Salesforce Omni-Channel – A Beginner’s Guide

In today’s rapidly digitizing world, enterprises are in a relentless pursuit to cater to ever-evolving consumer expectations. The digital frontier has introduced numerous channels for consumers to interact with businesses. Ensuring a cohesive and integrated experience across these platforms has become pivotal. Introducing omni-channel communication.

In this detailed guide, you will gain insights into:

• Understand the concept of omni-channel communication and its significance in modern business.
• Learn about the intrinsic advantages that Salesforce offers when implementing an omni-channel approach, from a unified customer view to data-driven insights.
• A step-by-step guide to setting up the omni-channel function in Salesforce.

By diving into this guide, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to understand, appreciate, and potentially implement omni-channel communication strategies in your business, especially within the Salesforce ecosystem.

What is Omni-Channel?

Omni-channel is a versatile sales tactic that harmonizes various shopping modes at the consumer’s disposal. The omni-channel experience might encompass brick-and-mortar stores, online shopping, mobile app purchases, and even telephone sales, providing a unified and consistent experience no matter the platform. For instance, a customer could browse an item at a physical store, check its availability and pricing online, and finally make the purchase through a mobile app.

One of the crucial aspects of the omni-channel approach is the seamless integration of data and communication across these channels. With the help of advanced technology and tools, businesses can maintain a continuous and contextually aware dialogue with their customers, keeping track of their journey, preferences, and interactions over time.

Importance of Omni-Channel in Salesforce

Salesforce, a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, has been instrumental in helping businesses pivot towards an omni-channel strategy. With its sophisticated tools and features, Salesforce makes it possible to create a connected, unified customer journey across multiple platforms, thereby transforming the way businesses interact with their customers.

1. Unified Customer View

Salesforce’s omni-channel capabilities allow businesses to aggregate data from various channels into a single, holistic view of each customer. This unified view includes a complete history of the customer’s interactions with the company, irrespective of the channel. The unified view facilitates personalized customer engagement, as service agents can access the customer’s complete history and preferences at a glance. This leads to more effective interactions and increased customer satisfaction.

2. Intelligent Routing with Salesforce Service Cloud

One of Salesforce’s standout features is the Service Cloud, which utilizes omni-channel routing. This feature assigns customer queries to the most suitable agent based on predefined criteria such as agent expertise and availability, the nature of the query, and customer preference. The automatic and intelligent routing ensures that customers receive prompt and accurate responses, thereby enhancing the customer experience.

3. Channel-Neutral Approach

Salesforce’s omni-channel abilities guarantee consistent service quality, regardless of the consumer’s choice of channel. Whether a customer reaches out via social media, email, chat, or phone, they can expect a consistent and high-quality experience. This is a significant benefit in today’s digital age, where customers often switch between channels.

4. Data-Driven Insights

Salesforce’s omni-channel feature provides powerful analytics capabilities. The system can gather and interpret data from every customer interaction across different channels. These insights fuel decision-making processes and aid companies in refining their customer engagement plans. They can pinpoint trends, preferences, and challenges, which allows them to deliver more tailored and efficient services.

5. Increased Efficiency

The omni-channel functionality in Salesforce can significantly enhance operational efficiency. By automating routine tasks and routing queries to the right agents, Salesforce helps businesses optimize their resources, reduce response time, and increase overall productivity.

Implementing Omni-Channel Function in Salesforce

If you’re looking to leverage the omni-channel feature in your Salesforce platform, here are the step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Start the process by enabling Omni-Channel functionalities. You can do this from the Build section by following this path: Customize > Omni-Channel > Settings.

Step 2: The next step is to establish a Service Channel. Navigate your way to Customize > Omni Channel > Service Channels > New to do this.

Step 3: Populate the necessary information, such as the Service Channel name, API, and the Salesforce objects linked with the Service Channel. Hit the Save button when you’re done.

Please Note: Omni-Channel has the versatility to guide multiple kinds of objects and records. This encompasses Cases, Chats, SOS video calls, Knowledge articles, Social posts, Orders, Leads, and even Custom objects.

Step 4: Proceed to build a Routing Configuration by heading to Customize > Omni Channel > Routing Configurations > New.

Step 5: For this part, you’re required to furnish data such as the Routing Configuration name, Developer name, Priority order, Routing model, and either Units of Capacity or Percentage of Capacity (but not both). Click Save after entering these details.

Step 6: Now, connect this configuration to a Queue, as the Related Queues section is currently empty.

Step 7: To do this, navigate to Manage Users > Queues> New.

Step 8: Now assign a User and an Object for the Queue and choose the Routing Configuration to link with this queue.

Step 9: Go ahead and set up a Presence Status by navigating to Omni channel > Presence Statuses > New.

