Creating a reliable customer support department is a critical step for all SaaS businesses. In most cases, SaaS companies charge their customers on a monthly basis. But, this also means that they have to provide stellar support when a client needs assistance.
The quality of your customer support can directly impact your company’s growth. More than 50% of people would rather abandon a purchase than deal with bad customer service. And, 17% of people are willing to spend more money with a company who provides a great experience.
Even with budget restrictions, there are many platforms you can leverage to improve your support team. In this article, we’ll go over some SaaS customer support tools that won’t break the bank.
Contents:
- Why Should You Deliver Outstanding Customer Support?
- Quick Tips to Improve the Quality of Your Customer Support
- Best Affordable SaaS Custom Support Software
- Get the Best Software for Your SaaS Customer Support Team
Why Should You Deliver Outstanding Customer Support?
Customer Experience: The New Kid on the Block
Quick Tips to Improve the Quality of Your Customer Support
Simply setting up a customer support department is not enough. You have to ensure they are delivering fast and consistent solutions to your customers. Read our article on 5 ways your SaaS customer support can save time to find out how.
Select, Measure and Track
The first thing you need to do is to identify the most important customer support metrics for your business. Use your current numbers as a benchmark and measure your performance every month. Some of the metrics you may want to track include:
- Resolution rate
- Ticket volume
- Average reply time
- Customer Satisfaction
- Average number of replies per request
Focus on Customer Experience
You should create a customer-centric mentality by training your entire team. Organise a training exercise for your agents that displays the importance of great support. You should also provide guidelines to help them handle difficult situations in a professional manner. Showcasing a few examples of companies that offer great SaaS customer support may also help them embrace the customer-centric culture easily.
Deploy Effective Tools
Though it may sound obvious, you have to give your team the right tools to help customers.
Your agents should have the ability to update account information. In addition to this, they should be able to perform troubleshooting and offer remote assistance when necessary.
Best Affordable SaaS Customer Support Software
There are dozens of platforms you can use to improve the quality of your customer support. Here are our picks for the best affordable SaaS customer support tools out there:
Knowledge Base – Document360
Price: Free 14-Day Trial, Startup Plan Starting at $99 per Month
A knowledge base is a collection of company resources that is organised as a structured library, typically online. You can use these platforms to create an internal repository of information for your support team. And, you can also build a tidy, well-structured external knowledge base so your clients can learn on their own as well.
Document360 offers a powerful and affordable alternative that helps keep information accessible at all times. The company provides a generous 14-day trial that allows you to test out the service before committing.
The knowledge base also has an intuitive interface and SEO-like structure. This means that your team can run a quick search to access the information they need. The only downside is that there is no API available yet. But, Document360 allows integration with popular platforms like Olark and Google Analytics.
At the same time, Document360 can improve team collaboration. It features an internal chat platform, commenting on each article, forums, and discussion rooms. All of these encourage your team to share information and identify solutions to your recurring issues.
Deploying this knowledge base can also improve organisation in your company. Your most knowledgeable employees will be able to share best practices. And, struggling team members can access this knowledge even if they have a customer on the line.
Pros
- Free 14-day trial
- Enhances team collaboration
- Efficient search structure
- Integration with Olark, Google Analytics, and other platforms
Cons
- No API available
Troubleshooting and Remote Support – ConnectWise Control
Price: Free Trial Available, One Plan Starts at $19 per Month
Most software companies use innovative technology. So, it’s common for end users to need technical help. Having a tool that lets your support team control a customer’s device remotely can translate to faster, more efficient service.
ConnectWise Control is a troubleshooting and remote support platform that empowers your agents. With this tool, your team can provide quality SaaS customer support right from your premises. This includes troubleshooting and repair issues that require technical knowledge. You can also arrange seminars and live presentations through ConnectWise to train your client’s team as well.
Aside from providing help to clients around the world, ConnectWise also has great connectivity features. Even if one or both of the connections are not great, the platform automatically restores the connection. You’ll also be able to assign different permissions to your team members, improving the platform’s security.
The only downside of using ConnectWise Control is that the client needs to install software. And, the remote connection may put a lot of pressure on a machine’s display driver, which can result in a slow interface.
In case the client wants to supervise your support team, ConnectWise also has transparency features. You can invite guests and share screens so your customers will be able to see exactly how it is you’re helping them.
Pros
- Remote help and communications to any part of the world
- Deliver training and seminars
- Automatic reconnections
- Screensharing options available
Cons
- Customers need to install software before establishing a connection
- Remote assistant may cause a machine to slow down
Customer Relationship Management – Really Simple Systems
Price: Free Version Available, Starter Plan Start at $13 per User per Month
Unlike most CRMs, Really Simple Systems provides an affordable and powerful alternative for SaaS companies. The idea behind Really Simple Systems is to have a CRM that grows with your company.
The platform offers a free trial that you can upgrade according to your needs. Aside from sales, this CRM can also work as a great marketing tool. You can create entire email campaigns, monitor their performance, and contact leads in one place.
But, keep in mind that the free version only has a 100MB data storage limit. Moreover, it doesn’t offer advanced reporting features either.
