Salesforce Reporting and Dashboards: Report Types and Ways to Create Reports in Salesforce

No, there are no joining reports in Salesforce. However, you can use joined reports to display multiple report blocks with different report types in a single view. To create a joined report:

1. Navigate to the Reports tab and click New Report.
2. Choose the report type and click Continue.
3. Click Report in the top menu and select Joined Report.
4. Add report blocks by clicking Add Block and selecting the desired report type for each block.

Yes, you can schedule reports to run at specific times and email reports in Salesforce the results emailed to specified users. To schedule a report:

1. Login to the Salesforce admin panel.
2. Open the report you want to schedule.
3. Click the Subscribe button.
4. Set the frequency, time, and recipients for the scheduled report.
5. Click Save.

To create a report folder:

1. Navigate to the Reports tab.
2. Click All Folders.
3. Click the New Folder button.
4. Enter a name for the folder.
5. Set the sharing settings to determine who can access the folder.
6. Click Save.

Restricting access to create reports in Salesforce can be managed through user profiles and permission sets. To do this:

1. Navigate to Setup.
2. Go to Profiles or Permission Sets.
3. Select the profile or permission set you want to modify.
4. Under System Permissions, deselect the Create and Customize Reports permission.
5. Save your changes.

To create a report for the average sales cycle length:

1. Navigate to the Reports tab and click New Report.
2. Select Opportunities as the report type and click Continue.
3. Add fields for Opportunity Created Date and Closed Date.
4. Create a formula field to calculate the sales cycle duration (Closed Date - Created Date).
5. Summarize the report to calculate the average sales cycle length.
6. Click Save and name your report.

A report in Salesforce is a list of records that meet specific criteria, displayed in rows and columns. One can use filter logic in Salesforce reports, group, and summarize them. On the other hand, a dashboard is a visual display of multiple reports, providing a snapshot of key metrics and performance indicators through charts, graphs, and tables.

To clone a report:

1. Open the report you want to clone.
2. Click the Save As button.
3. Enter a new name for the cloned report.
4. Adjust any necessary filters or settings.
5. Click Save.

Removing duplicates in Salesforce reports involves a few steps to ensure your data is accurate and clean. Here’s a simple guide to help you through the process:

1. Identify duplicate criteria:
Determine what makes a record a duplicate. This could be based on a combination of fields such as email addresses, phone numbers, or names.

2. Use report filters:
Create a report and use filters to narrow your data to the records you want to analyze. For example, if you’re looking for duplicate leads, you might filter the report to show leads with the same email address.

3. Use Salesforce duplicate management tools:
Salesforce provides built-in duplicate management tools that can help identify and merge duplicates. You can set up duplicate and matching rules to automatically flag duplicate records.
Navigate to Setup -> Duplicate Rules and Matching Rules to configure these settings.

4. Create a сustom report type:
Sometimes, creating a custom report type can help you better identify duplicates. This allows you to combine objects and fields to highlight duplicate records.
Go to Setup -> Report Types and create a new custom report type.

5. Export and analyze data:
If the built-in tools don’t meet your needs, you can export the report to a tool like Excel or Google Sheets.
Use the built-in deduplication functions in these tools to identify and remove duplicates.

7. Manually merge duplicates:
You can manually merge records that are confirmed as duplicates in Salesforce. This is often done for contacts, leads, and accounts.
Open the record. If a duplicate is detected, Salesforce will show a Merge option. Follow the prompts to select which information to keep.