ReadingThe 13 Best Customer Support Tools to Power Your Support Team
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The 13 Best Customer Support Tools to Power Your Support Team

Even in the Product-led era, as a business owner, your job doesn't end with building a solid product and releasing it to the public. Taking that extra step to build brand loyalty makes customers return to your product.
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Each customer interaction is more than just a conversation; it's a chance to exceed expectations, solve problems, and provide seamless guidance through your product. These interactions aren't just support moments—they're the foundation of your brand's relationship with its customers, making them central to the effectiveness of your customer support product.

We'll explore 13 top customer support tools, delving into their features, advantages, disadvantages, and pricing details.

What is a customer support tool?

A customer support tool is essential software for managing and streamlining interactions between a business and its customers. It's the backbone of handling inquiries, resolving issues, and offering customer support across various channels such as email, chat, or phone. With the right tool, delivering efficient and effective service becomes a seamless part of the customer journey, ensuring every interaction counts towards building lasting relationships.

From managing queries and tickets to enabling real-time chats, these tools serve as your pathway to enhancing customer satisfaction and ensuring customer retention by fostering strong, lasting connections with your customers.

Along with customer service operations, the right customer service software also has other advanced features, such as:

  • Integration capabilities
  • Knowledge base creation
  • Omnichannel support
  • AI-driven chatbots
  • Customization and scalability
  • Reporting and analytics

Equipped with these features, a customer service software’s efficiency and effectiveness increase, creating a more comprehensive support ecosystem for businesses.

13 Best Customer Support Tools

1. DevRev (4.7/5)

Starting price: $19.98/month

Free trial: 45 days

Key features: Omnichannel support, PLuG chatbot, Smart cluster, Knowledge base creation

About DevRev

DevRev Support has made a significant impact in the realm of customer support with its AI-powered and intuitive features. Central to its innovation is PLuG, an advanced chatbot that facilitates smooth, direct interactions between customers and support agents. PLuG's uniqueness lies in its application integration, enabling effortless discussions about tickets and development updates.

The platform showcases impressive AI capabilities, including advanced search functions and case deflection features. But its standout quality is the ability to connect the product catalog with engineering issues, customer tickets, and live conversations within the widget. This integration is especially beneficial for companies adopting a Product-led Growth (PLG) strategy, as it directly aligns support activities with product features, enhancing customer experience and product development.

We tried everything… literally everything: Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, every software out there. The problem is just so unique to the new age, API first companies and none of the existing tools are built for it. It felt like all the existing tools were built for supporting a B2C product.

  • Multi-channel support integration: This feature ensures seamless support across various communication channels, addressing customer needs efficiently whether they reach out via email, chat, phone, or social media.
  • Advanced ticket management: Implement a system that clusters similar customer issues and allocates them to the appropriate team member, enhancing the support process's effectiveness and improving resolution rates.
  • Snap-ins for third-party app integration: Integrate third-party applications easily with the Snap-ins feature, enabling smooth communication and data synchronization within your ecosystem, enhancing functionality and user experience.
  • Turing AI-powered insights: Utilize Turing AI for intelligent analytics and decision support, providing the support team with predictive insights, trend analysis, and automated suggestions to drive efficiency in customer interactions.
  • Personalized customer support: Tailor support experiences to each customer's unique needs, creating deeper engagement and building stronger, long-lasting relationships.
  • PLuG: Intelligent chatbot engagement: Instantly engage customers with PLuG, an advanced chatbot that provides automated yet personalized responses, effectively handling common queries and freeing human agents for more complex issues.
  • Comprehensive knowledge base creation: Build an extensive, easy-to-navigate knowledge base, allowing both your support team and customers to access critical information, supporting an efficient self-service approach swiftly.
  • Enhanced semantic search: Leverage semantic search capabilities for quicker and more accurate information retrieval, enhancing the efficiency of the issue resolution process.
Meet Turing
Meet Turing

Meet Turing

Your AI copilot for customer support

2. Zendesk (4.3/5)

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Starting price: $19/month

Free trial: 15 days

Key features: Dashboard customization, Multilingual support, API integration

About Zendesk

Zendesk is another customer service tool that offers a comprehensive suite of features to help you manage customer support inquiries efficiently. It comes with a user-friendly interface that enables you to centralize customer inquiries coming across various channels like email, chat, social media, chatbots, and phone calls. Its unified workspace allows your multiple agents to work simultaneously.

