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For everyone who uses Hank

How to use Hank in Salesforce

Ask questions in plain language, get short answers with proof, and approve any change before it happens. This guide covers everything a Hank user needs.

6-minute read

Open Hank

Look for Ask Hank in the utility bar at the bottom of Salesforce. Click it to open the panel. Hank stays open while you move between pages.

When you open Hank on a record, such as an account or a person, Hank knows which record you're looking at, so you can ask about "this account" or "this person".

Ask good questions

Ask the way you'd ask a colleague. Hank figures out where the information lives. Include a time frame when it matters, and ask follow-ups to narrow things down.

Questions to try

  • “Which accounts haven't had any activity in 90 days?”
  • “How many cases are older than two weeks, by owner?”
  • “Who gave last year but not this year?”
  • “Show me new contacts this month by lead source as a chart.”
  • “Which contacts are missing an email address?”

Read Hank's answers

  • The answer comes first, in one line.
  • A few details follow, with up to five records listed. Record names link straight to Salesforce.
  • The "Checked:" line says what Hank looked at, in plain words, so you can trust where the answer came from.
  • When a picture helps, Hank adds a chart. Ask for one any time: "show that as a chart".

Hank can make mistakes. Check important numbers before you act on them, just as you would with a report.

Approve fixes and new records

Hank can suggest fixes, such as correcting name capitalization or filling in missing details, and can suggest new records, such as follow-up tasks. Nothing changes until you approve it.

  1. Ask Hank to check or clean up something, or to create records.
  2. Review the card that appears: each record, each field, the value now, and the proposed value.
  3. Click Approve and save (or Approve and create) to make the change, or Reject to leave everything as it is.

Changes are made with your own Salesforce access, so Hank can never change something you couldn't change yourself. Every approved change is recorded on the Hank tab under Activity.

Save and share conversations

  • Every conversation is saved to Recent automatically. Open the library (the folder icon) to pick up where you left off.
  • Pin a conversation, or save it to a folder, to keep it. Unsaved conversations are cleared after a period your admin sets (90 days by default).
  • On the Growth and Organization plans, you can share a folder with your team. Teammates can read shared conversations and open shared live views.

Hank saves your questions and his written answers, never the raw records he looked at.

Keep answers current with live views

A live view is an answer that updates itself. Save one when you'll want the same answer again, such as "gifts this month" or "open cases by status".

  1. Ask your question and check the answer.
  2. Click Save as a live view.
  3. Open it any time from the library. It refreshes with the latest data and doesn't use any of your questions.

Live views always show each person only the records they can see. If a live view stops working, for example because a field was removed, click Ask Hank to fix this view.

What Hank can see, and questions left

Hank only uses information you already have permission to view. If you can't see a record or field in Salesforce, Hank can't either, and he'll say so.

Your organization's plan includes a number of questions each month. A banner appears in Hank when your team is running low. Questions already in progress always finish, and your admin can add a question pack if needed.

Common questions

Can Hank see records I don't have access to?

No. Every lookup runs with your own Salesforce access, so Hank sees exactly what you can see and nothing more.

Will Hank change my data without asking?

No. Hank proposes changes and nothing is saved until you approve them. Every approved change is logged.

Does refreshing a live view use questions?

No. Live views re-run their saved lookups in Salesforce without using any questions.

Where are my old conversations?

Open the library in the Ask Hank panel. Recent conversations are there; pinned and foldered ones are kept until you delete them.

More guides

Still stuck? Email jpm@visios.us and a person at Visios will help.