When it comes to setting up L/C/A/D fields on Freshsales, there are always instances when users may want to set up customized fields that are relevant only to the dropdown option that is chosen. This is known as Field Dependency and can help users set the behavior of another field based on the option chosen.
How does it work?
Field Dependency is set between two fields – The controlling field and the Dependent field.
Controlling Field: Controlling fields are those which control the available values in one or more corresponding dependent fields.
Dependent Field: Dependent fields are those which display values based on the selected controlling field.
Based on the value selected in the controlling field, the dependent field can be made dynamic.
Let us assume that you chose the outcome of a deal between won or lost; choosing the option 'lost' presents you with a set of options that allows you to pick reasons for why the deal was unsuccessful.
Refer below to learn how this can be done:
DETAILED STEPS:
On your Freshsales application, head to the Admin settings page.
On the Admin settings page, scroll down to the Sales Force Automation and click on Deal Fields.
Click to create a custom field with the title “Lost to competitor”.
Upon saving the custom field, click the Add dependent field button. This opens a form titled “CREATE DEPENDENCY.” You can use this form to set dependencies between different fields.
5. Proceed by selecting a choice from the Controlling field. In this case, we’ve chosen “Lost to competitor”. Now select the respective dependent field for the controlling field.
6. Marking dependent fields as required:
Turn on the the Mark as required * toggle to make the field dependency required. Whenever a field is marked required, the user cannot submit the form without filling the field when the relevant choice is selected in the controlling field.
7. Click to save your field dependency settings.
8. You can also manage field dependencies using “Manage field dependencies” from the module settings page as highlighted below:
9. On the Manage field dependencies page, you will also notice that a few dependencies are in the disabled state. These are default dependencies that cover some common use cases across the Leads and Deals modules.
For example, in the Deals module, you want to set Lost Reason as a dependent field for the Lost Deal Stage. Lost Reason as a dependent field will be apt only if the choice selected in Deal Stage is ‘Lost.’ For reasons like these, users are not allowed to modify the choice-to-dependent field mapping and are not allowed to disable the default dependencies. However, users can still choose to mark the dependent field as required.
Note: You will be able to mark dependent fields as required from the field dependency page only
List of default dependencies per module:
Lead -
Lead stage: Unqualified -> Unqualified reason
Deal -
Deal pipeline -> Deal stage (Mapping as per pipeline configuration)
Deal stage: Won-> closed date
Deal stage: Lost -> Lost reason
Forecast category -> Expected closed date
FAQs
1. What is the impact area across app?
Feature | Impact on controlling fields | Impact on dependent fields |
Column Customization | No impact; the field will be treated independent | No impact; the field will be treated independent |
Filter | No impact; the field will be treated independent | No impact; the field will be treated independent |
Reports | No impact; the field will be treated independent | No impact; the field will be treated independent |
Territory | No impact; the field will be treated independent | No impact; the field will be treated independent |
Lead Scoring | No impact; the field will be treated independent | No impact; the field will be treated independent |
Export | No impact; the field will be treated independent | No impact; the field will be treated independent |
Bulk Update | The field will be shown a toggle to display dependent field. When enabled the toggle will display the dependent field. | Only when the toggle is enabled will the dependent fields be displayed. |
Workflow | No impact; The field will be updated independently. | No impact; The field will be updated independently. |
Import | The controlling field will be saved without validation. | If value of dependent field does not match with value of controlling field, the import will save the value without validation. But the value will not show up in the form as the dependency is not matched. |
Webforms | As of now, field dependency is not supported on Webforms. | As of now, field dependency is not supported on Webforms. |
2. What happens when dependent field is marked as mandatory?
If the dependent field is marked mandatory, the mandatory check will be made only when the dependent field is shown on the form based on the controlling field value.
For example, let us assume that a controlling field has two choices “Won” and “Lost” where the choice “Lost” is connected to the dependent fields “Reason for loss”, marking the field “Lost” mandatory would make the field “Reason for loss” mandatory. However, if the user choose “Won”, then the field mandate will not be applied.
3. What happens when an account is downgraded to blossom or sprout?
The feature is not available for the Sprout and Blossom plans. So whenever an account is downgraded to Blossom or Sprout, the field dependencies are automatically deactivated. However, the created dependencies will not be deleted and will be a part of the account. Once the user accounts are upgraded back to higher plans, the field dependencies can be reactivated by the user.