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Create Picklists and Field Dependencies

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The Rundown

Sales Operations divides AW Computing’s sales territory into regions and zones. Yuko Ishikawa would like to be able to identify each account record by its region and zone. Allison Wheeler, VP of Global Sales, would like to track the reasons opportunities are being won or lost, ensuring that users can select only the appropriate reasons, and only when the opportunity is at Closed Won or Closed Lost. To accomplish what they want, you set up picklists and field dependencies.

Picklists offer a selection of options available for specific fields in a Salesforce object, such as a list of regions. Users can then choose a single value from a list of options rather than make an entry directly in the field, which cuts down on errors and helps keep data clean. Field dependencies are filters that allow you to change the contents of a picklist based on the value of another field. Rather than displaying every value for Region in a single picklist, you can limit the values that are displayed based on a value for another field, like Zone. That way your users can find the appropriate option more quickly and easily.

Yuko and Allison both provided the information you need via Chatter posts, so let’s get to it.

Create Picklists

Start by creating a global picklist value set called Region.

  1. From Setup, click Home.
  2. Enter Picklist Value Sets in the Quick Find box and select Picklist Value Sets.
  3. Click New and fill in the details:
    • Label: Region
    • Name: Region
    • Description: For use in region fields throughout AW’s org.
    • Regions, each on its own line:
      • APAC
      • EMEA
      • LATAM
      • US
      • Canada
  4. Click Save.

Next, create a custom picklist field called Region on the lead and account objects.

  1. From Setup, click Object Manager and select Lead.
  2. Select Fields & Relationships and click New.
  3. Select Picklist as the Data Type
  4. Click Next and fill in the details.
  5. Enter Region for the Field Label.
  6. Select Use global picklist value set, then select Region from the picklist
  7. For Description, enter: Customer’s geographical region—for sales operations use only.
  8. For Help Text, enter: In which region is the customer based?
  9. Click Next.
  10. Select the checkbox in the Read-Only column header.
  11. Deselect the Sales User from the Read-Only column.
  12. Click Next and Save.

Next, create the same field on the Account object following the same steps. 

  1. Return to the Object Manager and click Account.
  2. Repeat steps 2–11 above.
  3. Click Next, then Save & New.

Create a custom picklist field called Zone on the Account object, editable by Sales Users only.

  1. Choose Picklist as the Data Type and click Next.
  2. Enter Zone as the Field Label.
  3. Select Enter values, with each value separated by a new line.
  4. In the box, enter these values, each on its own line:
    • East Asia
    • Oceania
    • Southeast Asia
    • Africa
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • UK + Ireland
    • Mexico
    • Caribbean
    • Central America
    • South America
    • Midwest US
    • Northeast US
    • Southeast US
    • Southwest US
    • West US
    • Northern Canada
    • Mountains and the West
    • The Prairies
    • Central Canada
    • East Coast
  1. For Description, enter: Customer’s zone within the selected region—for sales operations use only.
  2. For Help Text, enter: In which zone is this customer based? Depends on region.
  3. Click Next.
  4. Select the checkbox in the Read-Only column header.
  5. Deselect the Sales User checkbox in the Read-Only column.
  6. Click Next and Save.

Create Field Dependencies

Create a dependency between these two picklists, so that when a Region is selected, only respective zones are available in the Zone field.

  1. While still viewing the Account object in the Object Manager, select Fields & Relationships.
  2. Click Field Dependencies.
  3. Click New.
  4. Select Region as the Controlling Field and select Zone as the Dependent Field.
  5. Click Continue. 
  6. Select the following zones in each column.
    • APAC: East Asia, Oceania, Southeast Asia
    • EMEA: Africa, Europe, Middle East, UK + Ireland
    • LATAM: Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, South America
    • US: Midwest US, Northeast US, Southeast US, Southwest US, West US
    • Canada: Northern Canada, Mountains and the West, The Prairies, Central Canada, East Coast
  1. Click Include Values.
    Table of regions and zones showing zones highlighted in appropriate regions columns.
  2. Click Preview, then test the dependency by selecting different regions and viewing the different zones available for each region.
  3. Click Close to close the preview window.
  4. Click Save.

Create a custom picklist field called Close Reason, editable by Sales Users only.

  1. From Setup, click Object Manager and select Opportunity.
  2. Select Fields & Relationships, and click New.
  3. Select Picklist (Multi-Select) as the Data Type, then click Next.
  4. Enter Close Reason as the Field Label.
  5. Click Enter values, with each value separated by a new line and paste these values.
    • Lost: Competitor
    • Lost: Price
    • Lost: Product Features
    • Lost: Project Abandoned
    • Lost: Company Budget Constraints
    • Lost: Other Reason
    • Won: Competitor
    • Won: Price
    • Won: Product Features
    • Won: Other Reason
  1. Enter 6 for # Visible Lines. Ensure Field Name is Close_Reason.
  2. For Description, enter: Created for the VP of Global Sales to track wins and losses.
  3. For Help Text, enter: When you close the opportunity, select one or more values that best describe your reason for closing.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Select the checkbox in the Read-Only column header.
  6. Deselect the Sales User from the Read-Only column.
  7. Click Next and Save.

Create a dependency between the Stage field and the new Close Reason field. Note: Not all Stage values will have a dependent Close Reason.

  1. While still viewing the Opportunity object Fields & Relationships, click the Field Dependencies button.
  2. Click New, and set up the new field dependency.
  3. Select Stage as the Controlling Field.
  4. Select Close Reason as the Dependent Field.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. At the top of the table, click Next until you see the Closed Won and Closed Lost columns.
  7. Double-click inside cells to select the appropriate Close Reasons in the Closed Won and Closed Lost columns.
    • Closed Won: Select all values starting with “Won”
    • Closed Lost: Select all values starting with “Lost”
  1. Click Preview, then test the dependency by selecting different stages and viewing the different close reasons available for each stage.
  2. Click Close to close the preview window.
  3. Click Save, and click OK to accept the warning that not all dependent values have been included.

By setting up picklists and fields dependencies, you’ve helped Yuko’s and Allison’s teams work more efficiently and keep their data clean. You continue to improve things for users in the next step, where you create lookup filters.

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