Getting by with Case Management using Salesforce Sales Cloud

At a time when many are strapped for cash, it's increasingly important to maximize one's ROI on their existing tech stack. Working in the Salesforce ecosystem for over 10 years in the Bay area, I've had the great opportunity to partner with many successful start-up companies. EpiGrowth does not shy away from working with modest implementation budgets, and very often we accept the challenge to do the most we can with the least amount of hours possible.  

One very common misnomer is that Salesforce customers believe they need Service Cloud licenses (or a separate 3rd party tool) to be able to manage their customer support tickets. If a Salesforce customer has a Sales Cloud license (which is very often the entry point into the Salesforce world), then this Salesforce Customer would gain case management features automatically with their Sales Cloud.  

I can’t tell you the number of times I hear start-ups talking about getting a separate 3rd party tool (such as ZenDesk) to manage their Customer Support tickets, when they already have Sales Cloud. My initial reaction:

1. You already have access to case management today with Sales Cloud, with no extra charge. Why do you want to spend more? 
2. By putting case management within Salesforce, you are consolidating your customer data into one system giving your business units a 360 degree view of your customers and prospects.
3. For small teams, integrating multiple systems is time consuming and requires maintenance in the long run. Don’t be fooled by ‘plug and play’ marketing lines. If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true!
4. Your already hard working teams will now have to learn to navigate between 2 systems instead of just one.  

The more you know about the Salesforce license model, the more you'll be able to maximize your ROI on the dollars already spent! Let's dive in deeper to see where the lines are drawn between Sales Cloud case management and Service Cloud case management! 

With Sales Cloud, there is an arsenal of case management features already included in this license. First off, the Case object is a standard object that comes 'out of the box' with Sales Cloud (in addition to Accounts, Contacts, Activities, and of course Leads and Opportunities). With access to the Case object, Email-to-Case and Web-to-Case are available as self-service options for case creation. Inbound cases can automatically be created by your customers. Salesforce set-up time: minutes, not hours.  

Once a case is created in Salesforce (again using Sales Cloud only), we have the ability to configure Auto-Response rules that will immediately send a dynamic branded email template to your Customer. Next, we can use Case Assignment Rules to assign the case to respective internal Support Agents or Support Queues.  

When the Support Agent reviews the case, they have the ability to work the case as needed. Specific case management customization is available with the Sales Cloud license. Custom list views, custom lightning pages and components, quick action buttons to create related records, predefined email templates, reports and dashboards, and the list goes on. I would say about 80% of the most widely seen case management features a small business would need is already included in their Sales Cloud license. Why spend more money on additional Licenses?

With the Service Cloud feature license, there are additional features that are available. If your customer support model requires tracking of SLA and uses Service Contract, Entitlements and Milestones for tracking within Case Management, then it's time to upgrade to Service Cloud.  

Knowledge Article Management is also another hot topic when it comes to both internal knowledge sharing for Support Agent as well as customer self-service for case deflection. Salesforce offers knowledge as an add-on product to either Sales Cloud or Service Cloud. If you are looking to expose Knowledge Articles on your website (to either an authorized or unauthorized user), then you'll be doing so with the use of a Salesforce Community. While 'Help Center' is socialized as the term for Public Knowledge Base within Salesforce HQ, it's actually built and managed on Salesforce Communities technology. If this is starting to sound confusing, you're not alone, and it is.  

If you would like to discuss your current customer support needs with a non-biased party, please feel free to reach out ([email protected]). Happy to share the knowledge of what we know about the Sales Cloud vs Service Cloud licensing model (which is sometimes confusing for those that are new to the Salesforce ecosystem).