As we dive deep into the intricacies of Salesforce, the depth of its attributes becomes more and more apparent. It's clearly well-thought-out, and we've discussed its flexibility repeatedly. Well, prepare to be amazed again.

Salesforce Objects are simply database tables that allow us to store data specific to the organization in salesforce.

Salesforce Objects can be considered the building blocks for the energetic and versatile platform known as Salesforce CRM. They are digital tablets containing important data and information pertaining to a single business organization. Along with storing information regarding the business, Salesforce Objects provide unique functionality. You can compare Salesforce Objects to different tablets of an Excel document containing distinct rows and columns.

Data is stored in the form of relational tablets in different Salesforce objects. Each of these tablets contains multiple records that essentially define the platform's structure. Salesforce objects are virtual tablets storing specific data pertaining to different business organizations.

Objects in Salesforce are classified into two categories - Salesforce Standard Objects and Salesforce Custom Objects. Certain Salesforce Developers also use a third type called Salesforce External Objects, which are the Salesforce objects helping users to map necessary data outside the business organization.

Standard Objects

The objects provided by salesforce.com are called standard objects. Examples of standard objects are accounts, contacts, opportunities, Leads, products, campaigns, cases, users, contracts, reports, and dashboards.

Custom Object

The objects created by users are called Custom Objects. Custom Objects store information that is unique and important to your organization. Custom Objects are the heart of any application. Custom Objects provide a structure for sharing data.

Custom objects also have properties such as Custom fields. Relationship to other objects. Page Layouts. A custom user interface tab.

What Are Salesforce Standard Objects?

When Understanding Salesforce Objects and dealing with an Account, the sales team will have to deal with objects related to each Account, such as contacts, locations, and cases. Account fields like the Name of the Account, the Industry they belong to, and the type of business they undertake should be noted when managing the object of Accounts in Salesforce CRM.

Contacts - consist of individuals within an account. Contacts is the Salesforce standard object consisting of individuals belonging to specific Accounts. If you have a business enterprise as your Account, the company will belong to the Account object, and each of the employees working in the company would belong to the Contact object.

Here are some of the most common Contact fields your sales team will have to look into along with the object:

Name - This is the field containing the name of the concerned contact

Account Name - This is the field (in the form of a link to the Account record) containing the name of the company the concerned contact is associated with

Lead Source - This is the field that would provide you with the source of the lead that can be used for approaching the concerned contact

Opportunity - consists of events that are likely to lead to revenue generation.

Opportunity consists of all the events that have the potential for converting leads, closing deals, and generating revenue. This object also contains certain pending deals that have the potential of getting converted if the “opportunity” is taken advantage of.

Look at the major Opportunity fields you will have to work with while managing this standard Salesforce object:

Opportunity Name - This is the field that contains the name of a specific opportunity. These names are added with the names appearing in other objects. For example, if an opportunity deals with converting a lead, its name will be added to the lead or Account object.

Close Date - This is the field that includes the date when an opportunity was tapped, and a deal was closed.

Stage - showing the progress of the deal.Amount - details the exact monetary value of the deal.

Case - contains the issues that may have been raised by customers.

Solution - contains the resolutions provided by the concerned team for the issues raised by customers.

Forecast - contains a valid estimation of an organization's revenue on a quarterly basis.

Document - consists of documents stored in specific folders within the system.

Folders - contain essential documents, also defining the access to the same.

Report - consist of a productive analysis of all the data that is stored within the platform of Salesforce.

Dashboard - consists of a graphical representation of data generated from reports in the form of relevant charts or graphs.

Activity - contains important tasks or calendar events.

Products - contain details regarding the items a business organization is dealing with.

Dashboard - consists of a systematic record of all the products purchased and services availed by the customers.

Campaign - contains various marketing projects charted out by an organization's marketing team.

Lead - contains the list of entities that seem to be interested in the marketed products and are likely to get converted. Lead is the most crucial aspect to consider for conducting sales and generating revenue for your organization. If driving sales is the primary aim of your business, generating and managing leads is bound to be the most critical activity for your sales team.

Usually, leads are customers contacted by your sales representatives and show interest in purchasing your products. These would also be the decision-makers who are likely to close your deal. This salesforce object contains all the leads generated and managed by your team.

This Salesforce Standard Object contains multiple fields, such as the Name of the lead, Company name, Designation, Contact details, and fields of interest. Managing leads is very important in any business because it is only after a lead is converted that other objects, such as Contacts, Accounts, opportunities, and records, can be created.

What Are Salesforce Custom Objects?

When Understanding Salesforce Objects, it's important to remember that many objects are already built into the platform of Salesforce CRM, but it's impossible for them to cater to every organization's needs. The option of custom objects is offered to overcome this, enabling users to create Salesforce objects that are unique to their business. Different from Salesforce standard objects, custom objects are created by users of the platform according to their needs.

Custom Salesforce objects are instrumental in developing applications since they are highly customizable and offer developers a structure for data sharing. Some of the major components of custom objects are:

Page Layouts

Custom Fields

Object Relationships

Custom User Interface Tab

Custom Object Behavior - Expand an organization's data by defining custom objects with the user interface. Custom objects are nothing but custom database tables that enable you to store unique information concerning your organization. Custom objects behave and relate to objects like standard objects. Custom objects also have many relationships with other custom or standard objects. These relationships allow the records to be linked to multiple records between objects.

External Objects - External objects are similar to custom objects. The primary difference? External objects record data outside the Salesforce organization. External objects are available using Salesforce Connect and Files Connect.Big Objects - As the name implies, big objects are objects that store and manage large amounts of data. One can archive data from other objects or plugin large datasets from external systems into big objects. This provides a wider view of customers. An advantage of big objects is that they offer consistent performance irrespective of the number of records. There are two types of big objects, standard big objects and custom big objects. They both offer consistent and scalable experiences.

Relationships help in associating two objects. These objects can be standard objects or custom objects. creating custom objects can define different types of relationships. One can define different types of relationships by creating custom relationship fields in an object. There can also be differences between relationship types, like how relationships handle data deletion, security, record ownership, and required fields in page layouts.

Creating Custom Objects

To create a custom object, use the following basic steps:

Go to the “Setup” option on your Salesforce platform.

Click on the “Build” button in the Setup menu.

Select the “Create” option.

Go to the option of “Objects” after entering the “Create” window.

Click on the button “New Custom Object.

”Enter the name of the object you want to create, along with label and plural label names.

If you have not created a record name, do so after the “text” or “auto-number” data type.

Finally, add the created record name in the form of a data type to complete the creation of your custom Salesforce object.

When Understanding Salesforce Objects, it is important for anyone who wants to build a career around the Salesforce CRM platform to ask, “What is an object in Salesforce?” as Salesforce objects are some of the most fundamental and essential tools in the development and implementation of Salesforce. Every transaction ultimately comes down to the Salesforce objects used by developers and operators. For those considering becoming a Salesforce developer or Salesforce consultant, being proficient with objects is an advantage.

Understanding Salesforce Objects