Explore Einstein Search
Learning Objectives
After completing this module, you’ll be able to:
- Understand how personalization delivers results that are most important to your users.
- Use everyday language to perform searches.
- Go directly from searching to taking action.
Get Personalized Search Results
Ben and Kara work at a company that has a lot of clients with Acme in their names. (Acme Technologies, Acme Health, Acme Partners… whatever an acme is, it’s very popular.)
In the past, every user in the same org got the same search results. So when Ben and Kara searched for Acme, they would see the exact same search results.
But now, with Einstein Search personalization, search results are ordered based on attributes like geography, ownership, industry, and activity to show a list of results with these preferences in mind for each user.
Ben is based in California and does most of his work there so he tends to click more on records that include California as the location. So, when Ben searches for Acme, even if this is the first time he’s searching for Acme, he sees results with Acme companies in California listed first. Because Einstein Search understands that Ben tends to interact with records in California, it reorders results to put Acme records with California as a location before other records in the search results.
This illustrates an important point: Einstein Search doesn’t delete other search results. It promotes records that it thinks are most relevant to Ben, but all relevant records are listed.
When Kara searches for Acme, she sees a different set of results. Companies in Connecticut, not California, appear near the top, because that’s where Kara is based and where she does most of her work. Ben and Kara’s searches return different results, because Einstein personalizes them.
Personalization also works on mobile. If Kara searches for Acme on her mobile device, she gets the same results as on her desktop.
You don’t need to do anything special to get Einstein Search to work for you. You can do the same searches you’re used to doing, and Einstein Search personalizes the results. Think of Einstein Search personalization as letting the cream of search results rise to the top.
Personalization is currently available on Accounts, Cases, Contacts, Leads, and Opportunities.
Search Using Natural Language
You usually communicate like you speak, in natural, everyday language. It’s your intuitive and usual way to talk to colleagues, friends, and family. But communicating with computer systems is hard. You have to adapt to their language. You can’t just go into a search box and say, “my closed opportunities in San Francisco,” because search systems don’t deal with the meaning of words; they just treat them as symbols.
But Einstein Search understands common, natural language. Ben wants to be able to state what he means and have search understand him. Which is what natural language search is all about: the meaning of the words, not just meaningless keywords. In the end, natural is about human language.
For example, Ben wants to see a specific set of opportunities: only his open opportunities, and only in the city of Oakland, California. Without Einstein Search, Ben might spend many frustrating minutes clicking to find the results he wants, then set up filters or create a List View like “My Open Opportunities in Oakland” to keep track of them.
With Einstein Search, Ben just types in the phrase: my open opportunities in Oakland. Einstein Search returns exactly what he’s looking for. Ben’s Oakland opportunities are with Acme Technologies.
And in case you missed it, Ben performed his search with a minimum of work. In a traditional search scenario, Ben’s own list view might not be as useful as what Einstein Search shows him.
Here are some examples of natural language searches you can do:
- Accounts created last 4 weeks
- Acme new opportunities in Texas last month
- My team accounts in Indiana
- Maria’s contacts in California
- Cases in progress today
- Leads in Cleveland last quarter
Natural language search currently works on Accounts, Cases, Contacts, Opportunities, and Leads.
For more about natural language search, along with example searches, see the Resources section at the end of this unit.
Work Faster with Actionable Instant Results
Personalization focuses Ben’s results to ones that matter to him, and Natural Language Search lets him find those results in an easy, simple way. All that is really useful, but Einstein Search takes things a step further. Actually, two steps further.
Let’s say Ben is looking for a particular business whose name includes the word Acme. Ben can’t quite remember its exact name, although he knows the company is in San Francisco. He starts to type Acme in the search box, and before he’s finished typing, Einstein Search starts displaying suggested searches and previews of records that Ben’s interacted with before. These previews are not the complete set of results. To do a full search, Ben has to press Enter to see all results that are personalized for him.
Ben could click every Acme company in the list and see if it’s the one he wants. But, that’s a lot of work, takes time, and could possibly cause problems if he accidentally modifies the wrong record. Fortunately, Einstein Search provides a better way for Ben to find his particular Acme company. All he has to do is hover over a record, and Einstein Search displays details for that record. Now he sees that Acme Inc. is based in San Francisco. That’s the Acme company he’s looking for. He never has to look at records that he doesn’t care about, and it’s all provided for him almost instantly.
Instant record previews are a step further than traditional search takes you. We promised you two steps further. Well, hang on because Einstein Search isn’t done.
Einstein Search results are actionable. By hovering over a result—in this case, Acme Inc.—Ben sees not just information about the company, but action buttons that let him do things, such as edit or follow the Acme Inc account. Ben also sees Related List Quick Links that can provide additional relevant information or enable further actions. And all of this happens while Ben is still just hovering over a result. By allowing Ben to go seamlessly from searching to taking action, Einstein Search has saved him a multitude of clicks, as well as time.
But wait! There’s more. When you enter search terms and Einstein Search has a high degree of confidence, it provides a Recommended Result. The Recommended Result is based on your preferences and recent behavior. You’re not just presented with a list of choices; you’re presented with a best choice. That’s why we say that Einstein Search isn’t just for searching—it’s for finding.
Einstein Search can’t find your keys in a messy apartment—yet. But in this unit you learned how it can save you time, money, and headaches.
