Case Management section consists of 15% of total score in the Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant certification exam, covering topics such as case management solution, case related objects and relationships, KPIs, service entitlements, milestones, Social Customer Service and etc. Without further ado, let's get into it!

NOTE: This post is written in May 2020 and content might be changed/updated overtime. The content is inspired by focusonforce.com.

Guideline for Case Management

• Given a set of requirements, design a case management solution from case creation to closure including case assignment, case escalation, case resolution, and case disposition.
• Describe the relationships between cases and other areas such as assets, entitlements, work orders, Communities, Live Agent, and Knowledge.
• Given a set of KPIs, determine the appropriate case management solution.
• Explain the capabilities, use cases, and how to configure the service entitlements and milestones in Salesforce.
• Explain the use cases, capabilities, and limitations of Service Cloud automation (Flow, process builder, quick actions, macros, quick text).
• Identify use cases and capabilities of Social Customer Service.

Case Management Solution

• Ways to create Case:
  • Manual case creation
  • Web-to-Case
  • Email-to-Case
  • Community (self-create, Question-to-Case)
  • Chat
  • Social Customer Service
• Case Assignment:
  
  • Case Assignment Rules can be set to assigned case to agents or queues.
    
    • You can also assign predefined case team automatically.
  • Multiple rule entries with order can be defined. If none of the rule entries matched with criteria, case will be assigned to default owner in Support Settings.
    
  • NOTE: You can create multiple rules, but only one rule can be active at a time.
  • NOTE: 'Accept' Button will only display on the list view page when a List View consists of records that are owned by queues. If the list is mixing with user records, then the button will not be available.
• Case Escalation:
  • Case Escalation Rules can be used to escalate cases when criteria is met.
    
  • You can define the criteria, specify the business hours as well as how escalation times are set when creating the Escalation Rule Entries:
    
    • When specifying business hours, you can specify the business hours, use business hours specified on the case or ignore business hours.
    • When specifying how escalation times are set, it can be:
      • when case is created - case will be escalated after the specified time period is over
      • when case is created, and disable after case is first modified - if case is modified, the escalation rule will be disabled
      • based on last modification time - escalation clock starts ticking when case is modified
  • Escalation Actions can be created and specify the time criteria, assignment and notification:
    
    • NOTE: The Age Over is specified in hours with interval of 0 minutes and 30 minutes.
    • You can add multiple Escalation Actions to the rule entry:
      
  • NOTE: Case Escalation will be in effect until the case is closed.
  • Case Escalations pending actions are placed in case escalation queue which can be found at Setup > Case Escalations:
    
  • NOTE: if the case record does not longer meet with defined criteria, it will not be removed automatically from the queue, unless the case is deleted or closed.
• Case Hierarchy:
  • View Case Hierarchy button can be added on the case detail record page layout in Salesforce Lightning:
    
  • Case Hierarchy Link will be displayed next to the Case Number field in Salesforce Classic:
    
• Case Support Settings:
  
  • Notify Default Case Owner - default owner or queue of case when assignment rules fail to locate
  • Keep the existing record type - choose how assignment rules are applied to manually created records
  • Override the existing record type with the assignee's default record type
  • Automated Case User - the user listed in Case History related list for automated case changes, such as assignment rules, escalation rules, on-demand email-to-case, and cases logged in Self-Service portal
  • Case Creation Template - template to notify contacts that a case has been created or updated for them
  • Case Assigned Template - template to notify your users a case has been assigned to them.
  • Case Close Template - template to notify contacts that a case has been closed
  • Customer Feedback Survey - survey to gather feedback after a case is closed. You must have Surveys enabled
  • New Cases Visible in Portal - should the newly created cases be visible in the portal?
  • Enable Case Comment Notification to Contacts - specify whether contacts who are not members of your Self-Service portal can be notified when a new comment is added to a case
    • Case Comment Template
  • Notify Case Owner of New Case Comments - notify case owner when a comment is added to a case.
  • Early Triggers Enabled - enable early triggers on escalation rules
    • Do not enable suggested solutions or articles - Use this setting to show the View Suggested Solutions or Find Articles button on case detail pages
    • Enable suggested solutions
    • Enable suggested articles
      • Internal App
      • Customer
      • Partner
• __
  
