Cloud Tools to Improve Your Great Customer Service Practices

A recent survey from Harris Interactive found that the millennial generation isn’t as brand loyal as their parents and grandparents.

They’d be at least somewhat likely to change brands of a product or service if the new company provided additional ways to connect with them.

While this may come as a surprise to some, companies can take this news as a challenge to better their customer-service practices to rise above the competition. The younger generation wants to be able to connect with brands through live chats and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Having a website and toll-free number isn’t enough anymore.

Consumers are more demanding than ever, which makes having tools like live chats, smartphone apps and social-media interaction essential to providing great customer service 24/7.

Many small businesses don’t have the resources to employ large call centers and expensive software to handle their customer service needs. Fortunately, tech developers have created easy-to-use solutions which help small businesses maintain ongoing communication with their customers. Businesses can then use these platforms, in conjunction with the data they collect, to create a marketing strategy to meets their goals.

The company LivePerson has an award-winning cloud-based tool called LiveEngage that helps business owners and operators better their customer management technology. This tool gives them a platform that engages customers in real-time and allows them to produce measurable results for marketing, e-commerce and contact center executives. Live chat by LivePerson is just one of the ways customers and business owners can interact. Voice, video and content capabilities are also built into the platform.

Here’s a look at two popular Customer Relation Management (CRM) cloud-based solutions that are available to businesses:

Using Salesforce for Customer Service

An innovative CRM platform that provides an active community for users with software that manages and monitors customer information.

Advantages

• Intuitive user interface and easy to use.
• New features and updates are regularly added.
• Customizable and can integrate third-party plug-ins.

Disadvantages

• Lacks business intelligence such as data mining and analytical processing.
• Not an industry leader in CRM.
• Service level agreements aren’t included, but can be negotiated.

Using Oracle for Customer Service

A platform which integrates marketing and lead management into its software.

Advantages

• Software includes business intelligence.
• Answers on Demand feature generates customized reports.
• Multiple hosting options are included, making it a useful tool for businesses of all sizes.

Disadvantages

• Design and user interface isn’t very engaging.
• Lacks social media and third-party plug-in options.
• Not available on all browsers or compatible with all devices.

For many companies, the most important decision isn’t which CRM to use, it’s making the decision to use one and implementing it immediately. Engaging and interacting with customers online will go far in a world where consumers have plenty of options. With tools like live chat, customers can interact with customer service reps more conveniently than ever before.