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With each release of Pipeliner CRM, we update the customization capabilities within the Pipeliner CRM Template Designer to continuously give you more ways to customize CRM according to your business needs. This time, we looked deeper into the validation rules. With Pipeliner CRM Arithmetica, you can now improve the quality of your data by using custom field validation rules. Keep reading:
Pipeliner CRM Validation Rules
Pipeliner CRM enables you to create validation rules for fields in entity forms such as sales opportunity, lead, account and contact. Before we go deeper into the setup of validation rules, we will first define the term for you:
- A validation rule verifies that the data a user enters in a record meets the standards you specify before the user can save the record. You cannot save the form unless the user fills in the field with the correct information.
- A validation rule can contain a formula or expression that evaluates the data in one or more fields and returns a value of “True” or “False”. You can set up a formula--for example one which validates another field on the form.
- A validation rule includes the error message to display to the user when the rule returns a value of “True” due to an invalid value. You are able to word the error message in such a way as to guide users to what they need to do.
There are plenty of examples of using validation rules. Within the following next steps we will show you how to set up the validation rule in a simple example.
How to Set Up a Validation Rule in Pipeliner CRM
Example: Validate the opportunity value. If the opportunity value is higher than $10.000,00, Nikolaus needs to approve it. Otherwise, the sales rep is free to close the deal without approval. In order to set up the validation rule, you need to be a Pipeliner admin. If you have the rights, here is how it is done:
- Click on the user profile image.
- Click "Administration".
- Click "Fields and Forms".
- Select "Opportunities" in order to edit the opportunity form.
- Click "Edit Form" to the corresponding form you would like to edit. Please note that by default you have only one form. On the screenshot below, you can see three forms as each form represents a different form for each of multiple pipelines in this scenario.
- Click "Create Field".
- From the available field type, select "Dropdown".
- Give a new field a "Name". In our case, we will call the field "Quota Approval".
- And add the dropdown choices. We use Pipeliner CRM team members within the dropdown. The dropdown number will represent a number that will be used within the validation rule. In our case, Nikolaus Kimla has no. 1.
- Save the field and search for it within the fields list.
- And drag and drop it into the form.
- After you place the field into the form, Pipeliner asks you to configure the field. Check the box "Validate this field using the calculated formula".
- The validation rules show up. Now we need to define the validation rule for quota approval--i.e. if the opportunity value exceeds $10.000,00, Nikolaus Kimla needs to be selected from the dropdown choices. The validation formula looks like this: IF( AND( Opportunity Value >10000,Quota Approval !=1 ),False, True). As you can see we use the number "1" from the dropdown choices to represent Nikolaus Kimla.
- You can now set up the validation error--that is, the error that pops up when the user does not enter the valid information.
- That's it. Now, publish the changes to see them on the CRM desktop.
- Open an opportunity within sales pipeline. Here is the example: when the opportunity value is below $10.000,00: (no validation error--I can pick Laura and Laura can approve the value). BUT
- If the opportunity value exceeds 10.000,00 we will get the validation error message as follows:
You can set up the validation rules as you need for your business. Below we have included a "cheat-sheet" for the validation rules which you can utilize as you go. However, if you need our help, do not hesitate to contact support.
A cheat-sheet for validation rules
Here is the cheat-sheet that defines the various terms you can use within the formula, along with their functions:
Functions | Syntax | Description |
AND | AND(logical_expression1, logical_expression2) | Both of the expressions must be TRUE. |
IF | IF(logical_expression, value_if_true, value_if_false) | One expressions must be TRUE while other must be FALSE |
OR | OR(logical_expression1, logical_expression2) | At least one of the expressions must be TRUE |
NOT | NOT(logical_expression) | Expression must be FALSE |
ISEMPTY | ISEMPTY(field) | Returns TRUE, if the field doesn’t contain any data |
ROUND | ROUND(value, places) | Rounds a number to a certain number of decimal places. |
Fig 1. List of the functions you can use within Pipeliner CRM.
Operators | Syntax | Description |
= (equals) | = (logical_expression) | Field has the same value. |
!= (is -t) | != (logical_expression) | Field has different value. |
< (less) | < (logical_expression) | Field value is less than. |
> (more) | > (logical_expression) | Field value is bigger than. |
<= (less or equals) | <= (logical_expression) | Field value is less than or equals to. |
>= (equals or more) | >= (logical_expression) | Field value equals to or is bigger than. |
+ - * / | logical_expression1 + logical_expression2 | Standard mathematical operations with the fields and expressions. |
"(" and ")" | logical_expression * (logical_expression2 + logical_expression3) | Sets the priority of the Operations. |
Fig 2. List of the operators you can use within Pipeliner CRM.
Pipeliner CRM Template Designer: It Really Is Your CRM
With the Pipeliner Template Designer, you can pick a form design, easily drag and drop fields, set up columns, name and customize fields, and perform other necessary functions to make Pipeliner your company-specific CRM solution.