Data and documents are at the center of every business process in Salesforce. However, the profuseness of documents always creates challenges for users as an effective Salesforce Document Management System is not everyone’s forte.
Having said that, your challenges in managing Salesforce documents shouldn’t impede the growth of your business. As a Nitro study reports, 50% of employees spend productive time creating and managing documents, which shows the minimal time they have left to focus on their high-value work.
The only solution for this challenge is embracing a robust document management solution for Salesforce! Before learning how can such a solution help you, let’s take a look at document management in Salesforce.
What is Salesforce Document Management System?
Deeshna C
Document management in Salesforce refers to how a company handles its day-to-day documents within the CRM platform. This includes creating, organizing, storing, accessing, and managing files such as PDFs, Word documents, JPGs, and PPTs.
Documents come through many means, such as email attachments, manual uploads, or 3rd-party apps. Whether the business falls in the range of a small, medium, or large scale, users are required to manage a plethora of documents.
Document Management Features in Salesforce
Salesforce is now more than just a CRM, it’s a full-blown ecosystem that powers businesses with automation, AI, and analytics. Let’s explore Salesforce document management capabilities:
XfilesPro
The One-Stop Solution for Advanced Salesforce Document Management
Attachments
Attachments provide a basic way to add files directly to Salesforce records. Users can upload supporting documents such as receipts, invoices, or contracts.
Key Features:
- Quick and easy way to attach files to records
- Allows users to reference documents within customer or project records
Limitations:
- There is no version control, making it difficult to track file updates
- Limited metadata support, reducing searchability
Documents Tab
The Documents Tab allows businesses to store and organize files within individual Salesforce records, such as accounts, opportunities, and cases. This feature is particularly useful for attaching contracts, proposals, or invoices to specific business transactions.
Key Features:
- Simple document storage within Salesforce records
- Supports basic file uploads and downloads
- Useful for record-specific file management
Limitations:
- Cannot be used for global file sharing across the organization
- Lacks advanced document lifecycle management tools
Salesforce Knowledge
For businesses managing articles, FAQs, and documentation in a structured format, Salesforce Knowledge could be the best solution. It serves as a self-service knowledge base where employees and customers can easily find solutions without repetitive inquiries. Articles can be linked to cases and records, making it highly beneficial for customer support teams.
Key Features:
- A centralized knowledge base for quick access to information
- Supports article categorization and search functionality
- Can be linked to customer support cases for improved service efficiency
Limitations:
- Primarily designed for knowledge management, not general file storage
- Limited customization for broader document workflows
Files Home
Files Home serves as a centralized hub where users can store, manage, and collaborate on documents within Salesforce. It provides a unified view of all files associated with records, making organization and retrieval seamless. Users can upload various file types, including documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and images.
Key Features:
- Centralized file storage with easy access to related records
- Supports multiple file formats
- Integration with Chatter and Communities for enhanced collaboration
Limitations:
- Limited metadata support for files
- Lacks advanced document management capabilities
Salesforce CRM Content
Salesforce CRM Content is a dedicated content management system designed for organizing, sharing, and tracking documents across an organization. It includes version control, document categorization, and advanced search functionality, ensuring you can efficiently manage files. Additionally, it enables access permissions and workflow automation for document approvals.
Key Features:
- Advanced file organization with version control
- Granular access permissions for document security
- Approval workflows for compliance and document governance
Limitations:
- Requires a separate license and additional configuration
- Not cost efficient
- Not the best choice for teams needing lightweight file management
Why You Need A Salesforce Document Management Solution
It’s widely held that businesses managing millions of documents can benefit from document management solutions. This belief is true considering the advantages that the implementation of a document management system (DMS) in Salesforce can drive for your business.
