A top-notch customer experience remains a priority for organizations, with 75% of executives agreeing that an exceptional customer experience isn’t just nice — it’s crucial to their company’s survival.
So, what goes into a high-quality customer journey and experience? Plenty, but it’s tough to overstate the role your customer service plays.
We don’t want to oversimplify the customer relationship, but here’s the gist: a high-quality customer service experience improves customer satisfaction. That boosts your overall customer experience.
The premise is simple. But the execution? Well, that’s where things get a little trickier. Customer expectations continue to increase. Yet, at the same time, service teams are tasked with doing more with less.
Enter the power of technology. Customer support leaders are increasingly investing in service consoles and dashboards that can improve their customer service operations, streamline their service processes, and increase their agent productivity — without majorly increasing costs or headcount.
And, it likely comes as little surprise that automation and AI come in near the top of the list of planned technology investments.
Starting a search for your team? Salesforce Service Cloud will likely emerge as a frontrunner. This AI-powered customer service agent console brings together case management, automation, AI-driven insights, and omnichannel communication to help agents deliver faster and more personalized service.
Put simply, think of it as a single, easy-to-use workspace where your agents can collaboratively manage all of your customer interactions (you know, without tearing their hair out).
Curious about Salesforce Service Cloud? This guide breaks down the must-know benefits and features so you can make clear, confident decisions about your team’s technology investments.
The idea of implementing any new technology on your team is enough to inspire some groans and eye-rolls. Change is hard and even the most intuitive platforms come with some early challenges. Plus, helpdesk software reportedly has the steepest learning curve for new employees.
That makes it tempting to stick with old platforms and processes — even when you know they aren’t working for you.
It’s time to summon your courage. While Salesforce Service Cloud is loaded with functionality to help service teams and customers, it remains surprisingly user-friendly. And, even better? It’s well worth the effort you put into implementation. Here’s why.
Do your live agents feel like they always need to choose between a personalized experience or a quick response? That’s not the case with Salesforce Service Cloud. There are a number of features that can help your agents work efficiently and effectively, including:
Your support team benefits from automated workflows, tailored insights, and access to the customer information they need exactly when they need it — all in one customer service platform.
You know the old saying: knowledge is power. And, while you might like to think that it flows freely through your support team, that’s not always the case. 26% of agents admit they often lack context about a customer’s situation, which makes it way more challenging for them to provide high-quality support.
Salesforce Service Cloud has a built-in knowledge base that makes it easy to create, manage, and share helpful support resources. This is valuable for your customers and your agents:
Salesforce Service Cloud’s knowledge management features help customers help themselves while also giving your team easy access to the resources they need to deliver exceptional customer service.
If and when your customer service team uses any Salesforce products, you’ll run into Einstein — a suite of AI-powered features that are built into Salesforce.
Einstein Bots (generative AI chatbots that can automatically handle routine inquiries) can free up your agents to focus on more complex and high-value interactions, while still delivering the human touch customers crave. For example, if a customer asks about their order status, Einstein can pull up their tracking information and provide a helpful update.
But Einstein goes beyond basic chatbots. By analyzing past interactions and behavior patterns, these AI features can also help you anticipate customer needs and suggest solutions before a customer reaches out. Nothing feels more personal than feeling like the support team read your mind.
The quality of your customer service has a direct impact on your customer experience, and Salesforce Service Cloud can help you strengthen your customer relationships with features like community portals, social customer service, and live chat.
Particularly for tech and SaaS companies, a sense of community can offer a big boost to your customer experience, with 76.6% of customers saying they wished their favorite brands had a community. Community portals create a space for users to exchange tips, troubleshoot issues, and share best practices. They can get the answers they need, while still lightening the load for your service agents.
There are plenty of industries — like utilities and healthcare, as just two examples — where timely, reliable service isn’t just a competitive edge. It’s critical.
Salesforce’s Field Service Lightning connects your entire workforce with a customizable mobile app. Field workers can view job schedules, access knowledge and resources, and see work orders — all with instant updates.
This means better communication between field teams and support teams. Plus, it can reduce phone calls and tickets pushed to your customer service team, as field employees have what they need at their fingertips.
Let’s say that you’re manually assigning tickets. You or one of your agents need to assess each one and then assign it to an appropriate agent. It eats up a lot of valuable time and also leaves a lot of room for mistakes.
That’s why Salesforce Service Cloud offers automated workflows to take routine processes and tedious tasks off your team’s plate. For example, you can automatically route new cases to the right agent based on expertise and availability.
Powerful automations need powerful integrations too. Salesforce Service Cloud integrates directly with Assembled to build optimized schedules and staffing plans.
You want a service solution that’s built to grow with your company, and Salesforce Service Cloud is designed to help you meet your business needs — even when they change over time.
With cloud infrastructure, Salesforce prides itself on its scalability. Whether you’re expanding to omnichannel support, growing your support team, or planning to use automation to handle more requests, Salesforce keeps your team efficient and effective.
Features and benefits go hand-in-hand, so we’ve already touched on a few of the features of Salesforce Service Cloud you’ll want to know. But, if you’re looking for a straightforward rundown, this chart has what you need.
Even with a brief look at the main features and benefits, it’s easy to see how Salesforce Service Cloud can level up your service management — and, even more importantly, your customer experience.
And, while the platform itself is powerful on its own, integrations make the real magic happen. Connecting with more robust tools makes your Salesforce Service cloud implementation that much more impactful.
Assembled seamlessly integrates with Salesforce Service Cloud so that you can create precise staffing plans, manage the complexities of multiple service channels, and make data-driven decisions. Plus, with embedded workflows, your team can stay in Salesforce and stop flipping through tabs or jumping between tools.
Ready to see why Assembled and Salesforce Service Cloud are better together? Set up a demo to see how this dynamic due can transform your support operations and, as a result, your customer experience.