Zendesk offers a wide range of products, all suitable for businesses of different sizes. Along with customer support features, it has several other customizable features like ticketing systems, reporting, and automation to streamline support operations and enhance overall customer satisfaction.

Pros

  • Zendesk seamlessly links with various third-party applications
  • The reporting feature offers comprehensive insights and detailed analytics that empower you to make informed decisions based on a wealth of data.
  • Fosters personalized customer support approach with an array of customization choices
  • With a live chat feature, it facilitates real-time interactions between customers and customer service teams

Cons

  • Zendesk's pricing is coupled with intricate add-ons that require high budgets, potentially impacting the overall affordability
  • Some essential functionalities are exclusively packaged in higher-tier plans only
  • Zendesk poses a learning curve that demands extra time and effort for new users during the initial setup and familiarization process
  • The ticket routing system is quite complicated, requiring a thorough understanding of its mechanisms

3. MailChimp (4.4/5)

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Starting price: $4.59/month

Free trial: 30 days

Key features: Email and marketing automation, 24/7 customer service, Built-in landing page builder,

About MailChimp

Mailchimp is a versatile customer support software designed with small businesses in mind. Businesses find Mailchimp invaluable for managing customer relationships, nurturing leads, and driving business expansion. It serves as a powerful connection point, allowing you to engage with customers while fostering those enduring relationships crucial for business success.

It's a toolkit encompassing everything from crafting impactful email campaigns and engaging newsletters to streamlining content management. Plus, with its comprehensive reporting and analytics, Mailchimp simplifies tracking your marketing strategies effectively.

Pros

  • The intuitive interface makes it a breeze to navigate and use, even for beginners
  • Streamlined automated workflows save time and effort by handling tasks seamlessly
  • Reliable customer support ensures you're never alone in troubleshooting or queries
  • Merge tags offer personalized touches, enhancing communication with your audience
  • An efficient leads management system helps organize and track potential opportunities efficiently

Cons

  • Email send limits can be restrictive for growing businesses aiming for extensive outreach
  • Automation options might feel somewhat limited for advanced or intricate marketing strategies
  • Cost-effectiveness takes a hit for businesses managing sizable contact lists, potentially escalating expenses

4. LiveAgent (4.5/5)

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Starting price: $29/month

Free trial: 30 days

Key features: Ticketing system, Knowledge base, Live chat

About LiveAgent

LiveAgent is designed specifically for small to medium-sized e-commerce customer service teams. It offers a range of features, including an efficient help desk, real-time, chat support, and ticket management. Plus, it throws in self-service portals, license and change management, and a toolkit of customer relationship management (CRM), marketing, and sales force automation goodies.

People love using LiveAgent because it's easy to navigate, affordable, and has a helpful customer service team. They also appreciate its department features and built-in automation that make tasks easier.

Pros

  • LiveAgent delivers impressive value, providing a wealth of features at a pocket-friendly price point
  • It has a user-friendly interface that makes navigating around the platform a lot simpler for users
  • People find the platform easy to use thanks to its user-friendly interface, making navigation and operation straightforward for everyone
  • Offers impressive customer support always, ensuring your queries are swiftly addressed
  • Self-service setup empowers users to tailor their system effortlessly to suit their needs
  • The platform maintains a clear and organized structure among various communication channels, ensuring smooth and coherent interactions

Cons

  • Lacks AI features, missing out on advanced chatbot automation possibilities
  • Limited customization options may prevent you from tailoring the platform to specific needs
  • Its traditional, older admin interface might feel dated compared to sleeker alternatives
  • Integration with certain third-party tools could be a pricey decision, impacting overall expenses

5. Freshdesk (4.4/5)

Freshdesk

Starting price: $15/agent/month

Free trial: 14 days

Key features: Agent collision detection, SLA management, Ticket field suggester

About Freshdesk

Freshdesk, born from the Freshworks family in 2010, revolutionizes customer support through its cloud-based software. Tailored for businesses aiming to boost customer engagement and streamline support while expanding, it serves as the ultimate hub for all customer queries.

With channels spanning email, phone, chat, Facebook, website, and e-commerce, Freshdesk converges incoming requests into unified tickets, streamlining resolution across various platforms. Its automation options empower agents to focus on the crucial by automating mundane and repetitive tasks, saving valuable time for more impactful interactions.

