What Is Customer Support?

When customers contact your service team, they want help fast. How fast? According to our research, 77% of customers expect to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company. You need a customer support strategy and customer service software that can help you keep up.

Customer support refers to the people and interactions that help customers who use a business’s service or product. Help can include answering a question, providing training or installation, and of course, troubleshooting an issue. Customer support plays a major role in customer retention — provide a pleasant, smooth experience, and you’ll build your brand reputation and foster loyalty. Get it wrong, and you may lose customers.

Read on to learn more about why customer support matters, or navigate to one of the following sections.

• Customer support vs. customer service
• Why customer support is important
• 5 strategies for improving customer support
• Customer support channels your business should offer
• Examples of excellent customer support
• Common customer support team structures
• Customer support trends: AI and automation
• What should I consider when selecting customer support software?

What is the difference between customer service and customer support? They might sound similar, but each one serves a distinct function.

Customer support is all about helping customers solve problems and get back on track as quickly as possible.

Customer service is more about the overall customer experience. The principles of customer service include building relationships with customers, making them feel valued, and providing them with a positive experience from start to finish.

Customer support is important because it’s where relationships are built and loyalty is nurtured. With a solid customer support strategy in place, you can:

• Build trust: Delivering timely, accurate responses will keep customers coming back for more.
• Boost brand reputation: Customers who have a good experience with your support team — whether in the contact center or in the field — may tell their friends about your brand.
• Collect customer feedback: Customer support interactions provide valuable feedback that can be used to improve your products, services, and overall customer experience.
• Gain a competitive advantage: Excellent support sets you apart from your competitors, and may even be a deciding factor for customers choosing between similar products or services.

Great support isn’t just a nice-to-have. Our research shows that 86% of service reps say customer expectations are higher than they used to be. Here are five ways to deliver on those expectations:

1. Offer 24/7 availability

Around-the-clock support, through channels like phone, email, live chat, or social media, is a way to meet customers wherever and whenever they need help. But if staffing live service representatives 24/7 isn’t realistic, an AI agent like Salesforce’s Agentforce or a good self-service site can go a long way toward helping customers with frequently asked questions and even some complex issues during off hours.

2. Invest in AI

AI is opening up new ways to support your service reps and improve the customer service experience. Here’s how Salesforce’s Agentforce improves customer service:

• Responds 24/7: Agentforce uses AI to answer questions, solve both common and complex cases, and meet service goals on channels at any time of day, whenever is convenient for your customer — all within the guardrails your company has set.
• Boosts productivity: AI can handle the routine tasks, freeing up reps to focus on more complex and high-value interactions.
• Replies naturally: Agentforce uses generative AI to craft conversational responses that understand context and match your brand’s voice.
• Accelerates onboarding: Some AI tools can accelerate the onboarding process for new service reps by providing real-time guidance and training. Agentforce’s Service Assistant, for instance, is set up to help new service reps navigate case resolution from day one. New reps can quickly become proficient and confident in their roles, leading to better service delivery.
• Handoffs to humans: AI can seamlessly transfer or escalate conversations to reps who can solve more complex issues or handle higher-value interactions.
• Grounded in trusted data: Agentforce answers are grounded in knowledge base articles, similar cases, and CRM data, so you know the information going out to customers is accurate.

3. Provide omni-channel service

Customers often use multiple channels to start and complete a transaction. The key is for your contact center reps, field service technicians, and AI agents to see all of a customer’s interactions with your business — no matter which channels were used — so your customers don’t have to repeat themselves. The right customer relationship management (CRM) software can help you get there.

4. Embrace automation

One of the most important elements of a smooth customer service experience is speed. Customer service automation software can help you deliver faster service at scale. It offloads repetitive and manual tasks to AI agents so service reps have time to focus on higher-value tasks.

5. Lean into service analytics

Customer service analytics can help you see what’s happening in your contact center. Do customers have to wait on hold too long? Is their issue resolved during the first contact? Do service reps need training on a particular issue? With the right data at your fingertips, you can turn customer interactions into insights and give service reps the training they need to improve your service operations. Trailhead, Salesforce’s free online learning platform, is a great resource for your team to learn valuable customer service skills.

When it comes to selecting customer support channels, the key is to look at which ones your current customers are using the most. With 77% of customers expecting to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company, it’s helpful to offer a broad range so you can meet customers wherever they are.

Consider offering these top customer service channels now:

Self-service: Our research shows that 61% of customers prefer self-service for simple issues, and it resolves an estimated 54% of customer problems on average at organizations that use it.

Self-service options include a help center (or knowledge base) and a customer portal, where users can access their information, such as past purchases, and initiate processes like returns.

Customers can also be directed to online communities where they can dialogue directly with other customers and professionals and have their questions answered. One example of this is Salesforce’s Serviceblazer Community on Slack , where individuals can join curated channels for service and field service-related topics and interact with one another directly.

AI agents: AI agents like Salesforce’s Agentforce represent the latest advancement in customer service technology and can be deployed across any service channel. Unlike traditional chatbots, which rely on preprogrammed rules, Agentforce uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand the context and intent of customer inquiries, responding in a conversational and context-appropriate manner.

Agentforce can independently resolve issues, deflect repetitive tasks, and escalate complex queries to service representatives when necessary. Like your reps, it also learns from customer interactions, continuously improving its effectiveness over time.

Live chat: Live chat is a convenient alternative to phone calls. Chat benefits both customers and support teams by enabling quick, simple interactions, reducing call volumes and costs, and allowing reps to handle multiple conversations simultaneously, thus shortening wait times and speeding up issue resolution.

