Agentforce blockers – How to try it out fast

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I’ve had a lot of conversations recently with people eager to try out an Agentforce Service Agent on the website, but worried about the bigger implications of needing to do a full upgrade of their Messaging channel.

Common scenarios

Do any of the below sound familiar? If so, then writing this blog post to share some ideas on our options based on what other companies have been trying out:

  1. Currently using Live Agent?
    • “We’re currently using Live Agent/Salesforce Chat, it’s a big implementation and a lot of change management to upgrade just now to use Messaging (MIAW), but that’s needed for us deploy an ASA.”
  2. Complex Einstein Bot already built
    • “We have an Einstein Bot that does a lot, and we don’t have time to move it all over”
  3. Using another Chat vendor
    • “We’re live on the website with another chat solution, but we want to use an Agentforce Agent”
  4. Don’t have a Chat team?
    • “We want to add an Agentforce Agent on, but we don’t currently have a Chat team or time to create one”

    1. Currently using Live Agent needs upgrading

    So you’re currently using Live Agent chat, but to deploy an Agentforce Agent you need to be using an Enhanced Messaging channel and that requires an upgrade.

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    Before I suggest some ways to handle it, it’s worth noting that Messaging for In-app and Web is a significant upgrade on the older Chat product, and there are some great guides online about how to set it up (including on this site). So this could be a good opportunity!

    But….a lot of companies with this challenge are finding creative ways to get live anyway.

    The key: Just deploy a separate chat button dedicated for an Agentforce experience, then upgrade the broader chat solution later.

    Creating a basic MIAW button takes less than 5 minutes, if the existing Chat button is just on a Contact Us page, why not add an Agentforce MIAW button on all of the other pages, and focus it to just Q&A as well as some topics and actions. It’s an easy way to get ROI first. Instead of allowing it to escalate to an Agent, perhaps have the ASA log a Case if needed and tell the customer somebody will get back to them, until the full upgrade has happened later.

    Another approach on the same theme, some companies have been testing it out just for a subset of customers, reducing the volume, reducing the risk, perhaps onboarding a smaller number of agents to handle the escalations alongside their Chats, while not distrupting the experience for most.

    2. Complex Einstein Bot to migrate

    This is a tricky one, teams have invested a lot of time in a Bot that’s handling perhaps 10 or 20 different Dialogs or problem types. While building an Agentforce Agent is really easy, it might take time to think through moving it all.

    Good news though: An Einstein Bot and an ASA can co-exist!

    Using an Einstein Bot as the gatekeeper, companies are slotting in ASA’s for specific dialogs, simply by using a Flow to transfer between them.

    Example: We’re a retailer, with a Bot that handles a half dozen different things, Store locator, Stock Check, Complaints, Orders, Returns, and more.

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    80% of Returns queries are just questions, with the another 15% being a simple return label generators, and something Agents . A perfect candidate for an ASA.

    Solution: Build an ASA with a Returns topic, that has access to the Knowledge base and an action for generating a return.
    Update the Einstein Bot Returns dialog to call an Omni Flow and transfer to the ASA when the customer goes in there.

    Perhaps give the Agents the same name so it’s not confusing to the customer!

    3. Using another Chat Vendor that’s already on the page

    At least one company I’ve met is in this trouble, they’re keen to try out an Agentforce Agent, but not using Salesforce for Messaging.

    While there’s an exciting BYO-C roadmap, similar to BYOT, with plans to work with partners on Agentforce integrations…and also this can be a good opportunity to evaluate a move…but that’s not always the best option.

    The good new though, this problem isn’t too different from number 1 above, and the solution similar.

    We don’t need to overhaul or replace the entire Chat experience to get an ASA live. Fire up a quick MIAW chat button, add it in other places on the site where an Ask Me Anything experience might be useful, perhaps with links to the Contact Us page if they need to speak to an Agent, or support for Case creation.

    4. Don’t have a Chat team

    A lot of companies want to try out an ASA on their website, but don’t have time just now to also create a team of Agents to handle the escalations.

    The good news though is that it doesn’t need to be a full chat deployment to get the most out of Agentforce Agent, just deploy it by itself.

    Two key reasons why this can work:

    1. Carefully selecting the use-cases, many companies are seeing incredible results of solving a customers problem without needing to escalate. Trick is just to make sure it has access to good knowledge content and actions
    2. There are alternative paths to handle escalation, like having the ASA create a Case for the customer, or giving them instructions on how to contact.

    It can still offer value for all of the customers whose problems it does solve (which is more and more as this technology grows!!!)