  • Send Case Notifications from System Address - specify that case comment, case attachment, and case assignment email notifications are sent from a system address. If you do not select this setting, case notifications will appear to be sent from the user or contact updating the case.
  • Notify Case Owners when Case Ownership Changes - automatically select the Send Notification Email checkbox on cases when users change a case owner to another user.
  • Show Closed Statuses in Case Status Field - include closed case statuses in the Case Status field on case edit pages. This lets users quickly close cases without clicking the Close Case button and updating information on the close case page layouts.
  • Hide Save & Close Button and Cls Links
  • Enable Case Feed Actions and Feed Items - turn on Case Feed-specific actions and feed items. When you select this option, existing cases are upgraded to the Case Feed user interface.
  • Size of Email Feed Item Body - the character limit of the email feed item body. Select a value in the drop-down list (Small = 400, Medium = 1200, Large = 5000), or select Custom and enter a value between 400 and 5000.
  • Blank Lines in Email Feed Item Body - remove blank lines in the body of email feed items to save space in Case Feed.
  • Collapse Previous Emails in Email Feed Item Body - show only the most recent email in the email feed item body. Users can click More to see previous emails in the thread.
  • Enable Default Email Templates or the Default Handler for Email Action - select an Apex class to load a default template or to specify the default target fields for the email action.
  • Enable Email Drafts - enable email draft functionality
  • Enable Question-to-Case in Salesforce - let moderators create cases from Chatter questions in your organization
  • Enable Question-to-Case in Communities - let moderators create cases from questions in all communities where Chatter Questions is enabled.
  • Create Auto-Response Record After Customer's First Email - by default, the auto-response email message record appears before the customer's first email. Select this option to create record after the customer's first email.
• __
  
  • Show Email Attachments in Case Attachments Related List - by default, email attachments aren't displayed in the case Attachments related list. Select this option to display an email icon in the case Attachments related list if the file was attached from an email. Also displays a Source column in the case Attachments related list's list view. (Salesforce Lightning only)
  • Enable Unread/Read on Compact Case Feed - if set, the title of unread feed items is bold (Salesforce Lightning only)

Case Related Objects and Relationships

• Assets
  • Assets can be used to store information that customer purchased, such as serial number, date of purchase, warranty and etc.
  • Asset Lookup field can be added on Case object with filter set to apply on case's account or contact.
• Communities
  • Customers can create case in the community and case comments can be added to the case as well.
  • Case Tab can be added on the community page for easier access to cases.
  • Case Feed can be used to access Chatter post with questions and messages, files, case emails, and read-only social posts if enabled.
  • Web-to-Case form can also be used to create case for guest users.
  • Question-to-Case can be enabled so that a Chatter question can be turned into a case.
• Entitlements
  • Entitlements can be used to determine the level of support for which the customer is eligible.
  • It helps tracking Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
  • Case can be created from Entitlement as well.
  • Entitlement Process can be used to set timelines and milestones to revolve a case.
  • Entitlement Lookup field EntitlementId can be added to Case page layout to allow support reps to add entitlement to case.
• Knowledge
  • Knowledge articles can be suggested when agent works on the case.
  • Articles that are related to case can be attached on the case, and also can be emailed to the contact related to case.
  • Articles can be created from case in Salesforce Classic.
  • Lightning Knowledge Limitations
• Chat
  • Chat (formerly Live Agent) is an out-of-box native web chat solution for Salesforce.
  • Case can be created from a Chat.
  • Files uploaded by customers are attached to the related case record.
  • Chat Transcript object stores several fields associated wit the chat.
• Work Orders
  • Work Order can be used to track tasks performed fro a product related to the case.
  • Work Order Related List can be added to the Case.
  • Each Work Order WorkOrder can have one or more Work Order Line Items WorkOrderLineItem.

