What is Salesforce Labs?
Salesforce Labs is a program within Salesforce that enables developers to create and share apps that extend the functionality of Salesforce’s core products. Salesforce employees build these apps and are available on the Salesforce AppExchange, the marketplace for applications and solutions.
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The key aspects of Salesforce Labs include
- Open-Source Apps: Many of the apps developed under Salesforce Labs are open-source. This means that users can not only use these apps for free but also view and modify the source code to meet their specific needs better.
- Community-Driven: Salesforce Labs apps are designed to address common business challenges and needs, inspired by the community and customer feedback. These apps often start as internal projects or innovations by Salesforce employees who are looking to solve a problem or improve processes.
- Wide Range of Solutions: The solutions provided by Salesforce Labs span various categories and industries, including productivity tools, vertical-specific solutions, and utilities that enhance the functionality of Salesforce products.
- No Official Support: It’s important to note that while Salesforce Labs apps are hosted on AppExchange, they are not officially supported by Salesforce. Users implement and use these apps at their own risk, though many apps have active user communities that provide peer support.
- Experimentation and Innovation: Salesforce Labs acts as a platform for experimentation and innovation, allowing Salesforce developers to explore new ideas and technologies and then share these innovations with the wider Salesforce community.
Overall, Salesforce Labs contributes significantly to the Salesforce ecosystem by encouraging innovation and providing users with a diverse array of tools and solutions to enhance their use of Salesforce products.
Benefits of using Salesforce Labs for your Business
- Discover free apps that can extend the functionality of Salesforce and add features that meet your specific needs.
- Find tools that can automate tasks and streamline workflows, freeing up your employees’ time to focus on higher-value activities.
- Explore a wide range of apps designed for various purposes, potentially including solutions for industry-specific problems.
- With free trials available for many apps, you can test them out before committing to a purchase, allowing you to experiment with new solutions.
- Access cutting-edge apps created by the Salesforce community, potentially giving you an edge with innovative functionalities.
- Personalize your Salesforce experience by adding features and functionalities that perfectly align with your business processes.
How Salesforce Labs Empower Every Department within Your Organization?
1. Measure Sales Performance
Gain valuable insights into your sales pipeline with apps that track key performance indicators (KPIs) across the entire sales process. These industry-standard metrics provide crucial data to optimize your sales strategy and boost team effectiveness.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to measure Sales Performance:
a. Salesforce CRM Dashboards
Salesforce CRM Dashboards offer an extensive range of example dashboards for everyone from Executives to Sales Reps. With specific dashboards for Sales, Support, and more, these tools enhance visibility and facilitate better business management.
This package not only equips sales and marketing teams with best-practices dashboards and reports but also boosts CRM adoption across your organization. By providing detailed views into performance at all levels, helps increase the effectiveness of your sales and service teams, ensuring optimal operational fluency.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. Lead and Opportunity Management Dashboards
Instantly install lead tracking and opportunity management dashboards within your Salesforce.com account. These dashboards utilize standard fields and require no configuration, making them a straightforward addition to your CRM toolkit. Track lead statuses and opportunity trends effortlessly with just a simple download.
Enhance your visibility into lead flow and opportunity management with two free dashboards. From tracking lead counts and conversions to analyzing closed business and sales trends, these tools provide critical insights into your sales processes. For even more comprehensive data, consider bundling these with other free dashboards available through the AppExchange Dashboard Pak.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
2. Elevate Customer Service
Prioritize customer satisfaction with tools that empower your service agents. Leverage survey apps to capture valuable customer feedback and identify areas for improvement. Additionally, explore agent productivity tools to streamline workflows and ensure efficient resolution of customer inquiries.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to elevate customer services:
a. Service and Support Dashboards
Service and Support Dashboards are vital for any call or contact centre, as they provide essential metrics used to measure performance. These dashboards offer custom reports and visual tools based exclusively on Salesforce.com’s standard application, providing a straightforward way to monitor critical metrics and operational data in real-time.
