Engagement with customers is more important than ever.
Today’s consumers expect extraordinary, more personalized experiences. A 2022 survey showed that 90% of leaders believe customer service expectations have reached an all-time high.
And at the foundation of that customer experience is communication. It may be challenging, but it’s also an area where almost any company can improve—and set itself apart.
All it takes for better customer communication is the right mindset and the best tools to do the job.
Today, we’ll break down the best 10 tools you can use to improve your customer communication and develop new opportunities in your business.
1. VoIP phone system: Nextiva
Every business needs a high-quality phone setup to talk to customers. And the best option for today’s businesses is through VoIP. There is one tool in Nextiva’s arsenal which has helped over 100,000+ small businesses and brands improve their communication with customers, their business phone system not only helps your team take incoming customer calls from anywhere but it integrates with a central work hub and CRM to keep all communications in one place.
Having a VOIP system along with a CRM allows customer support, marketing and sales all stay on track and never miss a message whether it comes in from email, IM/chat, a phone call or a helpdesk ticket.
Nextiva’s system also lets you set up custom welcome menus and route calls, adding a professional look for any incoming caller—even if you’re just a business of one person.
2. Customer service platform: Help Scout
Speaking of chatting with your customers, great support isn’t complete without a good piece of software. It’s not easy picking the right software for your customer support team, there are a lot of alternatives out there.
They key in finding the right tool is making sure the following customer service software features are present in the solution you pick:
- automated workflows
- tagging
- knowledge base integration
- saved replies
Helpscout is one of the best solutions on the market when it comes to customer service software tools which has all of these features and more. Instead of missing emails or duplicate tickets, Helpscout has one central place to store all the tickets and communication from customers which allows you to easily manage the questions your customers ask.
Whether your team is small or large, a customer service tool helps you keep everything in one place and coordinate so that each customer gets a helpful answer back quickly.
3. Customer relationship management (CRM) platform: HubSpot
At a certain point, you can’t keep growing your team without a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. In fact, the 2022 survey of customer service leaders showed that 95% believe a CRM is an effective way to increase productivity.
A tool like HubSpot lets you gather customer information in a single place, coordinate records, and track conversations.
You can move customers through each stage in the buying journey and even set up reminders so you know when to reach out to keep the relationship moving.
4. Community tool: Sprout Social
You might already have a private community for your biggest fans, like a Slack channel or Facebook group. But those communities aren’t the only place people are talking about your brand.
That’s where a community tool like Sprout Social comes in. You can listen to what people are saying about your company across social media and around the internet, and engage with them in a positive way.
5. Customer contact tool: Right Inbox
The best businesses constantly adapt to what customers want and need. And part of that comes with using smart email features that help you learn more about customers and connect better. Right Inbox adds those features Gmail is missing and lets you get more out of every email you send.
You can see when (and how often) someone opens an email, schedule messages for later, and automatically prepare follow-ups to keep the conversation going. It’s a great option for any Gmail user who’s looking for high-productivity features to improve their customer communication.
6. Social media management tool: Planable
Customers are talking about your brand on social media, and a community tool can help you listen in. But it’s a good idea to start those conversations yourself with a social media management tool like Planable.
Planable lets you plan content and engagement in advance, but more importantly, is built for your entire team. Design, collaborate, approve, and schedule posts all from the same app using an intuitive and easy-to-understand interface.
7. Email marketing software: ConvertKit
Email is one the most reliable communication tools with some of the highest ROI you’ll see. You should have incoming addresses for support, but you also need a solution like ConvertKit to send emails to your customers.
You can plan out messages to send in advance, as well as segment based on customer needs. For example, you can create automated welcome drip campaigns, or personalize emails based on customer interests or purchase behavior.
8. Content calendar: CoSchedule
Communicate right with your customers on your website by publishing high-quality content. A content scheduling tool like CoSchedule lets you coordinate all aspects of your content calendar, prepare separate campaigns, and manage everything from one place.
You can also integrate your content with other tools, like following up with customers with surveys and integrating their questions and feedback into future posts.
9. Project management app: Monday.com
Work in today’s environment is complex, and customer communication is no exception. Managing the challenge requires a specialized project management tool, and Monday.com has the right combination of flexibility and power to get it done.
You can keep your team on track with each task that needs to happen, plus map projects to larger goals like customer feedback or ratings. Create a well-organized team with the right tool to manage everything going on.
10. Live chat software: Tidio
Customers today are looking for easy ways to communicate with your business, and live chat is one of the most common. Research from 2022 shows that 69% of customers are willing to use a bot for simple issues—a 23% increase in just a year. A proven chat app like Tidio ensures you can answer any customer question without losing their interest or losing the sale.
You can build answer sequences with AI for speedier replies at zero labor cost, but keep the option to route the conversation to your customer success team for advanced questions.
Conclusion
These are the top 10 tools to better communicate with customers. As the world becomes more interconnected, better customer communication will only be more important in the coming years.
With the right tools and strategies, you can build stronger relationships and grow sales.