Salesforce Customer Self-service Portal: Features, Benefits, and Limitations

Posted by CRMJetty on April 19th, 2022

Salesforce is helping companies to unite their sales, marketing, services and IT teams in a 360 degree view. Salesforce has successfully occupied the position of one of the most efficient, reliable and secure CRM solutions. It is a vast platform with a variety of tools, platforms, applications and add-ons integrated with it.

All these components have specific functionality and the users must be aware of how and when to use it. Because it has so many layers of functionality, it is obvious that the users might have queries and confusion related to it. Hence, it is obvious that the users will require support from experts while using or implementing. This support can be provided with a Salesforce self service portal.

What is the Salesforce Customer Self-service Portal?

Salesforce self service portal is the platform where the issues faced by the Salesforce customers can be resolved efficiently. The users will submit their queries and get it resolved by the expert in a satisfactory manner. Or the customers can share it with each other and get it resolved.

It also offers personalized support to its users as per their business requirements. The self-service portal is suitable for solving minor problems for which the customers are not willing to wait for a long time until the experts revert.

Features of Salesforce Customer Self-Service Portal

The customer self-service portal comes with a lot of features that help clients obtain the best assistance from the experts as well as the community.

Self-service Functionality

This portal comes with the self-service functionality that instantly integrates with the existing website. The CRM data is integrated with the portal for managing the customer cases more efficiently and with detailed information about the customer.

The portal will directly route the ticket to the right agent and get them resolved faster. Be it case management, knowledge related to various tools and functionalities, or customisable reports, everything is covered under this portal. 

You can give access to documents as well as role-based CRM content. The customers will find it easier to find solutions themselves with the knowledge base. The customers can participate in community discussion and learn new things as well get answers to their doubts. This helps in building a strong base for the company.

Informative Customizable Reports

With this portal, it is easy to keep track of the activities, type of issues, effectiveness of the solution, etc. via the customized reports. The portal collects all the information and displays it on the custom application.

Easy Access to CRM Content

The CRM data is accessible to the customers on the customer portal. The customer is able to create and manage their profiles, customize page layout, role-based sharing, etc. Also, they can do all this with a single sign-in. This way, the business will also have a 360 degree view of customers and their preferences. This helps in improving the support quality.

Idea Exchange

Salesforce ideas is a platform where the users and clients can share creative ideas related to Salesforce. The portal allows the customers to participate in this community for sharing ideas and gaining knowledge to improve their functionality. The idea shared by the customer to resolve the issue can turn out to be helpful for other similar customers in the same field.

Benefits of the Salesforce Self-service Customer Portal

• It provides a real-time synchronization between the portal and Salesforce CRM. The data is saved even if you reset data while switching the CRM. So neither you nor your customer have to face any issue. 
• Fast and hassle-free exchange of information between CRM and the portal for customers to get a quick view to their profile and information.
• Enhanced engagement with notifications and emails for updates regarding queries.
• Easy drag and drop widgets to avoid writing codes for the owner to make custom lists and dashboards.

Limitations of the Salesforce Self-service Customer Portal

Here are some limitation of the Salesforce self service customer portal:

• Depending on the subscription you choose, you will get the limit on the number objects you can add on your portal.
• You would not be allowed to add more than that number of account portals to the Salesforce Customer portal. Also, you would not be allowed to add more than the assigned number of portal roles to the customer portal.

Conclusion

If you wish to give your customers a common ground to share problems, receive solutions, and exchange ideas then you must leverage the Salesforce self service customer portal. The automation and personalization feature helps customers solve their specific issues themselves or ask for help from experts if required. Thus, as a business owner, it is easier for you to streamline all their services and elevate the overall performance.