In its Help documentation, Salesforce defines:

A formula is an algorithm that derives its value from other fields, expressions, or values. Formulas can help you automatically calculate the value of a field based on other fields.

Formulas can be used in many places in the system, such as Reports, Custom Fields, Workflow Rules, Approval Processes, Validation Rules, Custom Buttons/Links and so on. Since ’08 we’ve been able to write Cross Object Formulas and can now leverage Lookups to reach across up to 10 related objects to pull in a data value to use in a formula. Similar to in Excel, our ability to understand and use “functions” and “operators” is central to advancing as a formula writer.

My advice on getting started with formulas is to look at the examples in the 91 page “Useful Formula Fields” guide.  It can be found under your system’s Help & Training link by clicking the Help tab, finding the “Tips & User Guides” link and then scrolling down to the “Useful Formula Fields’ link. Also, there is considerable help built into the formula editor in Salesforce, such as examples of the use of functions and operators, and a built in Check Syntax feature. It is critical to test all conditions of your formula on real data- we often use Views or Reports to see formulas in action across many records.

Here is an example of a recent formula we used to solve a specific problem:

Goal: Create a report showing data by month for a rolling Current and Previous 2 Quarters.

Challenge: Report filters don’t give us an easy way to dynamically pull in records by quarter beyond “Current and Previous FQ”. Using a report filter such as LAST 270 Days cuts into the middle of the month and isn’t precise- we need something that flexes depending on whether we are in the first, second or third month of the current quarter (meaning that the formula needs to include the current and past 6, 7 or 8 months respectively). Our date should always compare greater than equal to the first day of the month those many months ago.

Solution: Create a hidden custom formula field on the object which compares Today’s Date and the value in a Date field on the record, such as the Create Date of the records. The following formula returns “True” is the Opp was created in the Current or Prior 2 Quarters, and False if Created Date is prior to that. We can now create a report which filters on a TRUE value in this formula to determine which records fall into our rolling Current and Previous 2 Quarters. Notes: a) This formula assumes use of calendar quarters. b) The else_result in this formula will always return FALSE, but, given system constraints on the CreatedDate field and our predictable 12 months in a year, should never arise.

Formula:

IF(
   DATEVALUE(CreatedDate) >=
   CASE(
      MONTH(TODAY()),
      1, DATE(YEAR(TODAY())-1,7,1),
      2, DATE(YEAR(TODAY())-1,7,1),
      3, DATE(YEAR(TODAY())-1,7,1),
      4, DATE(YEAR(TODAY())-1,10,1),
      5, DATE(YEAR(TODAY())-1,10,1),
      6, DATE(YEAR(TODAY())-1,10,1),
      7, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),1,1),
      8, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),1,1),
      9, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),1,1),
      10, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),4,1),
      11, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),4,1),
      12, DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),4,1),
      DATE(YEAR(TODAY())+1,1,1)
   ),
   "TRUE",
   "FALSE"
)

• Their data is not as good, useful or clean as it should or could be.
• They are embarrassed by their data, and worse yet, don’t fully trust it to support decision making.
• Their users feel depressed and sluggish when they think of having to do something with their data.

How about you? How good is your data? Here are 8 tips for improvement:

• Set up a Data Cleanliness Dashboard. The old adage applies here, “If you can measure it, you can manage it.” We suggest you put counts of data elements you care about on the dashboard. Think about data elements you need to support reporting and dashboards. Include data elements that you need to perform Lead Scoring , Market Segmentation or sales territory updates.
• Decide if certain important fields should be made required. Introduce some Validation Rules to enforce data entry standards based on conditional criteria (such as all Accounts of Type Customer must have a complete Billing Address).  Focus on what is most important to your organization.
• Define and communicate your data standards to your users. Documentation is great (but not always looked at), so we suggest leveraging Help Text on Custom Fields to put explanations and expectations for individual field data entry right beside the field.
• Download Salesforce Labs’ free Data Quality Analysis Dashboards from http://sites.force.com/appexchange/listingDetail?listingId=a0N300000016cshEAA.  For each of the main objects in the system, Salesforce.com will add two formula fields. These formulas either show each record’s score on a scale of 0 to 100 or the list of fields that are missing values. By modifying the formulas, you can score the data in your database based on the fields you care most about. This is a great way of looking more deeply into the value of the data that your organization possesses.
• Convene a data steering committee of key stakeholders for the system. Include stakeholders for systems that are integrated. Meet regularly- at least once a quarter, if not monthly. Set goals for improvements to your data. Discuss the above mentioned dashboards. Define cleanup projects, such as to improve Contact segmentation for an upcoming Marketing Campaign. Celebrate progress.
• Use Views. A great way to get someone to clean up something is to make it easy for them. Views in Salesforce.com are a perfect mechanism. Imagine if you wanted an intern to research and update the Website address for all Accounts in Nebraska. Simply setup a View called Accounts in Nebraska without Website. As she/he fills in the data, the list gets smaller. Once you create the View, copy and paste the URL to the View and send it to the person responsible for cleanup saying “Here is the list I want/need you to work on.” With the Enhanced List Views and In Line Editing features turned on, you can also create Views which allow Users to make mass updates to multiple records a the same time DIRECTLY WITHIN THE VIEW. (Note- this is not possible if more than one Record Type is visible in the View, and is not available for all fields.
• Establish and follow a set procedure for data mapping when importing new records. It is painstaking, but very worthwhile to review each column in the source file against each field in Salesforce.com to ensure a clean import.
• Leverage data tools such as CRMFusion’s DemandTools and DupeBlocker to help stay ahead of the natural atrophy of the records in your database. DemandTools isn’t just for dealing with dupes. You can also set scripts to run each night which fix data, such as converting all States, Provinces and Countries to two letter ISO codes. There are also import tools to better ensure cleaner loads of new data. DupeBlocker allows you to define criteria to catch dupes as they are entered. To learn more, check out www.crmfusion.com.

