Moving On From Email Is Hard, but Necessary

Wed, 11 Jun 2014, in Email

Without a doubt, email has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other.

“M” logo courtesy Google

Currently, email remains at the top of preferred communication methods online, with over 85% of people connected to the internet using it to share data according to an Ipsos Global Affairs poll. This is far ahead of Facebook and Twitter, which trail behind at 62%. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to change in the near future.

The prevalence of email meant that customer support departments the world over couldn’t ignore this powerful platform, putting email’s importance above the telephone. Despite email being internet’s most favorite communication medium, it’s plagued with problems.

Email is prolific and can easily cause an information overload. From having a single inbox to work with, inability to control spam, formatting and synchronization issues even the most experienced users can become frustrated, fast. Can there be a better way?

Drawbacks of email in customer support

Perhaps the biggest drawback of email when dealing with customers is how easily a conversation can be lost in the seemly bottomless inbox pit. Email’s search functionalities leave a lot to be desired, so do its limited organizational capabilities.

Businesses cannot afford to take such risks when dealing with customers. Each and every satisfied customer is a building block for a successful business, and email’s numerous shortcomings can put that success in jeopardy.

This is why we went and developed Helprace, a cloud-based customer service software wholly focused on providing excellent customer support. You can keep using your existing email addresses and servers (POP and IMAP supported) and migrate your accounts over to us. This presents your end-users with the accessibility and familiarity of email while your agents see requests in the form of open tickets. Tickets can then get assigned, managed, sorted and tracked – in short, your agents will be able to do everything that email simply cannot accomplish.

There are many reasons to make the switch – so here are some of the less apparent reasons why email does not work for modern businesses that want an edge over the competition.

An email inbox is just a big box

Email inboxes aren’t organized, nor are they scalable – it’s simply a messy pile of messages.

Email is designed for one type of conversation

While a great tool, email is optimized for personal communication, not customer service.

Email does not alert anyone

If a question gets left unanswered or deleted, an agent cannot know and the customer is left in the dark.

You cannot invite others into conversations

Sometimes the expertise of a particular agent may be needed, and email can’t easily accommodate that.

Agents have a tunnel vision of customers

We all know customer service is a team effort, and email alone cannot detect agent collision over tickets.

Email can’t reassure customers

You must manually send emails to customers requesting feedback or ask if they are happy with the service.

Email just doesn’t keep customers happy

Last but not least, email isn’t customer friendly and can restrict business growth.

Helprace is a cloud-based customer service solution which means 99% uptime and the latest in SSL security technology to protect sensitive company and customer data. After all, your Helprace help desk “works” the same way your email does, without any servers or IT specialists to worry about.

There is really no reason not to give Helprace a try and leave email behind. With Helprace, your agents benefit from a dedicated, easy-to-use platform, while going the extra mile for your customers. Take a look at our tour to see what separates Helprace from other customer service software out there. Don’t forget to let us know what you think in our portal!

Tags: email