In today’s fast-paced business world, customer satisfaction is a top priority. However, businesses often struggle to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of their customers. This is where customer success software comes in handy.
These software solutions help businesses manage customer relationships, track customer behavior, and provide personalized customer support.
In this blog post, I will discuss the 12 best customer success software for 2023 to help businesses overcome these challenges and achieve their goals.
As a seasoned professional with years of experience in the industry, I have carefully curated this list to ensure that it includes only the most reliable and effective software solutions available in the market.
So, let’s dive in and explore the world of customer success software together!
Top 12 Customer Success Software for 2024
This list includes tools that I have been using along with my customer service team members. Some of these tools have been suggested by my entrepreneur colleagues and others I discovered on leading software review portals.
1. ProProfs Help Desk: Best for Automated Customer Support
I have been using ProProfs Help Desk for a good time now, and I am impressed enough to keep it at the top position on my list. This is due to its transparent pricing, simple UI, and powerful automation features.
Whether it is ticket routing, notification sharing, responses, or report generation, I can easily automate mundane and repetitive tasks. Now that’s a lot of time saved!
I was even able to automate my customer service and lead generation process with the help of website chatbots. Bots can be built for sales, customer service, appointment bookings, and many other purposes.
What you will like
- Attract the attention of website visitors with proactive chat invitations
- Record and store remote support sessions for future reference
- Reports to track help desk metrics like response times, customer satisfaction, NPS, etc.
- Assign tickets to multiple departments with parent-child ticketing
What you won’t like:
- The tool rolls out new features consistently, so you will need to adapt regularly
- More industry-specific canned response templates can be added
Pricing: Starts at $20/user/month (Single plan with all premium features. 15-day free trial available)
2. Zendesk: Best for AI-Powered Capabilities
Zendesk is one of the most advanced AI-powered tools that I got to try my hands on during my entire professional journey.
Zendesk’s AI tools can automatically detect customer intent and suggest auto-responses, helping agents stay prepared and speed up issue resolution. I also like how easy it is to deploy Intelligent bots on your website or help center for 24×7 assistance.
I would suggest you integrate Zendesk with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram so that agents can access all social media requests and complaints in one place.
What you will like
- Create powerful AI-powered answer bots and assist customers with their basic queries
- Leverage customer data to deliver personalized solutions that are tailored to their needs
- Get insights into team performance with reports and analytics
- Allow multiple agents to contribute to knowledge base articles
What you won’t like:
- Zendesk’s expensive pricing makes it an unsuitable option for startups or small businesses
- The tool comes with a steep learning curve
Pricing: Starts at $49/agent/month
3. HubSpot Service Hub: Best for Universal Inbox
HubSpot Service Hub proved to be an excellent suite that seamlessly integrated with my support system to transform customer success. Covering everything from ticketing to knowledge base management, this tool enabled personalized and prompt customer support.
Automation features reduced manual workload, allowing my team to focus on high-impact tasks. The platform’s insights empowered us to understand customer needs better and deliver exceptional support.
What I loved the most was its robust Universal Inbox. HubSpot Service Hub is more than just a customer service tool; it’s a holistic approach to building and maintaining customer relationships, making it an essential component for businesses striving for customer-centric excellence.
What you will like
- Create a customer portal and allow customers to track the progress of their tickets
- You can automatically create tickets from email, chat, or form inquiries
- Contextual and personalized support with easy access to ticket history
- Deploy CSAT, CES, and NPS surveys to monitor the customer experience
What you won’t like:
- The starter plan is limited to a single inbox
- The overall site speed can slow down at times
Pricing: Starts at $18/month
4. Medallia: Best for Simplifying Workflows
Medallia is a powerful and user-friendly help desk platform I’ve had the pleasure of using extensively. This robust tool streamlines customer support operations with its intuitive interface, making managing inquiries and enhancing customer satisfaction a breeze.
Its versatile ticketing system ensures that all customer issues are tracked and resolved efficiently, while its real-time analytics provide valuable insights into customer sentiment and support performance.
Medallia’s seamless integration with other business applications simplifies workflow, ensuring a smooth and cohesive customer support experience. With its user-centric design and data-driven approach, this tool empowers support teams to deliver top-notch service and drive continuous improvement.