SMS and messaging apps: Today’s customers often use their phones, making SMS and messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Apple Messages for Business crucial service channels. These platforms offer convenience, fast response times, and a record of past interactions.

Phone: Voice is still a top channel for customer service. And with advances in technology, AI can now bring all of the benefits of AI agents to your voice channel. Autonomous AI agents deployed on your voice channel understand the customer’s inquiry, and can take steps to resolve the issue.

Email: A majority of service organizations (90% , our research finds) offer email support. Customers can email you whenever they have a moment, and get a record of the conversation to refer to, right in their inbox.

Excellent customer service goes beyond just resolving issues; it leaves a lasting positive impression on customers. Here are a few hypothetical examples that illustrate what outstanding customer service looks like:

Personalized Assistance: Imagine a customer reaches out to a retail company's support team because they can't find a specific product on the website. The service rep not only helps locate the item but also suggests complementary products based on the customer's purchase history. The rep then offers a discount on the next purchase as a token of appreciation. This personalized touch not only solves the immediate problem but also builds customer loyalty.

Proactive Problem Solving: A customer contacts a tech support team because their device is malfunctioning. The service rep not only troubleshoots the issue but also proactively checks for any software updates that could prevent future problems. The rep then schedules a follow-up call to ensure the issue is fully resolved, demonstrating a commitment to the customer's satisfaction.

Seamless Multichannel Support: A customer initially reaches out via chat with an AI agent to resolve an issue with their account. The AI agent, after detecting the complexity of the problem, seamlessly transfers the conversation to a phone call with a more specialized human service rep. The transition is smooth, and the customer doesn't have to repeat their issue. This multichannel approach ensures that the customer receives the right level of support without any frustration.

Customer support teams can be structured in various ways to ensure efficient and effective service. Here are some common structures that organizations often adopt:

• Functional Structure: In this structure, the support team is divided based on specific functions such as technical support, billing, and customer service. Each team focuses on a particular area of expertise, allowing for deep specialization and efficient problem-solving.
• Hierarchical Structure: This structure follows a traditional top-down approach, with a clear chain of command. The team is led by a customer support manager who oversees team leaders, who in turn manage individual support agents.
• Matrix Structure: A matrix structure combines elements of both functional and hierarchical structures. Support agents are grouped into teams based on their skills and expertise, but they also report to multiple managers. This structure promotes collaboration and flexibility, allowing agents to work on a variety of tasks and projects.
• Flat Structure: In a flat structure, there are minimal levels of management, and decision-making is more decentralized. This structure encourages a collaborative and agile environment where all team members have a voice.
• Customer-Centric Structure: This structure focuses on the customer journey and organizes the support team around different stages of the customer lifecycle. For example, there might be teams dedicated to onboarding, ongoing support, and retention.

While it's crucial to set both your customer service reps and AI agents up for success, customer support software plays a major supporting role. The right software helps reps deliver quality service at scale. Here are some questions to consider as you review the options on the market:

• User-friendliness: Is the software easy to use? While some learning curve is normal, you want your team to get up and running right away.
• Integration: Will it work with your existing systems and platforms?
• Cost: Consider cost relative to value. Which features might provide a greater ROI? Think about both the initial investment and any ongoing expenses for maintenance or upgrades.
• Support: What kind of ongoing or specialized support does the vendor offer?

You likely want a platform that offers these features:

• Automated ticketing: Streamline your support process for maximum efficiency.
• Self-service portals: Give customers the power to find answers and solutions on their own.
• AI-powered agents: Manage common and complex inquiries and free up your team’s time to focus on higher-value work.
• Generative AI: Help service reps and agents respond to customers with personalized answers across any channel. Some solutions even draft personalized action plans, replies, and knowledge base articles with AI.
• Service analytics: Get the insights you need to better understand your contact center performance.

One great way to research different customer support platforms, like Salesforce Service Cloud, is by checking reviews on G2 .

With a solid grasp of why customer support software is important, you can begin to identify criteria for making a good selection. Be sure to work with a broad range of stakeholders — including service reps and leadership — to come up with a list of requirements for your customer support software. From there, it’s a process of learning what various vendors have to offer, and comparing that to your needs.

While human agents are the foundation of any service team, customer support software plays a major supporting role. The right software helps agents deliver quality service at scale. Here are some questions to consider as you review the options on the market:

• User-friendliness: Is the software easy to use? While some learning curve is normal, you want your team to get up and running right away.
• Integration: Will it work with your existing systems and platforms?
• Cost: Consider cost relative to value. Which features might provide a greater ROI? Think about both the initial investment and any ongoing expenses for maintenance or upgrades.
• Support: What kind of ongoing or specialized support does the vendor offer?

You likely want a platform that offers these features:

• Automated ticketing: Streamline your support process for maximum efficiency.
• Self-service portals: Give customers the power to find solutions on their own.
• AI-powered chatbots: Manage routine inquiries and free up your team’s time.
• Generative AI: Help agents respond to customers with personalized answers across any channel. Some solutions even offer AI assistants that can draft knowledge articles.
• Service analytics: Get the insights you need to better understand your contact center performance.

With a solid grasp of why customer support software is important, you can begin to identify criteria for making a good selection. Be sure to work with a broad range of stakeholders — including service agents and leadership — to come up with a list of requirements for your customer support software. From there, it’s a process of learning what various vendors have to offer, and comparing that to your needs.