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Learn more about the best B2B customer support tools for 2017 in this part of the 2017 Trends and Tech Guide from Ambition today!
The 2017 Trends and Tech Guide for B2B Sales and Marketing is a brand-new eBook by Prezi, Ambition, and LeadGenius. The premise: 9 high-level overviews of the most pivotal trends impacting B2B sales, marketing, support and operations. An accompanying guide profiles 112 software tools that solve the most pivotal needs for B2B business teams in 2017 and beyond.
Each chapter inside the 38 page eBook focuses on a particular trend, lists the needs associated with that trend, and ends with software profiles of 10-15 tools most likely to help. To give you a primer, here's a look at the software tools designated best-in-class for B2B client support and success.
Best B2B Service, Support and Success Tools for 2017
#1. Intercom. Client support and communication for multi-talented teams.
If you’re dissatisfied with your customer support software, chances are you aren’t using Intercom. The most robust version of the platform is essentially four separate products bundled into one, allowing your personnel to chat with clients in real-time, onboard and upsell more effectively, and leverage customer feedback to its fullest extent. Best of all, Intercom lets teams share all of these insights with key team members as they happen. With its dual utility as an inbound marketing tool and sales intelligence augmentor, Intercom delivers the broadest potential value to modern sales organizations.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: Customer success teams who rely heavily on client renewals and upsells.
#2. Zendesk. The original client management platform.
Zendesk began paving the way for streamlined, more effective, tech-enabled customer service almost a decade ago. Market tenure and continuous additions and updates have brought the company to the absolute zenith of the customer support software market. For companies that need the core components of modern client support and deal primarily with customer issues via web communication, rather than phone, Zendesk features like Help Center builder, ticketing system, real-time chat offer the perfect suite of functionality.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: Maturing support teams that default to online correspondence with customer issues.
#3. Front. A complete command center for business communication.
Front is how forward-thinking business teams coordinate external communication: routing all incoming, outgoing, and internal communication from email, social media, phone, and messaging to a single inbox organized according to your team’s liking. On top of that, it’s also a full-fledged internal team communication platform. Add in the highly reasonable price tag and you have a platform that’s definitely worth a look for silo-plagued business teams.
Cost: $-$$.
Best for: Teams who struggle with silos -- and with timely internal and external communication.
#4. Talkdesk. The Call Center Creator.
Talkdesk owns a unique corner of the market as the software platform that enables call center levels of client support -- without the actual call center. Essentially, this is an operations-streamlining, productivity-compounding solution that does it all. It’s an auto-dialer that also routes calls, integrates with your CRM and Helpdesk, tracks response time, and provides detailed analytics about the quality and efficiency of your interactions.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: High growth and mid-market companies with growing headcount in support.
#5. Gainsight. Tech-driven customer success management.
For software providers, Gainsight's 360° Customer Success platform is jaw-dropping in its totality. The potential breadth and scope of its application and value-adds ranges from improving customer retention, to driving client advocacy and increasing upsells. Get data-driven insights on customer health, engagement, and ROI (perfect for assisting renewals and upsells), and route relevant insights to sales and marketing departments in a timely manner.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: Software providers looking to thrive -- not just survive -- at managing client success.
#6. Mixpanel. Product analytics for the people that make the software.
Does your business sell software? Do your daily active users number in the thousands or beyond? If you answered ‘yes’ to both questions but have never discovered Mixpanel, then keep reading. Built specifically for digital software products, Mixpanel specializes in tracking granular activity trends across your user base, so you can see what’s driving retention, renewals, upsells, and so forth. Mixpanel is the best platform in this Guide for software companies who understand that product development -- at its most artful -- can become your best profit center.
Cost: $-$$$.
Best for: Software providers who place product development and customer success above all else.
#7. KISSmetrics. Track and boost behavior, conversion and engagement.
An innovative platform that goes deep with buyer behavior tracking, event notifications, and actionable funnel analytics, KISSmetrics also serves as a dual threat for SaaS companies looking to analyze client behavior patterns and customer health trends. Not in SaaS? The marketing suite includes laser-focused functionality on prospect behavior, digital marketing effectiveness, and A/B testing capabilities.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: SaaS companies looking to kill 2+ birds with one stone.
#8. Drift. Live, real-time person-to-prospects chatting, right on your website.
Drift is a breakthrough communications tool that enables sales teams to communicate with prospects in a Google chat-like experience whenever they visit your company website. Catch prospects while they’re hot, address client support issues instantly, and ditch those robotic, automated pop-ups and chat windows that are more annoying than they are effective.
Cost: $-$$$.
Best for: Companies with tightly-aligned marketing, sales, and client success strategies -- that want their clients and prospects to really feel heard.
#9. Influitive. Turn customers into active brand advocates.
Influitive brings an exceptionally unique value add to the table, allowing companies to activate their customers and use them to generate referrals, warm leads, and word-of-mouth inbounds. A full suite of features helps organize and propel user review campaigns, reference call lists, and incentivized promotion programs. Influitive has a lot to offer to high-growth and mid-market companies with a sizable user base and happy clientele. A savvy strategist will be able to leverage Influitive to attack the entire sales and marketing funnel -- from building initial brand awareness to closing deals.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: Businesses in growth-mode who leverage customer satisfaction for competitive edge.
#10. Allbound. Partner up to boost sales and marketing efforts.
A young product that’s been taking the world by storm, Allbound has one purpose: drive channel sales and marketing success with your company’s closest partners. A software bridge and total management solution, Allbound streamlines collaboration, content sharing, partner engagement, and business intelligence across each of your channels. A worthy addition to sales organizations seeking to launch their first program or increase returns from current partnerships.
Cost: $$-$$$.
Best for: Companies with pre-existing sales partners, or a nascent partnership program.
#11. LeadGenius. Intelligently prospect key decision-makers.
As your target database begins to grow, LeadGenius helps you prune prospects, cultivate customers, and zero-in on company decision-makers. Use it to ditch bad leads, unearth new stakeholders and decision-makers, and scale your best-performing campaigns with A/B test-ready email outreach capabilities. Plus, you get unlimited users, so you can scale up without scraping the bottom of your budget barrel.
Cost: $$$.
Best for: Sales and marketing teams that want to function as two limbs of the same organism, supporting each other’s goals, evolving together, and perfecting the buyer journey.
Download the 2017 B2B Trends & Tech Guide
The 2017 Trends and Tech Guide for B2B Sales and Marketing is free to download at b2btrendsandtech.com. Just enter your email and get instant access to the 38 page guide, chock full of original analysis and full profiles of 112 unique software solutions to help you meet your business needs this year.
To learn how Prezi, Ambition, and LeadGenius can help your B2B client management and support teams achieve their 2017 goals, please contact us.
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