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What’s the difference between building a base of loyal brand advocates and losing customers with poor service? The right customer service software, according to fashion empire Shoes of Prey, which found its perfect fit and is reaping the rewards.

Imagine a small business that makes custom shoes – it sounds very, very small, doesn’t it? But, servicing brides-to-be and the well-heeled who want to design their own unique kicks, it also sounds like the sort of business you’d expect the most personalised and precise service from.

Now imagine that business growing and growing while trying to provide that personal service via email as its chosen avenue for customer support. This is the situation Shoes of Prey was in when the business really found its feet; something had to change.

Small and medium businesses are typically, and quite rightly, proudly obsessed with the quality of their customer support. Customers themselves often deal with smaller businesses because they know they will receive personal service and won’t be treated like a number.

But as these businesses grow, emails or phone calls are lost, or delayed, or different staff members deal with them – basically, service becomes inconsistent. The quality of customer service the businesses offers – and the customer expects – is no longer apparent.

So, the businesses cobble together a solution to customer service problems based on tools they are aware of and understand, like email and spreadsheets.

But this is patching up the holes rather than getting to the root of the problem – which is that these tools are not built for customer service – and things fall over because problems pile on top of problems. The end result is that customers slip through the cracks and either do not receive responses or receive multiple responses.

What does a solution look like?

Shoes Of Prey recognised its customer service challenge and knew it needed a custom solution. For a business built on customisation, they came to that one quickly. Their leadership realised that if the company continued to rely on email, customer service quality would suffer and so would its business.

Shoes of Prey also needed reporting and data visibility to grow the business. With Salesforce’s desk.com, the shoe business really pulled its socks up. Now Shoes of Prey provides consistent customer support via chat, email, phone and on social channels, integrating all of that support with its order management system.

Everybody in the company can see what's happening with every customer, including past and current orders, every customer service interaction, and payment information. Which means every staff member can give each customer a truly personal experience.

If correspondence with the business was still via a typical email system or by phone, none of this data would be readily available. And the Shoes of Prey folks would be too busy trying to track down old requests to take care of business.

Other businesses have used similar software to help manage growth. Furniture and homewares business Temple & Webster has grown from one staff member to 30, partly thanks to their helpdesk system. Now it could grow to 300 staff without customers noticing any drop in customer service quality.

And that’s what delivering great service is  all about – customer experience. Customer support software helps the company be more knowledgeable and responsive. Think about it from the customer’s perspective: if they have emailed a company and don't get a response, they will become very annoyed, possibly share that annoyance with their networks, or they will go to a competitor – or all three.

Cut the chaos to increase productivity by up to 40%

Customers and businesses both notice a positive difference once the chaos of a shared inbox or spreadsheets is replaced by customer service software. On average, we see customer ratings of satisfaction increase by 36%, and a 40% increase in productivity for companies.

When businesses provide better service with minimum fuss, they see happier customers. And all that chaos turns into control.

Chaos can be overwhelming, but you can take control. See for yourself how your business can also overcome the chaos of a shared inbox or spreadsheets for service. Click here to find out how desk.com can help you.