From Fragmented Service to Unified Global Support: Modernizing B2B Customer Service in Consumer Products

In the fast-evolving world of consumer products, B2B relationships with retailers, distributors, and professional clients are more critical than ever. Yet, many consumer products (CP) companies still operate with fragmented, regionally siloed customer service operations—relying on legacy platforms that hinder efficiency, visibility, and customer satisfaction. The imperative is clear: to remain competitive and deliver the experiences B2B clients now expect, CP organizations must modernize their customer service by consolidating processes and integrating data into a unified, global platform.

The Challenge: Disconnected Systems and Regional Silos

Historically, B2B customer service in CP firms has grown organically, with each region or business unit developing its own processes, tools, and data repositories. This patchwork approach leads to several persistent challenges:

Inefficient Workflows: Customer service representatives (CSRs) often juggle multiple systems to resolve a single case, resulting in slow response times and increased error rates.
Limited Visibility: Without a single source of truth, it’s difficult to gain a holistic view of B2B customers, their order histories, and service needs across regions.
Inconsistent Experiences: B2B clients—who increasingly expect seamless, digital-first service—encounter varying levels of support and self-service depending on geography.
High Cost to Serve: Maintaining and customizing legacy platforms across regions is resource-intensive and limits agility.

The Solution: A Unified Global Service Cloud

Leading CP organizations are overcoming these challenges by consolidating regional processes and integrating disparate systems into a single Salesforce Service Cloud instance. This approach, as demonstrated by global leaders in protective products and skincare, delivers a step-change in B2B service capability.

Key Elements of Transformation

System Integration: Leveraging robust integrations, all relevant customer, order, and product data is brought into a single platform. This eliminates the need for CSRs to log into multiple systems, streamlining case resolution and reducing manual effort.
Consolidated Global Processes: Regional variations in service workflows are harmonized, enabling consistent handling of cases, orders, and inquiries worldwide. This ensures that B2B customers receive a uniform, high-quality experience regardless of location.
Enhanced Self-Service: Modern platforms enable B2B clients to manage orders, track shipments, and access support resources through intuitive portals—reducing dependency on live agents and empowering customers to get what they need, when they need it.
Custom Capabilities: Features such as “order on behalf of” allow CSRs to seamlessly place or modify orders for clients, while integrated knowledge management ensures that both agents and customers have access to up-to-date information.

Real-World Impact: Lessons from the Field

A global innovator in premium protective products for electronic devices faced many of these challenges. Their legacy customer service platform was difficult to modify, required extensive custom development, and lacked reliability. By partnering with Publicis Sapient to implement Salesforce Service Cloud, they:

Deployed over 15 integrations to unify data and processes
Enabled agents to manage cases and calls within a single system
Eliminated the need for multiple logins and manual data entry
Launched a customized “order on behalf of” process for seamless service
Migrated legacy knowledge management into Service Cloud
Consolidated regional processes into a single global instance, creating one source of truth

The results were transformative: over 250 employees saw increased efficiency, with faster case resolution, fewer clicks, and optimized workflows. The business now benefits from improved customer interactions, speedier resolutions, and the agility to adapt as they grow.

Similarly, a global skincare company serving professional clients—such as dermatologists and spas—reimagined their B2B commerce and service experience. By unifying commerce and education platforms, they streamlined both customer and employee journeys, enhanced self-service, and achieved cost efficiencies of 30%. Automation and a renewed technical architecture enabled rapid, cost-effective scaling and empowered the organization to become a true strategic partner to their B2B customers.

The Benefits of a Unified Global View

360° Customer Insight: A single Service Cloud instance provides a comprehensive view of each B2B client, including order history, service interactions, and preferences—enabling proactive, personalized support.
Streamlined Operations: Standardized workflows and integrated data reduce manual effort, speed up case resolution, and lower the cost to serve.
Scalability and Agility: With a modern, cloud-based platform, CP companies can quickly adapt to new business requirements, onboard new regions or brands, and continuously innovate.
Empowered Customers: Enhanced self-service capabilities and consistent global experiences drive higher satisfaction and loyalty among B2B clients.

Steps to Achieving Unified Global Support

Assess the Current State: Map existing service processes, systems, and data silos across regions to identify pain points and opportunities for consolidation.
Define the Future-State Vision: Establish a clear vision for unified global service, including desired customer experiences, operational efficiencies, and technology requirements.
Integrate and Harmonize: Leverage robust integration tools to bring together customer, order, and product data. Standardize workflows while allowing for necessary local flexibility.
Enable Self-Service: Build intuitive portals and knowledge bases that empower B2B clients to manage their own needs, reducing dependency on live agents.
Drive Change Management: Engage stakeholders across regions, provide training, and foster a culture of continuous improvement to ensure adoption and long-term success.

Why Publicis Sapient?

Publicis Sapient brings deep expertise in digital business transformation for consumer products, with a proven track record of helping global brands modernize their B2B service operations. Our approach combines strategy, technology, and change management to deliver:

End-to-end integration of Salesforce Service Cloud and supporting systems
Harmonization of global processes with local flexibility
Custom solutions tailored to the unique needs of B2B relationships
Ongoing support and a roadmap for continuous innovation

Ready to Transform Your B2B Customer Service?

The future of B2B customer service in consumer products is unified, digital, and customer-centric. By consolidating legacy platforms and regional processes into a single, global Service Cloud instance, CP companies can unlock new levels of efficiency, insight, and customer satisfaction—positioning themselves as partners of choice for retailers, distributors, and professional clients worldwide.

Let Publicis Sapient help you chart your path to a unified global experience. Connect with us to learn how we can accelerate your transformation journey.