Last Updated on April 2, 2022 by Rakesh Gupta

Big Idea or Enduring Question:

How do you automatically send an Onboarding email to new users with Salesforce Flow?

Objectives:

This blog post will help us to understand the following

• How to use Salesforce Flow to send out an email alert with attachments to new users
• How to use the email alerts action in Salesforce Flow
• Send email using the Send Email static flow action 

Business Use case

Warren Mason is working as a System Administrator at Universal Containers (UC). His organization wants to send out a welcome email with onboarding documents to new users as soon as their accounts get created in Salesforce.

Automation Champion Approach (I-do):

While this can be solved using various automation tools like Apex or Process builder, we will use Salesforce Flow. You can quickly send an email from Salesforce Flow using an email alert as an action. Email alerts are configured outside of the flow and contain the standard text, list of recipients, and template for an email. To send an email from a flow, you must create the email alert first. Please note that you can only use email alerts that are associated with the same object that the flow is associated with.

Before discussing the solution, let me show you a diagram of the process at a high level. Please spend a few minutes going through the following Flow diagram to understand it.

Let’s begin building this automation process.

Guided Practice (We-do):

There are 6 steps to solve Warren’s business requirement using Salesforce Flow. We must: 

1. Create an email template
2. Create an email alert
3. Define flow properties for record-triggered flow
4. Create a formula to determine whether the user record is created or updated 
5. Add a decision element to check the IsActive field
6. Add action – email alerts

Step 1: Create a Welcome Email Template 

1. Click Setup.
2. In the Quick Find box, type Classic Email Templates.
3. Clicks on the New button. 
4. Name the HTML Email Template and make sure to select the Available For Use checkbox.
5. Click Next and create a template like the following screenshot: 

Step 2: Create an Email Alert 

1. Click Setup.
2. In the Quick Find box, type Email Alerts.
3. Select Email Alerts, click on the New Email Alert button. 
4. Name the Email Alert and click the Tab button. The Unique Name will populate. 
5. For Object select User.
6. For the Email Template choose New Employee Welcome Letter Template. 
7. For Recipient Type select Email Field: Email.
8. Click Save.

Step 3: Salesforce Flow – Define Flow Properties 

1. Click Setup.
2. In the Quick Find box, type Flows.
3. Select Flows then click on the New Flow.
4. Select the Record-Triggered Flow option and click on Next and configure the flow as follows:
   1. How do you want to start building: Freeform
   2. Object: User
   3. Trigger the Flow When: A record is created or updated
   4. Set Entry Criteria
      1. Condition Requirements: None
   5. Optimize the Flow For: Action and Related Records 
5. Click Done.

Tips: Never try to write entry criteria in a Record-Triggered Flow. Why? Check out this article.

Step 4: Salesforce Flow – Formula to Determine Whether the User Record is Created or Updated 

1. Under Toolbox, select Manager, then click New Resource to determine whether the record is new or old.
2. Input the following information:
   1. Resource Type: Formula
   2. API Name: forB_IsNew
   3. Data Type: Boolean
   4. Formula: IsNew()
3. Click Done.

Step 5: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check the IsActive Field

Now we will use the Decision element to check the IsActive to ensure that it is equal to True and the record is New. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Element.
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer.
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label the API Name will auto-populate.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!forB_IsNew}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
   2. Click Add Condition
   3. Row 2:
      1. Resource: {!$Record.IsActive}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
6. When to Execute Outcome: If the condition requirements are met
7. Click Done.

Step 6: Add Action – Email Alerts

The next step is to add an email alert to the Flow. We will use the Action element. To do this drag-and-drop Action element onto the canvas and map the fields according to the details below:

1. Under Toolbox, select Elements.
2. Drag and drop the Action element onto the Flow designer.
   1. Below Filter By, select Type. 
   2. Select the Email Alert – Onboard Email from the dropdown menu (the email alert which we created in Step #2)
3. Label the new action Send Onboarding Email 
4. Set Input Values
   1. {!$Record.Id}
5. Click Done.

In the end, Warren’s Flow will look like the following screenshot (I turned on Auto-Layout) for this flow:

Once everything looks good, perform the steps below:

1. Click Save.
2. Enter Flow Label the API Name will auto-populate.
3. Click Show Advanced.
4. API Version for Running the Flow: 54
5. Interview Label: Record-Trigger: Send Welcome Email to New User {!$Flow.CurrentDateTime}
6. Click Save.

Almost there! Once everything looks good, click the Activate.

Proof of Concept

Now onwards, if a system administrator creates a new user, the Salesforce Flow will automatically trigger and send the Onboarding Email to new users.

1. To test this out, create a new user via the UI.
2. Once the user is created, the flow will automatically send a welcome email to them, as shown in the following screenshot:

Independent Practice (You-do):

Automatically send an email to users, when a user account gets deactivated.

Formative Assessment:

I want to hear from you!  

What is one thing you learned from this post? How do you envision applying this new knowledge in the real world? 

Let me know by Tweeting me at @automationchamp, or find me on LinkedIn.