Call Center Tools for Small Businesses

Call Center Tools for Small Businessesleistungspunkt Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Customer service can be tricky for small businesses. The staff answering the phones often wear other hats at a small business, so customer care as important as it might be can often delay of other necessary tasks.Of course, you could outsource your customer service needs to a call center or an answering service, but if you want to keep things in-house you have a few options as well. Implementing call center tools and customer relationship management (CRM) software could be just the ticket to improving and streamlining your small businesss customer service.Employ an effective CRMThe first step is to select and use an effective CRM system, if you dont already have one. These software not only serve as robust contact management tools, but also help users manage schlussverkauf and leads, improve their marketing capabilities, manage their vendor relationships, and keep t abs on operational data. A CRM alone is enough for small businesses with a low call volume. Read related story The Best CRM Software for Small BusinessesA business receiving less than 10 calls a day would be fine with the phone and CRM, said Orion DeVries, research analyst at Crozdesk.com.The most sophisticated CRMs are now employing artificial intelligence to automate the data entry and maintenance processes. For example, when a contact reaches out, an AI-driven CRM will automatically update that contacts information in the system, even identifying the context of the conversation. But even simplistic CRMs that serve primarily as a manual contact management system can help your customer service agents identify whos calling mora easily, and then speak to them with a clear sense of purpose.Editors note If youre looking for information to help you choose the call center thats right for you, use the questionnaire below to have our sister site BuyerZone provide you with information from a variety of vendors for free.Employing a call center toolFor small businesses that receive a higher volume of calls, pairing a CRM with more specific customer service tools is essential, said Uwe Weinkauf, CEO of MW2 Consulting. By pairing call center software with an effective CRM system, customer service departments are armed with better information and a better platform from which to operate.Contact center software and CRM are better used together rather than apart, Weinkauf said. They do very different jobs. While CRM manages customer accounts and schlussverkauf prospects call center software provides the communications infrastructure to engage with customers. Contact center software can give CRM the ability to implement things such as call controls, transfer options and click-to-dial.According to Nour Addine Ayyoub, founder and CEO of ZaiLab, contact center solutions provide a few major benefits that small businesses, includingOffering a single communications platform to manag e and monitor all customer interactions (much like a CRM)Monitoring service levels to customers in real time, enabling companies to act immediately to resolve any issuesOffering statistical reports and analytics of customer service provided to clientsImproving first call resolution rates, ensuring customers wont have to repeatedly call about the same questions or issuesMonitoring client service behavior to help companies improve their offeringsWorking in tandem with CRM databases to pull up information on specific customersFor call center tools, AI offers the efficiency of automation, taking repetitive or clunky tasks out of human hands to speed them up and free your staff up to focus on more important things.Call center software enables the ability to automate actions with AI, eliminating mundane tasks and reduce average handle time of customer issues, said Chris Bauserman, vice president of product and segment marketing at NICE inContact. It also allows for workforce optimization by inspiring employee self-improvement, and it turns insights into results by making data relevant, easy to consume and actionable to drive measurable improvements.Some call center tools to considerWe asked entrepreneurs to recommend some of the call center tools and other types of support software that theyve used to augment their customer service operations. Here are the suggestions they came up withCrazyCall, a contact center management softwareFive9, a contact center management softwareFreshdesk, a contact center management softwareFront, a multi-channel help desk toolGnatta, a contact center management softwareGoyaPhone, a mobile-based CRM applicationNICE inContact, a contact center management softwareOTRS, a ticketing and customer service tracking solutionZaiLab, an AI-based contact center management softwareZendesk, a CRM softwareOr, if youre looking to outsource customer service operations entirely, landsee our reviews on the best call centers and answering services, as well as our call center buying guide to help you select the right customer service partner.If you have any recommendations of similar tools youve worked with and had a positive experience, feel free to email b2bconsiderrequestpurch.com to suggest their plus-rechnen in a round of updates. Adam C. Uzialko Adam C. Uzialko, a New Jersey native, graduated from Rutgers University in 2014 with a degree in Political Science and Journalism & Media Studies. In addition to his full-time position at Business News Daily and Business.com, Adam freelances for a variety of outlets. An indispensable ally of the feline race, Adam is owned by four lovely cats. 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