Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way. The smart AI tools of today are getting better at handling a plethora of – what was once considered to be – ‘human-centric’ jobs such as handling customer service, data crunching, etc.
However, this intuitive technology cannot replace human intelligence that’s required for higher-level tasks (think: leadership, creative problem-solving, etc.) just yet.
💡 Read Media Monitoring: The Ultimate Guide
The need of the hour is to drive collaborative intelligence–one that utilizes the skills and brainpower of a human mind and the speed and scalability that AI-led software can bring to the table.
At the end of the day, the idea is to use humans and smart machines together so that each can improve their own potential as well as strength. This learning is particularly true for the customer service field.
In this blog, we will look at the top-5 types of customer service software that are making it easier in terms of assisting customers and driving more impactful outcomes.
Top-5 Types Of Customer Service Software That Are Transforming The CX Landscape
1. Media Monitoring For Real-Time Feedback
At the heart of purposeful CX lies the ability to capture real-time and valuable feedback.
Whether you wish to get to the ‘root’ of the customer issue or whether you’re on the lookout for meaningful suggestions to improve your service, a feedback monitoring software such as Determ can become an essential tool in your CX arsenal:
You might think that you don’t need yet another software to handle your everyday operations, especially the ones related to fields such as media, PR, etc., which are predominantly agent-driven. But think about it:
Is it humanly possible to keep track of every article, hashtag, or comment that mentions your brand name 24×7?
Is it possible for your CX team to keep track of customer feedback across multiple media channels such as Twitter, websites, blogs, forums, Facebook, and the like?
This is where a media monitoring tool shines. It offers real-time alerts to mentions and provides in-depth reports that help in analyzing how your brand is faring in the social media landscape.
Since you get access to critical data such as brand mentions, relevant hashtags, user comments, etc. in real-time, you don’t miss out on the ‘action’ and more importantly, your agents don’t have to mine for information.
Here’s an example of a online social monitoring tool that provides real-time customer insights:
This allows them to save time and effort and address your customer’s queries in a timely and efficient manner. This, in turn, can boost customer loyalty as well as user satisfaction.
Key takeaway:
Using a media monitoring tool allows your CX team to leverage scalability with speed and cater to customers quickly and satisfactorily. Your agents can save time and effort when it comes to social media monitoring and engages in ‘constructive’ social listening. The insights gained can further be used to plan and strategize marketing campaigns.
2. Co-Browse For The Ultimate Customer Support Experience
Customers today want quick, convenient, and, more importantly, accurate query resolution. In today’s digital era, where remote working has become the new norm, offering satisfactory customer service can be challenging. But what if we told you that you could offer the benefits of in-person support, virtually?
Take Acquire’s Co-Browse tool, which allows businesses to offer human support to their customer’s screen, quite literally:
Here’s how this works: Your human agent can view and interact with your customers’ browsers if they get stuck on a page and literally guide the way with visual cues. As you can imagine, this type of ‘hands-on’ software can save added effort on the agent’s part and resolve your customer’s queries within seconds.
Plus, it makes the conversation more interactive and humanizes the customer experience. Here’s another example of Acquire’s co-browsing software that offers real-time support and provides a meaningful solution to the customer’s problems:
Dufresne – a premier home furnishings retailer – used the co-browsing feature to “help bridge the gap” between the online and in-store customer experience and boost customer interactions by using customer agents to:
- Highlight product features
- Assist with payments on screen
- Draw attention to important product information, such as returns policies, terms and conditions, and furniture measurements
Key takeaway:
With the combination of the right tools, trained agents, and collaborative browsing, you can elevate your customer’s experience at the click of a button. Co-browsing software allows your brand to ‘show’ customers the solution (as opposed to simply telling them) and delivers a superior customer experience by literally guiding the customers out of troubled waters.
3. Knowledge Base For Empowering Customers To Self-Service
According to Mind Touch,”By 2020, 85% of customers will choose self-service first.”