XfilesPro
Choosing The Right Document Management Application For Salesforce
While Salesforce offers several capabilities for document management, many organizations seek the support of a 3rd party document management solution that covers their end-to-end requirements. Five reasons why a Salesforce document management system is important:
Overcoming Salesforce Storage Limit
Salesforce’s limited file storage makes it challenging to manage a high volume of documents within the CRM. However, a smart document management system can help by automatically offloading large volumes of documents from your Org, freeing up space. This not only optimizes storage but also enhances platform performance, and reduces load time enabling efficient document management in Salesforce.
Huge Cost Saving
Once you exceed the Salesforce file storage limit, you need to upgrade the storage space for a certain cost. What if that space also gets exhausted? You will upgrade it again. But how long can this strategy last as a sustainable approach, considering the money loss associated with it? With an efficient Salesforce document management solution, you can address this concern by eliminating the need for storage upgrades. Documents are moved out of Salesforce, and the file storage space is always freed up.
Enhanced Business Efficiency
Adopting a Salesforce document management system boosts your productivity by reducing the time and effort needed to build, manage, and store documents. For instance, bulk contract creation, approval, and storage on a different platform can be automated in Salesforce. The more you minimize document management time, the more time workers have to focus on strategic tasks, speeding up decision-making and boosting overall efficiency.
Seamless Scaling
As your business grows, so does the number of documents you need to manage. With a Salesforce document management system, whether you’re scaling in terms of geographic regions, departments, or product lines, the system grows with you. It gives you the capacity to manage an increasing amount of content with ease, all while maintaining performance and usability. This ensures your document management remains efficient at every stage.
Impeccable Compliance and Strong Security
Many industries must adhere to strict compliance standards for data management and security. Your business must have a foolproof strategy to meet those requirements. A Salesforce document management system that understands your regulatory needs, such as retention policies and storage security, can help. This eliminates the risk of legal consequences and reputational damage, keeping your business protected and safeguarding its bottom line.
XfilesPro: The Ultimate Salesforce Document Management Solution
Considering the limitations of Salesforce’s native document management, opting for a third-party solution can simplify the process. We recommend XfilesPro, the all-in-one Salesforce document management solution designed to optimize file storage and organization.
Business Case: Real Estate Firm’s Document Management Challenge
A large real estate firm using Salesforce to manage property listings, contracts, and customer documents needed a structured approach to organizing and storing documents.
- Each property required a dedicated folder with subfolders for contracts, legal documents, and client communications.
- When a property was sold, the folder structure had to update automatically without manual intervention.
How XfilesPro Provides the Solution
File Migration
XfilesPro automatically transfers documents from Salesforce storage to external cloud platforms like SharePoint, AWS S3, Google Drive, or OneDrive. This helps optimize Salesforce storage space.
Folder Mapping & Trigger Utility
XfilesPro maps each property record in Salesforce to a designated folder in SharePoint. When a new property is listed, with the help of a trigger corresponding folder is created automatically in external storage. Subfolders for contracts, legal paperwork, and images are generated, ensuring files remain organized and accessible.
Folder Syncing
When realtors update contracts or upload new property images in Salesforce, those changes automatically sync with the mapped folders in SharePoint. This eliminates the need for manual uploads and ensures real-time consistency across platforms.
Access Control
XfilesPro enables role-based access control, ensuring that only authorized users can view, edit, or delete files. Access restrictions can be applied at both folder and file levels, protecting sensitive documents from unauthorized access.
By migrating documents from Salesforce, businesses can save storage space and reduce costs. It keeps files organized, updates folders automatically, and syncs changes in real-time. Businesses can control who accesses files, find documents quickly with global search, and retrieve files directly from Salesforce. With XfilesPro, companies can work more efficiently, improve security, and simplify document management with minimal manual effort.
Over to You
Now that you have dived into the ocean of document management in Salesforce, get XfilesPro from AppExchange and witness the transition it drives to your business. Else, if you prefer to see any of the two applications in action, schedule a demo with one of our product experts. We’re happy to assist you in any way!
Deeshna is a five-year experienced writer in the field of B2B, writing a wide range of content types that drive the success of SaaS products.
