Picture this: you’ve got a top-of-the-line product, complete with all the bells and whistles. You’ve also got highly talented people to make and sell it by the hundreds. Sounds like the perfect formula, right? Not quite. You’re missing an essential factor in this equation—happy customers!

Of course, there’s a lot that goes into growing a business. But it surely isn’t possible without customers, from new prospects, repeat buyers, or long-time loyal brand advocates. And to help you ensure you provide the best support possible to your customers, you must find the best customer service software that can supercharge your operations.

Let’s discuss why great customer service matters. Plus, we’ll cover what to look for in customer service software.

Why great customer service matters

“The customer is always right.” This may be something you’ve heard one too many times. While this saying has some truth, it doesn’t quite go into specifics. Here are some new quotes explaining why great customer service matters:

“If you don’t care, your customer never will.” — Marlene Blaszczyk

Showing your customers respect and care will go a long way. When you’re customer-centric, you take the time to get to know your customers and learn about their pain points and preferences. These details inform your business decisions, from how you operate day-to-day to how you communicate with clients.

It’s important to always keep your customers at the top of your mind with any business move you make. Doing so will make them feel like you genuinely care about helping them get what they want and need. Showing them that you care enough about these details will most likely result in the feeling being mutual, meaning they’re more likely to pay attention to your brand.

“When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” — Robert Half

Every long-time and loyal customer starts off as a prospect. This means you should always prioritize a customer’s satisfaction regardless of where they are in the customer lifecycle. Providing top-tier customer service to someone who’s just heard of your brand is similar to making a good first impression. By letting them know you’re not just knowledgeable but also reliable and eager to help, you’re setting the foundation for a solid relationship. So, even before they make their first purchase, make sure to provide excellent customer service.

It’s also equally vital to care for your current clients, from those who just completed their first transaction to repeat and even inactive customers. Providing helpful tips and being available for aftersales inquiries show first-time customers that they made the right choice by spending their money on your products or services.

Ensuring your current customers are well-informed about your latest promotions and rewarding repeat purchases helps to strengthen the relationship. It makes customers know that you value their support, reinforcing brand loyalty.  

“Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” — James Cash Penny

It’s true that today’s business world offers various ways to promote your brand. There’s traditional marketing, such as TV commercials, newspaper ads, and billboards. You can even go offline by hosting product launches and attending relevant conventions. There are also relatively newer options, such as influencer marketing, Google ads, and SEO. These are all excellent marketing options, but having customers as your brand ambassador is not only free but effective.

User-generated content (UGC) and good ‘ol word-of-mouth can be more organic ways to promote your brand. This can only come off as authentic when the people promoting are genuine fans of your products and services. And how do you make fans out of your customers? By treating your customers as the VIPs that they are.

“Good customer service costs less than bad customer service.” — Sally Gronow

Prevention is always better than cure. The same goes for customer service. Damage control and firefighting can be costly and stressful. This is why you must be able to address issues before they escalate.

You can avoid dissatisfaction by quickly resolving minor concerns and offering consistent support. Managing issues proactively allows you to reduce the chance of lost sales and negative reviews. It also helps minimize the damage to your brand’s reputation, which can be expensive to rebuild.

These ties foster trust and loyalty, giving your business more leeway and understanding when minor missteps occur. When they have issues or concerns, they know they can reach out to you to iron things out instead of posting about them online or complaining to their inner circles. A more customer-centric approach keeps customers happy and reduces churn, all while fostering long-term loyalty.

Hire a customer support virtual assistant (VA) to amp up customer service efforts without overshooting costs. Book a consultation call with our Sales Executives to find the right VA for you.

What to look for in a customer service management software

The best customer service software for small business owners may vary. But it helps to ensure your software has the following:

• Omnichannel support

Modern consumers prefer seamless interactions. They most likely use more than one device to communicate not just with their social contacts but with brands, too. Whether it’s through phone, email, live chat, or social media, you must look for a customer service program that allows you to effectively reach out to your target audience.

A software with omnichannel support offers convenience and speed, ensuring you’re available to your customers all the time whenever and wherever they are. It also allows you to continue conversations on different platforms, ensuring consistent, efficient, and smooth communication systems.

• Automation tools

To thrive in a fast-paced environment, you need to use tools that can help you pick up the pace without sacrificing quality. Make sure to look for customer service software that allows you to automate some of the more routine and tedious customer service functions.

