Salesforce tools for efficient customer support

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Every day billions of people send and receive messages. This way of communication is in line with their daily habits. The present generation is constantly on the move, so recipients prefer getting notifications on their smartwatches and viewing the texts when convenient. All this makes messaging an indispensable tool for customer service. In this article, we will take a closer look at Salesforce solutions for this type of communication with the audience.

Einstein bots  

AI-driven bots are implemented across various channels such as websites, apps, SMS, or WhatsApp. These e-assistants answer customers’ frequently asked questions and most common requests. Using an automated solution, people can perform simple actions. For example, update an account or order a credit card. These programs also gather pre-chat information and transfer it to the agent if the case is too complicated for a bot. 

Such a solution decreases the time spent on handling basic issues and allows staff to focus on more complex requests. In addition, automated tools meet customers’ expectations in the era of the digital transformation of services. However, bots are just assistants and can’t replace qualified agents completely. They still need to be deployed and controlled by humans. On top of that, automation can be quite expensive, especially for small companies with limited budgets.

Live chat

Have you ever been in a situation where you can’t buy the thing you want because all the staff members are too busy to give you advice? Service Cloud’s Digital Engagement tools allow support representatives to have real-time chats with their customers and eliminate this problem. Such messaging on a website or in an app prevents stores from losing customers due to the unavailability of personnel to answer their questions. Live chat can also be carried out via SMS and messenger apps.

The advantage of such communication is that it’s non-synchronous. This means that an agent can interact with several clients simultaneously, which is impossible over a phone. Conversations are personalized – customers are addressed by name and given advice on their particular problem. A support team is available round-the-clock. Additionally, this way of communication is free for clients, which is preferable to expensive calls. Companies also benefit from messaging, spending 75% less than they do when offering assistance over the phone.  

Social networks

Did you know that recipients open 98% of their messages on Facebook and mark over half of all emails as spam? The text messaging response rate is also high compared to that of emails. Short texts are faster to read and easier to comprehend than emails. Support agents can take advantage of these statistics and reach out to their clients on social networks.

Social Customer Service is integrated with the Salesforce CRM platform. In such a way, marketing and support representatives have a complete picture of customers. Agents can monitor the audience’s reaction to the company’s products on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and respond across these platforms. Support cases are brought to the representatives’ attention thanks to keywords in customers’ comments. This solution also has reporting features, reflecting the product’s popularity and measuring Customer Satisfaction Score.

Billions of people use social media daily for entertainment and business. This gives firms an opportunity to grow their audience by advertising on social networks and keep the CSAT rates high by providing the support that customers need across the channels they like.

However, the public nature of social media makes it inappropriate for exchanging sensitive data such as password resets or payment information. Proven communication channels like email are a better fit for this purpose. Promoting products via social networks also has a risk of increasing the customer support case volume. Thus, agents will require additional social media training to keep buyers happy without putting them off with irrelevant content.

Service Cloud Voice

A call center stands at the origins of customer support. However, it has evolved a lot compared to the assistance provided over the phone years ago. 

Service Cloud Voice is an integral part of the Salesforce CRM platform. As a result, support agents can view all the details relating to clients and their previous interactions with the company. Thus, customers’ issues are addressed quickly without unnecessary delays due to the agent’s being unaware of the details. Then, this communication tool also enables supervisors to send messages to their employees during the call via the whispering chat. In such a way, there’s no need to transfer calls to other departments, which saves both the client’s time and their patience.  

A call center is still inevitable for solving the major support cases in billing, insurance, or suspected credit card frauds. AI-powered technologies improve service significantly. The real-time call transcription means staff don’t need to take notes. During the call, the Einstein Article Recommendations tool suggests helpful policies that the agents can send to the customers. Einstein Next Best Action, in its turn, recommends steps to be taken to solve the issue.  

Despite the thorough guidance of a company’s team during the calls, they remain the most expensive and time-demanding type of customer service. With all the advantages of live conversation, call center agents are still exposed to a high risk of attrition due to all the stress they have at work.

Take away

More communication tools open up the opportunity for businesses to develop deeper interaction with their clients. However, in the age of disruptive mobile technology and social media rise, customers are sending messages more than ever to get companies’ assistance on their requests. And that is because communicating with a bot or in a live chat seems cheaper, faster, and easier these days than searching a company’s website or trying to reach out to its call center.