Case Management KPIs

• List of KPIs for Case Management:

Title	Description
First Contact Resolution (FCR)	- Percentage of cases resolved in one response to customer - Improve knowledge articles and monitor cases resolved by FCR
Average Handle Time (AHT)	- Average time taken by support reps to resolve a case - Configure entitlements and milestones to enforce SLAs - Make use of case automation features such as case assignment rules, Omni-Channel routing and etc.
Initial Response Time	- Time taken by support rep to respond to a case after case creation. - Use warning milestone action before first response milestone is reached.
Time to Resolution	- Total time taken by support rep to resolve a case - Use case resolution milestone in entitlement process. - Monitor time taken to resolve a case.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)	- A score used to measure the customer's satisfaction level. - Use Salesforce Survey or AppExchange App for CSAT surveys.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)	- Percentage of customers who would recommend the company's products to others based on support experience - Utilize surveys for customer's overall service experience.
Customer Effort Score (CES)	- A measure of the amount of effort spent by customers when interacting with support reps - Increase agent proficiency at resolving cases through training and improving knowledge articles' quality.
Number of Closed Cases	- Total number of resolved cases - Create report/dashboard
Number of New Cases	- Total number of new cases submitted by customers - Create report/dashboard
Case Distribution	- Number of cases created per interaction channel - Create report/dashboard
Cost Per Case	- Average amount of resources spent on resolving a case - Use case automation features and knowledge articles to reduce cost per case.
Agent Productivity	- Time spent by support reps on productive tasks to resolve cases - Set up scheduling for activity
Case Escalation Rate	- Percentage of case escalated to next tier - Make use of entitlements and milestone actions for warning and violation of SLAs.

Service Entitlements and Milestones

• Entitlement Fields and Relationships:
  
  • AccountId (Master-Detail)
  • AssetId (Lookup - Asset)
  • BusinessHoursId (Lookup - Business Hours)
  • ContractLineItemId (Lookup - Contract Line Item)
  • SlaProcessId (Lookup - Entitlement Process)
  • ServiceContractId (Lookup - Service Contract)
  • Name (Text(255) - Entitlement Name)
  • StartDate (Date)
  • EndDate (Date)
  • Status (ineditable)
  • Type (Picklist) - The type of entitlement, such as Web or phone support
  • CasesPerEntitlement (Number(9,0)) - the total number of cases the entitlement supports, only available if IsPerIncident is true
  • RemainingCases (Number(9,0)) - the number of cases the entitlement can support. This field decreases in value by one each time a case is created with the entitlement, only available if IsPerIncident is true
  • IsPerIncident (Checkbox) - indicates whether the entitlement is limited to supporting a specific number of cases (true) or not (false)
    
• Models:

	Entitlements Only	Entitlements + Service Contracts	Entitlements + Service Contracts + Contract Line Items
Level	Simplest	Moderate	Complex
Eligibility	Determined by Account, Contact or Asset level	Determined by Service Contracts	Determined by Products covered in Service Contracts
Renewal	No renewal process	Renewed at contract level	Renewed for line items
Purchase	Entitlements are not purchased by customers	Entitlements are purchased by customers separately	Entitlements are purchased as line items under Service Contracts
Use Cases	- Verify whether contract is entitled for support - Entitlements are bundled with products as warranties - No need to manage customers' entitlements as part of Service Contracts - Entitlements are short terms and are managed independently	- Verify whether customer has a valid contract - Entitlements are purchased separately and are not part of the product but part of Service Contracts	- Verify whether product is entitled for support - Line items are used for warranties - Salesforce is used for customer support as well as managing Service Contracts

• Entitlements Life Cycle:

  1. Create Milestones
  2. Create Entitlement Process
  3. Add Milestones to Entitlement Process
  4. Add Workflow Actions to Milestones
  5. Apply Entitlement Process to Customers Entitlement
  6. Create Case from Entitlement

• Milestones

  • Milestones are required steps in an entitlement process.
  • Milestones usually represent service levels such as first response, suggested workaround, resolution, and etc. to be provided to customers.
  • Up to 10 milestones can be added to an Entitlement Process.
  • Milestones can be set to occur once or recur until the entitlement process exits.
    
