Essential Best Practices for Implementing Salesforce Flows

Flow Builder is Salesforce’s most robust declarative automation solution, featuring a drag-and-drop interface that enables the creation of sophisticated processes with little to no coding. When designed effectively, flows streamline business operations, ensure data accuracy, and improve the user experience. As Salesforce has phased out support for Process Builder and Workflow Rules, Flow Builder has become the central tool for low-code automation.

To ensure efficient and maintainable flows, it's crucial to follow best practices - just as you would when implementing Apex. Below are guidelines to help you design robust flows.

Plan Before Building

• Clearly define the business process, objectives, and expected outcomes.
• Use flowcharts or diagrams to visualize the logic. This helps in understanding the logic and identifying potential issues early.

Documentation and Naming Convention

• Assign meaningful names to flows, elements, and variables. Avoid generic labels such as "stringVar", "Get Records", or "Lead Flow". Instead, use a more specific name to easily identify the purpose of each element and variables, such as "opportunityAmount", "Get Closed Won Opportunities", or "Prospect Lead Qualification Flow".
• Follow a standardized naming convention for consistency. Use camelCase for variables (e.g. totalRevenue, leadSource).
• For record-triggered flows, name them following the format of Object Name and the action it is doing. For example, Opportunity - Send Email to Team Members.
• Ensure to always add Description, detailing the purpose and logic for easier understanding and maintenance.

Reusability

• Break down complex flows into smaller, reusable subflows to avoid duplication and simplify debugging.
• Design flows with singular focus, making them easier to update and maintain as businesses evolve.

Error Handling

• Always define fault paths to handle errors. Capturing errors on a flow via fault paths is like implementing a try-catch block on your Apex code.
• For record-triggered flows, use fault paths to create error logs (if your org implements an error logging system) or send alerts to admins.
• For screen flows, display a user-friendly error message using $Flow.FaultMessage. Provide users with options to return to a previous screen and correct their entries.

Optimization and Governor Limit Awareness

• Use specific entry conditions in record-triggered flows to avoid unnecessary executions.
• Avoid placing Get Records, Update Records, Create Records, and Delete Records elements inside a Loop element to prevent hitting governor limits.
• Use list variables to handle bulk record operations. Accumulate records in a list and process them all at once, reducing resource consumption.
• Leverage custom labels, custom settings, and custom metadata types to make the flows dynamic. Avoid hardcoding IDs as much as possible to ensure adaptability.

User Experience

• On Screen Flow, use descriptive labels and tooltips for fields to guide users effectively. For example, instead of "Amount", use "Enter Total Opportunity Amount".
• Add help text to clarify complex input requirements or explain field usage.
• Use the Display Text element to provide contextual guidance, progress updates, or instructions during the flow.
• Avoid cluttering the user interface. Group related fields and limit the number of fields per screen for a cleaner experience.
• Ensure the flow is mobile-friendly, especially if it will be accessed via the Salesforce mobile app.
• Leverage Reactive Screen Components to dynamically display fields based on user inputs.

Version Control

• Create new versions of flows instead of overwriting existing ones. This allows you to roll back to previous versions if needed.
• Periodically deactivate and delete outdated flow versions to maintain an organized environment.

Conclusion

Salesforce Flow Builder allows admins to replace manual processes with scalable, low-code solutions. By following these general best practices, you can ensure that your flows are not only efficient but also maintainable and user-friendly. Invest time in planning, documenting, and optimizing your flows to maximize their impact on the organization.