Upon entering a brick and mortar store, consumers are often greeted (hopefully) by friendly store associates who can provide them with assistance while they browse. There is no face-to-face interaction with eCommerce, but that doesn’t mean online businesses should cut corners when it comes to customer service. When it comes to eCommerce, it’s of utmost importance that the buyer experience is the best it possibly can be.
When it comes to finding the right tools to help you launch, manage, and scale your eCommerce customer support team, the process can seem almost overwhelming. It is a good thing, then, that these tools can help your customer experience team to better serve your customers, increase your reviews, and even help to boost referrals and overall sales.
1) Zendesk
In today’s world, Zendesk is almost synonymous with online customer service. Known for its customer service solution for every step of the customer journey, this product has been adopted by some of the biggest brands out there, such as Uber and Shopify.
Among the features of Zendesk are:
- An integrated ticketing system that allows you to manage customer tickets from a single dashboard
- It is possible to install a live chat application on your website, which would enable better customer feedback and give the opportunity to communicate with your customers at critical moments during the journey
- Ability to make calls from both landlines and mobile devices, as well as send text messages
- The Zendesk service also allows you to design your own custom knowledge base to make it easier for your customers to find the information they need, as well as provide its own CRM. It also provides you with easy-to-use analytics and reporting tools.
- You can integrate your Facebook Messenger account with your Zendesk service to generate tickets automatically and track them
2) Hubspot Service Hub
The Hubspot Service Hub is a customer support software solution that is a centralized one-stop shop that can be accessed from anywhere. You might be familiar with Hubspot as a marketing tool or resource.
Among its more important features are the following:
- Providing all team members with a team inbox where they can collaborate on projects and be aware of what’s going on at all times
- Automation of ticketing that turns all incoming emails into tickets that can be handled using templates or canned responses
- Customer support using a chatbot to answer routine queries
- Data collection and feedback from your customers will help you continuously improve your campaigns and customer service
- As a tip, Service Hub seamlessly integrates with all other Hubspot software so that you have access to a whole field of customer data from a single dashboard.
3) Freshdesk
In similar fashion to Zendesk, Freshdesk is also a popular and well-known customer service software.
Among the most notable features of the software are the following:
- With a ticketing system, you can integrate multiple channels such as social media, email, website inquiries, texts and calls into the process
- From a single location, you can access all of your customer inquiries
- The ability to create a knowledge base of your own
- The reporting process
- There are two versions of Freshdesk: the free, basic subscription that offers basic functionality, and the paid version that comes with a wide range of additional features. If you have a small business, then you may only be able to use the free version of this software. Therefore, consider your needs before purchasing this software.
4) LiveChat
LiveChat is a useful live chat tool that can be integrated into a website so that you can chat with customers. I am sure that you have seen the little chat bubble that appears in the bottom corner of many websites so that visitors can contact the customer service team. The ease of use of the web chat is excellent for customers, but it’s important to note that the customer service interface is equally easy to use and understand, so only limited training is needed.
To provide a personalized customer service experience for your customers, your customer service team can create individual profiles for each chat.
As a tip, you will be able to track the chats that lead to sales so that you can refine your pitches and sales approach by learning from the messaging used.
5) LiveAgent
Unlike the big players on the market, LiveAgent is made for smaller teams but don’t let that fool you: it provides all the features that you’d expect from a bigger player. It comes with an inbox for your team, live chat, and an integrated call feature.
This is what makes LiveAgent different from other Customer Service tools because it brings gamification to your team through the LiveAgent interface. By completing tasks, agents can earn points and rewards, making it feel like they’re on a quest rather than just picking up tickets at work. Additionally, you can choose how to reward your most successful members of the team based on their team ranking.
To foster employee satisfaction, which translates into a better customer experience, make customer support fun for your team.
6) SurveyMonkey
I am convinced that if you think customer service ends as soon as a sale is closed, you are missing out on an amazing opportunity to support your campaign as well as the success of your business.
SurveyMonkey offers a wide variety of survey templates that can be used to determine how your potential customers and leads feel about the business you run.
Thanks to its great analytical features and the fact that it provides access to a large amount of customer information, SurveyMonkey can help you make better business decisions by helping you analyze customer information.
It is easy to share SurveyMonkey’s data via email or social media and it is also able to provide you with analytic reports that help you understand large volumes of data.
7) Acquire
Acquire is another live chat tool with a twist: it allows your customer service representatives to share their desktops with your customers in real time, without forcing them to download a piece of software for the purpose. That’s neat, right?
By reducing communication time, this feature leads to a more streamlined solution which ultimately leads to a higher level of customer satisfaction. In addition to Audi and Samsung, Acquire is a trusted provider of online support to a number of well-known businesses.
Taking advantage of those screenshares, on both sides of the chat, fosters customer trust, so take advantage of it.
8) Salesforce Service Cloud
As a popular choice for customer support tools thanks to its wide range of features, Salesforce Service Cloud is powered by Artificial Intelligence and offers a variety of AI-based features.
- You can get detailed customer analytics that can help you improve customer experience by analyzing relevant, real-world data
- You will be able to make calls to a phone number directly from the tool itself and you will have access to specific customer data before making your call
- Support that is offered in multiple channels so that customers can choose the method of contact that is most convenient to them
- You will be able to access all your tickets in one place
- The desk software can be configured to connect with a variety of other tools in order to meet your needs.
9) Referral Candy
Referral Candy, a brand ambassador building software, is the ideal solution if you are looking for a way to stimulate your customer service team to build brand ambassadors. You will be able to offer your customers a custom link, which they can share with friends, family, or followers in exchange for a reward you choose to offer them, from discounts to limited-time deals and more.
Using easy-to-use technology you can convert your happy customers into ambassadors of your brand
In the end, you need to determine what your overall business goals are so that you can choose the right customer service tool at the end of the day. You don’t have to choose just one, and most of these tools offer a “trial before we buy” option for you to test the water without committing to anything in order to allow your team to find the most appropriate tool for their team, as well as for your customers.
If you use the right tool – or a combination of tools – you will be able to maximize the lifetime value of your customers, boost sales overall, and expand your customer base.