Want to start using CRM Analytics Recipes? Try a Template!
Are you new to CRM Analytics (CRMA)? Or did you start your CRMA journey long ago and want to start using Recipes instead of Dataflows?
Check out the new Recipe-based CRM Analytics Templates to get started!
Recipes are the new way to create datasets in CRMA with many features supporting Developer Productivity.
Since the Winter ’22 release, we’ve started adding analytics templates that include Recipes instead of Dataflows for building the Datasets, to inspire our community on how to develop and implement CRM Analytics Apps with Recipes.
For the examples in this blog, we’ll be using the Customer Insights Analytics template, which unlocks the most commonly used Standard Objects in Salesforce, e.g. the Account, Opportunity, and Case objects for CRM Analytics.
To find and install a templated app like the “Customer Insights” App Template, go to the Analytics Home screen and select either the “Template Gallery” button on the left-hand side menu or press the “Create” button on the upper right corner and select App (requires that you have the “Manage Tableau CRM Template Apps” Permission enabled for your user):
Getting started with Recipe-based CRM Analytics Templates
After you’ve installed the Customer Insights template, go to the Data Manager where you will see up to 5 new Recipes for this template depending on the number of Standard Objects that have data in your implementation.
The Recipes of the Customer Insights Analytics template generate up to 11 datasets as of Summer’22:
If your organisation doesn’t use certain standard objects in Salesforce, e.g. the Lead or Case objects, the template installation process will leave out those related dashboard components.
However, if you start using these standard objects at a later stage in your Salesforce implementation, you can always go back and re-run the template installation from the Template Gallery in order to get those additional Recipes, Datasets, and Dashboards.
Note: Choosing to reconfigure the template in the installation menu will reinstall the template so consider installing a new app if you have customisations that you want to keep.
Scheduling of Recipes and Data Syncs for data refresh
Note that for refreshing the data in the datasets of your CRM Analytics App, you need to run the Data Syns and Recipes.
If you use an App with multiple Recipes like the Customer Insights Template, those Recipes need to be scheduled in the right order, including the Data Syncs, to get your dashboard data refreshed at certain intervals.
A benefit of using modular Recipes is to reduce dataset refresh time since not all Datasets need to be refreshed at the same interval. For example, the ‘’User“ dataset may only need weekly refresh whereas the “Opportunity” dataset may need to be refreshed several times per day.
Note: For more information on scheduling and data orchestration considerations check out Data Orchestration blog series.
Customising the Recipes to fit your Salesforce implementation
Most Salesforce customers use custom fields and objects as part of their implementation.
A benefit of using modular Recipes is that it’s easier – and a lot faster – to customise and test smaller ETL flows.
Here are some tips & tricks on how to customise the Recipes of the Customer Insights Analytics template.
Pro-tip: Consider making a copy of the Recipe before you start customising it, that way it’s easier to roll back should you need to. If you do need to roll back you can use Recipe versions, thus consider describing changes in the version log to make it easier.
Note: It’s best practice to install the template in a sandbox with data to see the impact on all analytics assets. For more information on managing the analytics asset lifecycle check out this blog series, specifically developing and managing analytics assets in a sandbox.
Add a Custom Field to a Recipe
In this example, I have added a custom field called “Competitor” to the Opportunity standard object in my Salesforce org.
I will now add the Competitor custom field to my Opportunity dataset that I’ve generated using the Customer Insights Analytics template.
On the Recipe, select the Opportunity data set and then press the “Change Columns” button in the preview pane to add the new field.
Search for the Competitor field and select it:
On the Preview tab, you can preview the data before running the Recipe:
Save and Run the Recipe.
Pro-tip: keep your dataset clean and easy to understand for your users by using the eye-shaped icon on the preview pane to hide the columns that are not relevant to them, e.g. all the id columns that are used for joining the object in the data transformation process.
View the enhanced Dataset in the Dashboard Builder
After you’ve run the Recipe, you can add the new data to your dashboards using CRMA Dashboard Builder:
Now you can easily see which competitor is in the biggest opportunities:
Adding a custom object to a Recipe
In this example, I have added a custom object called “Project” to my Salesforce org:
I would like to add some fields from my Project custom object to my Account dataset that I’ve generated using the Customer Insights Analytics template.
Add the custom object to the Data Sync
Before you can add the custom object to the Recipe, go to Connections in Data Manager and press “Edit Objects” on the SFDC_LOCAL connector to set up the new data sync for the custom object:
Once you added the new object and selected what fields to sync, run the data sync once to see data when building the Recipe.
Add a custom object to a Recipe and Dataset
Open the Opportunity Recipe and select the “Add Input Data” button in the upper left corner:
Select the custom object you want to add. In this example, I’m joining the Project__c object to the Account object using a Lookup join based on Account id:
Make sure the rest of your team can quickly understand the new customisation by adding comments directly on the nodes and transformations in the Recipe. For example on the join:
Pro-tip: Write documentation directly in the Recipe node descriptions! This way you are making it easier for you and others to understand what is happening and make changes later on.
Preview your data by selecting the target Dataset
Click on the Account dataset to preview the newly joined Project fields:
Save and Run the Recipe.
View the enhanced Dataset in the Dashboard Builder
After you’ve run the Recipe (and related Recipes, e.g. the User Recipe, if necessary), you can start adding the new Project data in Account datasets to dashboards using CRMA Dashboard Builder.
Now you can easily see which Projects generate the most revenue for your business:
Last but not least: Schedule your Data Syncs and Recipes!
When you’re all done with customising the Recipes, don’t forget to check the data refresh scheduling to ensure your users see fresh data at the desired intervals!
Also, if you have made the changes to a copy of an existing Recipe, then make sure that’s the one you’ve set up the event-based scheduling for.
Features to look forward to in Summer ‘22
In the upcoming Summer Release, we’re adding support for multi-value fields in Recipes.
Or why not try out converting some of your existing Dataflows to Recipes with the new conversion tool?
Learn more
- Spring 22 Release notes for Templated CRM Analytics Apps
- Other helpful Blog on how to use Recipes:
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