Salesforce Service Cloud: An Ultimate Guide
Salesforce Service Cloud: Streamlining Operations and Delivering Optimal Service From Anywhere
Customer needs and expectations are always evolving. Not to mention, constantly advancing technology (and unprecedented pandemics) make it essential to cater to customer’s needs via digital channels. After all, appeasing customers to their liking is the driving force behind any successful business.
As companies quickly pivoted during the last year to serve their customers in new all-digital ways, they turned to technology designed to streamline the process of generating customer satisfaction.
They turned to Salesforce Service Cloud.
Salesforce engineered Service Cloud as a complete solution for businesses that want to improve their customer service efficacy and increase their chances of successful case resolution. The Salesforce Service Cloud enhances an organization’s service operations with in-app live agent support, knowledge centers, self-service communities, and social media.
With 81 percent of service decision makers reporting that they are currently accelerating digital initiatives, let’s learn what Service Cloud can do for your service team and your business.
What is Salesforce Service Cloud?
Service Cloud is another CRM solution offered by Salesforce. A complete solution that works as a help desk and customer service platform, it’s specially designed to optimize customer service on both ends within a single solution. Service Cloud features include a service console, customer self-help portals, automation, and detailed dashboards that provide essential analytics at a glance.
Ultimately, it’s a software meant to help businesses meet customer expectations to improve customer service success. This includes providing support for two essential aspects of customer service — support and case resolution. Service Cloud makes it easy to succeed by giving agents the tools they need to help resolve customer cases and giving customers personalized support.
Salesforce Service Cloud Features
AI-fueled digital experiences underpin great customer service. With nearly 80 percent of Americans citing speed and convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service as the most critical elements of a satisfactory experience, Service Cloud empowers agents to handle it all.
Top Features of Salesforce Service Cloud:
- Service Cloud Voice for Partner Telephony – a bundle of services that turns phone conversations into live transcripts, where AI can be run to make suggestions for live agents or bots to solve customer service issues.
- Service Cloud Workforce Engagement – a workforce planning product that uses AI to predict how many requests will come into a contact center and on which channels (e.g., phone, email, web chat, text, and social)
- Visual Remote Assistant – a tool to connect remote technicians with customers or fellow techs out in the field via a video connection.
- Service Cloud Analytics – a template making it easy for service managers to get insight and metrics that can be leveraged to enhance business operations. Agents can quickly view a snapshot of each case and customer to help them make quick decisions about their next customer interactions.
- [A look ahead] Pre-Built Einstein Bots – Salesforce is aiming for general availability in October, but these Pre-Built Einstein Bots are made to assist with service requests. The goal is to create an intelligent interface to customers with a seamless handover to human agents at an appropriate point.
How it Benefits Your Business
Service Cloud enables you to manage cases from start to finish by providing the tools to execute efficiently. When customers expect to receive reliable and consistent updates, you can give it to them with Service Cloud. Stay one step ahead of the game by allowing agents to communicate with customers through various channels at any time.
Creating a memorable impression of your business is easy with Salesforce Service Cloud. Some advantages that will benefit your operational process:
- Reliable and Convenient Communication– Allows for communication with customers to happen via the channels they prefer, from phone calls to online chat. Not to mention, agents can provide personalized support and communication to customers in every case with Service Cloud’s dashboards that offer a shared view of every customer and interaction.
- Increased productivity– Agent productivity will increase with Salesforce Service Cloud because agents are able to work with confidence from anywhere. This will, in turn, reduce the overhead cost involved with every agent.
- Interaction on social media platforms– You can effectively interact with your customers over social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc. and influence them to use more of your products or services.
- Track the cases– You can track every case and make sure that daily management is getting better. Errors per day will be drastically reduced without any fail.
- Extended Customer satisfaction– The customer experience and your relation with every customer will be enhanced because you can connect all the customers with your live agents seamlessly.
While Service Cloud is a valuable tool on its own, it’s the add-ons that take the solution’s functionality to another level. To determine the true power of Service Cloud as a solution, you’ll need to learn more about its add-ons and how they leverage the tools to create an entirely new and optimized experience.
Service Cloud Add-ons
Service Cloud is meant to service businesses across multiple industries of all shapes and sizes. To ensure they can achieve that goal without drastically increasing prices to exorbitant levels, Salesforce allows businesses to choose what additional features they need for their unique situations through comprehensive Service Cloud add-ons. Here are the primary add-ons that you can utilize.
- Field Service Lightning is designed to enhance the management of field service operations, an industry that requires elevated customer service out in the field. Starting at $50 USD/user/month.
- Digital Engagement works within Service Cloud to enable inbound and outbound messaging, chat, intelligent chatbots, and social customer service. With digital engagement, you can leverage Omni Channel Routing to reach your customers. Starting at $75 USD/user/month.
- Service Cloud Einstein features case routing, advanced recommendation strategies, case classification, and service analytics to make customer service a more streamlined process supported by intelligent AI. Starting at $50 USD/user/month.
Service Cloud Pricing
Cost and ROI are essential factors to consider when making a major business decision. You want to get the most out of your software investment, especially if it promises to deliver impressive results. That said, Service Cloud features a variety of pricing packages through editions with various features to make it easy for businesses to determine whether the solution is right for them. Here’s a brief breakdown of Service Cloud pricing.
- Essentials: $25 USD/user/month (up to 10 users)
- Professional: $75 USD/user/month
- Enterprise*: $150 USD/user/month
- Unlimited: $300 USD/user/month
*Note: Enterprise is the most popular service package and includes features from Field Service Lightning, Digital Engagement, and Service Cloud Einstien at a low price point.
Keep in mind, it’s highly beneficial to consult with an expert to build your Salesforce tech stack. They can help break down the cost and functions of each Service Cloud edition, its add-ons, and how best to help get the most out of your investment.
Key Takeaways
Regardless of your industry, it’s vital that you provide your customers with exceptional service. Having the right software like Service Cloud, offers a lot of benefits to businesses looking to level up their service operations and place their business in the best position to succeed.
Need help?
Salesforce experts at Apps Associates are happy to help you determine whether Service Cloud is right for your business. We’ll evaluate your entire technology stack and recommend what’s best for you.