Customers are the bloodline of any business. Without customers, companies will tank and go bankrupt. Inversely, companies with a loyal customer base will likely flourish and be successful.
For this reason, businesses take measures to ensure the satisfaction and loyalty of their customers. Using customer experience tools to improve customer service is one of the ways companies can take to this end.
The importance of customer experience to business success is a widely-known fact. Thus, companies will have no shortage of options when it comes to choosing the right customer experience tools.
To help you decide which tool to use among the many options, we’ve compiled a list of the most effective customer experience tools currently available.
What is customer experience?
In a nutshell, customer experience (CX) refers to the overall impression that your company makes on your customers. This impression isn’t solely from one point of interaction. Rather, it’s comprised of every touchpoint between customers and your business.
Below are some examples of interactions affecting customer experience:
- Your company’s first impression on customers.
- Your customer’s interaction with your business throughout the buyer’s journey.
- How your customers feel post-purchase.
It’s important to remember that no two customers are exactly alike. This means one customer’s experience will always be different from other customers’.
Thus, businesses should always pay attention to individual customer needs and preferences when making decisions regarding customer experience.
What are customer experience tools?
Customer experience tools are software that collects feedback and data from customer interactions to improve the overall customer experience.
These tools help businesses gather information about their customers and identify market trends. In turn, they use these data to improve their services and customer experience indirectly.
Businesses can use customer experience tools at any point in the customer journey, from pre-purchase research to post-purchase support.
Using these tools, they can create buyer personas and personalize customer experiences based on each customer’s individual needs and preferences.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software are among the most common customer experience tools. Businesses use this CX tool to manage their interactions with customers. They can also use CRMs to track marketing campaigns, monitor sales, and create reports.
How to choose the right customer experience tools
Rarely will two customer experience tools be the same. Before selecting the CX tool for your business, you should see if its features cover your needs.
For example, are you aiming to improve your customer service experience or the user experience of customers visiting your business’s website?
Ease of use is another essential factor when deciding which customer experience tools to use. A CX tool with a steep learning curve may not be the best for smaller businesses needing results within a shorter period.
Companies that use other software tools in their processes will want to look at the integration capabilities of a CX tool. Many customer experience software can integrate with third-party platforms, allowing businesses to manage their tools in one place.
Top customer experience tools in 2023
Now that we’ve discussed the key points you should consider when choosing the right CX tool, let’s look at the best customer experience tools in the market:
Zendesk
Zendesk is among the most popular customer experience tools out there, and for good reason. The company has a flexible CRM that businesses can use to essentially build their own CX solution.
This CX tool enables a smooth flow of product-led conversations across multiple channels.
What makes Zendesk’s CX tool great:
- Flexible platform
- Omnichannel communications
- CRM functionality
- Analytics and reporting
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce is another household name when it comes to software solutions for businesses. The company’s CX tool boasts being a “time-saving, joy-boosting, relationship-building machine” – all qualities of the ideal CX platform.
Like Zendesk, Salesforce’s CX tool has omnichannel capabilities and uses platform-native AI-powered chatbots to minimize human intervention.
What makes Salesforce Service Cloud great:
- Third-party integrations
- Omnichannel communications
- Productivity tools
- Workflow automation
HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot’s innovative CX solution is enhanced by the equally powerful CRM tool, HubSpot CRM. This customer experience tool merges a business’s communication channels into a unified inbox for seamless communication.
HubSpot Service Hub gives its users all the necessary tools needed to keep customers satisfied.
What makes HubSpot Service Hub great:
- Omnichannel communication
- HubSpot CRM
- Large variety of tools
- Third-party integrations
Adobe Experience Manager
Adobe’s CX tool combines digital asset management with the capabilities of a content management system to bring a consistent and personalized experience for customers.
This customer experience platform has tools to let businesses manage digital experiences across channels and scale operations with less effort.
What makes Adobe Experience Manager great:
- Content management system
- Automation tools
- Content management system
- Personalization
Qualtrics XM
Qualtrics XM gives businesses a CX management platform that provides actionable insights to improve customer experience. This CX platform aims to help companies do three things:
- “Hear every single customer.”
- “Know exactly how to retain customers.”
- “Deliver recommended actions to the people in the best position to respond.”
What makes Qualtrics XM great:
- Extensive channels
- Meaningful touchpoints
- Analytics
Why businesses should invest in customer experience tools
As stated at the beginning of this article, customers are the lifeblood of businesses. As such, customer experience is critical to their success as it can help make or break their companies.
Customers remain loyal to businesses that consistently provide satisfactory services and overall experience. Conversely, companies that fail to give a positive customer experience risk having their customer base switch to their competitors.
Businesses can act proactively and improve customer experience even before things take a turn for the worse. Investing in customer experience tools is one of the best ways for them to do this.
