When it comes to customer service and support software, you’ll find many solutions clamoring for your attention. Most likely, you’ll notice the similarities long before finding the differences.
Of course, you’ll have no trouble finding a solution proximate to what you need. But is that really what you want? Will you be satisfied with “good enough”?
In contrast to the one-size-fits-all mentality behind many customer service and support solutions, PhaseWare thinks you should expect more. Our philosophy is simple: Build the solution around the customer, not the other way around.
A real-world example
When it comes to your customer support, don’t your customers deserve something beyond this off-the-rack experience? Consider the example of a custom clothier, a sartorial expert who makes custom clothes to order based on a client’s needs and preferences.
When a client tells a clothier, “I need a new jacket,†the next step doesn’t include a rack of suits. The next step is a conversation: What do you like? What bothers you? Are you allergic to any fabrics? What’s your business? Daily attire? Physical environment? How often will you wear the coat? Will it travel often?
Based on your answers, the clothier begins forming a frame of reference, filtering out colors and styles and fabrics, moving closer and closer to what you actually need. Next, you’re given a selection of fabrics and colors, all of which fit into the profile you’ve just established.
After deciding on styles and colors, you get measured. And custom-fitting is nothing like the off-the-rack experience, or buying school clothes with mom:
How’s the waist, dear? Make sure you have room in the shoulders.
Customer clothiers and fine tailors account for height, weight, body type, posture, and more. For a custom shirt, tailors will take as many as 37 individual measurements, all with the purpose of finding your “perfect fit.â€
Custom-fitted solutions
Likewise, your customer support solution should benefit from a “perfect fit.” You shouldn’t be expected to arrive on your solution provider’s doorstep with all the answers, just as much as you shouldn’t expect an off-the-shelf solution to automotically meet your needs.
Your solution provider should, instead, make finding your “perfect fit” its top priority in serving your needs. And it begins with a conversation: Where are you successful today? Where do you struggle? What are your biggest pain points? What’s your business? Describe your customer support environment today. What’s important to you?
With this information, your provider should be able to provide a tailored software solution based on your needs and preferences. With customization far beyond colors, logos, and field names; workflows and a business rules engine; your “perfect fit” should provide the ease-of-use, consistency, and automation required for smooth, efficient, and effective customer support operations.
Case in point
Just for kicks, think back to the last time you bought a new suit or dress for work. Most of us simply hit the mall or the outlet center and grab something off-the-rack. Macy’s, Dillard’s, Banana Republic, whatever. In the end, a 42 regular is a 42 regular, right?
As a short-term solution, sure, it’s sometimes easier to just grab the “best fit” and move on. But who wouldn’t prefer a long-term solutions, who wouldn’t rather find the “perfect fit?”
Remember, off-the-rack, one-size-fits-all solutions may have plenty of room in the shoulders; but six months down the road, they don’t look nearly as good as a “perfect fit†solution.
And your customers will know the difference.