Agent Console (a.k.a. the Console tab)
It continually disappoints me to see how few Salesforce customers even know this gem exists. The Agent Console uses “frames” in your browser to combine in one screen a list of records (ie My Active Pipeline), a full page layout for the currently selected record, and a smaller related record. It takes only a few minutes to set up, and will make your hard core SFDC users lives easier by reducing clicks and allowing them to centralize their work. Our suggestion is to put the Console tab right next to the home tab, and combine it with some well thought out Views, expanded Mini Page Layouts, and use of Inline Editing. With individual Views created for each of their team members, middle and senior managers can also benefit by using the Console as a coaching tool.

Email to Salesforce
Email to Salesforce allows users to automatically attach emails sent for any email client to the respective Leads or Contacts in the system. Setup requires the checking of a single box by an admin behind the scenes to enable this for all of your users. The system then gives your users each a unique email address (such as emailtosalesforce@123abcxxxxxxxxxxx.in.salesforce.com) in their Personal Setup. This email address can be used to quickly copy outbound emails into Salesforce by simply BCCing the address. To make its use easier, we suggest creating a Contact in your email client called “SFDC” to allow quick BCC’ing of any relevant emails. Once sent, within seconds, the email is associated to the Lead or Contact via its email address, and visible under Activity History.

Mobile Lite
Imagine giving your field reps the ability to easily make a few extra calls while sitting at the airport, or pull up a name before entering a meeting. Mobile Lite gives your users FREE read-only access to their data in Salesforce.com. It allows for searches on Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Cases, Solutions and Dashboards- and provides for easy recording of Activities. Mobile Lite is another one-click wonder behind the scenes to set up. Once enabled by an admin in a system, individual users with the appropriate mobile devices can point their device’s browser to http://www.salesforce.com/mobile/lite/ to download.  [Update: as of April 2010, Mobile-Lite is read-write for everyone!]

A common sight in systems is a confusing pile of tens or hundreds of ad-hoc reports stored in the Unfiled Public Reports folder, combined with a mish-mash of one-off, out-of-the-box, and mission critical Report folders below that.

Clutter on the Reports tab hurts users in two significant ways: it makes it less likely that someone can find and use the great reports created to help run the business, and it makes the system feel less user-friendly. As with bad or messy data in the system, a disorganized Reports tab leaves users feeling depressed about the system. The following tips can help you do some Spring Cleaning on your Reports tab.

Leverage Report Folder Permissions
Not all users need to see all folders. As a sys admin (or user with Manage Public Reports permission in EE/UE), you can click Edit next to the pulldown where you can select the folder name to reveal properties about the folder including its permissions. Hide Out-of -the-Box Report Folders related to features you do not use. Folder permissions are explicit, not inherited, meaning that if you don’t include the CEO in the permissions for a Folder, he/she won’t see a folder intended for the mail room guy. Do your users a favor and spare them the sight of unnecessary Report folders.

Create a Report on Older Reports
Archive reports that have not been run in more than 90 or 180 days. You can create a Report on Reports- listing who created each report and when, and who last ran each report and when. Before touching ANY of the reports, we suggest creating this custom Report on Reports and then Exporting the results to Excel. We suggest doing this first because as soon as you look at a Report, you immediately override the last Run date, making it impossible to know the true last run date. One significant caveat to note is that the Last Run Date is NOT updated when a Report is run by a Dashboard or by a Report that is emailed via schedule.

Create a Hidden “Old Report Archive” Folder
Rather than out-right deleting old Reports, create a hidden “Old Report Archive” Folder, in which to store old reports. The benefit to this is that you can store old Reports in case someone decided they really need that old report and want it back.

Effective Naming Protocol
Write good, clear and consistent Report Names, Folder Names and Report Descriptions. An example:

o Report Name: 2 Qtr Rolling Forecast by Owner
o Report Description: Dashboard Summary Report showing Opportunities with a Close Date in the current and next quarter by Owner.

Create Dashboard Report Folders
Put all Reports supporting a single Dashboard in the same, clearly named Report Folder. This makes the reports easier to find and maintain, and also, by setting the Report Folder permissions to Read-Only, prevents unexpected adjustments to your Dashboards.

By applying these techniques, you can clean up your Reports tab and make your system easier to use.