If you’re utilizing Salesforce.com Service and Support to manage cases, leveraging these dashboards can significantly enhance your ability to analyze company performance. They offer at-a-glance views of important customers, rep/agent, and KPI metrics, along with executive dashboards for quick access to operational data. This setup not only serves as a foundation but also encourages customization to tailor the dashboards to your specific needs, complete with helpful footnotes for guidance.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. Survey Force
Survey Force, a versatile Salesforce Labs application, enables the effortless creation of customer feedback surveys directly within Salesforce.com. It offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for designing surveys and supports three question types—single-select, multi-select, and free-form text.
This tool enhances feedback analysis with its ability to integrate survey results with Salesforce reports and dashboards. Distribute surveys efficiently via email templates and Salesforce Sites, linking results directly to contacts or cases.
Note: Survey Force is unmanaged and not available for Professional Edition.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
3. Simplify IT and Admin Tasks
Unleash the power of automation with handy IT and admin apps. These solutions can streamline manual processes, freeing up your IT staff to focus on strategic initiatives. Let Salesforce Labs handle repetitive tasks, saving you valuable time and resources.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to simplify IT and admin tasks:
a. Graphics Pack
The Graphics Pack offers a versatile collection of images and icons, specifically designed to enhance Salesforce applications. This comprehensive set includes hundreds of graphics available in both 16×16 and 32×32 pixel sizes, suitable for tabs, image formulas, and Visualforce pages.
Available in a variety of themes such as animals, sports, finance, vacation, monsters, robots, Halloween, and desktop, these icons can transform the visual appeal of your Salesforce environment. Use the 32×32 pixel images for tabs and Visualforce pages, and the 16×16 pixel images for image formula fields and additional Visualforce page enhancements.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. Salesforce Adoption Dashboards
The Salesforce Adoption Dashboards are essential tools for tracking and enhancing user engagement with Salesforce. These dashboards provide in-depth visibility into user login history, trending data, and the adoption rates of key features like accounts and opportunities, alongside critical sales and marketing productivity tools.
Included in this package are 42 reports, 6 custom files, 3 dashboards, and dedicated folders for both dashboards and reports, specifically designed to monitor how frequently users log in and utilize essential Salesforce features. Available for download, this setup is a crucial asset for organizations aiming to boost Salesforce adoption and can be integrated with other AppExchange Adoption Dashboard packages or customized to meet specific organizational needs.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
4. Boost Collaboration and Project Management
Navigate complex projects with ease using intuitive collaboration apps. Salesforce Labs offers solutions that help your teams stay focused, communicate effectively, and meet deadlines – all within the familiar Salesforce environment.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to boost collaboration:
a. Agile Accelerator
Agile Accelerator gives you access to the same agile application used by Salesforce to manage backlogs, sprints, user stories, and defects, all within the Salesforce Platform. This single application enhances agile project management and collaboration through integrated Chatter functionality.
Recognized for innovation, Salesforce harnesses an Agile mindset and its own products to stay ahead. Agile Accelerator, also known as Grand Unification System (GUS), serves as a centralized tool for visibility and collaboration across teams, embodying our most effective Agile features.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. Matchbox
Matchbox is a versatile tool designed to pair individuals with various limited resources, including virtual networking events, projects, or other people. Utilizing advanced matching algorithms previously applied in complex scenarios like school admissions and medical residencies, Matchbox optimizes allocations to enhance diversity and meet specific event or project needs.
Setting up Matchbox is straightforward, requiring minimal technical expertise, and making it accessible for any admin. Once configured, users select their preferences for available resources. The system then processes these preferences, employing a sophisticated algorithm to ensure the fairest and most effective distribution, maximizing both diversity and satisfaction among participants.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
5. Empower Your HR Team
Craft a seamless HR experience with apps designed to manage talent acquisition, employee performance, and training rollouts. Track employee progress, streamline onboarding procedures, and create a more engaging work environment for your team.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to empower the HR team:
a. Recruiting App
Recruiting for AppExchange offers a comprehensive platform for managing job openings and candidate tracking from initial posting to final interviews. It facilitates the entire hiring process, allowing for efficient headcount approvals and insightful demographic analysis.
