10 Steps to Get Started with Salesforce Flow

Here’s my ordered list to help you get started learning Flow. It includes short and long videos, Trailhead modules and projects, hands-on training and “your turn” challenges to help you stretch what you’ve learned.

Starred items I had a role in creating.

1. Watch 4 Short Videos*

Get a very basic understanding of flow and some of the more difficult to grasp concepts. (Watch the first 4 and come back to the loops video later).

2. Complete the trail Build Flows with Flow Builder

This gets you started in Flow Builder and applies concepts you learned in the videos.

3. Complete the project Build a Donor Email Flow for Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP)*

  • Skills involved: Excellent hands on project to send an email, learn the basics of Screen, Get Records, Action, Assignment, and Update Records elements, and add a flow to a page layout.
  • Specific use case: Send an email from an opportunity to acknowledge a donation.
  • Broader use case: Embed a screen flow on a page layout that can be used to send an email and update the record.
  • Nonprofit focused: You will need to install NPSP into a sandbox. So worth it!
  • Your turn: Add a custom date field to track when an address was last verified for accuracy. If that date is over 200 days, a screen flow will appear on the contact asking you to verify it. Update the address in the flow or click a button to verify it. The flow will update the address verified date on the contact.

4. Hands on Training: Build along with me!*

  • Specific use case: A record-triggered flow that fires when a campaign member status changes, adds the contact to another campaign.
  • Broader use case: A record-triggered flow that looks up a record, creates a record and sends an email.
  • Find it: Go to the bottom right corner of the page. Watch the video, create an org to build in, and follow along with the workshop guide.
  • Your turn: Create a record-triggered flow that fires when a new contact is created. Look up the primary contact on their account. Send an email to that primary contact asking them to confirm that this new contact’s info is correct.

5. Complete Additional Modules in Trailhead

6. Watch a short video on flow loops*

Going back to the first resource, you’re ready to learn about flow loops!

7. Create a Salesforce Flow Loop Video 1*

  • Specific use case: A record-triggered flow will close all opportunities related to an account when the status on the account is changed.
  • Broader use case: When a field on one object is changed, change a field on all related records.
  • Your turn: Build a record triggered flow that fires when a status changes on an account to “red alert” and sends an email to all contacts on the account.

8. Install this Flow Loop in a Sandbox*

  • From the AppExchange you can install this flow with a loop into your sandbox so you can see how it works! This loop is a version of the flow loop in the previous video but launched from a button instead of triggered by a record.
  • Your turn: Add a decision element (review decisions in the Build a discount calculator project) inside the loop. If the opportunity amount is greater than $100,000, you also send an email to the opportunity owner saying “Wow. You just lost a really big deal. I’m sorry!”

9. Create a Salesforce Flow Loop Video 2*

  • Specific use case: When an opportunity comes in of a certain type, create new opportunity products by looping through all products with a product family that matches that type. It will help if you have an understanding of how products, pricebooks, opportunity products work first, but I explain it in the video.
  • Broader use case: When a field on one object is changed, get unrelated records from a different object and create new records based on them.
  • Your turn: When an account status changes to “Experts Needed”, find all users who have “Expert” in their title, and create a task for them to look at the account record.

10. Celebrate!

You’ve learned SO much about flows. There are tons of other resources out there to help you keep learning. I learn by googling “how to do [whatever it is] in salesforce flow” and going from there.

Please let me know if you actually followed my guide and how it went for you!

Published by

JessieRymph

Jessie joined Salesforce.org in 2018 to give introductory webinars to nonprofit customers. She now is a Senior Solution Developer supporting nonprofits and education customers at Salesforce. All opinions expressed on this blog are her own or those of the contributors. She's spent 17 years more or less in CRMs and databases, but didn't meet Salesforce until 2011. Jessie co-led the Seattle Salesforce Nonprofit User Group in 2015-2016. She wrote a sh*tty first draft of a novel and hopes to turn it into a screenplay!

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