Customer Service is an integral part of customer experience. In fact, according to stats, ‘90% of Americans use customer service as a factor in deciding whether or not to do business with a company.’ Well, you can’t mess up when it comes to customer service then. When that’s the case, you’ll need skilled employees, proper strategies and a robust customer service software to level up your game.
11 Best Customer Service Software in 2023
If you were to google customer service tools, you would find tons of them in your search results with similar features. And how confusing that would be! We totally get that. After some serious research and comparisons of a multitude of tools, we have come up with the 11 best customer service tools that 2023 has to offer you.
- Freshdesk
- Zendesk
- Zoho Desk
- Intercom
- Salesforce Service Cloud
- LiveAgent
- Hubspot Service Hub
- HappyFox
- Helpshift
- ServiceNow
- Richpanel
1. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is one of those big names in the industry that delivers a self-service, AI-driven and omnichannel customer service solution for you. The solutions of Freshdesk are used by an eminent clientele that includes Honda, Toshiba and Cisco etc.
Streamline customer conversations in a single place, collaborate with teams to deliver solutions faster and automate your workflow with the help of a multitude of features.
The cloud-based customer service software offers you relevant features like:
- Multi-channel communication
- Email integrations
- Integration tracking
- Real-time chat
- SLA Management (Service Level Agreement)
- Ticket management
- Complaint classification
- Electronic signature
- Scheduling and many more.
Freshdesk also offers you the provision to video chat with clients which in turn can help you improve customer relationships. The ticket-based solution provides a complete tracking system for almost all sorts of communication with your customers. Yet on the downside, it has a mediocre mobile app with an unstable notification system and expensive pricing plans.
Pricing: Starts at $15 per month. Free Version Available
2. Zendesk
Arguably, the most popular customer service software, Zendesk has a powerful set of tools to elevate customer service and engagement. The ticket management system can help you manage hundreds of tickets every day and resolve queries via various channels like phone, email, web, social media and mobile app. You can completely focus fully on conversations instead of the workflow by leveraging features like:
- Customer History
- Automatic Ticket Creation
- Blended Call Centre
- Call Recording
- Call Scripting
- Interactive Voice Response
- Real-time Chat
- Queue Management
- Quality Assurance Management
- Customer Complaint Tracking
- SLA Management
Well, the most reliable attributes of Zendesk remains ticket raising and auto-fill forms that help resolve issues during a call and knowledge base that helps customers use the solution efficiently. However, the UI is not very intuitive and the customizable options of the customer support tool are limited.
Pricing: Starts at $5 per agent per month. A free trial is available.
3. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is yet another top-of-the-line tool in our list of customer service software. Claiming to be the first-ever contextualised helpdesk software, Zoho Desk helps you connect through multiple channels and thereby, gives you a wider reach to resolve issues and retain customers better. The free customer service software has all the important features that you would need like:
- Alerts
- Customizable Branding
- Multi-channel Communication
- Real-time Chat
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Management
- Automated Routing
- Call Logging
- Call Recording
- Call Scripting
- Automated Routing
This affordable AI-powered ticketing tool with its intuitive UI, seamless integrations and flexibility make for a great option though the advanced features have a steep learning curve.
Pricing: Starts at $12 per agent per month. Free Version Available.
4. Intercom
With over 30,000 paying customers to their credit, Intercom is one of the most popular customer service software in the market. The platform serves an eminent list of clientele that includes biggies like Shopify, Atlassian, New Relic etc. Grow your enterprise by building strong customer relationships through scalable messaging powered by chatbots to provide a personalised customer experience. The mobile-friendly customer service platform even provides guided product tours to provide you with a deeper understanding of the product. Here are some of the best features of Intercom:
- Performance Metrics
- Queue Management
- Live Chat
- Customisable Bots
- Self Service Portal
- Mobile Optimised Emails
- Auto Responders
- Segmentation
- Geo-Targeting
- Customisable Branding
The software with its improved features and updates continue to provide services that are fairly good and would definitely make a great customer service software for your organization.
Pricing: Plans start at $39 per month. Free Trial Available.
5. Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer service platform built on its parent platform being Salesforce’s CRM software. Provide personalised customer experience through multiple channels, manage tickets and automate workflows by leveraging the 360-degree view of your customers that the software delivers. Here are some other features of the tool that will help you streamline customer service related processes:
- Blended call Centre
- Call Logging and Scripting
- Queue Management
- Self Service Portal
- Escalation
- Live Chat
- Appointment Management
- Service Level Agreement Management(SLA)
- Email Integration
- IT Asset Management
With its 24/7 cloud-hosted services and interesting suite of features, Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer service software that can’t be ignored even though it’s a tad expensive with a steep learning curve.
