Everything You Need to Know About Activity Management in Salesforce

Activities are the heart of tracking all interactions with customers in Salesforce. They serve as a central record of every touchpoint, helping sales teams stay organized and maintain clear communication histories. An Activity can be found in the detail view of virtually every Salesforce app, making them an essential part of the platform’s functionality.

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Types of Activities

Salesforce supports various types of activities to track different kinds of interactions:

• Tasks: For tracking to-do items and action items
• Events: For scheduling meetings and appointments
• Emails: For recording email communications
• Call Logs: For documenting phone conversations

How to Create a Task in Salesforce

Creating a task in Salesforce is simple and can be done directly from various pages, like Lead, Contact, and more. Here’s how to create a task:

1. Navigate to the Record Page
   Go to the record page (for example, a Lead or Contact) where you want to add the task.
2. Go to the record page and find the Activity section. Select New Task to open the task creation form.

3. Fill Out the Task Form

A pop-up form will appear where you can enter task details, such as:

• Subject
• Due Date
• Status
• Assigned To
• Pr

4. Save the Task
   After filling out the form, click “Save” to create the task.
5. View the Task
   Once saved, the task is linked to the record and can be viewed in the “Activity” section of that page.

Additionally, you can see it in the “Tasks” tab in Salesforce.

By following these steps, you can easily manage and track your tasks within Salesforce, ensuring everything stays organized and up-to-date.

How to Log a Call in Salesforce

Logging a call in Salesforce is an effective way to track phone conversations and interactions with your leads, contacts, or other objects. Here’s how to log a call:

1. Navigate to the Record Page
   Go to the page of the record (e.g., Lead or Contact) where you want to log the call.
2. Click on “Log a Call”

In the “Activity” section of the record, click on the “Log a Call” button. This will open the activity form.

3. Fill Out the Call Details

A pop-up form will open, allowing you to enter the call details, such as:

• Subject (e.g., Follow-up, Inquiry)
• Call Comments (a summary of the conversation)
• Assigned To
• Related To (the record the call is associated with)

4. Save the Call
   After filling out the form, click “Save” to log the call.
5. View the Logged Call
   Once saved, the call will be linked to the record and can be viewed in the “Activity” section of the page.

Logging calls in Salesforce helps you track interactions and follow up more effectively, ensuring that important conversations are documented and accessible.

How to Create an Event in Salesforce

Creating an event in Salesforce is a great way to schedule and track meetings, appointments, and other time-based activities. Follow these steps to add a new event:

1. Open the Record Page
   Navigate to the appropriate record page—such as a Lead, Contact, or any other object—where you want the event to be created.
2. Click on “New Event”

In the “Activity” section of the record, click the “New Event” button. This will open the event creation form.

3. Fill Out the Event Details

A pop-up form will appear where you can fill in the details of the event, such as:

• Subject
• Start Date and Time
• End Date and Time
• Location
• Related To (the record the event is associated with)

4. Save the Event
   After filling out the event details, click “Save” to create the event.
5. View the Event

Once saved, the event will be linked to the record and can be viewed in the “Activity” section of that page.

Creating events in Salesforce allows you to efficiently manage your schedule and ensure that important activities are tracked and associated with the correct records.

How to Send an Email in Salesforce

Sending emails directly from Salesforce is a powerful feature for communication and follow-ups. Before sending emails, ensure that the email deliverability is properly configured. Here’s how to set it up and send an email:

Step 1: Configure Email Deliverability

1. Navigate to Setup
   In Salesforce, go to Setup.
2. Search for “Deliverability”
   Use the quick find box to search for “Deliverability” and open the Deliverability settings.
3. Set the Access Level

Make sure the email access level is configured to All Emails. If it’s set to No Access, sending emails will be restricted.

Step 2: Send an Email from a Record Page

1. Navigate to the Record Page
   Go to the page of the record (e.g., Lead, Contact, or another object) where you want to send the email.
2. Click on “Email Activity”

In the Activity section, select the Email button. This will open the email compose window.

3. Fill Out the Email Form

A pop-up form will appear where you can enter details such as:

• Subject
• Email Body (message content)
• Recipient(s) (the email addresses of the contact or lead)
• Attachments (if any)

4. Send the Email
   Once you’ve completed the form, click “Send” to send the email.
5. View the Email Activity
   After sending the email, it will be logged as an activity under the “Activity” section of the record page.

Sending emails from Salesforce helps keep communication organized and ensures all interactions are tracked within the platform.

How to Change the Activity View in Salesforce: Related List vs. Activity Timeline

Salesforce provides two ways to display activities on record pages: as a Related List or as an Activity Timeline. You can switch between these views at any time, depending on how you prefer to manage and review your activities. Here’s how to change the activity view:

Step 1: Access Record Page Settings

1. Navigate to Setup
   In Salesforce, go to Setup.
2. Search for “Record Page Settings”
   Use the quick find box to search for “Record Page Settings” and open the settings page.

Step 2: Choose Your Preferred Activity View

Once you’re in the Record Page Settings, you’ll have two options for displaying activities:

1. Related Lists
   • This view shows activities in the Open Activities and Activity History related lists.
   • It’s ideal for users who prefer a list format for managing their activities.

2. Activity Timeline
   • This view gives users a timeline where they can manage both current and past activities.
   • It’s ideal for users who like viewing their activities in a visual, timeline-style format.

Step 3: Save Your Changes

Select the activity view that best suits your needs and save the changes.

By configuring the record page settings, you can customize how activities are displayed to ensure a more efficient and user-friendly experience.

How to Enable and Disable Activity Features in Salesforce

Salesforce provides a range of activity-related features that can be enabled or disabled depending on your organization’s needs. These features are managed through the Activity Settings page in Setup. Here’s how you can configure these settings:

Step 1: Access Activity Settings

1. Navigate to Setup
   In Salesforce, go to Setup.
2. Search for “Activity Settings”
   Use the quick find box to search for “Activity Settings” and open the settings page.

Step 2: Enable or Disable Features

In the Activity Settings page, you’ll find a variety of options you can enable or disable. Here are some of the available features:

• Enable Group Tasks
• Roll up activities to a contact’s primary account
• Enable Sidebar Calendar Shortcut
• Enable Creation of Recurring Events in Salesforce Classic
• Enable Creation of Recurring Tasks
• Enable Activity Reminders
• Enable User Control over Task Assignment Notifications
• Allow Flow to send delegated task notifications on records created through Apex
• Send notifications for Tasks created from the Flow
• Enable Email Tracking
• Exclude Email Tracking Data by IP Address
• Show simpler New Task form on mobile
• Show Event Details on Multi-User Calendar View
• Enable Multiday Events
• Allow Creation of Tasks from Notes
• Add user lists to calendar views in Lightning Experience
• Use Lightning Web Components for Calendar Home (New!)
• Allow Users to Relate Multiple Contacts to Tasks and Events
• Sort past activities by the completed date

Step 3: Save Your Changes

After checking or unchecking the desired features, click the Submit button to save your changes.

By customizing the activity settings, you can tailor the Salesforce experience to better fit your organization’s workflow and user needs.

Conclusion

Activity management is an essential aspect of Salesforce, enabling users to track and organize all interactions with leads, contacts, and other records. Whether you’re managing tasks, logging calls, scheduling events, or sending emails, Salesforce provides powerful tools to help streamline these activities. By understanding the different activity types, learning how to create and manage them, and customizing activity views and settings, you can enhance your team’s productivity and maintain organized, detailed records of all customer interactions. With these tools at your disposal, you’ll be better equipped to manage relationships and ensure a smooth, efficient workflow within Salesforce.