No customer wants to wait if they have the option of resolving their queries themselves. This is where a knowledge base software such as Help Juice comes in handy:
A knowledge base software like Help Juice allows your brand to scale your customer support by building a self-service knowledge base that could include Frequently Asked Questions, useful “How-to” videos, etc.
Additionally, adding a knowledge base can give a boost to your SEO rankings on Google. At the end of the day, the idea is to offer customers all the information that they need at their fingertips, especially if most of your customers are always on-the-go.
You can also use an internal knowledge base to keep your agents updated on the latest developments through preferred communication channels such as Slack as shown below:
Using a knowledge base software internally can help collect, share, and access your team’s collective knowledge base instantly.
Key takeaway: Customers who prefer a more DIY approach will find this feature exceptionally useful. You should leverage a knowledge base software to empower your customers to solve problems instantly, flexibly, and enhance the overall user experience. Your users will not have to ‘wait’ to get help, they can simply navigate to the self-help topic and get all the help they need.
4. Customer Service Training Software For Keeping Your Agents Up-To-Date
Most customer service teams struggle with training their agents and keeping them updated as well as on the same page with respect to client communication, internal communication, changes in policies, and so on. After all, the CX landscape is dynamic and continually evolving.
A training software such as Lessonly can lend a helping hand in this regard:
The logic is simple. This kind of software solution allows you to build lessons within minutes as well as practice real-life customer interactions with the help of mock-tickets, chats, emails, phone calls, etc.
Here’s an example which demonstrates how you can share important best-practices with your team and provide them with the essential knowledge to upskill:
Additionally, your agents can practice on numerous issues and better prepare to tackle customer problems when it’s showtime:
As you can imagine, this kind of practical experience allows your CX agents to improve their own skills and deliver an exceptional customer experience. All in all, what you require is to pave the way for consistent, targeted training with the help of robust training software.
Long story short, the more your agents are trained, the better their service towards the customers will be.
Key takeaway: Leverage training-specific customer service software to empower, elevate, and expand your support team and create an army of confidant and knowledgeable agents.
5. Customer Community Software For Increased Customer Loyalty And Sales.
The world’s most established customer-obsessed companies are masters of building online communities where their customers can voice their concerns and opinions, in addition to feeling a sense of belonging and thriving among like-minded people.
Enter: Online community software such as Vanilla Forums:
But why create online communities in the first place? Here are three compelling reasons:
- Dynamic knowledge base: Your customers engage in open discussions and get instant solutions to their queries. This ultimately helps in deflecting support tickets from your contact centre, leading to cost savings.
- Increased customer satisfaction: The community can boost customer loyalty and engagement. Moreover, these forums act as a treasure trove of valuable customer-centric information. You can analyze the data to figure out your customer’s needs, motivations, pain-points, etc and leverage it to boost customer satisfaction. Sephora’s community “BeautyTalk” is an example worth mentioning which houses customer online reviews in addition to solving customer problems:
- Creation of a feedback loop: As mentioned earlier, online communities are a useful platform for customers to voice their concerns. Your brand can use this as a window of opportunity to address the queries and further improve the customer experience. Plus, integrating customer feedback will help make your customers feel special, valued, and heard (literally) by the brand – a win-win for everyone!
Key takeaway: To deliver a better community experience to your customers, and embrace a more collaborative approach towards customer support, go for an online community building software. This kind of software allows you to build a community of loyal fans who can cater to each other’s problems–leaving your agents to tend to more problem-solving, complex tasks and strategize with respect to marketing, sales, and of course, CX support.
Closing Thoughts
When it comes to delivering a stellar customer experience, brands need to leverage the capabilities of both humans as well as machines to rise above the competition.
By automating simple, routine tasks, your business can gain speed, scalability, and flexibility. This is where various kinds of customer service software come into play. So, do your homework and zero in on software that can augment your team’s skills as well as efforts.
Furthermore, your CX team can spend their valuable time and effort in catering to processes that need a human ‘touch,’ personalizing the customer experience, and converting customers who are still on-the-fence. Thoughts?