How to Build Your First Salesforce Flow: A Beginner’s Guide

Are you a business owner who wants to save time through automation? Salesforce Flow is one of the most powerful automation tools to build workflows. 

Even non-technical users can leverage it to create custom workflows. From sending emails to updating records, Salesforce Flows can automate a wide variety of tasks. This leads to faster business processes and is a cost-effective solution. No wonder organizations across the world are using it to supercharge their productivity. 

Ready to build your first Flow? Before you dive into the process, let’s make sure you have everything you need.

Basic Requirements for Building a Salesforce Flow

System Permissions

Before you start, make sure you have the “Manage Flows” permission. Certain profiles have this. For example, if you’re the System Administrator, you’ll have it. If not, it can also be granted with the help of permission sets. 

Object-Level Permissions

If your Flow is going to engage with certain objects such as Contacts, you must have the Create, Read, Update, or Delete (CRUD) permissions on those objects.  

Run Flows Permission

You may create a flow and still not be able to run it without the Run Flows permission. Check that you have it.

Apex Class Access

Does your Flow include calling an Apex class? Make sure you have access to that specific Apex class via your profile or permission set.

Step-by-step Guide to Build Your First Flow

Step 1: Open Flow Builder

• Go to Salesforce setup and type Flows in the “Quick Find” bar. 
• Click “Flows” and then the “New Flow” button.

Step 2: Choose the right Flow

• You can create various types of Flows in Salesforce. These include Auto-launched, Record-Triggered, Scheduled, Screen, and Platform-Event Flow.
• Choose the type of Flow you want to create. This depends on your business needs.

Step 3: Observe and understand the Interface

• You can add various elements to your Flow. You’ll find these elements such as Logic, Data, Screen, etc. on the left side.

Step 4: Check if inputs are in place

• Make sure your inputs are correctly set up before you add any elements.

Step 5: Start adding elements

• Click the “+” button to begin adding elements.
• Choose from various elements based on what action you want to be performed. This could be reading/writing Salesforce data, executing logic, showcasing information, etc.)
• Need a detailed guide on this? Check out our blog, “Mastering Flow Elements: Screens, Decisions, Loops & More”.

Step 6: Save your Flow

• Once you have created and customized your Flow, make sure you save it.

Step 7: Test your Flow

• It’s time to test your Flow to see if everything is working as you want it to.
• We recommend that you run the Flow under different scenarios while testing.
• Use the Debug Feature to check for any issues.

Step 8: Activate your Flow

• Did everything go well in testing? Click “Activate”.
• Make sure you don’t miss this step because only activated flows can be run or triggered.

Step 9: Distribute your Flow

• If required, you can now share the Flow with intended users.

Step 10: Observe and Refine

• Keep a close eye on the Flow’s performance.
• This will help you modify and refine your Flow so that it is in optimal alignment with your evolving business needs.

Creating a Flow is easy with the user-friendly interface of Salesforce Flows. Want to become a pro at designing Flows that are scalable? Check out, “10 Best Practices for Designing Efficient and Scalable Salesforce Flows”.

Whether you lead a boutique firm or a large enterprise, Salesforce Flows is a game-changing tool that can save time and cost. Automating workflows has never been easier and more accessible.