35+ Best Customer Experience Software Platforms of 2019

Providing quality customer service is not only about answering product questions, solving problems, or responding to feedback. It starts with market research, a fine-tuned website, and an optimized marketing funnel, then continues after the sale with customer support and loyalty programs. Therefore, a business might require several different kinds of customer experience software in order to enhance the buyer’s journey.

This article will cover 30+ customer experience software options, ranging from funnel optimization, to customer support, and rewards programs. Together, these solutions can significantly increase customer satisfaction and ultimately a business’s bottom line.

• Customer Analysis Software
• Multichannel Customer Support Software
• Support Ticket System Software
• Survey Software
• Customer Review Software
• Customer Loyalty Software

Improving the customer experience starts before they ever become a customer. The right analysis tools take a snapshot of user behavior on a website or within the funnel, then provide insights about how the product, shopping journey, or customer support can be improved.

Source

Wonderflow is the perfect tool for not only seeing what customers are saying about products but why they’re saying it. This helps enterprise businesses evaluate customer feedback and produce actionable insights like never before. With this information, brands can understand what features are most important to their customers and what parts of their products or services still need improvement.

Source

Hotjar is one of the go-to tools for analyzing customer experiences on a website or even with a product. The heatmap and screen recording function visually represent clicks and scrolling behavior so it’s easy to see what customers are most interested in.

There’s also a form analysis tool, feedback polls that can be embedded into the website, and a conversion funnel overview that shows when user activity drops off during the buyer journey.

Source

Like Hotjar, Pointillist focuses on the visualization of customer behavior within a funnel. However, Pointillist takes it a step further and provides quantitative links between that behavior and other metrics such as revenue, cost-of-conversion, and lifetime customer value.

The platform also seamlessly unifies social media, marketing tools, customer support software, sales software, and more, to provide the most complete view of the funnel possible.

Source

Kissmetrics automates customer engagement by sending uniquely tailored marketing campaigns to different population segments based on previous customer behavior.

Basically, Kissmetrics automatically bridges the gap between insight and action. It integrates easily with an e-commerce stack, including Facebook, Instagram, Slack, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

Source

CloudCherry follows Kissmetrics’ example of turning insight into action, but instead of that action being a targeted marketing campaign, it’s all about improving the product and purchase journey.

CloudCherry’s visualization of the funnel is combined with suggested improvements and predictions of how those improvements will influence metrics. All in all, it’s one of the most actionable customer analysis tools out there.

Source

Inspectlet is similar to Hotjar in that some of its main functions include heatmaps, form analysis, and recordings of user behavior. There’s also the ability to A/B test different variations of a site and error logging that monitors javascript failures.

Overall, Inspectlet is a handy tool for understanding exactly how a site is used and what design tweaks need to be made to improve the customer journey.

Source

At first glance, Improvely looks similar to Google Analytics, providing a general overview of visitors and the number of visits, but its real strength lies in analyzing conversions.

Improvely is able to track the number of conversions brought to the site from different marketing campaigns and shows the conversion rate and cost per conversion. That way it’s easy to see which campaigns offer the most bang for the buck.

For businesses that need help managing customer questions and requests coming in from multiple channels, these tools are a great place to start.

Source

Service Cloud is the all-in-one solution for businesses both large and small. In addition to delivering support across social media and other digital channels, standout features include self-service portals for customers, a field service dashboard for managing off-site appointments, and AI-powered chatbots to help scale support.

The product promises 32% more customer happiness based on a survey of 7,000+ customers polled by Salesforce.

Source

Zendesk hangs its hat on flexibility. Use it as-is right out of the box, or scale up and down as business needs change.

The self-service features are particularly attractive; agents can convert their responses into public-facing knowledge base articles, while answer bots can manage high-frequency and low-touch tickets by directing customers to articles before directing them to an agent.

The knowledge base also tracks customer activity and delivers the insights to agents so they can solve tickets faster.

Source

Freshdesk makes its stand on what it does best: unifying customer messages and help desk conversations from across multiple channels.

There are also several automation features, such as canned responses, triggered events, and intelligent ticket assignment that assigns tickets to agents based on their workload. And at $49 per agent per month, Freshdesk offers the same benefits as Zendesk but for $50 cheaper.

