What is Salesforce Customer Portal?

1. What is Salesforce  Customer Portal?      Before we start with the Salesforce customer portal, let’s                   explore all the types of Salesforce portals, their differences,                   and their use case.  Types of Salesforce Portals  Salesforce offers three types of portals that have different                   use cases:  1. - Partner Portal  2. - Self-service Portal 

2.   3. - Customer Portal  It is crucial that you pick one based on your requirement                       and which entities you want to manage. If it’s partners, then                       the partner portal should be your choice. Similarly, to                   manage customers you can either go with self-service portal                   or customer portal.  Let’s look at the difference between them.  Difference between Customer and Partner Portal  The key difference here is that a partner portal is useful for                         when you want to share business-level insights with your                   partners. Each partner can get only the required data                   without being able to access all of your organization’s                   private data.  Compared to this, a customer portal works as a platform for                       your customers to approach your business, and get support                   on their own from the portal.  In this blog, we are going to explore multiple aspects of the                         Salesforce customer portal. 

3.     What is Salesforce Customer Portal?  Customer   Portal   is   a   unified   platform   that provides     self-service support, a user interface and online support                 channels for customers.  How to Enable Salesforce Customer Portal?  You can follow the steps given below to enable the                     Salesforce Customer Portal.    1) From ​Setup​, enter Customer Portal Settings in the ​Quick Find box. Then select ​Customer Portal Settings or ​In Build​, click customize, select ​customer portal​, then click on Customer Portal Settings​.                                                          2) Click ​Edit​. 

4.     3) Select ​Enable Customer Portal​.  4) Click ​Save​.    5) This is the view of Customer Portal after enabling the                       same. From there, you can create a new portal by clicking                       on ‘New’ or edit an existing portal. 

5.     6) You can change portal fonts, color with the option                     Change Portal Fonts and Colors button, and use the Edit                     button to change the header, footer, etc. Click on Edit and                       change it. 

6.     Note:​ ​This feature available only in Salesforce Classic. 

7.   How to Enable Customer Portal for Contacts    1) From a contact detail page, click Manage External User,                     and then select Enable Customer User.      2) Verify the general information and locale settings, and                   enter any missing information. The customer’s Username               defaults to the customer’s email.  3) Select a portal user license. The user license that you                       choose determines the permission sets, user profile type,                 and role hierarchy options which you can select for the                     user. See ​Customer Portal User Licenses​. 

9.   4) Click on save to save the settings it.  5) Go back to the Contact Detail page and click Manage                       External User and select login to Portal as User.    After performing all the steps, this is how the Salesforce                     Customer Portal will look like.   

10.     Salesforce Customer Portal Features  - User interface  - Salesforce CRM content  - Custom objects and Tabs  - Multiple User profile and Record types  - Account Role hierarchy and sharing  - Branding and style configuration       

11.   1) User interface  In the salesforce customer portal, there are user interface                   features like search, quick solution identification, creating               cases, reports, etc.    2) Salesforce CRM content  Through   this   Salesforce   CRM   content   feature,   your   customers can access any product document and you can                   share relevant content with customers as well. It also has                     features like sharing, subscription and commenting.    3) Custom objects and tabs  You can create custom objects and tabs in the customer                     portal and share the same with your customers. These                   objects and tabs help you implement your business logic                   throughout the portal.       

12.   4) Multiple user profiles & record types  A feature to create multiple user-profiles and record types                   to help you provide some customized experience to your                   customers​.    5) Account role hierarchy and sharing  You can use three-level role hierarchy and sharing with                   your customers.    6) Branding and style configuration  Customizations in the home page, header, footer, colors,                 and fonts enables you to match the portal with your brand,                       therefore creating a synergy​.    Limitations of Salesforce Customer Portal:  The Salesforce customer portal is expensive if you put it at                       $1 per user, per month. It increases your customer retention                     cost. 

13.     Apart from cost, there is also a certain limitation when it                       comes to the number of accounts. You cannot have over a                       certain number of accounts, depending on the Salesforce                 edition you use.  But there are third-party solutions that you can use that to                       allow you to scale your customer base at a much more                       reasonable price point.  About CRMJetty:  CRMJetty is a hub of innovative customer relationship                 solutions. You can connect, collaborate, and engage with                 your customers smartly using our ready to integrate portal                   solutions   for   SuiteCRM,   Sugar   CRM,   Salesforce,   and   Dynamics CRM.  Gear up your business with our portals to drive new                     customer relationship intelligence!   

14.   Get Started Today    This Blog is Originally posted here;  https://www.crmjetty.com/blog/salesforce-customer-portal /