Four must-have remote customer support tools
What is currently in your company’s remote customer support toolbox? Perhaps you have invested in a software solution like Zendesk but have yet to explore beyond its basic features. Or, you have a Facebook page but no dedicated team members monitoring inquiries on the platform. Expensive resources are being wasted and support requests are going unseen. In response, your customer satisfaction scores are starting to drop and returns are piling up. To meet customers’ expectations for speed, efficiency, and quality, service teams need to have more than just phone and email.
In this article, we will discuss the four must-have remote customer support tools businesses need to satisfy customers.
1. Social Media for valuable customer data
Social media is a popular remote customer support channel because it is already well integrated into most customers’ lifestyles. It often offers faster replies than email, depending on how proactive the company’s service team is on social media. Therefore, it is important to have well-maintained social channels and a responsive support team.
Social media also holds additional value from the business end of things. Dedicated social media management tools like Hootsuite, or tools with social media integrations like Zendesk, provide valuable customer data. Hootsuite, for example, provides the ability to filter for analytics like popular keywords to get insights into customer preferences.
2. Video to get a clearer look at customer problems
Effective video call software has been available for years. The pandemic only pushed tools like Zoom or Google Meet to the fore. Customer service teams that have been using remote video tools are seeing an uptick in the need for these kinds of tools.
Support staff can resolve difficult problems without an on-site visit using video support tools that provide a clear visual of the issues for faster resolutions. Zoom and TeamViewer are popular options for their diverse and agile functionality with regard to customer support.
Take your service to the next level by employing a dedicated video support tool such as Viewabo, which offers app-free connection to customers’ mobile cameras along with on-screen annotations. Not only does it make life easier for support agents, but also it provides an innovative experience that is sure to make a good impression on your customers.
3. Knowledge bases to guide customers to their own answers
70% of customers say they expect a company to have a self-service portal or content available to them, according to Zendesk. This is where a knowledge base proves extremely valuable.
A knowledge base is an online collection of information curated by your company to enable customers to find solutions on their own. It might include content such as FAQs, tutorial videos, installation guides, and more.
However, a knowledge base is not an easy resource to maintain if your products are complicated or diverse. Software tools can inform your team when content is out-of-date or automate responses in other channels such as live chat.
Among the more well-received self-service software tools are FreshDesk, Gladly, and HelpJuice. HelpJuice, for example, offers features to increase content review efficiency, as well as design tools to keep things within your brand style guide.
4. Community forums to help customers help each other
For customers seeking self-resolution, a knowledge base is not the only tool for your company to consider. A community forum can add value to your brand that goes well beyond helping customers to fix problems.
A community forum is a message board where content comes from customers themselves. Imagine the positive effect on your brand and user experience of customers sharing knowledge about your products with each other!
Community forums should be integrated into your own website via software rather than published on third-party websites like Reddit. This allows you to moderate the conversation if needed and correct misunderstandings about your brand or product.
Dedicated community software to consider include Vanilla and Discourse.
Conclusion
The “remote” model is becoming a much more important factor for businesses to consider when evaluating tools for customer service. Evaluate what remote customer support tools you need most at this time in your business.
For a quickly growing e-commerce retailer, for example, tools like live chat and social media dashboards would be essential. Meanwhile, an IT brand would stand to strongly benefit from a video support tool or a knowledge base.
Picking the right remote customer support tools is essential to your service efficiency and to providing an experience that will have customers coming back to your brand.