Automation, when utilized well, saves you time and energy. It also makes working with your brand more pleasant and stress-free for your customers. An AI chatbot can help provide quick answers to customers, closing general support or low-priority tickets. This means human intervention would only be required for more high-level and complex customer service issues. By using AI chatbots to filter out tickets, you ensure you can allocate your time and focus on tickets that really need them.

Another automation feature you can look for in customer service software is an efficient ticketing system. This should further streamline your customer service efforts by categorizing and prioritizing customer issues. This ticketing system can automatically assign tickets to the right individuals or departments, reducing the likelihood of tickets getting bounced around from team to team.

• Analytics

In order to achieve continuous improvement, you need to equip yourself with the right information. Analytics and reporting capabilities help you gain valuable insights into what you do well, what you need to start doing, and what you need to improve on.

Your customer service software must support your quest for continuous improvement and growth. Look for software to help monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as response time, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction scores.

Your tool should be able to identify patterns or trends. For instance, gathering data on your response times can help you uncover opportunities within your operations. Slower response times may mean your current customer support team may be overwhelmed with the amount of tickets. Alternatively, it can open the discussion for the need for automation tools, such as chatbots or automated ticketing systems. These strategies help close routine and easy tickets, clearing up space for human customer service specialists to work on more complex tasks. 

• Customization

No cookie-cutter solution can address every business’ customer service needs. A one-size-fits-all may seem like a good idea at first. But as your business grows and evolves, so will the type of support you need. The right customer service software should be able to offer flexibility. It should have features that can adapt to various business sizes, models, and industries.

For example, you can use customizable automation features to ensure tickets go to the correct department or point person. Ticketing should be customizable, ensuring workflows make sense according to how your business operates at any given time. And when your business grows or undergoes a transformation, these customizable workflows can be easily adjusted. This feature ensures your customer service processes continue to run smoothly and efficiently, regardless of how your business evolves. Flexible software helps you stay agile, making scaling, refining, and adjusting as simple and seamless as possible.

Another feature that you should look for is custom reporting. It’s best to have a dashboard that best reflects and tracks the KPIs that are most relevant to what you’re trying to achieve. With flexible reporting options, the people in your team will have access to data that best supports their role. The real-time and accurate reports also facilitate better decision-making.

Need more help with your customer service efforts? Why not try customer service outsourcing? Book a free consultation call with our sales executives to get started.

Top 3 options for the best customer service software

• Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service tool designed to meet the customer service support needs of a wide range of businesses. It supports integration with various tools that your business would need to operate efficiently, from email marketing to project management tools.

Notable features

• Omnichannel support
• Organized ticketing system
• AI chatbot feature
• Robust reporting and KPI monitoring
• Integration capability with tools like Microsoft Teams and Mailchimp
• Zendesk team support
• 14-day free trial

Pricing

• Starts at $55/month per agent

• Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a cloud-based tool that’s great for those new to using customer service software. Its simple and user-friendly interface makes navigating the tool quick and easy. It has a free option for smaller teams, making it a good choice for owners who are on a tight budget but want to improve their customer support efforts.

Notable features

• Cloud-based
• Multi-channel support
• User-friendly
• Helpdesk AI
• Knowledge base for self-service
• 14-day free trial

Pricing

• Free option for up to 2 agents
• Paid plan starts at $15/month per agent

• Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is another cloud-based customer service software that offers omnichannel support. If your business is already using other Zoho suite tools, using Zoho Desk allows for more seamless operations and cross-functional collaboration.

Notable features

• Powerful ticketing system
• AI assistant (Zia)
• Option to integrate with other Zoho suite tools
• Easy customization (ticketing, workflows, etc.)
• Customer feedback collection tools
• Unified customer support
• Mobile app
• 15-day free trial

Pricing

• Starts at $14/month per user

Make the most out of your customer service tools with a customer support virtual assistant! Book a free call with the 20four7VA team to find the best VA for you.

Elevate your customer service with the right tools and remote support

Keeping customer satisfaction levels high is crucial for business success. In a highly competitive and fast-paced modern marketplace, it can be challenging to keep up, much less pull ahead of the competition. Fortunately, you also have modern tools at your disposal to help you provide the best customer service you can offer to your clients.

Whether you’re an eCommerce business owner or a CEO of a big organization, using the most suitable customer service software for you is the way to go. So, give these software options a try and find one that best fits your business needs.