One of the main concerns of a new company is ensuring quality service to their clients. This allows for a longtime relationship and a good reputation.
This includes two main aspects: great customer support tools and a well-trained team to help clients. Basically, with good service practices, companies provide reliable information that onboards and keeps their client base satisfied.
To achieve that, it’s crucial to set up efficient customer service tools.
Why do you need dedicated customer service tools?
Most of the concerns business owners and managers face when organizing their customer support tools is actually having too many tools. The issue is that when team members have to split their time between tasks, they love valuable time.
With customer service tools, this is even more evident – for example, as they receive a customer service email, the agent has to open up a ticket, look for the solution on the knowledge database, gather information to send their client and write a response. This means more time goes by before the customer actually gets their answer.
For software developers, this delay can cause friction with users, leading to more dissatisfaction.
Another concern is that customer service teams might be overworked. This, combined with the multitude of tools, means that they won’t actually get to the new queries quick enough. That means even easy-to-fix problems get buried in their inbox.
The ideal scenario is implementing multiple customer service tools within one single system, which optimizes productivity and brings quicker solutions.
The main aspects of a customer service tool to look out for
But what are the features the customer support tools need to be useful for most company managers and service team leads? There are a few key things to look out for when choosing the correct software for your needs.
Shared inbox
One of the most time-wasting tasks in customer support, or any customer-facing role, for that matter, is that the point-of-contact might need to refer to another team member to help out. That is, when a ticket comes in and the agent doesn’t know the solution, they might have to reach out to another team member.
With traditional inboxes, that means forwarding and CC’ing the message to the other user, all while making sure everyone is in the loop about the developments. Using a shared inbox for customer support, on the other hand, allows all users to view incoming queries in real time.
Context for tasks
Similarly, the tickets need context to be useful. So, a good set of customer service tools includes features such as file uploads, comments, subtasks, deadlines and other add-ons that allow agents to fill out with what they need.
Collaboration
Along with shared inboxes, it’s important that your customer support tools allow for collaboration within the tasks. Assignments, tagging, labels and notifications are useful here. For example, when an agent is working on filing a software error, they might assign another team member to work on the response to the client.
Integrations
A key part of a functioning digital workspace is that tools can connect with each other. So your email client has to connect to your task management app. Your task management app has to connect with your customer support helpdesk. And your customer support tool has to connect to your email client. The list goes on.
But however many tools are required in your daily tasks, they have to be compatible to work together and make your tasks simpler and cleaner.
Automation
In customer support, there are recurring tasks. From software updates to FAQs, there’s a lot to work on. Which is why it’s key to include an automation feature when picking customer service tools.
You can set up auto-assignments to agents. You can add shared labels for different kinds of queries. Create automated responses to common questions. That way, your workflow will be more organized.
Tracking and reports
When customer support teams work better, customers see your company as reliable and useful for their needs. So keeping track of changes allows you to understand which problems your team is facing. Then, you can implement solutions before things go awry.
When picking between customer service tools, check if it includes reports and databases to map your team’s journey.
Turn Gmail into your Team’s Workspace.
- 2.5x faster email responses.
- 20 hours less spent per month, per team member.
- 40% more deadlines achieved and happier teams.
Top 10 customer support tools to help you delight customers
There are many customer service tools that can be useful for your needs. They include features such as ticketing system, chats, knowledge databases and collaboration tools. Here are our top picks:
Drag
Drag is a shared inbox software that works right in your Gmail inbox. By allowing users to access the same inbox in real time, Drag can help customer support teams enhance their productivity. It turns incoming emails into task cards as well.
It includes kanban board views, which allow agents to organize their tasks according to stages and add comments, files and subtasks to them. Drag includes assignments and notes, to make sure all information is ready when you need it – without changing tools. There’s a free version for teams up to 3 users and paid plans start at $8/user/month.
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a ticket system designed to convert omnichannel client interactions into tickets. When companies use Zoho, they can make sure that chats, social media interactions, phone calls and other channels are brought into the customer support tools.
Then, having all relevant data organized, agents can quickly solve issues and respond to customers. The plans start at $12/user/month.
Intercom
Intercom is an automated, quick to use customer service tool designed to speed up the work. It is a powerful add-on to create autoreplies, chatbots, proactive customer support and much more. By developing a functional, automated system for FAQs, agents can dedicate more time to harder concerns, all within the same platform.
The prices are flexible according to industry and company size.
Userlike
Userlike is a live chat customer service tool that connects business owners to their clients. The idea behind it is that you have a message center that unifies incoming queries, no matter where they are.
This allows customer support teams to respond to emails, WhatsApp, text messages, calls, website chatbots and much more, all in one of the most powerful customer support tools in terms of chat. Plans for teams start at $90/month.
TeamSupport
TeamSupport is one of the customer service tools that was developed for B2B communication. This means a focus on a different set of concerns. When dealing with other business, queries are lower in volume, but often require more complex solutions.
In short, this is a ticketing system with powerful analytics reports that enhances your work. With this tool, teams can prevent concerns, reply quickly, collaborate on solutions and pay closer attention to their clients. Paid plans start at $49/agent/month.
Tidio
Tidio is a highly customizable live chat tool. You can monitor and prioritize all incoming messages within the same platform, which avoids context-switching and enhances productivity.
Tidio is popular among ecommerce sellers, since it allows users to directly answer to customer questions and concerns, no matter which platform they’re on. There’s a free version, with limited resources. Paid plans start at $19/month.
Issuetrak
This is one of the customer service tools created to avoid miscommunication and delays. Issuetrak monitors your team’s activity and creates reports based on solved tickets. That way, you can keep up with the workflow and solve any potential issues quickly.
Issuetrak is a task management app that includes a ticketing system. Plans start at $69/agent/month.
Gladly
Gladly differs itself from other customer support tools due to being person-first support. That is, instead of focusing on specific tickets and concerns, it organizes queries by user.
When a customer interacts with the team, the software pulls all relevant data, such as notes from previous conversations, demographic data, buying habits and much more.
That way, instead of offering blanket statements, agents can offer solutions with the full picture available. Paid plans start at $150/month.
Sprinklr
Sprinklr is a user experience platform that allows companies to overview all points of contact with their clients. Based on social listening, it integrates fully with multiple channels, including social media.
That way, the customer support team can stay on top of any customer concerns and solve issues before they create a bigger hassle.
It’s also very useful to test new features and see the clients’ reactions, collect date for future solutions and much more, all in one platform. Plans start at $249/month.
TOPdesk
TOPdesk has been helping users develop their customer service system for 25 years. It works by organizing tasks by priority, which allows agents to focus on more complex concerns.
Besides that, it includes a knowledge database, where team members can add solutions to refer back to in future queries.
The plans work on a pay-as-you-go model, based on which features the company needs and the number of users.
Implementing customer service tools
In short, by using helpful and clear customer support tools, your team can avoid overwhelm and loss of productivity. That way, no task is left unfinished and customer left unanswered.
With a solid system working, your relationship with new and existing clients will go and help your company gain space within the industry.
Turn Gmail into your Team’s Workspace.
- 2.5x faster email responses.
- 20 hours less spent per month, per team member.
- 40% more deadlines achieved and happier teams.
