Service Cloud

In the previous chapter, you read about custom applications available in AppExchange and solutions created by a group of fantastic people – Salesforce Labs. But what if we need something more comprehensive that will allow us to launch our own help desk? That’s what this chapter is about, namely, Service Cloud.

We will cover essential issues including the structure, application, and most important features. These elements will be discussed in the following sections:

• Introduction to Service Cloud
• Case management

Introduction to Service Cloud

Surely, at least once in your life, you have contacted a help desk. Remember that annoying hold music while waiting for someone to pick up? I do! I used to be on the other side of the phone, taking calls from clients (and I had put them on hold if the person on the other side was unpleasant. It taught me to be nice to help desk personnel). Interestingly, after picking up the phone, I logged the case in Service Cloud.

As mentioned in previous chapters, Salesforce has designed many types of clouds for different purposes, including Service Cloud, which makes life easier for managers and consultants working on the help desk.

Why did Salesforce decide on this type of solution? I think that question might be answered by the founder of Salesforce himself, but just like the ingredients of KFC’s famous chicken seasoning, we will never know. There are only guesses. Business consists of two elements that are in complete opposition to each other –...

Case management

Assigning cases is a crucial aspect of managing issues within a company. In a service desk department, the structure often consists of agents and team leads, with the service desk divided into specific departments with various specializations such as finance, technical issues, and client contracts. Imagine a scenario where a finance-related case is assigned to someone without financial knowledge. This could lead to bad customer feedback, unresolved issues, and usually escalations affecting the agent’s perception. Service Cloud comes to the rescue here. Let us start with the basics of ownership, which I briefly mentioned earlier. Ownership is the responsibility for a specific case. Incoming cases cannot wait indefinitely for someone to accept them, leading to two scenarios:

• The team leader takes care of the assignment, which can cause delays as even leads need breaks
• Service Cloud handles the assignment without needing breaks

What to use for...

Summary

And with that, you have learned about the structure of Service Cloud, why Salesforce released such a product, and its functionalities that can help in customer service. I am sure that for many help desks, Service Cloud has changed customer service by 180 degrees. Thanks to its functionalities and simplifications, agents can breathe easier and solve cases much more comfortably. Management can finally extract relevant data from the system and improve the quality of service given to their customers. But wait, if we already have a help desk, it is good if that help desk has someone to serve and to have customers, we need to sell or offer something. And here comes the very popular Sales Cloud, which will be discussed in the next chapter. See you in a bit!