What you will like
- Monitor customer health scores to understand consumer engagement
- Track the percentage of health improved or declined for a given period
- Allow customers to track their progress or goals using a customer portal
- Integrate with tools such as Dropbox, Jira, Zendesk, and more
What you won’t like:
- Users may find Medallia’s pricing to be relatively high
- Overly complex for businesses with simpler needs
Pricing: Starts at $2988/year
5. Help Scout: Best for Help Center
Help Scout redefined my customer support with its intuitive platform designed to simplify communication and prioritize customer happiness. By centralizing communication channels, this tool enabled seamless collaboration among my support teams. The platform’s emphasis on a personalized customer experience fostered lasting relationships.
It took me just a few hours to set up an extensive knowledge base comprising articles, guides, and FAQ pages. I could quickly add text, images, hyperlinks, tables, etc., to articles. Help Scout facilitate a streamlined support process, empowering teams to efficiently manage tickets, resolve issues, and exceed customer expectations.
Another impressive aspect is the library of saved replies, which allowed me to swiftly insert pre-written responses into emails or chats.
What you will like
- Recommend help articles based on the page a visitor is viewing
- Tag conversations for better visibility and improved ticket organization
- Share bulk replies to customer issues or requests that are similar in nature
- Agents can easily toggle between email and chat conversations to share faster responses
What you won’t like:
- The Standard Plan is limited to two shared inboxes
- More live chat widget designs should be added for easy customization
Pricing: Starts at $20/user/month
6. ChurnZero: Best for Real-Time Insights
ChurnZero is a dedicated customer success platform that strategically addresses customer churn. Through real-time insights, automation, and proactive monitoring of customer health, ChurnZero equips businesses to reduce churn rates and boost retention.
It allows businesses to understand how their customers use their product, assess their health and their likelihood to renew, and give businesses the means to personalize the customer experience through in-app product walkthroughs
The platform not only identifies potential issues but also offers tools to address them effectively. ChurnZero is a comprehensive solution for businesses aiming to not just react to customer concerns but to anticipate and prevent them, thereby enhancing overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.
What you will like
- Get a complete picture of your customers’ health and renewal likelihood
- Leverage in-app messaging to share targetted messages with customers
- Gauge customer sentiments and satisfaction levels with the help of surveys
- Generate reports to understand SaaS product usage
- Integrate with the leading CRM tools, such as Salesforce, Zoho CRM, and HubSpot
What you won’t like:
- ChurnZero’s extensive feature set may result in a steeper learning curve for new users
- For smaller teams, ChurnZero might be considered resource-intensive
Pricing: Custom pricing.
7. InMoment: Best for Cloud-Based Services
InMoment is a customer experience solution that comes highly recommended by my industry peers for its exceptional performance. The software offers a range of features, including video, voice, and text feedback, active listening, fast video transcription, full web feedback integration, role-based reporting, and customizable dashboards.
This cloud-based platform offers a multilingual user interface infused with AI and machine learning. The software also provides extensive reporting that spans the enterprise, predictive and advanced analytics to facilitate recommendations and workflow, robust integrations with key record systems, action planning, advocacy, case management, closed-loop, and more.
What you will like
- Collect customer feedback on multiple channels and touchpoints
- Monitor your social media reviews as well as brand mentions
- Create, schedule, and share reports with key stakeholders
- Run employee engagement campaigns and reduce employee churn
What you won’t like:
- Higher pricing
- Time-consuming implementation process
Pricing: Custom pricing.
8. Planhat: Best for Customization
Planhat Help Desk is a game-changer for seamless customer support. Having personally utilized this tool, its intuitive interface and robust features elevate customer service to new heights. The platform effortlessly streamlines ticket management, allowing for quick issue resolution and efficient communication.
With automation features and insightful analytics, Planhat Help Desk resolves problems and empowers proactive customer engagement.
What I liked the most is that its customization options allow tailoring the platform to specific business needs, while its scalability ensures adaptability as your company grows.
What you will like
- Spot negative usage trends and prevent customer churn
- Monitor changes in customer health scores and take necessary actions
- Educate your customers by sharing usage dashboards with them directly
- Track product issues and feature requests shared by customers
What you may not like:
- Limited third-party integrations
- Steeper learning curve for new users
Pricing: Custom pricing.
