Big Idea or Enduring Question:

How do you set up dynamic approval routing?

In Salesforce, a user can use an Approval process to get approval from managers or higher authority. Approval processes route a record to one or more approvers, specifying the steps necessary for a record to be approved, and who must approve it at each step.

In a normal approval process, i.e., Static approval process, the approvers at each step are explicitly specified in each step approval process, or you can have the submitter choose the approver manually, as shown in the following screenshot: Whereas dynamic approval routing allows us to specify the approvers for each record using User lookup fields on the record requiring approval. These fields can be populated using Process Builder or Apex, using data from a special custom object/setting that contains all the information needed to route the record. Dynamic approval routing provides the flexibility to route the approval request to different people based on Account Type or some other criteria related to the record. Let’s start with a business use case.

Objectives:

After reading this blog post, the reader will be able to:

Use Before-save Record-Triggered Flow to route approval requests to designated approvers
Use a Decision element to find – record variable or record collection variable contains a record or not
Use an Assignment element to assign default approver to opportunity

Business Use case

Steven Greene is working as a System administrator in Universal Container. He has received a requirement from the management to route opportunity approval requests to designated approvers based on the opportunity’s Lead Source and the opportunity’s account Type.

Automation Champion Approach (I-do):

While this can be solved using various automation tools like Apex or Flow, we will use Before-save Record-Triggered Flow. This is not something that can be accomplished with Workflow Rules or Process Builder.

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

Let’s begin building this automation process.

Guided Practice (We-do):

There are 5 steps to solve Steven’s business requirement using Salesforce Flow. We must:

Create a custom lookup (with User object) field on the object being approved
Create a custom object that will be used as an approval matrix
Populate the approval matrix, i.e., create a few records in a custom object
Create an approval process
Salesforce Flow Steps:
1. Define flow properties for record-triggered flow
2. Add a get records element to find opportunity owner
3. Add a decision element to check the record collection variable (from step 5.2)
4. Add an assignment element – assign dynamic approver
5. Add an assignment element – assign default approver

Step 1: Creating a Custom lookup (user)

On the Opportunity object, create a lookup field called Opportunity Approver as mentioned in the steps below.

Click Setup.
In the Object Manager, type Opportunity.
Select Fields & Relationships, then click New.
Select Lookup Relationship as Data Type, then click Next.
Select the User object for the Related To option, then click Next.
Enter Field Label and click the Next button. The API Name will populate.
As a best practice, always input a description.
Set the Field-level Security for the profiles, make sure to set this field as read-only.
Add this field to Page Layout.
Click Save.

Step 2: Create a Custom Object

The next step is to create a custom object Approver Matrix and a few custom fields to store related information which will use in approval routing.

Click Setup.
In the Object Manager, click Create | Custom Object.
Now create a custom object Approver Matrix and fields as shown in the screenshot below:
Click Save.

Field Name	Values
Lead Source	Web Phone Inquiry Partner Referral
Type	Existing Customer – Downgrade Existing Customer – Replacement Existing Customer – Upgrade New Customer

Step 3: Create Approval Matrix Records

The next step is to create approval matrix records that associate the Lead Source and Type to the appropriate Opportunity Approver. For example, if Lead Source = Web and Type = Existing Customer – Upgrade, then one might route the records to Adam Smith as Opportunity Approver. It will look like the following screenshot:

Step 4: Create an Approval Process

Click Setup.
In the Quick Find box, type Approval Processes.
Clicks on the Create New Approval Process | Use Standard Setup Wizard button.
Select the Opportunity object for Manage Approval Processes For drop-down.
Now create an approval process, as shown in the following screenshot:

Make sure to modify the approver step (Step 3), and select related user Opportunity approver, as shown in the preceding screenshot.

Step 5.1: Salesforce Flow – Define Flow Properties

Click Setup.
In the Quick Find box, type Flows.
Select Flows then click on the New Flow.
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. Trigger the Flow When: A record is created or Updated
3. Run Flow: Before the record is saved
4. Object: Opportunity
Select Any Condition Is Met (OR).
Set Conditions
1. Row 1
  1. Field: Opportunity | Type
  2. Operator: Does Not Equal
  3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.EmptyString}
Click Add Condition
1. Row 2
  1. Field: Opportunity | Lead Source
  2. Operator: Does Not Equal
  3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.EmptyString}
Choose the Option to Every time a record is updated and meets the condition requirements.
Click Done.

