5 Customer Service Tools Your Business Cannot Live Without

It all started with me Googling for ways to change the title of an out-of-state car which I assumed would be a common question. Not having any luck, I proceeded to my local DMV's website to thoroughly comb through the information there.

Still not having any luck (or any instantaneous support such as chat for that matter) I realized I will have to call their help desk as it was my only way out. After being on hold several times, I finally ended up reaching a human voice (albeit automated) informing me that all agents were currently busy and I would have to keep patient.

This went on for a good 30 minutes until I realized enough was enough.

With my options dwindling down to a single email link, I deliberated for a moment whether or not this is the road I really want to take. Then my heart sank. The link was accompanied with "Our emails are answered during normal business hours which are 9 am – 12pm and 1 pm-5 pm Mon-Fri, within five business days". Apparently, they take this literally as my email was responded to at the end of business hours on the fifth day.

Some acknowledgment, empathy and a human touch might've done wonders in making my experience at the DMV more tolerable. But time and productivity are your support rep's most important assets – and a poor support tool will result in both of these being wasted.

A poor customer service tool could mean spending all your time sifting through support requests when you could be solving a customer's problem. Here's a list of the most important customer service tools for your business – so your customers do not feel like I did at the DMV.

1. Help desk software

Email is still the world's most widely used support channel.

Many small companies start off with a single inbox for all their emailing needs. However, as they grow their needs reach far beyond what Gmail can offer.

They need a help desk that lets them collaborate, prioritize and automate actions to save time. For example, Helprace comes built-in with feedback communities and FAQ knowledge base systems. These uncover customer pain points and help you solve them early on. A well-stocked FAQ knowledge base also helps deflect the number of tickets you get, too.

Helprace can also detect agent collision and allow agents to communicate privately with regards to a ticket, thereby removing the possibility of a wrong answer. Not only that, this helps ensure spelling, and writing style is up to the standard of your company.

2. Telephone software

The second most popular support channel is telephone and it's not hard to see why. It's instantaneous, personal and allows support reps to really engage in solving the customer's problem as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Most small businesses can get away with using a regular phone or a corporate Skype account. Skype is ubiquitous nowadays – it keeps everyone connected and can cover most organization's needs. Large companies may want to manage their phone trees with dedicated software such as Talkdesk. This helps in keeping customer satisfaction in high, even at crunch times.

3. Chat software

Live chat is considered a great alternative between email and phone support because it allows one agents to handle multiple chats at once. Chatting is both immediate and less intrusive for both the agent and customer.

With a live chat system, there's minimal friction as expectations are clearly established between the business and customer. Chat clients like Olark allow you to specify when you're available or not available for chatting. When a customer starts a chat outside working hours, it will register as a message which can be directed to your help desk. There's also a cobrowser feature and multiple templates to make it fit your business profile better.

4. Survey software

While Helprace allows customers to rate their email support experience as helpful or not helpful, some businesses may want to take it a step further. The Net Promoter Score is a rating system that asks customers how likely they are to recommend the service to a family or friend on a scale of 0-10.
Software such as Promoter.io allows you to manage your surveys and organize your responses in an easy manner. This allows you to track customer sentiment over time and pinpoint where you can improve.

5. Webinar software

If you're running a web-based business, screen sharing is an effective way to host seminars or troubleshoot software problems. Join.me is particularly useful for this since you can have up to 10 participants that can view your screen at the same time – for free.

What sets it apart from contenders such as Skype is the ability to share a simple code with whoever you want to see your screen. It makes organizing webinar meetings with multiple users a breeze.

Unlike the DMV, your business can't get away with lousy customer service

Aside from sharing my DMV story with friends or tweeting about it, there really wasn't much I could do. I need to renew my car's title whether I like it or not. But if I'm not ecstatic about customer service at a particular business establishment, I may just leave and not come back.

The customer's time and trust must be treated as gold – these are two things that, when lost are possibly lost for good.