Customer Support Software Featured Articles

Consumers have been empowered more than ever because of their ability to check on every aspect of a company’s operations. And because each segment can affect the company overall, organizations are making sure each interaction with their customer delivers a great experience. According to Software Advice, "Customer experience is the overall quality of all the interactions a consumer has with a company and its products and services." What this means is, nothing can be left to chance, because statistics have shown consumers will tell anywhere from seven to 20 other people about their experience, so it better be good.

In an article written by Robert C. Johnson on business2community.com, he provides ways organizations can deliver exceptional service. Johnson noted self-service tools such as knowledge bases and frequently asked question (FAQ) pages can be extremely helpful in delivering a great experience for the customer. However, he says they have to be delivered in a usable format to get results.

He also cites Software Advice, as the firm says, “self-service resources that are incomplete, unclear or do not answer the actual question can backfire, leaving customers even more frustrated and significantly degrading the overall customer experience.”

While the FAQ page and other knowledge base pages can provide valuable information customers find useful, there are also other ways to improve the customer experience. According to TeamSupport, the key is to get your customers having positive conversations about your organization. Because the number of people your customer can reach is not seven or even twenty, it could be thousands or even millions on social media.

Because we now operate in a technology driven environment, having the right customer service software can go a long way into bringing all the departments of a company together. This ensures everyone is on the same page when it comes time to providing great customer experience.

The five tools TeamSupport recommends are:

Mobile customer support – it benefits the consumer because of the accessibility it provides. With the adoption rate of smartphones at almost 80 percent in the U.S., it is a tool customers should be able to use to interact with companies. The benefit for companies is it lowers the demand for costly agent support.

Live chat – is one of the cheapest, fastest and easiest ways for customers to get in touch with your organization. This benefits the customer because they can get answers quickly without having to talk to a live agent. And a positive experience is one more good thing a customer will say about you. For the company it means it is cheaper than phone support and agents can handle multiple chats at the same time.

Self-service management – although Johnson also highlighted the benefits of self-service, according to TeamSupport, it must be complete, clear, and address the question accurately as well has having an effective way to measure the metrics. The benefit for the customer is quick access to information they need, and for the company it is to have support agents focus on higher level issues.

Social media support – social customer support can give companies real insight into how their customers feel. With the right software complaints can be converted into tickets and these tickets can be answered by support agents as soon as they are issued. This solutions gives customers the answers they need quickly and because it is automated it is less manual labor for the company.  

Omni-channel customer support – with a proven omni-channel system consumers are able to move from one channel to the next and agents will have full visibility into the customer history. However, a centralized customer support system is essential in order for it to work. For the customer it delivers a continuing narrative that doesn’t have to be repeated over and over. As for the company, having full visibility provides insights into customers that can be used to improve the products and services.

In the past great customer service was delivered in person when people visited brick and mortar stores. But online commerce and digital communications technology has changed how customer service is carried out. If companies don’t use the right software to bring the many different touchpoints in which consumers interact, it won’t be possible to deliver a great customer experience.