The Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant certification is a credential developed for Salesforce professionals who have experience in implementing Service Cloud solutions on the Salesforce platform. Working experience of the product is important for this certification in particular as it’s designed specifically for professionals with knowledge of the implementation.

In the Service Cloud Consultant exam, there are 9 core topics covered. The key areas of service cloud have the highest weightings such as case management, service console, and designing an overall service cloud solution, so these areas must be focused on to do well on the exam.

A Salesforce professional looking to pursue a career working with the Service Cloud. Service Cloud knowledge is useful for any professional involved in implementation. This makes this particular certification handy for anyone looking to improve their overall Salesforce skills. That being said, it is recommended to have an existing working knowledge of the Service Cloud with the process of becoming certified.

Once certified, the Service Cloud credential helps prove one’s ability to design and implement Service Cloud solutions across businesses considering their unique requirements.

This qualification is an important stepping stone to becoming a Salesforce expert. Not only will this certification help deliver a better implementation of the Service Cloud solution, which in turn heightens an organization’s performance, but it will also add value to a professional’s Salesforce career in the long run. Research also shows being certified can increase earnings potential. It’s also an asset to anyone progressing within an existing Salesforce role and looking for a solid justification for an increase in salary.

The exam-takers should consider taking this certification exam when they are familiar with Service Cloud implementation and functionality and have been working as a Salesforce Administrator or equivalent.

Before becoming a certified Service Cloud consultant, one must first complete his or her Salesforce Administrator certification and have the core knowledge expected of a working Admin. This is the only concrete prerequisite for completing this exam.

The following are the core topic areas of the Salesforce Service Cloud certification and what exam takers are expected to know:

This topic requires exam takers to have an understanding of how a contact center operates and how the Service Cloud tools and features can help boost contact center operations. Test takers are expected to have a solid understanding of different interaction channels and an in-depth knowledge of any challenges surrounding contact centers, factors that influence key contact center metrics, KPIs, and business challenges, and the benefits of a knowledge base.

As previously mentioned, implementation knowledge is crucial to get through the Service Cloud certification exam. Through a given scenario, the test takers should be able to know how to facilitate a consulting engagement plan and suitable contact center licensing and deployment strategies. Different change management tools are also covered in this section of the Focus on Force materials.

Service Cloud Solution Design is one of the most critical topic areas in the exam. In this section, the exam taker’s ability to analyze customer requirements and advise on appropriate solution design tactics including thinking about capabilities, limitations, and design trade-offs are tested. Good knowledge of third-party applications and custom application development is key. Working with the Service Cloud, test takers are expected to know how to decide on the best for different organizations and describe the user experience requirements that can be solved by the Salesforce Console for Service.

This section covers more specific details on the implementation of Salesforce Knowledge. Some of the topics that test takers should be aware of are the Knowledge lifecycle phases, Knowledge adoption, maintenance, and article migration from Classic Knowledge or external knowledge base to Lightning Experience. It is also important to know the factors to consider when designing a Knowledge data migration strategy. Furthermore, should be able to grasp how to configure data categories, article types, and publishing workflow.

Service Cloud provides multiple customer interaction channels such as the Experience Cloud Sites, mobile, phone, email, web, chat, and social media. Test takers should be able to describe the use cases and functionality for each interaction channel. In addition, they are expected to identify differences between available email-to-case and web-to-case solutions, explaining how to configure each successfully.

One of the widely used contact center channels is the phone. The Service Cloud supports telephony integration and it is an important feature that test takers must be aware of. Being able to confidently explain the Open CTI features, architecture, and implications is crucial. In general, test takers should have the capacity to think through different design considerations, including user interface, sharing model, and reporting to name a few, and their best practice when configuring an interaction channel solution.

Cases are a core aspect of the Service Cloud and certified Service Cloud consultants need to be able to design a case management solution from beginning to end (creation to disposition), being able to qualify the design against KPIs.

For this reason, aspiring consultants need to have a good idea of relationships between cases and other areas such as assets, entitlements, and Communities.

Other aspects of case management test takers need to understand include awareness of use cases for Chatter and Case Feed, knowing how to configure service entitlements, capabilities and limitations of Visual Workflow (in relation to case management), and capabilities for managing cases using social media.

A part of the Service Cloud consultant certification requires understanding on how to properly advise on reporting solutions. Different report types and dashboards must be configured to meet the needs of different stakeholders in a business. As an aspiring consultant, test takers are expected to understand how to design appropriate and insightful reports and dashboards.

As a certified Salesforce Service Cloud professional, test takers should be able to analyze the implications and design considerations of large data and transaction volumes. Although integration involves developer tasks, consultants must still demonstrate conceptual understanding and the ability to explain use cases and considerations seen in contact center integration patterns.

The exam can be hosted at the closest onsite test center or online. Online examination requires a webcam and does demand some preparation for the computer. Booking for an onsite proctored exam will need to be at least 72-hour in advance, however, it is recommended to book much further in advance to allow more time for preparation. An online proctored exam can be booked and taken on the same day (excluding public holidays).

It is important to map out the path to completing this certification against the test taker’s own schedule to ensure enough time to properly study. It is recommended to use a blend of learning materials to increase the chance of passing on first take.

The amount of hours needed to study is really dependent on the level of experience, personal learning style, and the types of accessible review materials. A good technique to assess this is by taking a practice exam for the Service Cloud certification. This is a very low-cost way to help determine the test taker’s readiness for the full exam.

After setting up a personal timeline, the test taker could freely book the exam. This gives a concrete date to work towards and will boost motivation for consistent study time.

One of the guides for this certification is the official study guide produced by Salesforce. It is imperative to get familiar with this before even beginning to think about the exam.

More often than not, people looking to get certified will need a blend of learning materials to successfully pass. After reading the official guide, it is also best to complete the Service Cloud Trailhead module for a more hands-on practice. The module is fairly basic and test takers definitely need some more advanced materials to properly prepare for the exam. The Focus on Force Service Cloud Study Guide and Service Cloud Practice Exams can fill that gap.

The Focus on Force study guide materials allow test takers to explore each topic area in great depth, allowing them to go into the final exam with more confidence. Partnering those with practice exams can really help gauge one’s learning development throughout the study period.


The Focus on Force team is more than happy to answer any questions aspiring Service Clouds may have about obtaining Salesforce certifications. A full range of study materials which help thousands of Salesforce experts verify their knowledge every year is available on the website.

Once you’ve got a good idea of if the Service Cloud certification is right for you, what you need to do to prepare, the topics you’ll need to have a solid grasp for, and how you can study, you’re ready to become Salesforce certified!

You can register for the official certification exam through Kryterion’s online portal at a cost of $200 (USD), with a retake fee, should you require it, of $100 (USD).

If you’re curious about the Salesforce certification process, take a look at our guide to becoming certified.

We’re more than happy to answer any questions you may have about obtaining your Salesforce certifications so feel free to get in touch. Take a look at our full range of study materials which help thousands of Salesforce experts verify their knowledge every year.