4 Essential Customer Service Features for Your Business

Everyone knows how vital stellar customer service is to the success of a business. Sure, you may have a customer service platform, but does it provide everything you need to really and truly help your customers? If you want to ensure you’re covering all your customers’ needs, here are the top four customer service features essential to an excellent customer experience.

1. Omnichannel Workflows

Customers are contacting businesses on more channels, from online chat boxes to SMS messages. And they don’t want their experience to differ from channel to channel. This is why having a platform with omnichannel workflows is so essential. This customer service feature allows agents to view and interact with multiple communication channels (social media, online chat, email, etc.) from one interface. No more hunting through dozens of apps to communicate with customers or find necessary information! The result is faster responses, more informative answers, and more personal conversations with customers on any channel they prefer.

Providing this seamless, omnichannel experience will boost customer satisfaction and increase their loyalty to your brand.

2. AI-Driven Automation & Self-Service Options

Another top customer service feature you should have is self-service via AI. While “artificial intelligence” may seem complicated, when it comes to automation it simply means you need a system that handles repetitive tasks and has chatbot functionality. Most consumers are willing to talk to a chatbot about simple inquiries regarding products, bills, order statuses, etc. Having an AI-driven chatbot reduces the number of questions you receive and allows customers to solve their problems in their own time.

Automation also benefits your agents! AI-powered customer service platforms can automate simple tasks that often drain an agent’s time. They can also provide an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that automatically gathers callers’ information and routes them to the proper department at the appropriate time. These features will allow agents to deal with more complicated, time-intensive issues and boost efficiency.

Related: Every Business is a Customer Service Center

3. Sentiment Analysis

Another benefit of AI-driven customer service is sentiment analysis, another excellent feature for customer service teams. At its core, sentiment analysis is a program designed to analyze written and spoken conversations between agents and customers to see if the interaction was positive, negative, or neutral. It can also learn from each interaction, becoming increasingly in tune with your customers’ tones and intentions.

This customer service feature is invaluable for a wide variety of reasons. It predicts which customers need assistance (or are the most likely to purchase a particular product) and routes them to the proper team member. It lets agents know how the caller feels before they answer the phone or reply to an email, helping them craft appropriate responses. And it gives business owners firsthand insights into how customers think about your brand. If most interactions are positive, keep doing what you’re doing! If the interactions are mixed or trending towards negative, it’s time to make some changes.

Related: Customer Service Features Every Business Needs

4. Customizable Reporting & Analytics

Having real-time and historical data and analytics is something every business should have. These customer service features allow you to identify how your customers interact with your brand – what channels they use most often, what areas of service they are delighted by, and which areas could use work, etc.

Customizable reporting and analytics also track agent performance far better than before. You can identify areas where agents are performing well or may need more training to recognize upsell opportunities or deliver that truly personalized customer experience. With a customer service solution that handles repetitive tasks and identifies key performance metrics, the power is in your hands to make every customer call an exceptional experience.

Additionally, historical data and analytics allow you to discover trends in customer engagement, like when they choose to contact your brand, how they decide to contact you, and what they want to discuss. This will help you know where to allocate your budget and when and help you staff your contact center appropriately. For instance, if you see more customers calling between 12 and 1, you can ensure you have more agents available. If you see an uptick in requests for a specific item – whether it’s gluten-free pasta, a certain size of shoe, or a new product feature – you can start planning to offer it to customers.

Get these and more essential customer service features with S-NET

Since the very beginning, S-NET’s mission has been to provide our customers with the solutions and resources they need to support their customers effectively. After all, nothing is more frustrating than impersonal, complicated “customer support.” If you want to learn more, contact us today, and we’ll set up a free demonstration.