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Despite the rising popularity of live chats and messenger platforms, email remains customers’ top favorite channel. Whether your business embraces email or not, many of your customers prefer it. That's where customer email management systems (CEMS) come in.
With so many CEMS options, choosing the right one may seem like a maze. But we're here to help! In this guide, we'll share 7 practical tips to simplify your CEMS selection.
Let’s begin.
Customer email management systems are comprehensive software solutions designed to facilitate the organization, automation, and optimization of email-based communication with customers, clients, and prospects.
Adopting a customer email management system can help you streamline your email-based customer support and solve a bunch of other issues like:
So, how do you actually pick the right software for your business? Here are 7 strategies to help you out.
Start by defining your business objectives and how a customer email management system can help achieve them. Are you looking to improve response times, enhance customer service, increase lead generation, or gain better insights from your email interactions?Â
For instance, if your objective is to improve response times to customer inquiries, a system with automated routing and canned responses can be invaluable. Likewise, if you’re looking to improve customer retention, you may benefit from email management solutions that gather customer feedback.
Whatever your objectives are, lean on them to guide your vendor selection process.
2. Budget with ROI in mind
Set a realistic budget for your CEMS investment, keeping in mind the potential return on investment (ROI). While it's important to control costs, don't compromise on essential features and quality to save money. 68% of consumers are prepared to switch to a competitor just after three poor experiences or fewer.
3. Focus on automation capabilities
One of the primary reasons for adopting a CEMS is to automate repetitive tasks. Evaluate the system's automation capabilities, such as:
Automation not only saves time but also ensures consistency and reduces the risk of human error. It enables your team to focus on more strategic and value-added tasks while the CEMS handles routine, repetitive email-related chores.
4. Think about scalability
Based on the 2022 Zendesk CX report, support ticket volumes rose across all channels, with a particularly significant 10% increase observed in email. Your CEMS should be prepared to absorb increased email volumes and accommodate new team members without significant disruptions.
Look for a customer email system solution that can grow with your business, accommodating changes seamlessly and preventing disruptions to your workflow.
5. Analyze the tool's specific features
There are plenty of CEMS out there, some are better than others. To find the right one for your business, you must consider your business’s specific needs and how your customers like to interact with you.
Let's say you run a B2B SaaS company and you use Slack for customer support alongside an email ticketing tool. In this case, you'd want a CEMS that can seamlessly bring these two channels together without causing chaos.
Related read: How to send emails to Slack channels
In the end, the key is to really nail down your business requirements and then find the features that align best with your goals. It's all about making sure your CEMS works for you and your customers.
6. Pay attention to integrations
Consider the tools and software your business already uses, such as CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, and helpdesk software. An effective CEMS should seamlessly integrate with your existing tools and software ecosystem, ensuring that your email communication is part of a holistic, interconnected customer service strategy.
7. See if the solution provides reporting features
If you’re not looking at your customer service data, it’s about time! Collecting and analyzing data in customer service is invaluable as it provides actionable insights into customer behavior, enabling businesses to proactively address issues, personalize interactions, and optimize their support processes. And, there is a lot of data that lives in customer emails!
Thus, when searching for a perfect customer email management system, ensure it offers reporting features, such as:
In short, harnessing the reporting features of a customer email management system gives you a valuable opportunity to gain profound insights into your customer interactions. Plus, data helps you bolster your operational efficiency and resource allocation, guaranteeing sustained growth and competitiveness.
Right now, email is still a big deal. People are using it to contact companies when they have a problem or need some guidance. So, it's important to get your email support game strong. To do that, you need the best customer email management system to help you out.
And if you're in the B2B world and use a mix of Slack and email ticketing tools, you might want to check out Thena. It's an intelligent customer management tool designed to seamlessly integrate with Slack.
Whether your customers engage with you directly through Slack or via email, Thena's bi-directional integrations with popular email ticketing systems enable you to assist your customers without requiring them (or your agents) to switch away from their preferred communication channel.
‍Companies like Mixpanel, WorkRamp, and Incident have placed their trust in Thena because of its groundbreaking customer service approach. Give Thena a try and experience it firsthand!
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