In today’s world, customers expect seamless, efficient, personalized service experiences from businesses. With the rise of various digital channels, it has become increasingly difficult for companies to manage customer inquiries and support requests efficiently. That’s where an omnichannel helpdesk comes in – it can revolutionize how businesses provide customer support and increase customer satisfaction.
Let’s get started!
What is an omnichannel helpdesk?
An omnichannel helpdesk is a ticketing system that centralizes all customer support requests across multiple channels, including email, social media, phone, live chat, and more. It provides a unified view of all customer interactions, allowing support agents to respond to customers quickly and efficiently from a single platform.
The omnichannel helpdesk approach ensures a consistent customer experience across all channels while also providing businesses with valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences.
Benefits of an omnichannel helpdesk for businesses
Here are the main benefits of using an omnichannel helpdesk:
Increased efficiency
An omnichannel ticketing system enables businesses to handle customer inquiries more efficiently by consolidating all support channels into one platform. This allows support agents to respond to questions quickly and efficiently, improving response times and reducing the number of unresolved inquiries.
Improved customer experience
By providing a seamless and personalized experience across all channels, an omnichannel helpdesk can help businesses deliver exceptional customer service. Customers can interact with companies through their preferred channel, and agents can provide relevant and personalized responses that meet their needs.
Valuable insights
An omnichannel helpdesk provides businesses with valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. Businesses can identify patterns and trends by analyzing customer interactions across channels and making informed decisions to improve service offerings.
Better collaboration
An omnichannel helpdesk can help improve collaboration between support agents and other departments within a business. Agents can collaborate more effectively with other teams to resolve customer issues by providing a centralized view of all customer interactions.
Steps to implement an omnichannel ticketing system
Bringing a helpdesk strategy to your team can be an intimidating process. We’ve got your back. Here are the steps in detail:
Step 1: Define your support channels
The first step in implementing an omnichannel ticketing system is defining the support channels your business wants to provide. This could include email, phone, live chat, social media, or any other channels your customers prefer when seeking support.
Identifying the proper channels is critical as it helps ensure your business can support customers on their preferred channels. It’s essential to research your customer’s preferences and identify the channels they’re most likely to reach out for support. For example, social media might be the best option if your customer base mainly consists of millennials.
Step 2: Choose an omnichannel customer support software
Once you have identified the support channels, the next step is to choose an omnichannel customer support software that can integrate with all the channels you want to provide support.
Look for software that offers ticket routing, automation, analytics, and reporting features. It should also be able to integrate with your other systems, such as your CRM, to provide a seamless and integrated experience for your support agents and customers.
Hint: We list several great options towards the end of this article!
Step 3: Train your support agents
Training your support agents on using the omnichannel helpdesk software is critical to its success. They need to be familiar with the software’s features and be able to deliver a consistent and personalized experience across all channels.
Ensure that your agents understand the importance of exceptional customer service and their role in delivering it. Provide ongoing training and support to ensure they can use the software effectively and efficiently.
Step 4: Integrate your systems
Integrating your customer support software with your other systems, such as your CRM or communication tool, is critical to providing a seamless and integrated experience for your support agents and customers.
Ensure that your systems are set up to share data and information effectively so your agents can access all the information they need to provide the best possible support. This includes customer data, order history, and previous support interactions.
By following these steps, businesses can successfully implement an omnichannel ticketing system and provide exceptional customer support across all channels.
Best practices for managing an omnichannel helpdesk
An omnichannel helpdesk can help businesses provide exceptional customer support across all channels, but it’s important to have best practices in place for managing it effectively.
Here are some best practices for managing an omnichannel helpdesk:
Create a single view of customer
To provide exceptional customer support across all channels, it’s essential to have a single view of the customer. This means integrating all the customer data from different channels into a single location, making it easier for support agents to access all the necessary information when needed.
Prioritize response times
Customers expect a fast response time when seeking support, regardless of the channel they use. Set response time goals for each channel, and ensure that your agents prioritize responding to customers promptly and efficiently.
Use intelligent automation
Automation can help streamline the support process and save support agents and customers time. Consider using automation for routine tasks, such as ticket routing, categorization, and prioritization.