Pros

  • It offers a free plan that comes with basic features, ideal for small teams to get started
  • It has an intuitive interface that enables users to make smooth operations
  • Streamlined workflow automation takes the hassle out of repetitive tasks
  • With its robust ticket management system, you can keep your customer queries organized and easily manageable
  • With multi-channel support, you can easily handle customer queries from different platforms

Cons

  • The dashboard falls short in terms of usability, making it challenging to gather quick, comprehensive insights
  • The unavailability of SMS and Instagram integration limits communication channels and impacts outreach to certain customer segments
  • Customizability options are limited, restricting the platform's adaptability to unique business needs and preferences
  • Report building can be a bit challenging. It requires more time and effort to generate comprehensive insights compared to some Freshdesk alternatives

6. Slack (4.5/5)

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Starting price: $7.25/month

Free trial: 90 days

Key features: Real-time messaging, Multimedia support

About Slack

Slack stands as one of the versatile customer service tools adopted by 750,000 organizations globally. Its appeal lies in seamless integration with various workplace apps, fostering unparalleled efficiency.

For customer support agents, Slack enables collaboration with experts, accelerating issue resolution and ensuring smooth customer experiences. Slack’s ability to filter and route tickets effectively acts as a strong communication bridge, connecting support teams with the product department seamlessly. The integration capabilities of Slack make it an essential tool for effective customer support solutions.

Pros

  • Real-time communication on Slack ensures instant connectivity among teams, quick discussions, and decision-making
  • Faster response times become achievable with its seamless interface to react swiftly to queries and issues
  • Its cross-functional support unifies teams across departments, collaboration, and seamless knowledge-sharing
  • Access to data and analytics empowers informed decisions to refine strategies and improve team performance

Cons

  • Limitations in external communication make collaborating with customers outside your organization difficult
  • It is a costly option for growing businesses
  • There's a risk of important information getting lost amidst numerous channels and conversations
  • The limitations of the free plan and the expense of paid plans might restrict access to essential features for smaller or budget-conscious teams

7. Help Scout (4.4/5)

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Starting price: $20/user/month

Free trial: 15 days

Key features: AI assist, API integration, Self-service portal

About Help Scout

Help Scout is a customer service management software designed specifically for growing teams that need easy and effective assistance solutions. Its features include an email-centric support system, a robust knowledge base tool, and an embeddable contact widget, all funneling into a shared inbox for streamlined communication. Additionally, Help Scout offers a comprehensive help center and live chat software to ensure you provide exceptional customer service to your customers.

Perfect for small businesses, teams, startups, and nonprofit organizations, Help Scout operates on a subscription model, offering both monthly and annual plans based on a per-user charge. Their mission is to empower businesses in delighting more customers, emphasizing the importance of customer satisfaction at its core.

Pros

  • Setting up Help Scout is quick, so you can get started and running swiftly without any hassle
  • Get a seamless experience for you and your team with its easy-to-use interface
  • The low price point offers robust features without denting your budget, making it an affordable solution
  • Collaboration between sales agents and customer teams is seamless, fostering cohesive and coordinated efforts
  • The knowledge base empowers customers with self-service options that reduce dependency on direct support and enhance their experience

Cons

  • Higher pricing tiers might pose challenges for budget-conscious teams seeking advanced features, impacting overall affordability
  • The absence of an Android app limits accessibility and convenience for users relying on Android devices for on-the-go support
  • Help Scout, while robust in support features, falls short as a full CRM replacement, necessitating integration with additional CRM tools for comprehensive customer management

8. Olark (4.3/5)

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Starting price: $29/month

Free trial: 14 days

Key features: Searchable transcripts, Accessible live chat, Automation

About Olark

Olark, your cloud-based live chat companion established in 2009 by Ben Congleton and friends, facilitates direct customer engagement right on your website. Olark enables you to identify and engage with qualified leads, bolster customer service, and spot potential sales opportunities.

Its toolkit includes automated messages, seamless team management, real-time reporting, searchable transcripts, and custom pre-chat surveys, empowering you to personalize interactions and gather valuable insights. With Olark, you're equipped to elevate customer engagement, seize sales prospects, and deliver top-notch service on your website, all in real time.

