The annual revenue for Salesforce reached 31 billion U.S. dollars for the year 2023. If you are planning to implement Salesforce, you might wonder how Sales Cloud and Service Cloud are different from each other? Do they have any common features, Read on to find out.
Salesforce Sales Cloud and Salesforce Service Cloud are reasonably different from one another.
While the Sales Cloud focuses on the sales and marketing process, the Service Cloud aims at enhancing the customer service experience by gathering data and analytics. Nevertheless, both are a part of the world’s # 1 CRM platform, the Salesforce, and thus the end goal remains the same, to offer better insight of the needs of the customers and in-turn higher ROI figures for the business.
Well businesses, need both better customer experience and ROI. So can these two clouds be implemented together? Yes, the two can be used together unquestionably, in fact, companies usually club all the offerings (like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Commerce Cloud etc.) from Salesforce as their business scales! Let us focus on some key differences between, Salesforce Sales Cloud and Salesforce Service Cloud.
Key Differences In Salesforce Sales Cloud and Salesforce Service Cloud
The primary difference between the two is that the Sales Cloud is geared towards the sales and marketing process in a company, and focuses on leads, contacts, accounts, customers, quotes, etc.
The Service Cloud on the other hand shoulders the tedious task of customer support and services. It thus focuses more on accounts, contacts, cases, call center, public knowledge base, etc.
Next, when it comes to the purpose, the Sales Cloud main purpose is to improve the sales numbers by identifying and developing leads in a better manner. The main purpose of the Service Cloud is to understand the customers of the enterprise in a manner that is effective and efficient so that they are serviced better.
If we talk from a usage perspective, Sales Cloud is adopted by sales teams, their managers and reps. The Service Cloud is adopted by the customer support teams, their managers and reps.
Sales Cloud will usually use tools like Lead Management and Account Contact Management while the Service Cloud will usually use tools like Service Console, Account information, every raised case, its history, and present status.
When it comes to the channel of contact the Sales cloud usually offers only email support, while the Service cloud uses various mechanism like phone calls, emails, chat, communities etc.
Analytics in a Sales Cloud are mostly in the form of Reports Dashboards while those in the Service Cloud are mostly in the form of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of the service teams and individual reps.
Another differentiator is the automation process. In a Sales Cloud, the processes guide you on the next steps, create workflows and alerts at each milestone of the sales process. In a Service Cloud, the automation is done for email responses to customers, auto-field updates, and case assignments through Process Builder, Apex Triggers, and Workflow rules.
Below is a chart for comparison on the associated costs and features,
There is a point of similarity, which most industries need to focus on, that is the customer (when we talk from a Service Cloud perspective) and the lead (when we talk from a Sales Cloud perspective). Therefore, account management and case management are mostly the two main features that overlap in a Sales Cloud and Service Cloud.
On the other features, you need to decide what would suit your specific business needs better, and then decide if you want a Sales cloud first or a Service Cloud first, if you are not investing on both.
For example, if your company’s main focus (even if it is a short- term goal for just now to thrive and reach a breakeven without a burn), is better sales, then a Sales Cloud would feel an optimal choice. Automation of sales processes, management of leads and opportunities, accurate sales forecasting, and visibility into sales performance are just some of the benefits it provides to sales teams as they keep tabs on leads, prospects, and customer contacts.
However, if the USP (unique selling proposition), of your business is customer acquisition and retention, , then it is much likely that from day one you wish to convey that message to your target audience. In such a scenario, nothing would be handier than a Service Cloud. Its purpose is to aid customer care and support teams in automating service operations and gaining insight into customer service effectiveness as well as managing and tracking customer enquiries, cases, and interactions.
Nonetheless, it is always recommended to use both together, in case your finances allow that. This would enable you with a complete and holistic customer-centric experience along with better sales at the same time. Salesforce offers a bundle called Salesforce Sales+Service Cloud that includes both Sales Cloud and Service Cloud so that affording businesses can deploy them together. And if you are opting for the Essential package, the cost remains the same, so here’s the catch – never opt for a single cloud, either Service or Sales, if you will be buying the Essential package. It is priced the same as the Sales+Service cloud.
Conclusion
It can be said that irrespective of the size, the genre, or the model of your business, the goal is always the same – to grow the business and make more revenue. Customers are the focal point of this idea, and hence customer acquisition and services should be at priority for any enterprise. Salesforce Sales Cloud and Salesforce Service Cloud work as right and left hands in this endeavor. A little more investment in the beginning can save many thousand bucks down the line.