Step 5.2: Salesforce Flow – Adding a Get Record Element

The next step is to get the Opportunity Approver. We will use the Get Records element. To do this drag-and-drop Get Records element onto the canvas and map the fields according to the details below:

Under Toolbox, select Element.
Drag-and-drop Get Records element onto the Flow designer.
Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
Select the Approver Matrix object from the dropdown list.
Select All Conditions Are Met (AND).
Set Filter Conditions
1. Row 1:
  1. Field: Type
  2. Operator: Equals
  3. Value: {!$Record.Type}
2. Row 2:
  1. Field: Lead Source
  2. Operator: Equals
  3. Value: {!$Record.LeadSource}
How Many Records to Store:
1. select Only the first record
How to Store Record Data:
1. Choose the option to Automatically store all fields.
Click Done.

Step 5.3: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check Record Variable Size

Now we will use the Decision element to check the Record Variable from step 5.2 size. If the Text Variable is not equal to null, then we will go ahead and update Approver on the opportunity record. Otherwise, we will update it with a default approver.

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

Step 5.4: Salesforce Flow – Using Assignment Element to Update Opportunity Approver

The next step is to update an Opportunity record. We will use the Assignment element, as we are using before-save flow.

Under Toolbox, select Element.
Drag-and-drop Assignment element onto the Flow designer.
Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
Set Variable Values
1. Row 1:
  1. Field: {!$Record.Opportunity_Approver__c}
  2. Operator: Equals
  3. Value: {!Opportunity_Approver.Opportunity_Approver__c} (Record variable from step 5.2)
Click Done.

Step 5.5: Salesforce Flow – Using Assignment Element to Update Default Approver

In case there aren’t any approvers that exist in the Approver Matrix for the current opportunity, then we will update Opportunity Approver to Logged-In user’s manager. We will use the Assignment element, as we are using before-save flow.

Under Toolbox, select Element.
Drag-and-drop Assignment element onto the Flow designer.
Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
Set Variable Values
1. Row 1:
  1. Field: {!$Record.Opportunity_Approver__c}
  2. Operator: Equals
  3. Value: {!$User.ManagerId}
Click Done.

In the end, Steven’s Flow will look like the following screenshot:

Once everything looks good, perform the steps below:

Click Save.
Enter Flow Label the API Name will auto-populate.
Click Show Advanced.
Type: Record-Triggered Flow
API Version for Running the Flow: 50
Interview Label: Dynamic Approval Routing {!$Flow.CurrentDateTime}
Click Save.

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

Proof of Concept

Now onwards, if a business user updates the Lead Source and Type, Process Builder will automatically populate the Opportunity Approver field.

Currently, Opportunity Approver on opportunity West Mountain Sign is Patrick Trevenen (which is correct based on our matrix which we set up in step 3)as shown in the following screenshot:
Now we update the Type to Existing Customer – Upgrade and Lead Source to Web.
Finally, submit an Opportunity record for approval.

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.

Big Idea or Enduring Question:

How can I use gamification in Salesforce to drive sales? What are the ways to automate the gamification?

Objectives:

After reading this blog post, the reader will be able to:

Create a flow that will automatically post a badge
Trigger a Flow via Process Builder
Automatically post to Chatter

Business Use case

Martin Jones is working as a System administrator at Universal Containers (UC). His organization wants to implement gamification to help boost the sales pipeline. He received a requirement from his manager if an Opportunity is closed within 7 days of its creation do the following:

Give a Deal Maker badge to the Opportunity Owner from SVP of Sales & Marketing (i.e. Tushar Gupta)
Post this info on the Opportunity Owner’s Chatter profile (see screenshot)

Automation Champion Approach (I-do):

Gamification is the use of game mechanics (challenges, competition, scoring points, etc.) in other areas of activity. In business, it is a way to harness the competitive spirit of sales reps, the creative drive of marketers, and the desire for recognition and the reward of everyone in between. It helps your organization boost Salesforce adoption by applying proven game mechanics to reward sales representatives to drive real business results.

