An Ultimate Guide to Salesforce Customer Community

Whether you’re a small business preparing to upgrade your customer experience or a large brand wanting to cultivate deeper brand loyalty among your customers, Salesforce customer Communities can help you achieve your goals.

Salesforce was built with businesses like yours in mind and Salesforce communities are the result.

The ability to interact and collaborate in the digital age has become the focus of business tech. Communication with clients, employees, and customers is vital to the success of a business or company. The customer is arguably the group that gets left out the most.

Do you have communication tools designed to streamline the communications of your internal business? What about the customers? A Salesforce customer Community can make it easy for your business or brand to connect with customers.

Here’s everything you need to know about Salesforce customer Communities and how they can benefit you and your business.

What is a Salesforce Customer Community?

Before diving into Salesforce customer Communities, we’ll refresh you on the advantages of Salesforce communities. A Salesforce Community is a CRM solution that works to create a digital cloud-based space in which to interact and share information. Brands and businesses can create multiple communities that service different groups.

Customer communities offer all the benefits of Salesforce Communities but are geared toward fulfilling all the needs of customers. Businesses use them to create a digital space where customers are free to engage with your business and access information. With a portal for customers to connect with your business or brand, a Salesforce customer Community offers:

• Shared Information. Customers can find all the information they need in your Community. Community Cloud leverages your Salesforce data so you can share relevant information with your customers. From exclusive access to your blog, support, answers to their questions, and help with any open claims, your Community is a veritable gold mine of information.

• Better Customer Experience. Customers can connect with and collaborate within your Community. You can create a unique brand experience that underscores your commitment to providing excellent customer service.

• Increase Customer Engagement. By creating a space that is designed to suit the needs of your customers, you incentivize customer engagement. Offer customers exclusive information or reward them for their engagement with badges. Your business will benefit from an increase in customer engagement.

In short, creating a Salesforce customer Community can help your business stand out among the competition. Not to mention, your customers will definitely appreciate having a place to communicate and get information about your brand.

Getting Started with Salesforce Customer Community

If you’ve been convinced that creating a Salesforce community is the best step for your business — congrats! You’re taking a step in the right direction.

However, before you dive in, it’s important to take certain steps to ensure that you have the best game plan to get the most out of your community. You’ll need to make an informed decision to work with Salesforce, determine whether the price is right, customize your community, and prepare to share it with your community.

All of that can be overwhelming, so we’ve broken down these steps to help streamline your transition to a Salesforce customer Community. Here are the 4 essential steps to using a Salesforce customer Community.

1.    Make Sure It’s the Right Choice for You

Your business is unique and will benefit from a unique CRM solution — avoid taking a one-size-fits-all route. It’s imperative to find a solution that is right for you and your business.

To make an informed decision, you’ll have to evaluate your business and your customers’ needs. Encourage your customers to give feedback, take surveys, and communicate any concerns. This information can help you narrow your search for CRM tools.

You only need to consider tools that will fulfill all your needs. Come up with a checklist before your search to save yourself a lot of time and disappointment.

2.    Discuss Pricing Options with a Salesforce Representative

Salesforce pricing depends on the type of Community you are building and any additional features you would like to purchase. A basic, self-service customer Community package would cost $2 per login or $5 per member.

A customer community plus package with roles, a delegated administration, and customizable dashboards and reports would cost $6 per login or $15 per member. You can request a quote to get an idea of how much you would need to budget for, or work with an implementation partner.

3.    Customize Your Community

If the software is a good fit and the price is within your budget — it’s time to get started!

Salesforce offers many Community templates that can help you get started. The wide variety of templates makes it easy to choose one that suits your needs.

However, you can also customize freely and quickly with third party vendors who sell products for Lightning Community Builder.

4.    Share the Community with Your Customers

The final step is also the easiest. Once you are satisfied with your setup, you can open up your Salesforce customer Community to your customers. If you experience any issues or have any concerns, you can contact Salesforce directly for troubleshooting help.

Once you have shared the customer Community with the world, you can get detailed insights and data from their usage. This information can help you to improve your business or increase your brand’s visibility.

Key Takeaways

The bottom line?

Salesforce Community Cloud can help boost your business’s success. These Communities give your customers a platform to interact with your business, each other, and benefit from your high-quality service. Regardless of the size of your business, you can build a fully functioning portal for your customers. Not to mention, you can completely customize their online customer experience.

If you are looking to benefit from increased customer engagement, the ability to communicate and collaborate with your customers, and data insights then you should be considering a Salesforce customer community.