Best Tools for Customer Support: Build Retention and Loyalty

Utilizing the best tools for customer support is critical in today’s business climate. Rising inflation costs and increased demand for limited supplies make consumers thoughtful about their purchases. While price and quality have always played a part in the buyer’s journey, today’s customers—with more extensive digital journeys—are equally concerned about the customer service experience they receive.

High-quality brand experiences are what drives loyalty today. If your business offers the same item at the same price as another, brand trust and quality customer care can set one company apart from another. 

Businesses must prioritize using the right tools to create a quality customer support system that addresses customer needs swiftly and effectively.

Best Tools for Customer Support: How To Build Loyalty and Trust 

Digital resources have experienced a surge since the COVID-19 pandemic began, which put technology and automation front and center as customer support solutions. As a result, today’s customer support teams rely heavily on digital channels. 

In addition, customers expect quality service at even higher levels than before the pandemic, with 58% expecting greater speed and accuracy. That number continues to grow along with rising inflation costs. Customers have embraced digital communication channels and their ability to provide information or deliver help in record time. What was once a convenience has now become an unconscious standard.

Continuing price increases pose no barriers to a brand’s customer growth and retention as long as consumers are willing to spend more on high-quality products or experiences that are worth their time. Since retaining an existing customer base is far more cost-effective than building a new one, brands must create a customer support system that values existing clients and fosters their loyalty. To achieve that level of engagement, it’s critical that brands use the best tools to deliver customer support solutions.

A positive customer support experience can lead to even more positive outcomes. Here are some tools to get you started. 

Shared Inboxes: An Ideal Solution for Customer Support Teams 

Providing an outlet for customers to reach for support is an essential business practice. While many face-to-face and telephone interactions can be efficient, some customers prefer long-form messages with greater detail. 

Creating a support@ email address is one way to address incoming support emails; however, a standard support inbox is designed for individual use and cannot scale as an organization grows. Since many companies operate with a larger customer support team, you need to think bigger.

Shared inboxes have the power to revolutionize a workspace, allowing team members to address incoming support requests together. A shared workspace eliminates guesswork and gives each team member access to the same emails, eliminating extra email threads.

If losing track of essential emails could be disastrous to your customer service department, a shared inbox is the critical customer support tool you need. Gmelius—a collaborative email solution for teams—offers a shared inbox solution where team members can assign and delegate emails to others. There is no confusion regarding addressed or unaddressed emails. Any incoming email is visible to each team member invited.

Users can assign any email to the appropriate agent so team members never lose track of incoming tickets. In addition, agents can add tags for urgency or an email note for clarification. 

Simply log onto your Gmail account, and your customer support shared inbox will be visible on the left side of the interface. From there, users can view unassigned requests and emails assigned to them in the folder labeled "Mine." 

Gmelius shared inboxes can also be turned into Kanban boards, offering a bird’s eye view of customer support tickets. 

The ability to transfer tickets to different columns labeled “in-progress” or “closed” (or whatever headers your team prefers) offers the transparency teams need. Each action is visibly accountable, so there’s no guesswork. 

Automation For Increased Response Times 

Increasing your customer support team’s efficiency and accuracy in addressing issues is critical. The last thing you want is to leave your customers in limbo, waiting for a response. Long response times can lead to unresolved problems and potentially damage a company's reputation. 

When customers expect quick, accurate responses, automation sequences are your new best friends. Automating repetitive actions can expedite workflows and many email platforms offer automated follow-up responses. These types of responses can be helpful—if they’re used correctly. For example, when a customer email comes in, users can set an automated response to send a reply within a specific time frame. 

“Thank you for reaching out. We have received your message. One of our customer service representatives will be in contact with you shortly.”

This message signals that the customer's email was not lost in the ether. Customers understand the message is automated and a human representative will contact them at a later time. Personalized messages, however, can help build connections early on and offer a special touch customers will appreciate.  

Dear [customer name]

“Thank you for reaching out. We have received your message. One of our customer service representatives will be in contact with you shortly.”

Automation rules can also sort incoming messages into appropriate categories in your inbox. Gmail uses labels as a simple way to categorize incoming messages. Automation rules allow emails to be marked “read” or “unread” so your team never misses an opportunity. 

With Gmelius, teams can share Gmail labels to address emails together if they pertain to a shared knowledge base. For example, a customer support ticket regarding a payment error can be assigned directly to an accounting team member. 

Templates For Personalization 

Efficiency, courtesy, and accuracy are critical components of a customer support department. Composing the same responses over and over will not increase productivity, however; in fact, repetition only hinders it. If your team has developed an effective email response to appease customers, why not use it again—as a template? 

With Gmelius, teams can personalize templates with advanced features like using variables to include recipients' names or custom variables like the recipient's business name.

Adding a personalized touch to support emails can help build loyalty among valuable customers. You’re not only solving their issue, but you’re also making it a priority to ensure their satisfaction. 

Consolidate Tools: The Only Customer Support Solution You Need 

Your team doesn’t need to invest in multiple tools to build a successful customer support system. Gmelius offers all the transparency of a help desk, making email collaboration clear and easy. Teams can manage support@ email addresses from right inside Gmail without constant tab-switching. Everything you need to build a quality system lives within one platform. 

The best tools for customer support can be found with Gmelius. Check out our features and integrations and learn how Gmelius is built to improve team communication and collaboration. Ready to get started? Sign up today!