The three major pillars of gamification are Challenge, Competition, and Recognition. We can implement gamification in Salesforce using clicks not code. There are multiple solutions possible for the above business scenario. We will use Flow and Process Builder to solve the above business requirement. Before proceeding you have to understand the below-mentioned objects in Salesforce.

WorkBadge: – This object contains information about who the badge was given to and which badge was given.
WorkThanks: – This object represents the source and message of a thanks post.

We will use Flow to create WorkThanks, WorkBadge, and Chatter Post records. To launch the Flow whenever Opportunity gets Closed Won, we will use Process Builder. This article will help you to understand how to implement gamification in Salesforce by using Work.com.

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

Let’s begin building this automation process.

Guided Practice (We-do):

There are 5 steps to solve Martin’s business requirement using Flow and Process Builder. We must:

Steps to setup work.com
Creating a custom label to store SVP of Sales & Marketing user-id
Creating a custom label to store badge Id
Lightning Flow Steps:
1. Define flow properties for auto-launched flow
2. Add a record variable to store an opportunity record data
3. Add a text variable to store message string
4. Create a formula to calculate elapsed days
5. Use a Decision element to check elapsed days
6. Add a create records element – create a thanks (WorkThanks) record
7. Add a create records element – create a badge received (Work Badge) record
8. Add a create records element – post thanks badge to chatter
Process Builder Steps:
1. Define process properties
2. Define evaluation criteria
3. Define process criteria
4. Add action – flows

Step 1: Setup Work.com

Follow the steps provided by Salesforce to set up work.com (some of this will need to be done in Classic).

Step 2: Creating a Custom Label to Store SVP of Sales & Marketing User’s Id

To store the ID for the SVP of Sales & Marketing, we need to get the User ID **Alternatively, you could create a variable for the ID of the specific user, but it is best practice not to hard-code User IDs**

Click Setup.
In the Quick Find box, type Custom Labels.
Click on the New Custom Label button.
Enter Short Description the Name will auto-populate.
Now enter the SVP Tushar User Id in the Value.
1. In the Developer Console Query Editor, run the following SOQL query to get the SVP of Sales & Marketing user Id
  1. select id from user where userrole.Name=’SVP, Sales & Marketing’
Click Save.

Step 3: Creating a Custom Label to Store Badge Id

Now we will create a Variable to store BadgeId, in this case, Badge Deal Maker.

Click Setup.
In the User Interface, type Custom Labels.
Click on the New Custom Label button.
Enter Short Description the Name will auto-populate.
Now enter the Deal Maker Badge Id in the Value.
1. In the Developer Console Query Editor, run the following SOQL query to get the deal maker badge Id
  1. select id from WorkBadgeDefinition where Name =’Deal Maker’
Click Save.

Step 4.1: Lightning Flow – Define Flow Properties

Click Setup.
In the Quick Find box, type Flows.
Select Flows then click on the New Flow.
Select the Autolaunched Flow (No Trigger) option and click on Next and configure the flow as follows:
1. How do you want to start building: Freeform
Click Done.

Step 4.2: Lightning Flow – Add Record Variable to Store Opportunity record data

Under Toolbox, select Manager, then click New Resource to store Opportunity record.
Input the following information:
1. Resource Type: Variable
2. API Name: varROpportunity
3. Data Type: Record
4. Object: Opportunity
5. Check Available for Input
6. Check Available for Output
Click Done.

Step 4.3: Lightning Flow – Add a Text Variable to Construct Message String

Under Toolbox, select Manager, then click New Resource to create a message for the email template.
Input the following information:
1. Resource Type: Variable
2. API Name: varTMessage
3. Data Type: Text
4. Default Value: Congratulations! You Just earned Deal Maker badge for closing the Opportunity “{!VarT_OpportunityName}” within {!Day_Elapsed} days of it’s creation.
5. Check Available for Input
6. Check Available for Output
Click Done.

Step 4.4: Lightning Flow – Create a Formula to Calculate Elapsed time

Under Toolbox, select Manager, then click New Resource to calculate elapsed time.
Input the following information:
1. Resource Type: Formula
2. API Name: forNElapsedTime
3. Data Type: Number
4. Decimal Places: 2
5. Formula: {!varROpportunity.LastModifiedDate} – {!varROpportunity.CreatedDate}
Click Done.

