Tableau Integration with Salesforce

Although two software or tools excel in their performance individually, they produce synergy when integrated. The collective performance yields better results, undoubtedly. This strategy is true when you integrate the tools - Salesforce and Tableau.

Know that Salesforce is a CRM tool companies embrace to enhance customer relations. On the other hand, Tableau is a business intelligence tool companies employ to analyze raw business data and create analytics and reports.

No wonder Salesforce is used by 23% of companies across the globe. Business giants like Amazon, Aldo, Spotify, American Express, etc., leveraged Salesforce to boost their business productivity.

On the other side, Tableau occupies around 18% of the market share among other similar tools. Top companies such as Verizon, Lenovo, Honeywell, Lufthansa, etc., adopt Tableau to analyze their business data, gain insights, and enhance their business performance.

The above facts indicate that if you master Salesforce and Tableau tools, you will increase your chances of getting placed by the best companies in the world. But the important thing is that you must have sound technical expertise in the tools, including integration aspects.

This easy guide will go through the simple step-by-step procedure for Tableau integration with Salesforce. No doubt you will have a fun experience integrating the tools.

Let’s go ahead!

Table of Contents

• What are Tableau and Salesforce
• Why integrate Tableau with Salesforce
• Requirements for the integration
• Tableau integration with Salesforce
• FAQs      

What are Tableau and Salesforce?

Let’s take a glance at what Tableau and Salesforce are.

Tableau is a business intelligence tool we use to analyze business data and create analytics. In a way, Tableau is a data visualization tool that displays analyzed data in charts, maps, graphs, and so on. You can retrieve insights from pixel-perfect data visualizations and make informed decisions. The best thing is that you don't need programming knowledge to work with Tableau.

On the other hand, Salesforce is typically a CRM software. Companies employ Salesforce to organize their business data, streamline their sales and marketing activities, respond actively to customer requests, and more. Salesforce facilitates effective collaboration between companies and customers, enhancing the customer experience and business outcomes.

We hope that you have gained a basic understanding of Salesforce and Tableau. Next, we will get to know why this integration is required.

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Why integrate Tableau with Salesforce?

Integrating Tableau with Salesforce is crucial for data retrieval and analysis. Here are the reasons:

Integrating Tableau with Salesforce, you can

• Get 360-degree visibility across customer data
• Analyze your data securely
• Eliminates the time and effort required to extract data manually
• View the important KPIs
• Achieve improved data analysis instantly
• Customize data visuals

On top of all that, you can make powerful data-driven decisions with the integration of Tableau with Salesforce. Next, we will look at the basic requirements to perform this integration.

Requirements for the integration

Before integrating Tableau with Salesforce, you must meet the following requirements. It will simplify your journey towards integration.

• Salesforce account
• Installation of Tableau desktop software
• Basic knowledge of Salesforce and Tableau.

Related Article: How to monitor activity on tableau server?

Tableau integration with Salesforce

We are at the heart of this article. You will go through a simple procedure to integrate Tableau with Salesforce. The procedure has three stages, as shown below:

• Installation of Tableau Desktop on your machine
• Connecting Salesforce from your Tableau desktop
• Creating the dashboard on your Tableau desktop

Let’s walk through the stages for Tableau integration with Salesforce individually.

1. Installing Tableau Desktop

First, we will start by installing the Tableau desktop. You can go through the below steps to install Tableau on your machine.

• Download the Tableau desktop using the below link on your machine. You will get a window as shown below. Click the install button at the bottom of the window.

• Enter your full name, contact number, email address, and organization details in the relevant fields to complete registration.

• Once you complete the registration process, you will get the window as shown below. Then, click ‘continue’ to land on the homepage of the Tableau desktop.

• The below image shows the homepage of the Tableau desktop.

  Well! You have successfully installed Tableau Desktop on your machine. Next, we will look at how to connect Salesforce with Tableau.

2. Connecting to a Salesforce Account

We will go through the easy steps to connect Salesforce with Tableau. This connection helps retrieve data from Salesforce into Tableau for analysis.

• First, navigate to the left side of your Tableau desktop and click ‘more’ under the ‘To a server’ menu. You will see a list of installed connectors on the screen. Move your cursor to ‘Salesforce’ and click it.

• A new pop-up will emerge. Input your Salesforce credentials in the required fields.

• Once you click the login button, a popup will emerge asking permission to allow certain components. Click the ‘Allow’ button to move on to the next step.

• Finally, you will get the image as shown below.

• As shown below, you will get the screen once Tableau and Salesforce are connected. You can find standard connections and tables on the left side of the screen.

Good! You have connected Salesforce with Tableau successfully. Next, we will move into the procedure to create a new dashboard in Tableau.

3. Creating a new dashboard

With Tableau Desktop, you can build your own dashboard by choosing your desired template. Let’s go through the easy step-by-step procedure to create a new dashboard in Tableau in the following:

• First, navigate to the left side of the Tableau desktop page and move to the standard connection. Then, drag the ‘opportunity’ object from the standard connection menu and place it on the canvas.

• Afterward, you should ensure the connection status is set to ‘extract’. You can find this status in the top-right corner of the page.

• Now, select ‘sheet1’ on the lower side of the page. Then, Tableau will start to extract data from the Salesforce database.

• Once the extraction is done, navigate to the left side of the screen and drag elements in the sheet, as shown in the figure.

• Navigate to the dashboard tab and select a new dashboard. Choose your desired template.

• Now, you will get a dashboard, as shown below.

• Finally, you can publish the dashboard through the Tableau public.

Kudos! You have successfully created a new dashboard. You have completed the process of Tableau integration with Salesforce. Hereafter, you can extract data from Salesforce and perform robust data analysis. You can view the analytics on the dashboard and make data-driven decisions.

FAQs

1. What is very special about Tableau software?

Tableau can convert any raw data into actionable insights in no time. You can build data analytics and visualization in Tableau using simple drag-and-drop options.

2. Mention the best thing about Tableau dashboards.

You can build aesthetic data visualizations and draw insights from the Tableau dashboards. Mainly, you can build quick analytics from massive amounts of business data.

3. Which companies can benefit from the Tableau integration with Salesforce?

Finance, public sector, retail and consumer, healthcare, communications, manufacturing, and many other companies can benefit from Tableau integration with Salesforce.

4. Name the key components of Tableau software.

Below are the key components of Tableau software.

• Gateway
• Repository
• VizQL Server
• Application Server
• Data Engine

5. Show some light on CRM software.

CRM stands for customer relationship management software. With CRM, you can improve collaboration between businesses and customers.

6. What is the significance of the Salesforce and Tableau integration?

This integration eliminates the involvement of IT executives in data extraction and analysis. Anyone familiar with the basic operations of Salesforce and Tableau can efficiently work with this integration and analyze data.

Conclusion

We hope this quick guide has given you a fantastic experience integrating Tableau with Salesforce. Now, you can analyze data using the Tableau tool and make informed decisions.

Well! Do you know that certified IT professionals earn a 7% higher salary than others? So why wait? Check out a MindMajix course and explore more about Salesforce and Tableau. It will help you skyrocket your career growth to greater heights. If you have any suggestions or queries, please enter them in the comments section below.