Source

Zoho Desk is all about context and seeing the bigger picture. Tickets are automatically prioritized according to urgency and agents get a full overview of the customer—including their previous interactions—to inform how they should respond.

There’s also a dashboard for managers that tracks help desk metrics so they can understand weak points and make improvements. If that’s not enough, companies can create a knowledge base portal and forum so that customers can try helping themselves before submitting a ticket.

Source

In 2018, LiveAgent was the most reviewed and top-rated help desk software for small and medium-sized businesses, although it boasts the likes of BMW and Yamaha amongst its clientele as well.

It has a lot of the same key features as the bigger solutions—such as organizing tickets arriving from different support channels and creating a self-service portal—but also comes with robust call center functionality for when tickets need a more personal touch.

Source

Sprout Social is not only a lightweight and powerful way to provide support on social media, but works great for general customer engagement, too. The dashboard funnels activity from across social media into one unified inbox and turns every message into a task by adding context, message types, or notes. The inbox also shows when teammates are responding to a message so no one ever collides on a task.

These support solutions are lighter than their multichannel counterparts, relying on a streamlined system of email and chat to solve customer problems.

Source

Help Scout is a simple and clean way to provide customer service without any extraneous bells and whistles. Email responses to customer questions have the look and feel of being sent by a real person without scrimping on speed.

The platform also offers a knowledge base function, so agents can build helpful documents that answer common questions.

Source

Groove is another super simple email-based ticketing system for customer support. It’s a great option for businesses that don’t need too many frills to get the job done but still need some functionality so teams of agents can work together. There’s also an option for embedding the help desk into website pages.

Source

Front bills itself as a shared inbox for customer service teams, not unlike Help Scout or Groove. However, Front also functions as a way for teams to work together to build stronger relationships with existing clients or even work towards securing new contracts.

Source

osTicket is an open-source support software, so it’s completely free. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s lacking on features; osTicket has many of the same capabilities as paid software, routing emails, web forms, and phone calls to an inbox that can be shared by entire teams.

Source

Tender Support works similarly to other email-based support ticketing systems, but with a few added perks. It can create community forums and a knowledge base so customers can answer their own questions before reaching out, and reporting functions help agents keep track of response times and work toward providing faster service.

Surveys are essential for conducting market research and getting customer feedback. There are several different software options, ranging from powerful, AI-enhanced experiences to simple questionnaires that get the job done.

Source

SurveyMonkey has come a long way over the years. Many people know it as one of the most basic survey forms out there, when in reality it can be a powerful market research tool. SurveyMonkey surveys can be used to test concepts and brand awareness before launching a new product or campaign, ultimately saving a business time and money.

Source

Qualtrics is a fast-growing competitor to SurveyMonkey that was recently acquired by software giant SAP in what was the second-largest acquisition of a SaaS company. If that doesn’t speak to how powerful the software is, its list of functions will. Among them, Qualtrics’ sophisticated surveys use AI to improve survey performance before ever debuting them to the public.

Source

Like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms are often used by the general public for free, but there’s a paid version for businesses that provides additional functionality. In this case, Google Forms is part of G Suite. After sending a questionnaire, the results show up in real time and can be analyzed visually or in raw data on a spreadsheet.

Source

SurveyGizmo has countless options for sending and collecting branded surveys through email, websites, and social media. Its reporting system makes it easy to see results and export them, so they’re always ready for presentations. Plus, it integrates quickly with existing marketing, sales, and customer support software to draw upon data that’s already been collected.

Source

Typeform can be used for just about anything, from selling products to getting employee feedback. When it comes to improving the customer experience, Typeform can help by surveying audience demographics, capturing product feedback, and conducting market research.

Source

SurveySparrow gives surveys a human touch with features like display logic and follow-up messages. With display logic, the next question shown depends upon the answer to the previous question, while follow-up messages show thoughtful comments or observations in order to make surveys more conversational.

Displayed reviews accomplish four main things: they decrease new customer hesitation, provide a channel for offering customer support and product improvement, can be used to generate a Google seller rating, and ultimately increase revenue.

