Entitlement models for accounts, contacts, assets, and contracts
Key Takeaway
Pick the model that matches how customers get support. Entitlements only suits entitlements that have no renewal process or that come bundled with products. Entitlements + service contracts suits entitlements that customers buy separately and renew at the contract level. Entitlements + service contracts + contract line items suits orgs where Salesforce manages both support and service contracts.
Entitlements let support reps check whether a customer is eligible for support. In entitlement management, you choose one of three models, and the model decides what drives eligibility. Eligibility can come from accounts, contacts, or assets on their own, from those plus service contracts, or from service contracts with contract line items. The right model depends on how your customers get their support, how that support renews, and whether Salesforce manages the contracts.
What support eligibility can be based on
Support eligibility can be based on one type of record or on several.
| Based on | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| Accounts | Any contact on the account is eligible. |
| Contacts | Only specific contacts are eligible. |
| Assets | Specific purchased products are eligible. |
| Service contracts | Eligibility comes from a specific service contract. |
| Contract line items | Specific products covered by a service contract are eligible. |
Accounts are the simplest basis for eligibility, because reps check the account and every contact on it is covered. Contacts are narrower, because only the named contacts get support.
For example, imagine an account with five contacts, and two of those contacts are named contacts. With account-level eligibility, all five contacts get support. With contact-level eligibility, only the two named contacts get support.
Every entitlement must be associated with an account, even when reps decide eligibility at the contact or asset level.