Loading...
Answers
MenuWhat is the easiest to use customer support platform for founding startup team?
We are checking out desk.com and zendesk. We need design customization features content management system to build out how to articles and FAQ. Just email support for now, one support person which is me, a founder. We are self funded... Which is the best system for the purposes of a startup with one support person?
Answers
zendesk. They have a pricing scheme for start-ups: http://www.zendesk.com/product/features/startups/
I'll second the recommendation for Zendesk. Their agent support portal is professional, highly customizable, and they are responsive and friendly. Their help desk portal is less mature, but quite a good value. We used it for a while with just one or two agents and loved it!
My only experience is using Zendesk, and while they're great for large teams, their pricing tiers can be frustratingly orthogonal to startup growth rates. You might want to use them for the long haul, starting immediately if your budget can handle it, or transitioning later. If you're using SalesForce for your sales teams, there are support modules there that can handle basic ticketing. It all depends on what you expect your support demands to be in the future.
I've built community and support from scratch at seesmic, uservoice, and launchrock. And, we worked through this same question at my current company, primeloop.com.
Desk, Zendesk, Uservoice, etc. are all great support platforms (and there are hundreds more). But I would skip all of those when starting off, and go straight to http://intercom.io since you can handle support through there, but you also get a full CRM and drip-messaging right out of the gate.
I'm more than happy to talk through your setup if you'd like to hop on a call?
I’d recommend Intercom as it is a perfect platform to start and then scale both, customer success & support teams without a need to develop custom features.
Asynchronous chats and automated messages that if emoloyed properly can help reduce support debt by sending out tailored recommendations, onboarding or announcement messages.
Wonderful tool for both, proactive and reactive customer support.
Related Questions
-
What are the internet companies doing the best customer service? And is Zappos still top 10?
Way too many to list. The usual suspects include: Amazon, Westjet Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Apple etc. I'm focused on new(ish) tech companies and their approach to customer service such as: Silvercar, Airbnb, ZenPayroll, Oscar.MF
-
What SaaS should I use to coordinate email communication with customers so our whole marketing team has one consistent voice?
HelpScout, ZenDesk or Desk.com. HelpScout (help desk software) would be a great start – less options but even when I ran a 6 person customer support team (with over 500 emails a day), we never needed the complex features of Desk.com. Have one person create 'saved replies' to quickly answer your customers in a cohesive voice and with consistent responses. (However, encourage your entire team to inject some of their personality!) This seems like a huge task, but if they dig through their sent emails, it can be done pretty quickly. Good luck!DM
-
Is it OK to end services or support when a customer did not pay the cost of services/support or did not renewal contract in software industry?
If I understand you correctly, you're saying a customer agreed to pay you for services (product and/or support), either through posted prices and a shrink-wrapped license or through a written contract, and then you provided those services, and then they didn't pay? And you're asking whether it's "OK" that they didn't pay? Of course it's not OK! Is there any business who could operate in that fashion? The way it affects the customer relationship is you don't have a customer relationship. You have a situation where they are taking advantage of you. A relationship goes in two directions.JC
-
Can you use Twillio as a smart routing business phone solution?
Yes, exactly what Twilio is capable of. If you need it for just your business, this can be done using simple scripts. Routing is actually the easy part. Voicemails are a bit more involved but they have you covered: https://www.twilio.com/docs/howto/voicemailSB
-
How can a customer leave me feedback?
If you are talking about online feedback through a website, I'd suggest Feefo or Hotjar. There are plenty of other solutions, but those are really easy to set up. You could also factor in customer feedback requests into any email marketing you are doing and this kind of thing can be automated through all the major email service providers.SC
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.