For organizations in the B2B technology space, customer support has always been paramount to business success.
While once upon a time that meant having technicians available from 9-5 and having an issue resolved within a week or two, today, expectations are higher than ever.
Just consider some of these stats:
- 90% of customers rate an “immediate” response as essential or very important when they have a question. (HubSpot Research)
- More than 70% of consumers believe that companies should collaborate on their behalf so they don’t have to repeat information to different representatives. (Zendesk)
40% of consumers cited “multiple options for communicating” as the most important feature of a company’s customer service department. (Business Wire)
Modern customers demand timely assistance, relevant solutions, and service options that suit their preferences. Fortunately, customer expectations are not the only thing that has evolved.
Business tools that support customer engagement and support have advanced considerably over the years and these tools provide the means to meet these growing expectations.
Customer support software is an obvious example of these tools, and having a customer support platform to aid your support processes is a must-have these days.
But why stop there? Exceeding customer expectations should always be the goal, and to do that, customer support platforms empowered with the automation capabilities of CRM can be a real differentiator.
What is CRM?
CRM (customer relationship management) is a software toolset that assists businesses with the day-to-day management of their people (customers and employees), work processes, products, and projects.
Once thought of primarily as a sales tool, CRM has evolved to address the needs of many different business aspects, including marketing, customer service, and HR.
Through the use of advanced automations tools and data centralization, CRM software can help your business improve communication (both internal and external), work more efficiently, and track performance.
Using CRM to empower customer support
CRM automation tools can simplify routine tasks, freeing up valuable time for support agents so they can focus on creating meaningful customer interactions.
Let’s dive a little deeper into to get a better understanding of the potential benefits CRM automation can provide.
Harnessing CRM Automation to Streamline Customer Support
CRM platforms can automate much of the repetitive and redundant work that can slow your team down. For customer support agents, that means more time to focus on what matters, resolving customer issues. This can be achieved through:
- Automated communication cadences- A CRM can enable support teams to automate their communication cadences in line with their best practices. Some examples include:
- Confirmation messages when a support request is submitted
- Notifications to customers of known or emerging issues
- Post-resolution follow-up messages
- Status change updates
This not only ensures timely and efficient communication, it also lays the foundation for aligned and consistent customer messaging.
- Automated data entry and record updates- A CRM automatically populates customer records with data from various sources, including:
- Communication channels (email, phone, chat)
- Marketing automation platforms
- Lead generation tools
- Social Media
- Web forms
- Surveys
This eliminates input errors and aligns data capture processes across teams, creating a more seamless experience for the customer and leading to more accurate and comprehensive reporting and analytics.
- Automated customer segmentation and escalation rules- A CRM platform can automatically assign support requests based on segmentation criteria such as:
- Purchase history
- Demographic data (region, industry)
- Communication preferences (email, chat)
This segmentation ensures that the right support agents are helping the right customers and providing that support in the way most preferred by the customer.
Additionally, a CRM can be configured to automatically escalate support tickets based on criteria, such as response time or issue severity. This ensures that critical issues receive immediate attention.
FreeAgent CRM can help you empower your customer support processes
FreeAgent CRM is designed for today’s world of work and our robust toolset is ideally suited to supporting the varied work processes of modern businesses. FreeAgent is:
- Easy to use: FreeAgent works like you expect modern apps to work, providing a user experience that feels fresh and familiar. Teams love working in FreeAgent, leading to high adoption and greater ROI.
- User-configurable: FreeAgent can be configured by you to work the way you do. This means you don’t need outside support to add a form field, adjust a CRM automated workflow, or try out a new process.
- Customizable: With FreeAgent, apps, forms, and configurations are all completely customizable, allowing you to capture and connect your data in any way you like.
To see FreeAgent in action, get a demo, and discover for yourself how FreeAgent can help you have workdays full of impact.
