Top 45 Customer Service Software (Jan 2023)

A Buyer's Guide to Customer Service Solutions

Customer Service Software Buyer’s Guide
 
Whenever you’re talking with a Customer Service Representative (CSR) for assistance or support, you will notice and there is a flow of discussion that this person from the other line wants to impose. And aside from their friendly tone (most of them), their line of questioning is somehow following a certain pattern or sequence. You probably know the reasons why a CSR wants that. Among others, their main objective is to actually provide the right solution or best possible advice to the inquiring customer. How it is being done is actually more than those patterns and flow. It extends up to the use of the so-called “Customer Service Software” or CSS.
 
Customer service software solution can be considered as a business application that manages the level of customer support rendered before, during and after the purchase or service is provided to a customer. It is also a software solution that helps the CSRs in documenting, routing, tracking, resolving and reporting on customer issues and concerns.  With the ultimate goal of resolving those issues at the fastest time and most efficient method possible, a platform often referred to as “trouble ticketing system” is in place. On this Buyer’s Guide, we from ITQlick.com will help you understand more the technology and concepts behind this business solution. Coupled with that is our goal of assisting you in finding the right CSS solution for your business.
 
Types
CSS solution comes in many types and forms depending on the size and kind of business that will use it, the preferred method of deployment, and the level of performance that it could deliver. CSS solutions can be categorized base on the following:
 
By deployment model, solutions are available as:

• Web-based
• On-premise
• Operating System (OS)
  • Windows-based
  • iPhone-iPad
  • Mac
  • Android
  • Linux
  • RIM-BlackBerry
• Open-source
• Mobile Application

 
By business size, CSS solutions packages are available for:

• Small Business
• Freelancers
• Mid Size Business
• Large Enterprises
• Non Profits
• Public Administrations

 
Understanding the benefits that a CSS solution can bring into your organization is a good starting point when searching for the right solution. The benefits are:
 

• increase the speed and efficiency of issue resolution
• help customers in looking for quick answers via thee self-service portals containing FAQ’s, guides, video tutorials, and forums
• offer better experience to customer through the multi-channel support tools that includes integrated phone, email, online support and social media platforms
• allow departments, sales reps and marketers to collaborate and share information through various communication tools
• provide key insights and analytics through reporting and time-tracking features
• electronically record customer interactions with agents and store personal customer information for easy access
• enables the creation of surveys and feedback forms for deeper insights

 
Features
When it comes to features, CSS solution has a lot to offer. However, a buyer like you should be very keen in knowing what these features are and what are their impacts to your customer service performance. When exploring the features available in a CSS solution, consider checking if the following can be provided:
 

• Increased accountability
• Improved coordination of accounts
• Better asset management
• Improved infrastructure scalability
• Reduced time required to resolve issues

 
A smart way of verifying what a certain feature can deliver is by availing the 30-days trial or freeware version of the CSS solution. As you know, there are many software providers that offer this kind of service agreement as part of their sales and marketing strategy. And when doing the simulation, try to confirm if the following features are available.
 

• Alerts
• CRM Integration
• Dashboard
• Email Support
• Email Notifications
• Group Collaboration
• Management Reporting
• Instant Messaging/Live Chat
• Multi-Language
• Real Time Monitoring/Reporting
• Call Routing
• SLA Management
• Knowledge Base
• Customer Self Service
• Multi-Channel Management
• Analytics

 
Solutions per Business Size, per Vendor
Every customer has different level of customer service requirement. Help Desk, for example, is designed to meet the technical requirements of customers in the IT field. Since customers turning to call center agencies want a certain level of satisfaction on the product or service they get, they are seeking for more honest recommendations and advice. In every occasion, companies in the customer service field must be confident that they are equipped with the right tools and methods that can help them deliver total customer satisfaction. Before buying a solution, it is highly recommended that a thorough assessment of the internal and external operational aspects of the buying organization must be conducted.
 
