The Challenge

The client’s Salesforce Service Cloud implementation was hampered by several inefficiencies in its core Case Management process, resulting in wasted agent time, inaccurate reporting, and manual management overhead.

1. Duplicate Case Creation: The native Email-to-Case feature often failed to correctly thread email replies to the existing case record. Instead, each correspondence created a new, duplicate Case, forcing support agents to manually merge records, which was a significant drain on resources and led to inflated case counts.
2. Stagnant Cases & Skewed Metrics: Support agents lacked a way to designate that the case was waiting on the client to respond. Cases awaiting client input would sit in an “Open” status for long periods, artificially inflating Time-to-Close metrics. This forced managers, QA, and other reviewers to manually inspect aged cases in the queue and prompt Case Owners to resolve or close the tickets, adding significant overhead.

The Solution

A comprehensive overhaul of the Salesforce Case process was implemented, focusing on native platform features and robust automation to eliminate manual steps and improve data integrity.

How We Engineered the Solution

The solution involved a mix of strategic system configuration and the development of new declarative automation to deliver a reliable, automated Case Management process.

• Email Threading: The fix for duplicate cases was achieved by researching and implementing the correct native Salesforce feature: the modern email threading algorithm that relies on secure tokens rather than the outdated Reference ID (Ref ID).
• Case Lifecycle Automation: A new “Waiting on Client” status value was created. Automation was developed with the following logic:
  • Auto-Closure: A time-based trigger starts when the status is set to “Waiting on Client.” After 3 days, an email is sent to the client, and the case status is set to “Closed.”
  • Seamless Reopening: Conflicting legacy automation was disabled. A new automation was deployed to intercept incoming emails for cases in a “Closed” or “Waiting on Client” status. This automation instantly sets the status to “Working” and notifies the Case Owner, ensuring a rapid response.

Specific Roadblocks

The primary roadblocks involved overcoming the technical debt and limitations of the existing system:

1. Legacy Email Threading: The existing email-to-case setup was using the older Ref ID method, leading to the creation of duplicate cases. A strategic transition to the modern email token threading was required to ensure reliable, unique case identification.
2. Conflicting Business Logic in Legacy Automation: A legacy automation was programmed to create a new case upon client reply to a closed ticket. This design would be in direct conflict with the new solution, which required the case to be seamlessly reopened and have its history preserved after the new auto-closure process was implemented.

Results & Impact

The enhancement of the Case process delivered immediate improvements in efficiency, data integrity, and the overall client experience.

Operational Efficiency Gains

• 100% Reduction in Duplicate Case Creation: By implementing the New Email Threading Behavior, the need for agents to manually merge system-created duplicate cases was entirely eliminated, immediately freeing up significant time and resources.
• Accurate Case Aging Management: The introduction of the “Waiting on Client” status and the 3-day auto-closure feature prevents cases from sitting indefinitely in an open status. This stops the manual inflation of case aging metrics and ensures that resources are not wasted tracking cases that require no further internal action.

Client & Staff Experience

• Frictionless Client Experience: Clients now benefit from a truly seamless service experience. The automated closure acts as a reminder, helping accelerate case resolution and minimizing the overall time until final closure. Clients can resume service instantly by simply replying to the email, with no need to submit a new ticket.
• Improved Agent Efficiency: Support staff no longer waste time merging duplicates or managing stagnant cases. They can trust that any email received on a closed or stalled case will automatically reopen the original record, immediately update the status to “Working,” and notify them, eliminating the need for manual review or follow-up on stagnant cases.
• Clean Data Integrity: The solution eliminated the creation of separate case records for ongoing correspondence. This ensures that all client communication related to a single issue remains contained within one continuous Case record for clean long-term reporting and auditing.