AI and automation platforms like Capacity can answer over 90% of FAQs without human involvement. Thus, saving support teams valuable time to spend on more strategic tasks.
Provide consistent training and support
Omnichannel support can be complex, and support agents must be familiar with all the channels and software used. Provide consistent training and support to ensure your agents have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver exceptional support.
Collect and analyze feedback
Collecting customer feedback across all channels can provide valuable insights into the support experience. Use this feedback to make adjustments where necessary and ensure that your support processes are continuously evolving to meet the changing needs of your customers.
By following these best practices, businesses can effectively manage an omnichannel helpdesk and provide exceptional customer support across all channels.
Integrating social media into your omnichannel helpdesk
Social media has become an increasingly popular channel for customers to seek business support. As a result, integrating social media into your omnichannel helpdesk can help businesses provide a seamless and integrated experience for their customers.
Here are some tips for adding social media into your omnichannel helpdesk:
Identify the right social media channels
Identify the social media channels that your customers are most active on and use them to provide support. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are popular channels that businesses can use to provide support.
Use social media management software
Social media management software can help streamline the support process by allowing support agents to manage all social media channels from a single platform. It can also provide features such as automation, analytics, and reporting.
Respond to customer inquiries quickly
Social media customers expect a fast response time when seeking support. Ensure that your support agents respond to customer inquiries quickly and efficiently, even just to acknowledge receipt.
Provide personalized responses
Social media is a highly personal channel, and customers expect personalized responses. Ensure your support agents address customers by name and provide helpful answers.
Escalate complex issues
Some support inquiries may be too complex to resolve on social media. In such cases, support agents should escalate the issue to another support channel, such as phone or email.
Integrating social media into your omnichannel helpdesk can help businesses provide exceptional support and improve customer satisfaction.
Top omnichannel helpdesk customer support software
Capacity
Capacity is an AI-powered support automation platform that aims to provide a comprehensive solution to teams overwhelmed by questions and repetitive tasks. The platform connects the entire tech stack to answer questions, automate repetitive support tasks, and build solutions to any business challenge.
Capacity’s AI-powered platform empowers teams to automate support with an all-in-one helpdesk, reducing the tickets in the support team’s queue. Capacity provides a powerful solution to teams looking to streamline support and business processes, reduce repetitive tasks, and empower employees with information and solutions.
Key features:
- Low-code platform
- All-in-one helpdesk
- Workflow automation
- User-friendly knowledge base
- Conversational interface
Zendesk
Zendesk is a leading omnichannel customer support software that offers a comprehensive suite of tools to help businesses manage customer inquiries across multiple channels.
Key Features:
- Customizable branding options
- Multi-locale and multi-timezone support
- Support for over 40 languages
- Built-in satisfaction ratings and feedback system
- Support for multiple ticket forms
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is an omnichannel customer support software that helps businesses manage customer inquiries across multiple channels. This platform offers automation tools to help companies to streamline their support processes and improve efficiency.
Key Features:
- Gamification features to motivate support agents
- Integrated customer feedback system
- AI-powered chatbots for self-service
- Time tracking and billing features
- Automated workflows and triggers
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud is an omnichannel customer support software that provides a suite of tools to help businesses manage customer inquiries across multiple channels. With Salesforce Service Cloud, businesses can provide relevant and helpful customer support information.
Key Features:
- Support for advanced AI and machine learning
- Customer and agent-facing mobile apps
- Built-in social listening and engagement features
- Collaboration tools for support agents
- Intelligent routing and prioritization of support requests
HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot Service Hub is an omnichannel customer support software offering tools to help businesses manage customer inquiries across multiple channels.
Key Features:
- Customizable support forms and fields
- Smart rules for automation and routing
- Automated customer feedback collection
- Integrations with leading messaging platforms
- Knowledge base management with article versioning and approvals
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is an omnichannel customer support software that helps businesses manage customer inquiries across multiple channels. This platform offers automation tools to help companies to streamline their support processes and improve efficiency.
Key Features:
- Support for multiple channels, including email, social media, and phone
- Real-time chat and chatbot support
- Advanced analytics and reporting features
- Customizable ticket forms and fields
- Integration with Zoho CRM and other Zoho tools
Ready to automate your helpdesk? Try Capacity today for free!