    • Milestone Recurrence Types:
      • No Recurrence - Milestone only occurs once on the record
        • The Start Date is the time when the milestone criteria are met on the record.
        • Example: 'First Response', 'Resolution Time'
      • Independent - Milestone occurs whenever the milestone criteria match the record criteria
        • The Start Date is the time when the milestone criteria are met on the record, regardless of when the previous occurrence was completed.
        • Example: 'Response Time'
      • Sequential - Milestone occurs on repeat whenever the milestone criteria match the record criteria
        • For the first occurrence, the Start Date is the time when the milestone criteria are met on the case. For future occurrences:
          • The Start Date is the time when the milestone criteria are met on the record, as long as it's later than the previous occurrence's Target Date.
          • If an occurrence is completed before its Target Date and the milestone criteria are met on the record again, the next occurrence starts at the previous occurrence's Target Date.
          • If an occurrence is completed after its Target Date, the next occurrence's Start Date is the time when the milestone criteria are met on the record.
        • Example: 'Customer Contact Mode'
  • Milestone Actions includes task, email, field update, outbound message or existing action.
    • Success - actions are executed when a milestone is completed successfully
      
      • Example: send an email alert to case owner when case is completed
    • Warning - actions are executed when a milestone is near violation
      
      • Time Trigger can be set before Response Time (minutes, hours, days):
        
      • Example: create a new task 1 hour before target case resolution time.
    • Violation - actions are executed when a milestone is violated
      
      • Time Trigger can be set after Response Time (minutes, hours, days):
        
      • Example: escalate the case and send email alert if case has not been resolved in given time

• Entitlement Process

  • Entitlement Process defines the milestones that should be achieved as part of the support provided.
  • Entitlement Process defines the logic related to the enforcement of correct service level for customers.
  • Entry and exit criteria for cases can be specified for an Entitlement Process.
  • Entitlement Process:
    1. Case is created with Entitlement
    2. Entitlement is assigned with Entitlement Process
    3. Case enters Entitlement Process and Milestones are assigned
    4. Milestone Actions are fired
    5. Case exits Entitlement Process based on criteria or when the case is closed
  • Create Entitlement Process in Setup > Entitlement Processes:
    
  • View Active and Inactive Entitlement Processes:
    
  • Milestones are added to the Entitlement Process to ensure appropriate and timely resolution of cases:
    
  • You can choose the milestone that you created and set the time trigger (minutes) for which the milestone must be completed and the criteria a record must match for the milestone to apply to it.
    
  • NOTE: milestones start and end times are only accurate to minute. For example, suppose a milestone is triggered at 11:10:40 a.m. and the time to complete the milestone is 10 minutes. In this case, the milestone target time is 11:20:00 am, not 11:20:40. As a result, the remaining time for the agent to complete the milestone is 9 minutes and 20 seconds, not the full 10 minutes.
  • NOTE: the criteria defined in Milestone will not set auto complete when the criteria is not met, it will be disappeared on the screen only.

• Milestones and Case Milestones Components can be added on Case Record Page:
  

  • Milestone can be manually set as Completed.
    
  • NOTE: when the Milestone is completed, it will disappear from the list. Also, when the case is closed, the whole Case Milestone Related List will be disappeared as well.
  • NOTE: Milestone can be auto-complete via Apex for now.
    

• Entitlement Settings:
  

  • Enable Entitlement Versioning
    • NOTE: if you use Entitlement Versioning, make sure your entitlement is associated with the correct active version of Entitlement Process:
      
  • Limit the Asset lookup field to only return assets with:
    • Same account on the case
    • Same contact on the case
    • Active entitlements on the case's account
    • Active entitlements on the case's contact
  • Limit the Entitlement lookup field to only return entitlements with:
    • Active status
    • Same account on the case
    • Same asset on the case
    • Same contact on the case
  • Enable Milestone Feed Items - post to the feed when a milestone is completed or violated
  • Show the time remaining in actual hours, not business hours - Milestone Tracker shows upcoming and closed milestones, and display countdowns for active and overdue milestones in business hours by default. Check this option to use actual hours instead.
  • Enable stopped time and actual elapse time - Stopped Time field on milestones shows how long an agent has been blocked from completing a milestone. Actual Elapsed Time field shows how long it took to complete a milestone. Check this option to add these fields to milestone page layouts of any supported object.