Step 4.5: Lightning Flow – Using Decision Element to check Elapsed Days

Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer.
Enter Label the API Name will auto-populate.
On the First Outcome enter the Label the API Name will auto-populate.
When to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met
1. Row 1:
  1. Resource: {!forNElapsedTime}
  2. Operator: Less Than or Equal
  3. Value: 7
Click Done.

Step 4.6: Lightning Flow – Create Records – Create a Thanks (WorkThanks) Record

If the time taken to successfully close a deal is less than 7, the next step is to create a WorkThanks record.

Under Toolbox, select Elements. Drag and drop Create Records onto the canvas.
Input the following information:
1. Enter Label the API Name will auto-populate.
2. How Many Records to Create: One
3. How to Set the Record Fields: Use separate resources, and literal values
4. Object: WorkThanks
5. Set Field Values for the Thanks
6. Row 1:
  1. Field: GiverId
  2. Value: {!$Label.SVP_Tushar_User_Id}
7. Click Add Row
8. Row 2:
  1. Field: Message
  2. Value: {!varTMessage}
Click Done.

Step 4.7: Lightning Flow – Create Records – Create a Badge Received (Work Badge) Record

The next step is to create a Work Badge record.

Under Toolbox, select Elements. Drag and drop Create Records onto the canvas.
Input the following information:
1. Enter Label the API Name will auto-populate.
2. How Many Records to Create: One
3. How to Set the Record Fields: Use separate resources, and literal values
4. Object: Badge Received
5. Set Field Values for the Badge Received
6. Row 1:
  1. Field: DefinitionId
  2. Value: {!$Label.Deal_Maker_Badge_Id}
7. Click Add Row
8. Row 2:
  1. Field: RecipientId
  2. Value: {!varROpportunity.OwnerId}
9. Click Add Row
10. Row 3:
  1. Field: SourceId
  2. Value: {!Create_WorkThanks_Record}
Click Done.

Step 4.8: Lightning Flow – Create Records – Post Thanks Badge to Chatter

The final item to create is the Chatter post.

Under Toolbox, select Elements. Drag and drop Create Records onto the canvas.
Input the following information:
1. Enter Label the API Name will auto-populate.
2. How Many Records to Create: One
3. How to Set the Record Fields: Use separate resources, and literal values
4. Object: Feed Item
5. Set Field Values for the Feed Item
6. Row 1:
  1. Field: Body
  2. Value: {!varTMessage}
7. Click Add Row
8. Row 2:
  1. Field: CreatedById
  2. Value: {!$Label.SVP_Tushar_User_Id}
9. Click Add Row
10. Row 3:
  1. Field: ParentId
  2. Value: {!varROpportunity.Id}
11. Click Add Row
12. Row 4:
  1. Field: RelatedRecordId
  2. Value: {!Create_WorkThanks_Record}
13. Click Add Row
14. Row 5:
  1. Field: Type
  2. Value: RypplePost
Click Done.

In the end, Martin’s Flow will look like the following screenshot:

Once everything looks good, perform the steps below:

Click Save.
Enter Flow Label the API Name will auto-populate.
Click Show Advanced.
API Version for Running the Flow: 50
Interview Label: Implement Gamification to Your Salesforce {!$Flow.CurrentDateTime}
Click Save.

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

Our next task is to create a Process on the Opportunity object to launch a Flow, only when an Opportunity is closed won.

Step 5.1: Define Process Properties

Click Setup.
In the Quick Find box, type Process Builder.
Select Process Builder, then click New.
Name the Process and click the Tab button. The API Name will populate.
As a best practice, always input a description.
The process starts when A record changes.
Click Save.

Step 5.2: Define Evaluation Criteria

Click on the Add Object node to begin selecting the evaluation criteria.
Select the Opportunity object from the dropdown list.
Start the process when a record is created or edited.
Click Save.

