Top Customer Service Tools To Level Up Your Customer Support Experience

We’re in such a technologically advanced landscape in the business world, that providing a good level of customer service is more important than ever before. Customers are used to receiving excellent service because luxury providers and high-touch services are the norm – meaning that customer expectations are bigger than in the past.

Digital communication has been a factor in the increase in customers’ expectations of businesses – and that is due to the fact that AI and other digital technologies can communicate a lot quicker than before. Because of this, businesses need to adapt their service offerings to ensure that they stay ahead of the curve, and never fall behind.

In the past, you would measure customer experience based on resolving issues in a short amount of time, but in today’s world, the customer experience involves a lot more. The end goal for any business is to create a seamless, personalized experience that makes your brand memorable and your customers return.

Customer retention is a statistic that many brands try to improve, as returning customers typically bring more income than first-time ones. To do this, excellent customer experience and service must be combined to offer the very best in class.

Leveraging the right customer service tools is your answer to all this. Whether it may be outstanding support, or inbound customer service operations, by using specialized tools or brands to help with customer service, you can level up your support team to provide a high-class offering.

In this blog, we will be exploring all that there is in the world of customer service tools and how you as a business can transform your customer’s experience. By integrating specific tools like after-hours call centers or help desk software and taking actionable insights, you can make sure that you leave a lasting impression on all potential clients.

No matter whether you need after-hours support because you work around the globe, or customer experience and chatroom assistance – this guide will serve as your one-stop shop for all things customer service and support. Let’s take a look.

Simply reacting to a customer complaint is not enough to get your brand recognized for its exceptional service. We’re in a world of social media, and one dissatisfied customer can bring with it a plethora of negative reviews and statements regarding your business – so you have to get your customer experience offering right from the get-go.

Brands can rightly be damaged through social media due to the powerful voices of the customer, so a proactive approach is needed to bring a new class of CS tools.

Customer service and help desk solutions have been around for decades and were created in the early era of the World Wide Web – but technology has brought with it new and advanced versions.

Beyond the old-fashioned support ticket mentality of the past, we’ve now got multidimensional tools and help desks that are created to improve customer satisfaction.

The help desk is the cornerstone of every business around the world. It’s the first point of contact for both customers and employees who have any queries relating to a business. For instance, troubleshooting printers, needing laptop help, and much more – it’s always the help desk who is the life savior in these situations.

Besides keeping the company afloat, it is also the trailblazer behind a strong offering of customer experience and support. It centralizes all customer inquiries that come into the server, allowing the customer service team to collate the information and refer it back to the client.

It also covers troubleshooting issues for customers who may have questions relating to products or services that they have purchased. It is the hub for all issues and acts in an extremely systematic manner.

This level of technology must be incorporated by businesses that deal with either a large amount of staff or a huge customer base, as it prevents human error or issues from occurring in the overall experience.

This is worth noting for companies who don’t have help desks because according to HubSpot, 93% of customers are likely to return to companies who offer excellent customer service.

• Ticket management:
  Ever heard of a ticket system? Just like you’d pop to the grocery store and grab a ticket at the deli counter – ticketing systems have been around for decades. Help desks, however, make them a whole lot more automated and smoother for the customer.
  The ticket management system is completed by automatically creating and assigning tickets for customer queries and then organizing them in the correct place. They are then placed into a trackable support workflow, which human customer service agents then manage and relay back to the customer in real time.
• Multi-channel support:
  Help desks bridge together all channels of communication, making communications between a brand and client as seamless as possible.
  Whether that be email, chat, after-hours support, phone, or social media – a help desk can ensure accessibility to the client, allowing them to get a reply to their query. This creates a unified customer service experience, and therefore a positive review for the brand.
• Automation:
  One of the best parts of technological advances is most certainly the art of automation. Repetitive tasks that are hard for customer service agents to manage manually are now placed into the hands of an automated piece of technology – leaving personalized customer service to the humans.
  The automation covers status updating, ticket routing, and sorting of tickets – leaving your agents the time for all their complex tasks.
• Integrating knowledge:
  You can teach the help desk to refer back to a customer query with automated FAQs and easy-to-reach information. This helps customers find information independently, meaning answers to their questions are fulfilled in out-of-office hours.

Overall, by investing in a strong help desk software solution, you can enhance your inbound customer service issues and streamline support across the whole company. These sorts of tools are made for mass markets, proving that no matter how big you are, you can always churn out exceptional levels of customer experience.

Real-time customer support is the main reason that customer expectations are reaching new heights. Brands that offer live chat software are gaining an edge over their competitors because people can access real-time help from the comfort of their homes – no matter what time it is.

We’re in a digital age, which is exactly why customers expect immediate responses from their favorite brands, which means automation and live chatbots have had to collide.

The live chat software helps businesses provide real-time support, which makes customers happy with the super-fast response times. Whether it may be a member of customer support working throughout the day, or the newfound AI chatbots, no matter what kind of live chat is used, it’s a step in the right direction to getting a returning customer.

