What can Chatter Customers see in Salesforce?

Chatter Customers have no visibility outside the specific Chatter groups they've been invited to; they can't see any other Salesforce data or records.

When is Chatter Customer a good fit?

Chatter Customers work well for scoped external collaboration, like inviting a client contact into a project-specific group without giving them broader portal access.

What's a better fit for larger-scale external collaboration?

Experience Cloud provides a more capable platform for larger-scale external collaboration with more features than Chatter Customer groups can offer.

Customers, Chatter

Core CRM🟡 Intermediate

Definition

Customers (Chatter) in Salesforce refers to external users who are invited to participate in specific Chatter groups without having a full Salesforce license. Chatter Customer users can post, comment, and share files within the groups they are invited to, but they cannot see any Salesforce data or records outside their designated groups. This feature allows controlled collaboration with external stakeholders.

Real-World Example

Consider a scenario where a CRM manager at Summit Group is working with Customers, Chatter to centralize important business data in one place. With Customers, Chatter configured to match their workflow, the team can quickly find relevant information, track changes over time, and generate reports that drive strategic decisions.

Why Customers, Chatter Matters

Chatter Customers are external users invited to participate in specific Chatter groups without needing a full Salesforce license. They can post messages, comment, share files, and collaborate within the groups they've been added to, but they have no visibility into any Salesforce data or records outside those groups. They don't see Accounts, Contacts, Cases, or any other CRM data. The feature enables controlled, scoped collaboration with external stakeholders like clients, vendors, or contractors.

Chatter Customers are useful when you need to collaborate with people outside your company on a specific topic but don't want to give them a full portal experience or a Salesforce license. For example, a project team might invite a client contact into a project-specific Chatter Customer group to share status updates and files, without exposing the client to any other Salesforce data. It's a narrower, lighter-weight alternative to Experience Cloud external users. Chatter Customers do count against certain licensing limits, so large-scale external collaboration typically moves to Experience Cloud instead.

How Organizations Use Customers, Chatter

•Summit Group — Invites key client contacts into project-specific Chatter Customer groups so the project team and client can collaborate on status updates without giving the client full portal access.
•NovaScale — Uses Chatter Customer groups to collaborate with vendors on active procurement work. The vendor sees only the group they've been invited to; no other Salesforce data is exposed.
•Vertex Global — Evaluated Chatter Customers versus Experience Cloud for a partner collaboration use case and chose Experience Cloud because they needed more than what Chatter Customers could offer.