This tool provides a centralized system for hiring managers and recruiters to oversee the applicant pipeline and monitor job positions effectively. By integrating with Salesforce.com, it enhances recruiting strategies with measurable data, optimizing recruitment efforts for small to medium-sized businesses.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. Employee Manager
Employee Manager v2.0 for AppExchange equips small businesses with a comprehensive tool to manage their workforce effectively. Beyond just storing basic details like name, title, and hire date, this platform allows for tracking salary history, benefits, and both paid and unpaid time off, integrating all employee information within Salesforce.com.
Transitioning from makeshift tools like Excel and Access, Staff Manager v1.0 offers a robust solution for HR administrators and compensation analysts. It provides functionalities to manage personal and business information, track performance reviews, and maintain up-to-date compensation and benefits records, making it a one-stop shop for all HR needs.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
6. Easy Development – Drag and Drop
Salesforce Labs offers a library of pre-built components – the building blocks for creating applications. These responsive and reusable components allow you to easily customize pages in Lightning App Builder, tailoring the Salesforce platform to perfectly suit your specific business needs.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to start the building process:
a. Lightning Mockup Components
Lightning Mockup Components streamline the creation of digital prototypes within Salesforce, enabling rapid visualization of the Lightning Experience. Use placeholders, rich text, and images to design entire layouts directly in the App Builder.
Enhance the iterative design process by developing specific components or functionalities. Capture and refine ideas with ease, using tools like the Mockup File Helper for uploading images, all within the Salesforce environment.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. CMTD Enhanced Related List
CMTD Enhanced Related List is a customizable component that groups related records effectively to boost user productivity. Easily configure filters, sorting, and fields to display grouped records like Open and Closed Cases on one page.
This component utilizes Custom Metadata Type for easy setup. Simply create configuration data, drag and drop the component into the App Builder, and adjust attributes to enhance your Salesforce Lightning interface’s functionality and aesthetics.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
7. Automate Workflows with Pre-built Flows
Streamline your operations with pre-built flow templates. Download pre-configured business processes and install stand-alone building blocks for even greater automation. Leverage Salesforce Labs’ powerful flow functionalities to improve efficiency and eliminate manual tasks.
Check out these two AppExchange Applications by Salesforce Labs to automate workflows:
a. Flow Magic – Picklists
Flow Magic Picklists transform your process flows by converting traditional picklist fields into visually engaging image selectors. These visual selectors not only enhance the user experience by adding simplicity and context but also boost productivity. Configurable with styles and help text, they provide a clear and interactive selection process that reduces the typical number of clicks needed.
Revolutionize your user interface with interactive selectors that utilize the Lightning Design System for beautifully styled presentations. Flow Magic Picklists allow for quick, one-click selections, significantly reducing the time and effort involved compared to traditional picklists. This efficiency leads to faster workflows, fewer errors, and a greatly simplified user experience, making it an essential upgrade for any Salesforce platform.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
b. Adding Multiple Related Records (Flow Template)
The standard Salesforce Lightning UI allows for the addition of related records one at a time, but this flow template changes the game by enabling the addition of multiple records simultaneously. Whether it’s linking multiple Contact Roles to a Case or multiple Assets to a Campaign, this tool simplifies and streamlines the process, allowing for mass additions quickly and efficiently.
Install and customize pre-built business processes with these flow templates, designed to jumpstart your Flow creation and integrate industry best practices. Tailor these templates to fit specific business needs, enhancing efficiency by enabling the creation of multiple records or Junction Object records in seconds, all through a configuration-only, no-code approach.
Learn more about it on AppExchange.
End Note
Salesforce Labs offers a unique opportunity to harness the innovation within Salesforce with a wide array of customizable, ready-to-use apps that can transform your business operations. Explore these free solutions to discover how they can streamline processes and enhance functionality.
For further customization and to fully leverage your Salesforce investment, consider Salesforce app development services. Enhance your Salesforce experience with tailored solutions that fit your specific business needs.
Also, read: Top 10 Salesforce AppExchange Apps for Education Institutes
