and provides valuable insights by displaying the required amount to reach their quota. Plus, this card motivates your reps with a congratulatory message when they achieve their quota. Again, this same formula can be modified with other values to customize the message, emoji, what’s measured, and more.
In this unit, you learned the basics of using emoji in statements, and put those basics into practice with a few simple formulas. In the next unit, you learn how to use emoji with attainment tiers and leaderboards.