9. Zoho Desk: Best for Personalized Service
Zoho Desk was recommended to me by an industry peer, and I was instantly impressed by the contextual support capabilities it brings to the table.
As soon as you open a ticket, Zoho Desk automatically pulls up the customer’s contact information, recent support tickets, and tasks associated with them. This is all the data you will need to offer personalized assistance.
The software is highly customizable and can be integrated with other Zoho apps and third-party tools to streamline workflows and enhance customer experience.
The platform offers a centralized hub for all customer interactions, providing support teams with the tools they need to manage tickets and resolve issues promptly.
What you will like
- Create an online community forum and allow customers to engage in QnA
- Keep agents informed with the help of automated notifications
- Integrate with Zoho CRM and gain complete customer information in one place
- Manage SLAs and escalate issues when SLAs are not met
- Customize your help center to match your brand
What you won’t like:
- The tool does not offer chatbot functionality
- Many users feel that Zoho Desk’s customer service team isn’t responsive at times
Pricing: Starts at $14/user/month
10. Gainsight: Best for Tracking Performance Metrics
Gainsight is a customer success platform that empowers businesses to drive growth by providing actionable insights, automation, and customer intelligence. With a focus on understanding customer needs and behaviors, Gainsight enables proactive engagement to ensure long-term success.
This platform offers advanced analytics to track customer health, reducing churn rates and increasing retention. The platform offers four ways to get help: Gainsight Go, ticket submission, phone, or live chat.
The tool provides a bookmark to view Gainsight performance metrics, planned maintenance dates, and incident reports. The user can share product enhancement requests on the Gainsight Community.
What you will like
- Leverage powerful analytics to uncover customer insights and trends
- Share proactive alerts and step-by-step playbooks with customers
- Gather feedback using CSAT, NPS, and other customer surveys
- Predict your renewals and revenue accurately
What you may not like:
- Limited customization options
- May not scale well for larger enterprises
Pricing: Custom pricing
11. Accelo: Best for Reports and Analytics
Accelo Help Desk is a game-changer for efficient customer support. Having used this indispensable tool, I can attest to its remarkable capabilities. With its user-friendly interface and robust features, the Accelo Help Desk streamlines ticket management, ensuring no customer concern falls through the cracks.
Its automation options are a time-saver, enabling prioritization of tasks and swift responses. The integrated communication tools facilitate seamless interactions with clients, fostering better relationships.
The best part? Its analytics and reporting features provide valuable insights for continuous improvement. Accelo Help Desk’s adaptability and customization options make it a must-have for anyone seeking to provide top-notch customer service while optimizing workflows.
What you will like
- Access client projects and communications in real-time
- Share detailed invoices with clients and conduct accurate billing
- Create insightful reports to understand budget usage, profit margins, and more
- Integrate with Salesforce, HubSpot, MailChimp, PayPal, and other tools
What you may not like:
- Some users might not like the limited functionality of Accelo’s mobile app compared to the desktop version
- Depending on the subscription tier, users may experience slower response times for customer support.
Pricing: Starts at $24/user/month
12. Intercom: Best for Proactive Support
Intercom’s proactive outreach capabilities enable your team to reach out to customers quickly and easily when something goes wrong.
For instance, agents can share proactive emails, SMSs, in-product messages, banners, etc., to alert customers and employees about service outages or downtimes. I think this will surely help you avoid unnecessary contact.
Intercom has divided its approach into three levels: proactive, self-serve, and human support. Using this funnel method, I’m sure customers will be empowered to resolve their basic concerns on their own during the initial stages and connect to a human agent when the need arises.
What you will like:
- Develop powerful chatbots that can assist customers with their basic questions
- Interactive product tours to keep new customers engaged
- Test messaging series to understand which campaigns perform better
- You can support your audience across WhatsApp and Instagram
What you may not like:
- Intercom’s pricing plans can seem confusing to new users
- Customer support is slow to respond at times
Pricing: Starts at $74/month
Which Is the Best Customer Service Software?
With affordable customer service systems available in the market, you can easily enhance your support process, retain customers, and boost business revenue.
If you are still undecided, let me try to be of help. I have further narrowed down my list to the top 3 options.
