Providing the best service through customer support systems

With the business landscape becoming ever more competitive, providing great customer service is integral to business success. Nowadays, consumers demand personalised support and quick resolutions – and this is where customer support systems come into play.

But how can you find the best system for your business? This page sheds light on the various tools and methods you can leverage to provide the best customer experience.

Books:

1. The Customer Support Handbook: How to Create the Ultimate Customer Experience for Your Brand by Sarah Hatter – This book covers the importance of engaging your customer support team with your product development, how to really measure customer happiness and why you should be investing in your support staff as your top rung employees.
2. The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi – This book offers insights into how companies can improve their customer service by implementing changes to reduce customer effort.

Articles:

1. How customer support and customer service work hand in hand by Zendesk – This article outlines the difference between customer support and customer service, and how they need to work collaboratively to provide the best experience for your customers.
2. A complete guide to the best customer service software by Zendesk – Zendesk’s guide covers the basics of customer support software and details about the top customer service tools, so you can find the right solution for your business.
3. 20 Customer Service Tech Tools It’s Definitely Worth Investing In by Forbes – 20 members of Forbes Technology Council share customer service tools – both internal and customer-facing as well as leading-edge and old-school – that can help businesses turn customers with questions into loyal fans.

Podcasts:

1. The Modern Customer Podcast by Blake Morgan – The Modern Customer Podcast offers a deep dive into the evolving behaviours, needs and expectations of today’s customers.
2. Conversations with Zendesk by Zendesk – This podcast covers the latest customer experience trends with the brightest minds across B2C and B2B brands, weighing in on everything from AI for customer service to best business practices for creating truly immersive customer journeys.
3. The Intuitive Customer Podcast by BeyondPhilosophy – Hosted by a customer experience thought leader and a consumer psychology professor, each episode is spent trying to break down an aspect of customer behaviour — and how businesses need to adapt to best serve them.

Tools:

1. Zendesk – Zendesk is a popular customer service platform that offers a suite of tools for customer support, including ticketing systems, live chat, knowledge base and customer self-service portals.
2. HubSpot Service Hub – HubSpot Service Hub is part of the HubSpot CRM platform. It offers tools for customer support and service management, including ticketing, live chat, knowledge base and customer feedback tools.
3. Freshdesk – A cloud-based customer support software, Freshdesk offers ticketing, knowledge base, live chat, and phone support capabilities. It also features automation, collaboration tools and multichannel support to streamline customer interactions.
4. Intercom – Intercom is a customer messaging platform allowing businesses to engage with customers through live chat, email, and in-app messages.
5. Help Scout – Help Scout is a help desk software designed specifically for small businesses and startups. It offers shared email inboxes, knowledge base management, and customer collaboration tools.
6. Salesforce Service Cloud – Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer service platform that provides tools to support with case management, knowledge base, live chat, social media support and more.

Customer service systems all vary, such as in pricing and features. So, it’s worth doing some research and trying out various tools until you find the right one for your business.