Every business deals with customers, it wouldn’t be a business if it didn’t. And customers, surprisingly, always have complaints and queries. How the company handles these complaints and queries will either break them or make them. There are many customers who jump companies simply because of poor customer support. You don’t want to be abandoned by customers, so you should really take care of them. One way you could do that is to ensure that all the customer support requests you receive are properly handled. That would be hard if your system is manual and hands on. The development of help desk tools, has helped with properly answering all complaints and queries. Here are more benefits of using and help desk software and why it is finally time that you use one.
More Reliable Customer Support
According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, 89% of shoppers have abandoned their shopping from online stores because of poor customer service. That is almost all of your potential clients, so it is important to have a reliable customer support. That is definitely possible with a customer support software. Here are some reasons why this software is more reliable:
- Single point of communication. There is a single point of communication between departments. All forms of customer support requests like queries, assistance needs and complaints are all in one place. Makes it easier for your customer service representatives to handle all these requests because everything is centralized. The single point of communication makes handling customer requests more efficient. You cannot have this with other software or the old, manual way of doing things.
- Improved customer relationships. Because you are providing top quality support, the customer relationship is improved. Your agents are quicker to respond and because the information is readily available to them through the comprehensive database, the agents can provide quick answers and information. The social media users’ survey done by Nielsen-McKinsey reported that 33% of consumers prefer a quick response from customer representatives, even though the response is ineffective. If you can provide a quick and effective response, then all the better.
- Brand strengthening. If you can provide an outstanding customer support to your customers, they are likely to endorse you to their friends, acquaintances and family. This is the best form of advertisement, because you are getting an endorsement and a free review. It also helps to strengthen the brand of your company.
Streamlines Processes
When you use the manual way of dealing with customers, it eats up a lot of time. You would need to gather all requests received, prioritize them then send them to the agents who have knowledge of the specific requests. Other times, you just answer queries as they come. This is inefficient because the requests are not tagged and there are other requests that are time sensitive, like those involving the confidentiality of the customers. You would also lose customers if you are slow in responding to their queries. A study by Bain & Company revealed that consumers are four times more likely to go to the competitor if you cannot provide a good customer service, and not because your products are too expensive.
One thing clients look for is the speed of the response. When you use a help desk system, the process is faster. It is because what used to be complicated is simplified, allowing the customer support agents to handle the complaints faster and more efficiently. The software offers features that can streamline the process. Like auto assignment, this means that tickets received that requires an expert opinion will automatically go to the agents equipped to answer them. There will be no more time wasted looking for a specific person to answer a query. Another feature is the ticket management, where tickets received are already tagged depending on their priority and sent out to the agents to be responded to.
Efficient Tracking and Monitoring
An important and unique feature that the top customer support software has is the tracking function. It deals with monitoring the tickets received to know the current status of the all the customer requests and complaints. Here are some reasons this software is better than what you have been doing before:
- Because everything is tracked and monitored, it ensures that all the tickets and requests that you received are answered. This feature was put in place so that no clients will be forgotten.
- Because metrics and statistics are being tracked too, it is easier for the agents to evaluate themselves, to know if they have areas in their jobs that can be improved. Waiting time is also tracked to know if the recommended response times are being observed.
- The monitoring function of the software allows for a more transparent transaction. It will be seen which of the departments are getting the most complaints and with this the authority will know what actions to take and implement. They could put more agents in departments that are getting a lot more calls than the others.
Better Problem Solving
The problem with using manual and traditional customer support is that it is not efficient. Using a help desk solution provides a better problem solving technique for the agents. Not to mention you could earn more with it because according to a study done by Walker Info, consumers are willing to pay more just to have an excellent customer service experience. Here are some common problems with customer service that a customer support software can solve:
- Availability of information. When you use your old help desk which is done manually, there is always a risk of clients being ignored. Using this software will ensure that that will not happen because the tickets are all monitored. There is also collaboration within the whole company so that if you need information from a specific department, you wouldn’t have to get off your seat to get it from them. You can just contact them through the software and they will provide you with the necessary information. All information are available, so it is easy to access them.
- Able to handle large volumes of support requests. Your old help desk system probably can’t handle large volumes of incoming customer requests. This is because everything you do is done manually and a person can only do so much. Using the software will allow your company to handle more calls. There are times that many calls are over the same thing, using the software can help solve the problem. This is because there is collaboration in the company. If the problem is something with the product you are selling, for example: an application, the IT department can quickly have access to the problem thus informing them of what needs to be solved.
- Time saver. Because everything is automated, nothing needs to be done manually. And this saves a lot of time. The prioritization of the problem is done automatically by the system. The assignment is given automatically to the agent able to handle them best. The database is readily available in case you have to do a little bit of research for the problem you are solving. Overall, the resolution time is faster allowing the agents to handle more requests at a time.
Quality Improvement
In addition to better problem solving, the quality of the customer service is also increased. What customers ask for when dealing with customer service representatives is that they be quick to respond and be able to solve the problem or query. Both of these are possible when using help desk. Using the software quickens response time with all the top notch features of the software. The solutions are also found effective and useful because it is already in the database tagged as effective. The agents are also happy because, the software has somehow made their jobs easier.
Other than quality improvement, increase in profit can also be seen when using the top customer support software, because processes are streamlined, projects are always on track. And customers are increasing because they are satisfied with the customer service. If you want to know which the best is, read reviews of help desk software. They are available in many review sites.
Strengthen Image
Response from customer support agents often contain logos, headers and slogans of the company. Because of this the company brand is seen whenever someone sends a ticket. If you get a lot of tickets, don’t despair because it means that your image can be strengthened through the company symbols shown every time you send a response to the client. If you are looking to strengthen the company’s image more, get yourself a help desk software. Read customer support software reviews to know which will suit your business.
It’s time to get rid of the old and make use of the new. In terms of customer support that means using a help desk software to manage day to day customer requests and tickets. If you are still not convinced, read the benefits mentioned above again.
Still searching for the best help desk software? Be sure to read the reviews at CrowdReviews.com to know more about the different companies offering this product.
Trevor Price
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