Pricing: Starts at $25 per user per month. Free Trial Available.
6. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is yet another customer service software in our list that serves large enterprises like BMW, Yamaha, Huawei etc. in providing robust customer service solutions. With LiveAgent your agents can resolve tickets and manage customer issues from a single platform irrespective of the source from which it is identified. The customer service tool provides a suite of mandatory features that a good platform should have:
- Escalation
- Performance Metrics
- Live Chat
- Queue Management
- Social Media Integration
- Service Level Agreement Management
- Automated Routing
- Email Integration
- Screen Sharing
- Third-Party Integration
Flexible management of tickets, efficient features, intuitiveness, an appealing UI etc. definitely makes LiveAgent a tool to be considered for your enterprise.
Pricing: Starts at $15 per month. Free Version Available.
7. Hubspot Service Hub
Hubspot’s Service Hub is a comprehensive customer service software that helps you engage with customers and resolve tickets painlessly by simultaneously aligning marketing and sales operations supported by its CRM software. Service Hub offers all the required features that include:
- Canned Responses
- Geo-Targeting
- Proactive Chat
- Third-Party Integration
- Website Visitor Tracking
- Customisable Branding
- Performance Metrics
- Alerts
- Email Management
- Queue Management
- Ticket Organization
- Shared Inbox
- Reporting Functionality
With advanced ticket management systems, free live-chat tools, the ability to record video and answer customer questions in real-time, Hubspot Service Hub is truly one of the best customer support tools out there.
Pricing: Starts at $35 per user per month.
8. Happyfox
Happyfox is a customer service software that supports you in delivering relevant customer service solutions via multiple channels and devices like web, email, social media, phone, mobile, tablets etc. The help desk software helps you integrate with various business applications to improve and streamline your workflow. Some of the main features that Happfox provides include:
- Canned Response
- Bulk Actions
- Alerts
- Customisable Branding
- Real-time Chat
- Service Level Agreement Management
- Automated Routing
- Project Mangement
- Issue Scheduling
- Queue Management
- Email Management
- Social Media Integration
Happyfox is a great customer service software considering its flexibility, remarkable features, reliable ticket templates, intuitiveness and powerful real-time reporting.
Pricing: Starts at $29 per agent per month.
9. Helpshift
Helpshift is a digital customer service software that provides solutions and helps you engage with customers through apps, website and multiple devices. Integrated bots, in-app and web messaging, AI-powered in-app and web knowledge base, etc. are some of the best characteristics of Helpshift. The other features of the customer service platform include:
- Email Integration
- Customisable branding
- Interaction Tracking
- Multi-channel Communication
- Real-time Chat
- Service Level Agreement Management
- Canned Responses
- Geo-Targeting
- Proactive Chat
- Workflow Management
Helpshift is a pretty decent tool that allows you to make reports, filter tags and solve customer issues painlessly. Yet, the tool has a drawback when it comes to removing resolved tickets from the open queue.
Pricing: Contact to get a quote
10. ServiceNow
ServiceNow is the final customer service software in our list of the best. Improve customer experience by keeping track of the trends and delivering solutions proactively. The mobile-friendly ticket management tool has a lot of useful features to its name like:
- Alert
- Performance Metrics
- Self Service Portal
- Email Management
- Live Chat
- Virtual Assistant
- Social Media Integration
- Appointment Management
- Work Collaboration
ServiceNow is an intuitive tool that helps you collaborate work across departments to streamline workflow and improve efficiency. However, its loading time is comparatively slow compared to its peers.
Pricing: Contact to get a quote.
11. Richpanel
Richpanel is a customer service software that helps solve customer issues painlessly and eliminates the need to over depend on the agents. Such a provision helps your customer service agents save time and cover more important issues. In fact, the Richpanel claims to solve 50% of the customer queries and issues without involving the agents.
The features offered by the customer service tool include help desk and ticket management, self-service software, multichannel communication, service level agreement, live chat, automated routing, email integration, social media integration, and many more.
Pricing: Starts at $65/month
Conclusion
Customer demands and expectations are changing with time. The decade exhibits customers with a strong understanding of what they want and of course, there is a multitude of options in front of them and they very well know that they can switch to better ones. One wrong move and your customers could leave you for your competitors. So, you need to play along with the changing trends and provide the best experience and services to your customers using a tool that will comply with the needs of your enterprise.