Step 4.3: Define Process Criteria

Click the Add Criteria node to begin defining the process criteria.
Name the criteria.
The criteria should execute actions when the conditions are met.
Set Conditions
1. Row 1
  1. Field: Opportunity | StageName
  2. Operator: Equals
  3. Type: Picklist
  4. Value: Closed Won
Select All of the conditions are met (AND).
Click Advanced.
Select Yes to execute the actions only when specified changes are made to the record.
Click Save.

The reason why we would select the Yes checkbox for the question — Do you want to execute the actions only when specified changes are made to the record? — is to allow the Process Builder to execute the actions only if the record meets the criteria now, but the values that the record had immediately before it was saved didn’t meet the criteria. This means that these actions won’t be executed when irrelevant changes are made.

Step 4.4: Add Action – Flows

Below Immediate Actions, click Add Action.
For Action Type, select Flows.
Name the action.
Select the flow we just created – Implement Gamification to Your Salesforce.
Set Flow Variables:
1. Row 1:
  1. Flow Variable: varROpportunity
  2. Type: Field Reference
  3. Value: Select the Opportunity record that started your process
Click Save.

In the end, Martin’s Process will look like the following screenshot:

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

Proof of Concept

Now onwards if a business user updates the Opportunity Stage to Closed Won, then Process Builder will automatically fire and give a badge to the opportunity owner if he closes the opportunity in less than or equals to 7 days.

Opportunity Burlington Textiles Weaving Plant Generator Third Phase is in Stage Qualification and created on 3/17/2015, 12:54 am, as shown in the following screenshot:
Now update the Opportunity status to Closed-Won and check your Chatter profile ( Currently I am logged In as Brandon Schaefer).

Independent Practice (You-do):

Create an automation that posts the Key Win badge to a user’s Feed when she closes an opportunity over $25,000. The badge should come from a Sales Executive.

Formative Assessment:

Identify a custom object in your org that should be shared based on the settings in a related object and create an autolaunched flow that will share the records without actual manual sharing

Post a picture of the sharing on Twitter @automationchamp, #AutomatedSharingwithFlow

Automation Champion

Tag: Enable Process Builder

Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 43 (Dynamic Approval Routing in Salesforce)

Posted at 1:12 AM by Rakesh Gupta, on January 2, 2021

Big Idea or Enduring Question:

Objectives:

Business Use case

Automation Champion Approach (I-do):

Guided Practice (We-do):

Step 1: Creating a Custom lookup (user)

Step 2: Create a Custom Object

Step 3: Create Approval Matrix Records

Step 4: Create an Approval Process

Step 5.1: Salesforce Flow – Define Flow Properties

Step 5.2: Salesforce Flow – Adding a Get Record Element

Step 5.3: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check Record Variable Size

Step 5.4: Salesforce Flow – Using Assignment Element to Update Opportunity Approver

Step 5.5: Salesforce Flow – Using Assignment Element to Update Default Approver

Proof of Concept

Formative Assessment:

Getting Started with Process Builder – Part 12 (Implement Gamification to Your Salesforce)

Posted at 1:38 AM by Rakesh Gupta, on December 21, 2020

Big Idea or Enduring Question:

Objectives:

Business Use case

Automation Champion Approach (I-do):

Guided Practice (We-do):

Step 1: Setup Work.com

Step 2: Creating a Custom Label to Store SVP of Sales & Marketing User’s Id

Step 3: Creating a Custom Label to Store Badge Id

Step 4.1: Lightning Flow – Define Flow Properties

Step 4.2: Lightning Flow – Add Record Variable to Store Opportunity record data

Step 4.3: Lightning Flow – Add a Text Variable to Construct Message String

Step 4.4: Lightning Flow – Create a Formula to Calculate Elapsed time

Step 4.5: Lightning Flow – Using Decision Element to check Elapsed Days

Step 4.6: Lightning Flow – Create Records – Create a Thanks (WorkThanks) Record

Step 4.7: Lightning Flow – Create Records – Create a Badge Received (Work Badge) Record

Step 4.8: Lightning Flow – Create Records – Post Thanks Badge to Chatter

Step 5.1: Define Process Properties

Step 5.2: Define Evaluation Criteria

Step 4.3: Define Process Criteria

Step 4.4: Add Action – Flows

Proof of Concept

Independent Practice (You-do):

Formative Assessment:

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