Step 10: Here, you’re tasked to provide the Status name, API name, Status Options, and select an appropriate Service Channel.

Step 11: If you need a Presence Configuration that incorporates different profiles and users, set up a new configuration at Customize > Omni-Channel > Presence Configurations > New.

Step 12: Salesforce, by default, has developed a Standard Presence Configuration. This can be implemented swiftly for the default profile by clicking the edit option.

Step 13: In this step, input a Presence Configuration Name and the agents’ capacity. Decide if the requests should be automatically accepted. Note that if you choose this option, the Allow Agents to Decline Requests option will be deactivated, and vice versa.

Step 14: You need to enable users’ access to Presence Statuses permission in Profiles by steering through Setup > Manage Users > Profiles.  

Step 15: Choose the Profile to which you wish to grant access for presence statuses. 

Step 16: Click edit on Enabled Service Presence Status Access. 

Step 17: Choose the Presence Status you want to embed in the Profile, then hit Save. 

Step 18: demands you to add the Omni-Channel Component into the Console, achievable by navigating to Build Section: Create –> Apps (Console App) and hitting Edit. 

Step 19: Under the Choose Console Component section, add Omni-Channel to Selected Items, then save your changes. 

Step 20: Get access to the Console App by directing yourself to the top right corner–next to Help & Training. 

Step 21: You’ll see the Omni channel box at the bottom right of the Console page. Click to open it and then select the status you’ve configured in Presence Status.

Step 22: As soon as a Case is linked to the Queue, it’s automatically directed to an agent by Omni–Channel. The request will appear on Omnibox.

Summing Up

Salesforce’s omni-channel feature is an essential tool for businesses aiming to deliver seamless customer experiences across various touchpoints. Implementing it within your organization might seem complicated at first glance, but with these condensed steps, you can set it up efficiently.

At saasguru, we stand firmly by the power of combined learning and working together. As such, we warmly invite you to become part of our lively Slack community. Here, passionate individuals – beginners, seasoned professionals, and Salesforce maestros – engage in enlightening discussions, share unique insights, and break down the latest in Salesforce.

If you’re looking for comprehensive training to prepare for the migration or simply to enhance your Salesforce skills, consider enrolling for saasguru’s Salesforce Training Bootcamp Program.

Also, consider signing up with saasguru for more Salesforce-related information.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the benefits of omni channel in Salesforce?

The benefits of ‘what is omni channel in Salesforce’ include a unified customer view, which aggregates data from various channels into a holistic customer profile. This leads to more personalized and effective customer interactions. Additionally, intelligent routing in Salesforce Service Cloud ensures queries are assigned to the most suitable agents, improving response accuracy and efficiency. Moreover, the channel-neutral approach guarantees consistent service quality across all communication channels. Lastly, the powerful analytics capabilities of Salesforce’s omni-channel feature enable businesses to gain data-driven insights, optimizing customer engagement strategies.

2. What is the difference between multichannel and omnichannel in Salesforce?

In Salesforce, the difference between multichannel and omni-channel communication lies in their integration and customer experience approach. Multichannel refers to the use of multiple channels (like email, chat, phone) for customer interaction without necessarily integrating these channels. In contrast, ‘what is omni channel in Salesforce’ represents a more integrated approach where customer interactions across all channels are seamlessly connected, providing a consistent and unified customer experience regardless of the channel used.

3. How to enable omni channel in Salesforce?

To enable omni-channel in Salesforce, you begin by activating the Omni-Channel functionalities in the setup. This involves navigating to Setup > Customize > Omni-Channel > Settings and enabling Omni-Channel. Subsequently, you need to configure service channels, routing configurations, queues, presence statuses, and assign users to these configurations. Each step ensures the efficient functioning of ‘what is omni channel in Salesforce’, aligning various customer interaction points into a cohesive system.

4. How to test omni channel in Salesforce?

Testing omni-channel in Salesforce involves ensuring that the routing and assignment of cases or interactions to agents function as intended. This can be done by creating test cases or interactions and observing how they are routed and managed in the Omni-Channel console. Ensure that the routing adheres to the predefined criteria such as agent availability and expertise. Additionally, test different channels to ensure consistency in the customer experience across all platforms.

5. How to add user to omni channel in Salesforce?

To add a user to omni-channel in Salesforce, you need to assign them to a queue that’s linked with an Omni-Channel routing configuration. This involves navigating to Setup > Manage Users > Users, selecting the user, and adding them to the relevant queue. Ensure that the user’s profile has the necessary permissions to access the Omni-Channel features. Additionally, you may need to assign appropriate Presence Statuses to these users, allowing them to manage their availability for receiving work items from Omni-Channel.