Source

Trustpilot not only collects reviews that can help optimize a customer’s buying journey, but uses those reviews to increase organic search traffic, ad click-through rates, conversions, and sales. That’s because reviews collected by Trustpilot are trusted by Google, who then uses them to display a seller rating on paid ad placement.

Source

Yotpo combines the best of customer support, reviews, and loyalty program tools. In addition to sending review invitations to previous customers (the results of which can be used to generate a Google seller rating,) Yotpo makes it easy for customers to ask questions before they buy in order to decrease hesitation.

The platform also has a function that offers coupons and other rewards in return for leaving a review, increasing revenue both through the generation of a sale and the increase in conversion rates from Google ads.

Source

Like the other review tools here, Bazaarvoice collects reviews that Google uses to create seller ratings. However, its main focus is on responding to reviews and using them to improve the shopping experience. Bazaarvoice tracks problems and offers reporting on things like product performance in order to enhance customer journeys.

Source

PowerReviews is a fairly straightforward solution for reviews. It collects them, displays them, allows for easy moderation, and uses them to generate a Google seller rating. However, PowerReviews stands apart for its customization functions; how reviews appear on a product sales page can be easily altered so that it looks cohesive with a site’s design.

Source

Shopper Approved collects and displays reviews next to products on the sales page in a style reminiscent of Amazon. Like Trustpilot, Google draws on Shopper Approved reviews to create seller ads for paid ad placement.

If there aren’t enough reviews to generate a seller rating for a product (Google requires at least 150 in the past year), then Shopper Approved reviews combine to create a merchant rating instead.

Source

Verified Reviews make it easy to send a review form to previous customers and add those reviews to the sales page. Plus, its used by Google to create seller ratings, thus increasing click-through rates and reducing cost per click rates. It also integrates with support software like Zendesk so that reviews can be monitored and responded to as needed.

One of the most important ways to grow a business is through long-term customer satisfaction and retention. Boost customer experience using a customized loyalty program.

While reward programs are typically associated with e-commerce or brick-and-mortar businesses, these can be easily adapted to suit even B2B companies.

Source

Swell Rewards is a product of the Yotpo Company, featured earlier for their review service.

Swell encourages customers to continue interacting with a brand by offering points for things like engaging with social media, referring a friend, or writing a review. It increases revenue not only by incentivizing future purchases but when used in conjunction with Yotpo, reviews can lead to a higher Google seller rating, which in turn attracts new customers.

Source

Gleantap works together with a business’s app to deliver perks to customers exactly where they are: on their phone.

Push notifications drive engagement with the app, plus they’re automated and easily customized. If that’s not enough, Gleantap offers SMS campaigns that text the right incentive at the right time to boost customer loyalty.

Source

For B2B companies exploring customer loyalty programs, start with AdvocateAnywhere. Like Swell Rewards, certain actions like providing a testimonial or sharing content on social media results in points that count towards a customer’s account.

However, AdvocateAnywhere has a leg up in the customization department, as reward opportunities can be easily installed on website pages and target users based on interest, industry, or role.

Source

Annex Cloud is another loyalty program catering to B2B companies. Its strategy takes into account that customers are less likely to be emotionally invested in brands and need more tangible incentives to keep them committed. The software is flexible, offering mobile app creation, POS integration, and website integration depending on a company’s needs.

Source

TapMango is a customer loyalty program that works best for brick-and-mortar businesses but with gorgeous results. The customer facing tablet provides a beautiful and fully customizable interface that features company branding, as does a branded mobile app that allows users to keep track of points, offers, and deals. Customers also receive branded key tags they can scan with each visit or give as a gift card.

Source

Fivestars is a more lightweight version of TapMango. However, what it lacks in branding-heavy features it makes up for by organizing customers into a tagged and segmented database.

Businesses are able to select a pre-populated group like first-time visitors and send them a special offer specific to them. The software seamlessly integrates with point-of-sale devices and email marketing services like MailChimp or Constant Contact to help populate the database.

Improving a customer’s experience is not limited to providing support after they purchase a product. Overall customer satisfaction depends upon a well-designed website, seamless conversion funnel, an attractive rewards program, and a product or services that meets customer needs and wants. The right suite of tools can accomplish all that and more.