Here are some of the important points to consider during the assessment.
 

1. Confirm what type of customers are you really servicing – the nature of their business, industry they belong, language they speak, place they hang out, things they like and dislike, and the products they buy. Once you verify the real characteristics of the customer you want to provide a service or support with, the right software solution will be easier to pin point.

 

1. Check your internal environment. How many are your staffs that will use the software solution. What deployment model are they comfortable in using with. What aspects of the customer service is the team slow or slacking. If you know your strengths and weaknesses as a customer service provider, you will not encounter any difficulty in getting the right CSS solution for your company.

 
After undergoing with the assessment, more or less, you can already verify which of among of these types of buyers your company belongs.
 

• Enterprise Buyer
• High-Volume Call Center Buyer
• Small Business CRM Buyer
• Field Service Buyer

 
Pricing Considerations
When buying a solution for customer service, price always matter. Some companies even conduct budget and management meetings just to calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) of the software product they want to implement into their organization. A smart way of dealing with CSS pricing is to understand the different pricing models that solution providers have on their tables. Here are those pricing models that you will most likely encounter in the market today.
 

• Free Trial
• Subscription
• Premium
• One-time Licence

 
Conducting a thorough analysis on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) can help you better arrive in a more accurate ROI computation. Here’s what we from ITQlick.com want to remind you about.
 
Because the trend today goes into cloud-based solutions, there is a general notion among users that cloud solution is cheaper than on-premise solution. The real deal is that not all cloud-based CSS are cheap considering the findings that you can draw upon calculating the ROI. Factors that affect cost of implementing cloud-based solutions are duration of use, add-on services or features, and training and support. When it comes to on-premise, it is becoming obvious for many that because you will also be spending for infrastructures (servers, workstation, etc.) other than software licensing, the solution will require significant amount of investment. The truth is that it is just the same with the cloud-based. You also have to consider the different factors that will go with your ROI computation.
 
TCO and ROI are both important investment guides. To begin with your computation, here is an example of a pricing model that you can analyze.
 
STANDARD
Instant service for fast growing companies
$30/user/month (billed annually)
 
PROFESSIONAL
Basic customization for any size business
$65/user/month (billed annually)
 
ENTERPRISE
Deep customization for comprehensive support
$135/user/month (billed annually)
 
PERFORMANCE
Fully integrated sales and service platform
$300/user/month (billed annually)
 
And here is a list of solution providers that you can further check relevant to your pricing considerations.
 

• Salesforce
• Google Apps
• Open API
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Citrix
• Microsoft Azure
• Quickbooks Intuit
• SAP
• NetSuite
• ZenDesk
• Desk.com
• BlazeLoop
• SmarterTrack
• Blue Label

 
Market Trends
Whether you still believe on the old saying “Customer is always right” or not anymore, the reality is that they are still the source of your sales revenue and you need to serve them with all honesty and efficiency. A recent survey says that 75% of all customer interactions are about customer support, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t treat your customers right.
 
Because customers keep on looking for better and faster issue resolution atmosphere, solution providers find that with social collaboration features present on their offered CSS solution, this requirement will be met. This is a clear sign that customer service is truly becoming more social these days.
 
Cloud-based customer service is a growing trend. Many companies are deploying SaaS-based platform and they are seeing this as a big help in increasing their performance in delivering customer satisfaction. On the other hand, mobile devices are also adding a new dimension to customer service.
 
This 2014, we are expecting that more and more customer service organizations will start moving forward with more holistic analytics programs for communication channels and touchpoints. And your organization could be one of them. So we further encourage you that after going through this Buyer’s Guide, start your search for the right customer service software solution.

ITQlick chart - 2023 best Customer Service Software

Finding the right Customer Service software for your business
Proper Customer Service software selections are the precursor to successful deployment and business growth. Finding the right Customer Service solutions doesnít have to be complicated, and it doesnít have to take days or weeks of your time.

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