Salesforce Summer '17 Release : Lightning for Gmail -Part I

Let us take a look at one of the most awaited and requested feature that Salesforce Summer ’17 Release offers.

Google Integration : Lightning for Gmail and Lightning Sync for Google is a brand-new, native integration between Salesforce CRM and Gmail. Sales representatives can save their time by copying emails over, having their contacts and calendars synchronized automatically and no more switching between applications.

Lightning for Gmail

It’s time to have sales information when you need it and where you need it – right in your Gmail application.

With Lightning for Gmail and a fancy new Chrome extension, users get a Salesforce sidebar inside of Gmail .This provides contextual information for contacts when viewing email from them or sending a new one, inside of Gmail.

Before you can begin experiencing Lightning for Gmail, you have to complete these steps to add Lightning for Gmail to the Chrome browser.

In the Chrome Web Store, enter Lightning for Gmail in the Search box, then select the Lightning for Gmail
Click Add to Chrome and confirm Add extension to add it to your Gmail account.
After adding Lightning for Gmail to Chrome and navigating to Gmail, to log in to Salesforce, enter your Salesforce credentials in the new pane displayed to the right of the Inbox.

Administrator needs to perform a few steps to enable Lightning for Gmail in your Salesforce instance

From Salesforce Setup, enter Lightning for Gmail in the Quick Find box, then select Lightning for Gmail Settings.
Enable Lightning for Gmail.
To let reps relate emails to relevant Salesforce records, enable Enhanced Email with Lightning for Gmail.

With Enhanced Email, Reps can relate emails to Salesforce records like contacts and leads, with a single click while composing the emails. The related emails maintain their rich HTML formatting, so emails have the same look and feel in Salesforce as they did in Gmail.

Here are some of the features of Lightning for Gmail worth mentioning :

Get More Done Directly from Gmail

Give your sales teams access to Salesforce content right where they work. That way, they can efficiently manage their sales pipeline and drive more deals to close without switching between Salesforce and Gmail.

One can create new accounts, opportunities, contacts etc in Salesforce sidebar inside of Gmail and avoid switching between applications.
Create new Salesforce records, including custom objects from the Action Publisher.
We can search for custom object records. With the inline editing feature, you can also modify records without leaving Gmail.
Drill down for more details on a Salesforce record right from Lightning for Gmail. In addition to a record’s detail page, you get to see its Chatter feed, activity timeline, and related lists.

Relate Emails to Salesforce Records

We can Relate emails to records as you are composing the email by selecting relevant accounts, opportunities, cases, or custom objects. The email will be related to the records selected and to relevant contacts and leads associated.

Identify Emails Related to Salesforce

Lightning for Gmail adds a label to all emails that are related to Salesforce records. To identify these emails in Gmail quickly or filter by this label, reps can assign the label a unique color.

Einstein Brings Insights to Salesforce

Give your sales teams decision-driving data in Lightning for Gmail with Einstein. If you’ve set up with Einstein, your sales reps can use account and opportunity insights to prioritize their work while they tackle their emails.

Save Attachments to Salesforce

Not all email attachments are equally important. Remove the tediousness by saving emails and attachments with a single click. Lightning for Gmail now let the reps select the attachments they want to add to Salesforce records.Both incoming and outbound emails are automatically related to the correct lead, contact and account records.

Gain Speed and Consistency with Lightning Email Templates

Sales Reps can create, share and use lightning email templates from within Lightning for Gmail. This make it quick and easy to send repeatable content to the customers and prospects. When they send an email, reps pull up the template in Lightning for Gmail, and tweak the content as needed.

Reps can even use Merge fields to include Salesforce record details. Using templates with Lightning for Gmail also ensures consistent messaging from your team to your customers. This change applies to Lightning Experience only.

Stay Logged In To Lightning for Gmail

Lightning for Gmail now saves reps’ Salesforce login credentials after the initial authentication. Reps no longer need to log in to Lightning for Gmail each time they work in Gmail.

Having customer data at your fingertips in Gmail helps you sell more efficiently, stay closer to your customers, and be more successful.

There are many more fantastic features related to Lightning Development, Outlook , Google Integration , Service Cloud , Chatter etc in Summer ’17 Release.