Running A Business

5 Best Software Tools for Customer Service

Sep 02, 2021 • 4 min read
Woman working in call center
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      Quality customer service has become more important than ever. In today’s economic landscape, customers have no shortage of options and substitutes—which often makes the buying experience more of a differentiator than the product or service you offer.

      According to a survey by Zendesk, 89% of customers say that a quick response from a company is important when deciding where to shop. Additionally, 47% of customers will remember a bad experience and change their buying behavior more than 2 years after it occurred. 

      If you are looking to improve your customer experience, turn to the tools on the web. There are software systems that can automate processes and keep customer data organized, allowing you to retain more clients and offer top-notch experiences. Here are a few top picks for customer service software brands.

      Zendesk 

      Zendesk stands out as one of the top customer care tools on the market. It is meant for small businesses and startups, but it can easily scale up to enterprise-level operations. With this solution, you can easily respond to customer queries and requests, keeping detailed records on what they need and who helped them.  

      When a customer calls or requests to chat, a profile will pop up with their previous interactions within the organization. You can see which other employees they talked to and how the problem was resolved. You can also assign priority tags to customers if their issues persist. 

      This is a 1-stop service for customer service management.  

      Salesforce Customer 360

      Salesforce is one of the most widely recognized names in customer service and brand management. Its Customer 360 model takes a comprehensive look at your customer from their first interaction with your business to any questions or complaints they have afterward. 

      Turn to the automated service cloud to learn more about their products. With this tool, you can provide customer care related to any channel. You can automate some customer care options and create a self-service option for your clients. You will also receive actionable insights to help each customer as well as opportunities to grow your brand with upsells or cross-sells. 

      If you like the service platform offered by Salesforce, you can expand to other tools that the company offers. This way, you can work with a single brand rather than signing up for multiple software services and apps.  

      ChatBot

      As its name suggests, ChatBot is a service that allows customers to ask questions and receive responses—even if you don’t have a human representative available. ChatBot is an artificial intelligence service that learns how to communicate with customers. 

      On the business end, you create logic charts so the bot can recognize keywords and offer relevant solutions—then the AI tool will use machine learning to glean information about your customers and brand. 

      With an AI tool connecting you with customers, your home representatives can spend more time addressing issues that the robot can’t. Plus, even if the AI system can’t solve the problem, it can identify the issue and move customers closer to a solution, which a human representative can then provide. 

      Bold360

      Modern customer service lives at the crossroads of technology and personalization. Customers want their problems solved quickly (which is where technology thrives), but they also want to be treated as individuals (which is where human help shines). The team at Bold360 believes that AI and customer agents can live together in harmony and team up for a positive customer experience. 

      This service brings in AI chatbots that use Natural Language Processing to read queries and create responses. These bots support your human representatives—and vice versa. Bold360 is available in more than 40 languages, which is ideal for companies that are expanding their global reach or companies that simply want to be more inclusive. 

      This app also provides analytics on the customer experience, allowing you to take steps to improve your workflow and customers’ perception of your brand. 

      Kustomer

      Kustomer is a high-volume system meant for businesses that have frequent calls and customer conversations. Its software services are meant to help a variety of industries, including retail, financial services, government, higher education, and travel.  

      Kustomer allows you to set up multiple channels to connect with clients. They can chat with you, send messages over social media, send emails, complete forms, and leave voicemails. You can even set up a customer service texting system. 

      This app provides actionable insights based on the conversations you have. For example, if a customer asks for a pricing quote, the system will pull a suggested answer for your team. This allows your representatives to spend less time looking and more time solving. 

      Find a Tool That Works for You 

      Every company has its own customer service issues. You might not need a 24/7 chat service powered by an AI system. Evaluate what your brand looks like with good customer service. Identify gaps or limits in the current services you offer. Finally, improve your offerings to meet these needs. This will help you to choose tools that are effective and beneficial to your customers. 

       

      About the author
      Derek Miller

      Derek Miller is the CMO of Smack Apparel, the content guru at Great.com, the co-founder of Lofty Llama, and a marketing consultant for small businesses. He specializes in entrepreneurship, small business, and digital marketing, and his work has been featured in sites like Entrepreneur, GoDaddy, Score.org, and StartupCamp.

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