• Entitlements ad Contract Line Items can be added to the Service Contract Record Page:
  

Service Cloud Automation Tools

• Flows

  • Flows can be used to guide users through different screens to collect and display information, create and update records, execute business logic based on user input.
  • Flows can also be set as Autolaunched Flow to run non-interative flows in the background.
  • Flow Builder Components:
    • Resources
      
      • Variable
      • Constant
      • Formula
      • Text Template
      • Choice
      • Record Choice Set
      • Picklist Choice Set
      • Stage
    • Elements
      
      • Interaction
        • Screen
        • Action
        • Subflow
      • Logic
        • Assignment
        • Decision
        • Loop
      • Data
        • Create Records
        • Update Records
        • Get Records
        • Delete Records
  • Ways to initiate a Flow:
    • Custom button
    • Custom link
    • Visualforce Page
    • Lightning Component
    • Apex
    • Process Builder
    • Custom tab
    • Flow URL
  • Things Flow can do:
    • Execute business logic
    • Call Apex class (invocable)
    • Call another Flow
    • Send emails
    • Display forms
    • CRUD on records
    • Run in background on events(Autolaunched Flow)
    • Pause Flow
    • Perform Actions (Quick Actions, Email Alerts, or Static Actions)
    • CRUD external object records
  • Currently supported inputs on Screen:
    
    
    
  • Flow Record Sharing Options:
    
    • User or System Context-Depends on How Flow is Launched
    • System Context with Sharing-Enforces Record-Level Access
    • NOTE: if chosen system context with sharing, the flow respects org-wide default settings, role hierarchies, sharing rules, manual sharing, teams and territories. But it doesn't respect object permissions, field-level access, or other permissions of the running user.
  • Flow Limitation:
    • Flow Builder cannot open flows installed from Managed Packages
    • Functions are not supported such as VLOOKUP, ISCHANGED and etc.
    • Flows are subject to per transaction governor limits, if exceeded, transaction will be rolled back.

• Process Builder

  • One of the best automation tool provided by Salesforce.
  • Process Builder can be triggered by:
    • Only when a record is created
    • Anytime a record is created or edited
  • Things Process Builder can do:
    • Call Apex class (invocable)
    • Send emails
    • Create a record
    • Update records
    • Launch Flow
    • Post to Chatter
    • Invoke Processes
    • Use Quick Actions
    • Submit for Approval
    • Manage Quip Documents
    • Send Custom Notification
    • Send Survey Invitation
  • Process Builder Limitation:
    • Cannot be used to delete record.
    • Cannot be used to update any record like Flow, only allow updating records that are related to the current record that started the process.
    • Limited to IF/THEN statements, cannot process too complex automation

• Quick Actions

  • Quick Actions can be used to perform tasks or access required information quickly.
  • Two types of Quick Actions:
    • Global Quick Action
      
      • Quick Action types:
        • Create a Record
        • Send Email
        • Log a Call
        • Custom Visualforce
        • Custom Canvas
        • Lightning Component
    • Object-specific Quick Action
      
      • Quick Action types:
        • Create a Record
        • Send Email
        • Log a Call
        • Custom Visualforce
        • Update a Record
        • Lightning Component
        • Flow
  • Quick Action Limitation:
    • External objects are not supported in Quick Action when the action involves features or functionality that are incompatible with external objects.
    • Flows are not supported in Global Quick Action.

• Macros

  • Macro can be used to automate common repetitive tasks, hence increasing agent productivity.
  • Macros can be set to share with users and public groups and organize in folders in Setup > Macro Settings:
    
  • Create folder and share with users:
    
    
  • Keyboard Shortcuts for Macros:
    
  • Steps to create and use Macros:
    1. Add Macro to the Utility Bar in Console.
       
