Get Started with CRM Analytics Templates

You’re the super admin for DTC electronics. Super because you’ve set up and taken care of DTC’s ever-expanding Salesforce implementation from Day 1. That includes working with CRM Analytics—building explorations, lenses, datasets, dashboards, and even apps.

You’ve been swimming with the big fish, too: In response to requirements from DTC management, you’ve implemented a few solutions by writing code. You’ve created recipes and written XMD to enhance datasets, done JSON coding to optimize dashboards, and written custom SAQL queries. You’ve even dabbled with Apex and the CRM Analytics APIs. You’re not a developer yet, but you’re getting there!

DTC’s enthusiastic CEO just paid you a visit to issue you a new challenge: She “loves, loves, loves” Execs Only, the new CRM Analytics app you and the DTC Analysts group just created. You built it so the executive team could get instantaneous insights from top-level sales data in Salesforce.

Even as she speaks, she’s got Analytics Studio open on her laptop to show you what she means. “It’s so cool! I open the app, and get everything I need. And only what I need, all in one place,” she says as you peer over her shoulder.

“I use Pipeline Performance every day,” she adds as she opens the dashboard. “I can see the overall pipe, break it down by what’s open, what we’ve generated, get a feel for what we can close—awesome! And I get overall sales and service performance, too—in one view!”

She says she used Execs Only during a retreat with a core group of DTC’s distribution partners. She held the retreat because she heard about a new competitor trying to woo some of DTC’s partners. The retreat was all about getting the partners jazzed about DTC, and making sure they had everything they needed to make it easy to sell DTC products.

“Everyone kept asking me to look at the Sales and Pipeline Performance dashboards—and asking me how they could get their own versions. They’d love if they could see the same pretty pictures but with their Salesforce data,” she says. “If they can see up-to-the-minute results like that based on their sales teams’ performance, they think it can make their sales operations way more efficient.”

And that’s the challenge: The CEO wants you to figure out how DTCs distributors can use the same app to manage sales. They want to use the app in their own orgs to get Salesforce data analytics insights. “This could help us make sure our distributors love us for the rest of time. What can you do fast to keep them super happy?”

As usual, you’re way ahead of the curve: You just read about a developer technology in Salesforce Help called CRM Analytics Templates. They give you the power to package and distribute your apps to others in your company and to partners, even to sell them to customers. They can then use the template to create their own versions of the app using their Salesforce data.

You’ve been so impressed with the CRM Analytics platform tools that let you build the app in the first place, and you’re sure Templates will be just as powerful. So you tell the CEO, “No problem. I should have something ready for you pretty fast. How about a slightly simpler version of the app with just sales and pipeline data?” The CEO jumps out of her chair and says, “You’re the best—go for it!”

The DTC admin might be you. Maybe you’ve just started working with the CRM Analytics platform. Or maybe you already have an app in production. In either case, Templates can help you make the most of your CRM Analytics-based solutions.

In this module, you’re going to learn all about templates. You’ll see what they are and delve into the concepts you need to understand to master them. You’ll learn some of the techniques you use to customize them for your business needs. And you’ll see how they work, up close, as we make subtle changes to a template that deliver powerful user features.

Harnessing that power takes advanced admin skills. In this case, you need to be comfortable with JSON, or have access to a developer in your company who can help. But we think you’ll find it more than worthwhile. You may not have the development skills of the DTC super admin. But even if you’re relatively new to JSON, you can understand the examples in this module. They start you on the path to developing your own templates.

You won’t actually create a template yourself, or edit the template files. Instead, we’ll show you the files and take you through the process you’d use to customize your own templates. If you want to follow along with the actual files, you can download them from the link in the Resources section at the end of this unit.

Let’s jump in.

Let’s get you set up so you can log in and start working with templates.

1. Go to https://trailhead.salesforce.com/promo/orgs/analytics-de.
2. Fill out the form.
3. After you fill out the form, click Sign me up. A confirmation message appears.
4. Go to your email and look for an activation email. Open it, and click the link.
5. Complete your registration, and set your password and a challenge question. Tip: Write down or remember your credentials.
6. Click Save. That logs you into your new CRM Analytics Developer Edition org.

Way to go! You now have a Salesforce org complete with DTC Electronics sales data, and you’re ready to see templates in action.

But first, start working toward your CRM Analytics App Template Development badge by answering these questions.

• CRM Analytics Basics Trail
• Accelerate CRM Analytics with Apps
• Prebuilt CRM Analytics Apps overview
• Download the code for this module. The download includes two files: EATP1 contains the basic Template 1, which you use to create an app in the next unit. EATP2 contains Template 2, which includes the modifications described later in the module.