• Instant communication:
  Live chats offer real-time responses to queries and general advice – which in the long run cuts out waiting times in queues on the helpdesk.
• AI chatbots:
  As stated above, AI chatbots are a huge stepping stone in the world of technology, because they blend artificial intelligence with robust chat systems. These are used by brands that get the same questions repeatedly, which then frees up the customer support team for more urgent requests.
  For example, huge clothing retailers often get messages in regard to sizing, and in this case, AI chatbots can send size guides and more. Because of this, customer service teams can help with placing orders and complex issues that require more brain power and human intervention.
• Customer live tracking:
  Through live tracking, you can see the customer process on your webpage, and create personalized messages depending on where they are. This may include proactive support and pop-ups, or offering deals on what they’re looking at. It adds a touch of personalization to the shopping experience, which is otherwise missing in the online space.
• Multi-channel support:
  Live chats can blend other communication channels like social media, which makes the overall communication with the client far more seamless.
• Screen sharing:
  If a customer is struggling somewhere on your site, or needs help with what they are looking at – then live chats can see exactly where they are through a screen-sharing icon. This streamlines processes and leaves your customer happy to return to you due to your level of personalized support.

According to a study, around 73% of customers feel comfortable communicating with customer service via live chat – which proves that we are in a social-first world, that’s stepping away from the traditional methods of communication.

Live chat is the perfect way to help customers in their journey and ensure that they are happy with the overall experience. It makes sure that their process is engaging, and memorable – which is the main goal for any business.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology that is responsible for managing a company’s total interactions with either potential or current customers. CRM as a whole helps keep customers connected to your brand, streamline processes, and improve overall profitability for the company.

It analyzes data throughout the whole of the customer lifecycle and helps a brand improve its customer relationships. It offers a centralized platform for companies who need to keep up to date with their interactions and manage a load of leads for demand generation.

• Management of customer data:
  CRM platforms come in all shapes and sizes, and they are there to organize all customer information and details in a single place. This is then stored on a server so that the whole of the customer service team can access the data and act upon the customer’s requests.
• Sales integration:
  CRM platforms ensure that customer service can be connected with sales activities to offer a holistic view of customer interactions and a full-service collaboration throughout the organization.
• Personalization:
  CRM software can tailor interactions and offer personalized support to customers. This will improve the way that customers view the company, while making them feel important due to the personalization on offer.
• Analytics:
  A company can only strategize if data is involved, and luckily CRM software can get helpful insights into customer behavior. The server then has reporting features that offer a company a look into the way in which a customer behaves, which means tailored services can be produced for the end user.

That all sounds great. What’s next? Well, when businesses want to integrate high levels of data analysis into their CRM systems, they need to utilize advanced technology. For a company to leverage this kind of data, they can incorporate open source business intelligence tools to get the best possible benefits and value-added additions.

These types of tools offer robust analytics and deep dives into data-driven decisions – which all contribute to customer support and overall customer experience. By bridging CRM systems and open-source business intelligence tools, businesses will prosper in the long run and enhance their full-service offerings.

It’s a no-brainer that social media is shaping the way businesses interact with their customers. Instagram and TikTok, for example, are channels of in-depth social media marketing, where engagement is more important than ever for client happiness.

We’re at a point in the world where customers can now engage with a customer service specialist through their social media of choice. This will then make the customer happy (provided this is an easy interaction). Maintaining a positive business profile on social media will enhance your brand’s image and offer an up-to-date level of customer service.

• Monitoring:
  Social media allows a brand to track all mentions of its name across a variety of platforms. This helps you stay up to date with all issues before they escalate into a company’s worst nightmare – bad reviews.
• Engagement:
  It’s all about maintaining a high engagement rate which keeps your clients coming back for more. If you respond to a customer on Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok, and more with speed, you can streamline all interactions and help your customers straight away.
• Analytics:
  Measure the effectiveness of your social media efforts with detailed analytics and reporting. Understand engagement rates, sentiment analysis, and overall performance to refine your social media strategy.
• Scheduling posts:
  Though it isn’t related to customer service experience entirely, social media is a brilliant way for companies to grow regardless. You can schedule posts in advance to keep an online presence for your customers, who like to look for updates in real-time. This levels up their experience; instead of reaching out to their company of choice – they can receive updates without prompting.

It’s all well and good to provide expert customer service and responses that are as quick as possible – however, building on your brand is also important. Effective feedback collection helps identify areas for improvement, which in turn translates to customer satisfaction.

To do this, there are customer feedback tools that can measure the needs, preferences, and pain points of existing customers. These are truly important in improving your overall service provisions and driving business growth.

• Surveys:
  Above all else, surveys can be tailored to find out everything you need to know. This helps in getting structured feedback from customers. You can use NPS surveys, post-purchase surveys, and satisfaction surveys.
• Feedback forms:
  If you add a feedback form to your website, email, or app, you can gain real-time updates from your users, which helps in growing your brand based on customer demand.

At the end of the day, customer experience and the tools that help with this are all extremely important in spearheading a company. From social media to help desks, they are all truly important tools in helping a business prosper. If you’re looking for customer service or outsourced IT services, then we at 31West are here to help.