Option A: ProProfs Help Desk
ProProfs Help Desk will help your small business automate tasks like ticket routing, notifications, and reports for time-saving efficiency. I suggest you build customer service chatbots to stay available for customers 24/7, even when your team isn’t available to take chats.
Option B: Help Scout
If you wish to empower your customers with a self-service knowledge base, I think Help Scout can be a good option for you. The tool makes it super easy to create help center articles and publish them online for your audience. I’m sure you will also love its shared inbox feature for streamlined email management.
Option C: Zendesk
Zendesk is an excellent option for AI-powered support. All incoming customer complaints and requests are automatically converted into tickets. You can easily sort these tickets into categories such as billing, technical support, etc., and keep your help desk inbox well-organized.
In the end, I would suggest you go for the ProProfs Help Desk if you want the maximum returns for your money. Your team will love an email-like interface and powerful automation features.
Learn More About Customer Service Software for Small Businesses
Q: What is customer success software?
A: Customer Success Software is a specialized tool designed to help businesses proactively manage and enhance their relationships with customers. It goes beyond traditional customer support by focusing on ensuring that customers achieve their desired outcomes and derive maximum value from the products or services they have purchased.
This software typically includes features for tracking customer interactions, monitoring user engagement, and providing insights to help businesses optimize their customer success strategies.
Watch: How to Manage Your Customer Support Tickets
Q: What are the benefits of customer success software?
A: The benefits of customer success software are manifold. Some key advantages include:
- Customer Retention: Identify and address issues before they escalate, reducing customer churn.
- Data-driven Insights: Gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, enabling personalized interactions.
- Proactive Support: Anticipate customer needs and provide proactive assistance, fostering a positive customer experience.
- Scalability: Streamline processes to efficiently manage a growing customer base without compromising service quality.
- Cross-sell and Upsell Opportunities: Identify opportunities to offer additional products or services based on customer usage and needs.
- Customer Feedback: Collect and analyze customer feedback to continuously improve products and services.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction: Ensure customers achieve their goals, leading to higher overall satisfaction and positive reviews.
Q: What are the features of the best customer success software?
A: The best customer success software typically offers a range of features, including:
- Customer Health Monitoring: Assess the health of customer accounts based on usage patterns, support tickets, and other metrics.
- User Engagement Tracking: Monitor how customers interact with your product or service to identify areas for improvement.
- Automation: Automate routine tasks and communications to save time and ensure consistency in customer interactions.
- Customer Communication Tools: Facilitate communication through in-app messaging, email, and other channels.
- Analytics and Reporting: Provide detailed analytics and reporting tools to track key performance indicators and measure the effectiveness of customer success efforts.
- Integration Capabilities: Integrate with other business tools such as CRM systems, marketing platforms, and helpdesk software for seamless data flow.
- Customer Feedback and Surveys: Collect feedback through surveys to understand customer satisfaction and areas for improvement.
- Customer Journey Mapping: Visualize and understand the customer journey to tailor interactions and support accordingly.
Q: How much does customer success software cost?
A: The cost of customer success software varies based on factors such as the size of your business, the features you need, and the chosen pricing model. Some software providers offer tiered pricing plans based on the number of users or customers, while others may charge based on usage or offer a subscription model.
Prices can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month. It’s essential to evaluate your specific requirements and budget to choose a solution that aligns with your business goals.
Q: How to choose the best customer success software?
A: Choosing the best customer success software involves considering several factors:
- Features and Functionality: Evaluate the features offered and ensure they align with your customer success goals.
- Scalability: Choose a solution that can grow with your business and accommodate an expanding customer base.
- Integration: Ensure the software can integrate seamlessly with your existing tools, such as CRM and marketing platforms.
- User-Friendly Interface: Look for a user-friendly interface to facilitate easy adoption by your team.
- Customer Support: Assess the level of customer support provided by the vendor, including training and ongoing assistance.
- Cost and ROI: Consider the total cost of ownership and evaluate the return on investment based on the benefits the software provides.
- Customer Reviews: Read reviews from other businesses to understand their experiences with the software.
- Trial Period: Take advantage of free trials or demo periods to test the software’s suitability for your specific needs before making a commitment.
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