    2. Click Create Macro button to create Macro:
       
    3. Edit instructions for Macro:
       
    4. Click Add Logic and make use of Add Condition and Add Group based on your needs:
       
    5. Click Add Instruction:
       
       • NOTE: there is very limited actions that you can perform with Macros. Seems to be a half-finished product.
    6. Run Macro!
       
       • You will see the checks when the action is completed.
         

• Quick Text

  • Quick Text can be used to insert predefined text quickly.
    
  • Quick Text Settings:
    
  • Quick text can be used in various channels, such as Email, Internal, Event, Task, Portal, Phone, and Knowledge (merge fields not available in Knowledge).
    
  • The Quick Text List View is different than objects. It is using the report style for the list:
    
  • Like Macros, Quick Text can be organized in a folder and share with users, groups, and roles.

• Actions & Recommendations:
  

  • Create new deployment:
    
  • Setup basics:
    
  • Select objects (up to 10 objects):
    
  • Select channel defaults:
    
    • Item can be selected and marked as Mandatory or Removable.
  • Select actions to add:
    
  • Set up recommendations (up to 4 recommendations):
    
    • NOTE: this feature must work along with Einstein Next Best Action to create strategies using Strategy Builder
  • Finish!
    
  • Now add the component on the object record page:
    
    • You can view the history as well:
      
    • Click Add button to add new Flow or Action on the fly:
      

Social Customer Service

• Social Customer Service:

  • Social Customer Service can be used to allow your support team to respond to customers on social networks and optionally create a case or lead.
  • Free Starter Pack:
    • Free Starter Pack can be used with 1 or 2 Facebook and Twitter social accounts without contacting Salesforce for free.
  • Social Studio Account:
    • Social Studio Account is needed if you need to connect more than 2 accounts and allow other social accounts, such as Youtube and Instagram.
  • Approvals for social posts can be enabled in Setup > Social Customer Service.
    • It can be used to ensure agents submit a response for approval before they are published.
  • Permissions are required to access to social accounts.
  • Social Publisher Action can be used to view and reply to social posts on Case or Lead.
    • Responses to post can be either public or private
      • Example: Reply, Reply with DM Prompt, Direct Message
  • Attachments on social posts can be viewed within Case Feed.
  • Knowledge articles can be shared in Customer Service, Chat, and Messaging conversations.

• Social Studio:

  • Social Studio can be used to listen, analyze, monitor and engage customers who raise their concerns on social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram and etc.
    • Twitter - See your company’s at-mentions, replies, and direct messages. You can reply, retweet, favorite, and follow from Salesforce, or click tweets to view and respond to them on Twitter.
    • Facebook - See your Facebook timeline in Salesforce. You can reply to and like posts from Salesforce, or click posts to view and respond to them on Facebook.
    • Instagram - See comments and replies on your company’s Instagram photos in Salesforce. You can send replies in Salesforce.
    • YouTube - See comments on your company’s videos in Salesforce. You can reply in Salesforce, or click comments to view and respond to them on YouTube. For more control over YouTube communications, you can hide replies from YouTube and only reply to your customer. When customers edit or delete their comments, Salesforce updates the social post accordingly.

• Social Business Rules:

  • Social Business Rules can be used to automate how inbound social content is processed and appears to support agents.
  • Case Subjects from social posts can be set:
    • Use the Social Post's Message
      • Example: '@123Support I forgot my password. Please help?'
    • Use the Social Post's Source
      • Example: 'TWEET FROM: Customer123'
    • Build Your Own Format
      • Example: '@123Support I forgot my password. Please help?'
  • Case Rules 'Apply case assignment rules to case routing' can be enabled to use rule-based routing on social cases.

• Social Studio Automate:

  • Social Studio Automate is a component of Social Studio which be used to define rules to determine posts to listen for, allowing case and contact creation based on social media mentions.
  • Source tags and semantic evaluation of social media posts to create and assign records.

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Well, this is the end of this post! What a long post but I hope it has been helpful to you, see you!

Post was published on 25 May 2020, last updated on 7 Jun 2020.

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