Pros

  • Olark ensures a hassle-free chat experience for you and your customers with its user-friendly interface
  • Its unobtrusive nature on websites allows seamless communication without disrupting the user experience
  • Integration with Google Analytics offers valuable insights, letting you track and analyze chat interactions alongside other website data
  • Custom responses empower you to tailor messages, providing personalized and relevant information to customers

Cons

  • The interface can feel clunky at times, making navigation and usage less intuitive, potentially impacting your efficiency
  • The absence of phone support limits your approach to seeking immediate assistance or troubleshooting complex issues
  • Olark's per-seat charging model, coupled with additional fees for "Power Up" features, inflates costs unexpectedly as your team expands or requires advanced functionalities
  • The automatic closure of open chat conversations after five minutes of agent inactivity disrupts the flow of ongoing interactions, potentially affecting customer experience
Revolutionized Support
Revolutionized Support

Revolutionized Support

Imagine building software and supporting customer as one

9. HubSpot Service Hub (4.4/5)

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Starting price: $450/month

Free trial: 14 days

Key features: Ticketing workflows, Customer portal, Custom surveys

About HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub is a comprehensive customer service platform designed to streamline and enhance customer support processes. It offers a range of tools to manage customer relationships effectively, including ticketing, live chat, knowledge base creation, and customer feedback collection. Service Hub integrates with other HubSpot products, providing a centralized platform for businesses to handle customer inquiries and issues seamlessly.

Service Hub empowers you with automation tools to streamline repetitive tasks, such as routing tickets to the right agents or setting up chatbots for immediate customer assistance. Its reporting and analytics features provide valuable insights into customer service performance, allowing you to track metrics, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions.

Pros

  • Configuring workflow rules in HubSpot Service Hub allows for seamless automation, optimizing processes without the need for constant manual intervention
  • The customer portal feature enhances engagement by offering your customers a personalized space to access resources, track progress, and interact with your services
  • Messaging capabilities within the platform facilitate swift and direct communication, ensuring timely responses and resolution of customer inquiries
  • The unified inbox streamlines interactions by consolidating all communication channels and allowing your customer support teams to efficiently manage and respond to inquiries from a centralized platform
  • No-code customizability empowers teams to adapt the platform according to their specific needs and preferences

Cons

  • HubSpot has a high issue resolution time and provides weak customer support which is a major challenge
  • Reporting capabilities within the platform lack customization, restricting in-depth analysis or tailored insights
  • The training content provided does not offer an intuitive learning experience
  • The setup process can be intricate at times and requires additional effort and time to navigate

10. Buffer (4.3/5)

Screenshot 2023-12-21 at 9.16.37 AM.png

Starting price: $6/month

Free trial: 14 days

Key features: Image creation, Team management, In-depth analytics

About Buffer

Buffer is a social media management platform that comes with self-help resources designed to assist you in mastering social media. Backed by a swift and supportive social media support team, Buffer thrives on their vision to provide the simplest yet most potent social media tool while setting a benchmark for exceptional customer support.

With a commitment to being straightforward and transparent, Buffer aims not just to provide tools but to foster a relationship built on trust and integrity in their pursuit of simplifying social media management for you.

Pros

  • Buffer's self-help resources offer a quest for knowledge to empower you with insights and tutorials to master social media management at your own pace
  • Their rapid and supportive social media support team ensures swift resolutions and stands by to assist whenever you encounter queries or issues
  • The ability to schedule posts in advance across various channels simplifies your workflow, enabling efficient and timely content sharing without the hassle of constant manual posting

Cons

  • The cost might pose a challenge for budget-conscious users, especially with higher-tier plans
  • Buffer's analytics capabilities might feel limited, lacking in-depth insights or customization, limiting your ability to gather comprehensive data.
  • Users have complained of facing occasional bugs or tech issues that disrupt their workflow and cause frustrations
  • Navigating the interface is quite challenging and causes confusion or inefficiencies while trying to operate within the platform

11. Pipedrive (4.2/5)

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Starting price: $9.90/user/month

Free trial: 14 days

Key features: Sales pipeline, Workflow automation, Lead management

About Pipedrive

Pipedrive serves as your go-to online tool for managing customer relationships and sales pipelines, crafted specifically to enhance your sales efforts. Built around an activity-based selling approach, it enables businesses like yours to meticulously plan sales activities and monitor deals at every stage.

Its comprehensive range of features includes revenue forecasting that uses past data to predict future sales, efficient account management, easy call and email tracking, seamless schedule syncing, centralized customer information for marketing analysis, and a sales-focused toolkit automating follow-ups and optimizing sales strategies. Pipedrive offers a unified, user-friendly platform to elevate your sales efforts, streamline operations, and make accurate forecasts, all in one place.

