What Is Customer Support?
When you show up for your customers, they’ll keep coming back for more. Try these proven strategies to help you deliver next-level customer support online, over the phone, or in the field.
When you show up for your customers, they’ll keep coming back for more. Try these proven strategies to help you deliver next-level customer support online, over the phone, or in the field.
When customers contact your service team, they want help fast. How fast? According to our research, 81% of customers expect faster service as technology advances. You need a customer support strategy and customer service software that can help you keep up.
Customer support refers to the people and interactions that help customers who use a business’s service or product. Help can include answering a question, providing training or installation, and of course, troubleshooting an issue. Customer support plays a major role in customer retention — provide a pleasant, smooth experience, and you’ll build your brand reputation and foster loyalty. Get it wrong, and you may lose customers.
Read on to learn more about why customer support matters, or navigate to one of the following sections:
Customer support is where relationships are built and loyalty is nurtured. With a solid customer support strategy in place, you can:
What is the difference between customer service and customer support? They might sound similar, but each one serves a distinct function.
Customer support is all about helping customers solve problems and get back on track as quickly as possible.
Customer service is more about the overall customer experience. The principles of customer service include building relationships with customers, making them feel valued, and providing them with a positive experience from start to finish.
Great support isn’t just a nice-to-have. Our research shows that 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. Here are five ways to deliver on those expectations:
1. Offer 24/7 availability
Around-the-clock support, through channels like phone, email, live chat, or social media, is a way to meet customers wherever and whenever they need help. But if staffing live agents 24/7 isn’t realistic, a chatbot or good self-service site can go a long way toward helping customers with frequently asked questions during off hours.
2. Provide omni-channel service
Customers often use multiple channels to start and complete a transaction. The key is for your contact centre agents and field service workers to see all of a customer’s interactions with your business — no matter which channels were used — so customers don’t have to repeat themselves. The right customer relationship management software can help you get there.
3. Embrace automation
One of the most important elements of a smooth customer service experience is speed. Customer service automation software can help you deliver faster service at scale. It offloads repetitive, manual tasks so agents have time to focus on more complex service issues.
4. Invest in generative AI
Predictive AI has been a part of customer service for a long time (for example, many early chatbots were powered by predictive AI). But now generative AI is opening up new ways to support your agents and improve the customer service experience. Here’s how:
5. Lean into service analytics
Analytics can help you see what’s happening in your contact centre. Do customers have to wait on hold too long? Do agents need training on a particular issue? With the right data at your fingertips, you can turn customer interactions into insights for improving your service operations.
High-performing service organisations are using data and AI to generate revenue while cutting costs — without sacrificing the customer experience. Find out how in the 6th edition of the State of Service report.
While human agents are the foundation of any service team, customer support software plays a major supporting role. The right software helps agents deliver quality service at scale. Here are some questions to consider as you review the options on the market:
You likely want a platform that offers these features:
With a solid grasp of why customer support software is important, you can begin to identify criteria for making a good selection. Be sure to work with a broad range of stakeholders — including service agents and leadership — to come up with a list of requirements for your customer support software. From there, it’s a process of learning what various vendors have to offer, and comparing that to your needs.
Your contact centre should be a modern, omnichannel engagement centre that both agents and customers love. Learn how to maximise ROI with contact centre software built into your CRM, powered by AI and automation.