Free Salesforce Cheat Sheet

What's the difference between a Salesforce Lead and a Contact, and when does one become the other?

A Lead is an unqualified prospect — no confirmed company relationship, no deal in motion. Once you qualify them, you convert the Lead, which creates an Account, a Contact, and optionally an Opportunity in one action. The key thing to get right operationally is your Lead conversion criteria, because once converted, the original Lead record is effectively archived and reporting across both objects gets messy fast.

Do I need a paid Salesforce license to practice the admin and developer skills covered in this cheat sheet?

No — Salesforce offers a free Developer Edition org that gives you access to nearly all platform features, including custom objects, Flows, Apex, and reporting. It's the right environment to practice everything in the Data Model and Admin Features sections without touching a production org. Sign up directly at developer.salesforce.com.

Which Salesforce automation tool should I use — Flows, Process Builder, or Workflow Rules?

Salesforce has been deprecating Workflow Rules and Process Builder in favor of Flow, so if you're building anything new, build it in Flow. Process Builder and Workflow Rules still run in existing orgs, but Salesforce has signaled they won't be enhanced further. The Admin Features section of this cheat sheet lists all three, but Flow is the one worth investing time in.

How do the major acquisitions like Tableau, MuleSoft, and Slack actually fit into day-to-day Salesforce usage?

MuleSoft handles integrations between Salesforce and external systems — think ERP, billing, or data warehouses. Tableau sits on top of your Salesforce data for deeper analytics beyond native reports and dashboards. Slack is positioned as the collaboration layer, and Salesforce has been building tighter native integrations between Slack and CRM records, though adoption varies widely by team.

What Salesforce certification should someone pursue first if they're coming from a RevOps or sales ops background?

Start with the Salesforce Certified Administrator — it covers the core data model, security model, automation tools, and reporting that you'll use constantly in an ops role. The Business Analyst certification is also worth looking at if your work sits closer to requirements gathering and process design than technical configuration. Both are accessible through Trailhead before you spend money on third-party courses.

How often does Salesforce release updates, and how do I stay current without getting caught off guard?

Salesforce ships three major releases per year — Spring, Summer, and Winter — and each one can affect existing automations, page layouts, and API behavior. The best habit is to review the official Release Notes before each release hits your production org, and to test in a Sandbox first, which is covered in the Change and Release Management section of the cheat sheet. Following the Salesforce Trailblazer Community and release-specific Trailhead modules will keep you ahead of breaking changes.