Pros

  • Save time on extensive training and enable quick adoption across teams with Pipedrive's intuitive interface that ensures a smooth user experience
  • Streamlining sales processes becomes a breeze with its ability to automate repetitive tasks, boosting efficiency and productivity in your workflow.
  • Email management within Pipedrive effortlessly syncs messages with contacts, leads, and deals
  • Its dashboard allows for better focus and management by providing a clear view of crucial tasks and deals

Cons

  • Requires more robust reporting and automation features to cater to advanced analytical needs
  • The platform's interface has a steep learning curve and potentially hinders quick adoption
  • Updates within Pipedrive experience frequent delays, affecting the speed of feature rollouts or fixes

12. SurveyMonkey (4.4/5)

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Starting price: $39/user/month

Free trial: 10 days

Key features: Survey builder, Survey management, Survey insights

About SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is a survey platform that empowers you to craft and conduct online surveys effortlessly. Versatile in its applications, it serves as a powerful tool for gathering diverse information and invaluable customer service data. Whether seeking employee or customer feedback, conducting satisfaction surveys, diving into market research, or delving into competitive analysis, SurveyMonkey caters to all your survey needs.

This user-friendly platform enables you to curate surveys for various purposes and offers a seamless experience in collecting and managing crucial customer data. With SurveyMonkey, you're equipped to navigate the world of surveys with ease, unlocking insights and perspectives crucial for informed decision-making and business growth.

Pros

  • SurveyMonkey's free, customizable surveys grant you easy access to essential survey-building tools without breaking the bank
  • Its paid programs open doors to advanced features like data analysis, sample selection, and bias elimination
  • The enterprise options provided by SurveyMonkey offer robust solutions, including advanced data analysis and brand management tools

Cons

  • SurveyMonkey has a limited, 12 design themes that restrict your survey's visual customization
  • Formatting surveys within SurveyMonkey could be challenging for some users and cause frustrations while attempting to structure or style surveys
  • Users have expressed dissatisfaction with SurveyMonkey's website interface
  • When compared to platforms like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey falls short in allowing users to delve as deeply into survey intricacies

13. Monday.com (4.7/5)

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Starting price: $8/seat/month

Free trial: 14 days

Key features: Project management, data organization, Performance tracking

About Monday.com

Monday.com is a cloud-based work management solution equipped with versatile tools and applications tailored for project management, content marketing, and customer relationship management across various sectors including Marketing, Sales, Operations, IT, and HR.

Its advanced features cover content planning, allowing you to organize content calendars, assign tasks, and monitor progress effortlessly. Additionally, the platform excels in project planning, which enables you to set deadlines, allocate tasks and resources, and track progress seamlessly. With customizable dashboards, Monday.com empowers you to delegate tasks, monitor progress, and integrate multiple tools. It is a centralized hub for streamlined and efficient teamwork.

Pros

  • Monday.com's intuitive interface ensures a smooth user experience so you can simplify your task management without a steep learning curve
  • The availability of a free plan allows easy entry to explore and utilize the platform's functionalities without immediate financial commitment
  • With over 200 templates at your disposal, Monday.com provides a wealth of pre-designed structures

Cons

  • The complexity of Monday.com's pricing plans can be confusing to navigate which makes it challenging to identify the best fit for your team's needs and budget.
  • The restriction of the free plan to only two members might limit collaborative capabilities, especially for larger teams
  • Users have found agile sprints within Monday.com to be clunky. It impacts the efficiency of managing tasks

Choosing the right customer support tool

Each customer service software we discussed brings its unique strengths and weaknesses, catering to diverse needs and preferences. As you navigate through all the options available, remember that the ideal tool aligns with your specific business goals, team dynamics, and customer engagement strategies.

The best customer support tool isn't limited to advanced features. It should be a platform that seamlessly integrates with your operations, enhances customer experiences, and empowers your team to deliver exceptional service consistently. It's about striking the right balance between functionality, ease of use, and scalability.

Among the numerous options available, DevRev Support distinguishes itself with its AI-rich features and user-friendly interface, allowing you to provide the best customer service. While exploring your options, consider how each tool aligns with your unique requirements, ensuring that your choice contributes to elevating customer satisfaction and fostering lasting relationships with your customer base.

Frequently Asked Questions