sales-salesforce

What this skill does

# Salesforce Platform Help

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What do you need help with?**
   - A) Sales Cloud — leads, opportunities, pipeline, forecasting, CPQ
   - B) Service Cloud — cases, knowledge base, omnichannel routing
   - C) Marketing Cloud / Account Engagement (Pardot) — campaigns, journeys, email
   - D) Commerce Cloud — B2B/B2C storefront, checkout, catalogs
   - E) Data Cloud — customer data platform, identity resolution, segments
   - F) Agentforce / Einstein AI — AI agents, predictive scoring, recommendations
   - G) Platform — custom objects, Apex, Flows, Lightning components, permissions
   - H) Integrations — AppExchange, MuleSoft, API, Zapier/Make, webhooks
   - I) Admin — users, profiles, roles, sharing rules, sandboxes, deployments
   - J) Reporting — dashboards, custom reports, cross-object reports
   - K) Pricing / edition selection — Starter vs Pro vs Enterprise vs Unlimited
   - L) Something else — describe it

2. **Which edition are you on?**
   - A) Starter Suite ($25/user/mo)
   - B) Pro Suite ($100/user/mo)
   - C) Enterprise ($175/user/mo)
   - D) Unlimited ($330/user/mo)
   - E) Einstein 1 / Agentforce ($500+/user/mo)
   - F) Not sure / evaluating

3. **Team size?**
   - A) Solo / 1-5 people
   - B) Small team 5-25
   - C) Mid-market 25-100
   - D) Enterprise 100+

**Skip-ahead rule**: if the user's prompt already provides enough context, skip to Step 2. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask 1-2 critical clarifying questions.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| Problem domain | Route to |
|---|---|
| CRM comparison — Salesforce vs HubSpot vs Attio vs others | `/sales-crm-selection {question}` |
| Outbound sequence design across platforms | `/sales-cadence {question}` |
| CRM data cleanup, deduplication, record matching | `/sales-data-hygiene {question}` |
| Contact enrichment for CRM records | `/sales-enrich {question}` |
| Connecting Salesforce to other tools (architecture) | `/sales-integration {question}` |
| Lead scoring model design (cross-platform) | `/sales-lead-score {question}` |
| Lead routing and assignment strategy | `/sales-lead-routing {question}` |
| Revenue forecasting strategy | `/sales-forecast {question}` |
| Email deliverability for outbound | `/sales-deliverability {question}` |

When routing, provide the exact command.

## Step 3 — Salesforce platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — clouds, modules, pricing, integrations, data model, Flow Builder, Apex, SOQL.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

If the question involves the REST API, also **read `references/salesforce-api-reference.md`** for endpoints, authentication, and rate limits.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

You no longer need the platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.

**First-time setup priority**: Create users and profiles → import accounts/contacts → set up opportunity pipeline stages → configure lead assignment rules → build 2-3 key Flows → connect email (Gmail/Outlook) → set up basic dashboards.

**Edition selection shortcut**: Starter for <10 users with basic CRM needs. Pro for forecasting and customization. Enterprise for API access, advanced automation, and multiple sandboxes. Unlimited for premier support and full AI. Most mid-market teams land on Enterprise.

**When Salesforce is overkill**: If you have <50 users, no dedicated admin, and don't need complex multi-department workflows, consider HubSpot or Attio first — use `/sales-crm-selection` to evaluate.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

> *Best-effort from research — review these, especially plan-gated features and pricing which change frequently.*

- **You need a dedicated admin.** Salesforce without an admin quickly becomes a mess of stale automations, broken Flows, and technical debt. 67% of admins say cleaning up years of quick fixes is their hardest task. Budget for at least a part-time admin from day one.
- **Implementation costs 2-3x the licensing fee.** A typical Enterprise setup takes 8-12 weeks and requires consultants ($150-300/hr). The first-year total cost is often 3-5x the listed per-user price.
- **API access is gated by edition.** Starter Suite has no API access. Pro Suite has limited API. Full REST API requires Enterprise or above. Check edition limits before planning integrations.
- **The pricing page lies by omission.** Base prices don't include essential add-ons like CPQ, Pardot, or Data Cloud. Each Cloud is priced separately. Get a full quote before committing.
- **Data quality degrades fast and Agentforce amplifies it.** 51% of admins say deduplication consumes their time. AI features like Agentforce depend on clean data — garbage in, garbage out at AI scale.
- **Annual contracts auto-renew.** Like HubSpot, Salesforce contracts are annual with auto-renewal. Downgrading or canceling mid-contract requires negotiation. Set a reminder 90 days before renewal.
- **Flow Builder replaced Workflow Rules and Process Builder.** If you're following old tutorials, they may reference deprecated automation tools. All new automation should use Flow Builder.
- **70% of Salesforce implementations fail.** Root causes: unclear goals, poor user adoption, no executive sponsor, no dedicated admin. Plan for change management, not just technology.

## Related skills

- `/sales-crm-selection` — CRM comparison and selection — choosing between Salesforce, HubSpot, Attio, and others
- `/sales-hubspot` — HubSpot platform help — if considering HubSpot as an alternative
- `/sales-data-hygiene` — CRM data quality — deduplication, record matching, enrichment automation
- `/sales-enrich` — Contact enrichment — emails, phones, company data, bulk enrichment
- `/sales-cadence` — Outbound sequence design — multi-channel cadences across platforms
- `/sales-integration` — Connecting Salesforce to other tools — webhooks, Zapier, Make, MuleSoft
- `/sales-lead-score` — Lead scoring model design — dimensions, weights, MQL/SQL thresholds
- `/sales-lead-routing` — Lead routing and assignment — round-robin, territory, score-based
- `/sales-forecast` — Revenue forecasting — pipeline coverage, commit validation
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do`

## Examples

### Example 1: Choosing the right Salesforce edition
**User says**: "We're a 30-person SaaS company evaluating Salesforce editions. We need API access and custom automation but don't want to overpay."
**Skill does**: Reads platform guide for edition comparison. Recommends Enterprise ($175/user/mo) — it's the most popular tier because it includes API access, advanced Flow Builder, multiple sandboxes, and customization without the Unlimited premium. Flags that Starter/Pro lack full API access. Notes the implementation cost multiplier and recommends budgeting for a part-time admin.
**Result**: User understands edition trade-offs and total cost of ownership.

### Example 2: Flow Builder automation not working
**User says**: "I built a Flow to update opportunity stage when all tasks are completed, but it never fires."
**Skill does**: Reads platform guide for Flow Builder section. Checks common causes: trigger type mismatch (record-triggered vs autolaunched), entry conditions too restrictive, flow not activated, running user lacks field-level security. Recommends using Debug mode in Flow Builder and checking Flow error emails in Setup. Notes that scheduled Flows have a 250K record limit per batch.
**Result**: User identifies the root cause and gets the Flow working.

### Example 3: Migrating from HubSpot to Salesforce
**User says**: "We've outgrown Hub