Really Simple System allows you to create a sales funnel and moves leads as they go through the buyer’s journey. This can help encourage your sales department. It will also help you make accurate projections and identify purchase patterns. And, you can even customise sections of the platform to feature specific fields and dashboards.
Pros
- Scalable structure
- User-friendly interface
- Allows lead tracking
Sales automation features
Cons
- Advanced reporting not available on the free plan
- 100MB data storage limit
Ticket Management System – osTicket
Price: Free Open-Source Version, Cloud-Hosted Plan Starts at $9 per User Per Month
Not answering an urgent message can mean downtime, which translates to financial losses.
The good news is that osTicket offers a standalone ticketing system ideal for startups and small SaaS companies. It’s compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux, so it’s suitable for most organisations.
The free version is open-source and you can start using it as soon as you install it. It includes basic agent collision avoidance to help improve productivity. In other words, you won’t have two agents working on the same ticket simultaneously.
Keep in mind that the free version doesn’t offer any customer support or maintenance. You’ll have to provide your own hosting. And, you’ll have to set up manual backups and monitor the ticketing system to ensure there’s no downtime.
The ticketing system also allows you to create a variety of queues and tiers. You can split these up depending on the nature of the questions. Then, your team members or customers can select the tier they want when submitting the request.
Pros
- Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux
- Create different tiers based on the type of support
- Agent collision avoidance mechanisms
Cons
- No support or maintenance on the free version
- Manual backup necessary
Customer Communications and Social Engagement – Dimelo
Price: Custom Pricing Depending on the Size of Your Company
Today, customers can use a variety of channels to contact a company. Aside from phone and email, folks now turn to live chat, social media, and even mobile messaging. And, keeping up with all of these individual channels can become a tedious task.
Dimelo is an omni-channel digital communications platforms that helps your team stay accessible to your customers. Your employees can use Dimelo to answer messages that come from social media, mobile, your website, and any other digital channel.
It’s worth noting that Dimelo uses a tailored pricing model. You’ll have to request a quote from the company, which will vary depending on what you need. This setup usually benefits small companies and it provides a more scalable structure.
The platform’s interface is full of different options. This can overwhelm some team members, but the communications platform also offers extensive training materials.
This communication management software has built-in agent allocation and resource management features. This means that you agents will only have to focus on delivering great support. You can either Dimelo’s default CRM or integrate it to your software of choice. And, this cloud platform recognises up to 72 languages, so it can categorise a number of different inquiries.
Pros
- Omni-channel support
- Default CRM with integration capabilities
- Built-in agent allocation and resource management
- Recognises 72 languages
- Extensive training materials
Cons
- Complex interface
Get the Best Software for Your SaaS Customer Support Team
Setting up a customer support team goes beyond hiring a few agents. You have to establish a measurable mechanism that delivers accurate information on-demand. At the same time, you should implement a set of SaaS customer success best practices that benefit your clients.
The main goal is to delight your clients. So, you have to make sure your team always puts them first. To improve your chances of success, you have to be patient and find the areas that need the most improvement. Startups and mid-size SaaS companies need to be extra careful if they have a set budget.
Team Management and Organisation – Trello
Price: Free Version Available, Business Class Starts at $9.99 per Month
This project management software offers a user-friendly interface that’s easy to use. It improves the internal organisation as it allows you to see all of your projects in one place. And, thanks to its cloud setup, you won’t have to worry about installations or server requirements.
With Trello, you can divide your projects into different boards and manage them independently. You can create an unlimited amount of boards, which is handy if you have a huge number of clients. And, the platform also allows you to add as many team members as you like on their free plan.
While it does provide a basic solution, remember that the free version doesn’t offer additional security. And, you can only upload files that are 10MB in size unless you opt for a paid plan.
The good thing about Trello is that each one of your team members will have access to their own dashboard. There, they can view the different tasks they have pending. Once they work on them, they can update the Trello board so it’s visible to the entire team.
Pros
- Improves organisation
- Cloud deployment
- Unlimited projects and users
- Individual dashboards
Cons
- Free version doesn’t offer additional security
- File sizes of up to 10MB unless on a paid plan
Internal Communications – Slack
Price: Free Version Available, Standard Plan Starting at $6.67 Per User Per Month
Slack is a popular real-time messaging application that offers a number of business features. It allows you to share and archive files from within the platform. You can also search through these files and access them over the cloud wherever you are.
Aside from a desktop and cloud deployment, Slack is also available as a mobile app. The platform is available for both iOS and Android as well as Windows devices.
When chatting doesn’t do the trick, you can use Slack’s voice and video calling features instead. It has a powerful structure with multiple conversation channels. This means you can create different groups according to the tasks your team is performing.
Even though it provides a superb communication platform, Slack does have a few shortcomings. The free version doesn’t have unlimited integrations, so you can only connect to major platforms.
And, the unpaid plan also has a 5GB storage limit. This may be good for most small companies, but SaaS businesses may struggle due to the huge amount of data they handle.
Pros
- Real-time messaging
- Comprehensive free version
- Mobile app available for iOS and Android
Cons
- Limited integrations
- 5GB file storage limit on free plan
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