One of the features our users have been asking for almost since day one has been live chat, and we’re pleased to announce that we have released chat functionality today.

Today’s customers demand true multi channel support which means support by phone, e-mail, web, and chat.  TeamSupport now covers all of these channels, and allows you to consolidate your communication with your customers.  It no longer matters how your customers contact you – All correspondence is kept within TeamSupport so you have a complete view of your customer interactions.

Our chat implementation is extremely powerful and has several key features:

-     You can upload/create your own graphics for “Chat Now” buttons to show if there is an agent available or not.

-     The chat dialog is customizable with your own graphics to represent your brand.

-     Each TeamSupport user can have multiple chats running simultaneously to maximize the use of their time.

-     If the user requesting a chat is an existing “customer” in TeamSupport the agent can easily pull up their record and see prior interactions.

-     The agent can transfer the chat and conference in other TeamSupport users easily.  This way, if the issue needs to get escalated to a different group or someone with more experience, the agent can make the transition seamlessly.

-     Chat transcripts can be associated with a new or existing ticket in TeamSupport.  This means that multiple chats about the same issue can be stored in a single ticket, and also that chat transcripts can be searched just like another ticket in the system.

-     Leave a message!  If your team is offline, your customers can submit their question and TeamSupport will create a "offline chat" ticket and notify your team so they can answer the question when they are back at work.

Chat is a powerful new feature in TeamSupport that we are very excited about.  We continue to differentiate our product with features like Chat, Wiki, and the WaterCooler so that TeamSupport is much more than “just another ticketing system”.  TeamSupport is a true Enterprise class system which will save your organization time and money and give your customers the support they demand.

Live Chat is available immediately and is licensed on a per user basis.  For more information, please contact our sales department, or just Chat With Us here:

Some screen shots:

The Chat Request screen - Put your own image on the right



This screen shows a chat request that is pending - Simply click the "Accept Chat" button to start chatting!



This screen shows an ongoing chat.  You can see the buttons at the top which will let you invite other TeamSupport users into the chat session, view the customer details, and add the chat transcript to either an existing or new ticket.

Spend a few minutes reading the trade publications or blogs on line and you’ll run up against the phrase “Multi Channel Support” without trying too hard.  Multi Channel Support is really just a fancy word for letting your customers work with you in the format they desire.

Customers today are a lot more technologically savvy and sophisticated than they once were, and they are also much more demanding of customer support organizations.  Like it or not, we live in a 24x7 world and customers want to be able to solve their problems when they want, and on their terms.  Gone are the days of offering phone only support during “standard” (whatever that is!) office hours.

Your customers want to be able to reach you via the channel they prefer – Phone, web, and e-mail are the obvious ones to start, but more and more customers are moving to other forms of online communication such as chat and even Twitter.

Customer support software should provide mechanisms for your customers to work with you in whatever channel they want – You cannot dictate to them that support is only offered in certain ways. 

Of course, TeamSupport.com believes strongly in multi-channel support and we can provide the technology for you to implement it easily into your organization.  TeamSupport tracks the conversation with your customers no matter which channel it comes in through, and keeps the information in an easy to find place so that multiple members of your team can work together to solve issues at the same time.

 Savvy companies offer their customers’ support solutions which not only give them what they want, but also reduce costs at the same time.  This is the promise of a well executed implementation of support software technology.  Customers want to be able to log in and see the status of their issues, add additional information to them, and see what progress has been made.  They also want to be able to search common issues and solve their own problems via a knowledge base.  All of this has been proven to both increase your customers’ satisfaction and reduce the cost of providing world class service.

We at TeamSupport.com believe that a well executed Multi-Channel Support strategy that allows your customers to contact you in the way they prefer will benefit both your company and your customers, and we look forward to helping you on that journey!

Here in Dallas the name Sewell is synonymous with Customer Service. 

At the tender age of 28, Carl Sewell realized he wanted to create the best brand of car dealerships in the world and he started a transformative process to do just that.  Now, almost 40 years later, Mr. Sewell owns some 16 car dealerships around the Dallas area that are widely regarded as the best for service and post-sale support.  Mr. Sewell realized that selling a person one car was good, but selling them every car they would ever buy during their lives was much better!  His aim was to turn a onetime car buyer into a “Customer for Life”.

I purchased my car from a Sewell dealership several years ago due to their sterling reputation, and I recently took my car back in for some routine, but comprehensive, maintenance.

Since I run a company that provides customer service software, I’m always interested to watch how well (or, unfortunately, poorly in some cases) companies handle service. 

True to form, the service from Sewell was excellent.  As soon as I pulled up a “Service Advisor” was at my door and getting my information.  As he looked over the service history of the car, we chatted about what work needed to be done this time.  I ticked off several items, including some minor dent repairs, and he gave me a few other suggestions (yes, this was up selling, but he also talked me out of replacing all my tires and instead I just replaced one).  After about 10 minutes he walked me over to the loaner (not rental, loaner – No charge at all) counter and I picked up my pristine current model year loan car.

Total time from drop off to driving out with a loan car was about 20 minutes – And a lot of that was because the Service Advisor and I got chatting.

The Service Advisor promised to call with updates, and he did – Long story short, but the service turned out to take about 5 days (one part took a while to get in, and then the dent repair guy had an issue).  Every day I promptly got a phone call from my Service Advisor giving me an update and apologizing profusely for the delay.  Frankly, it didn’t bother me that the service was delayed since I had a loaner car (which was a brand new model from this year!) and constant communication from Sewell.

I have my car back now, and it looks (almost) as good as new.  A few minor issues were taken care of, and several small nicks and dents were cleaned up so well I can’t even remember where they were.  The communication and attention to detail I received from Sewell was true to their reputation, and I guarantee when I’m ready to purchase a new car it will be from Sewell again.

We can all learn something about how to treat our customers as we go through our daily lives, and my experience at the Sewell car dealership set a great example to follow!  Successful companies need to strive to create “customers for life” just as Mr. Sewell realized many years ago.

I’ve been advising clients for years that if they want to know what’s goingon out in their market community, there is no better place to learn than in their own customer contact centers. “You hear things on that hotline that you just don’t hear anywhere else,” reported one CEO.  Scott Cook, founder of Intuit, regularly took calls himself in hiscompany’s support center. A handful of other senior executives oftechnology companies have done the same. Are you one of them? Or would there be a sudden hush as you walked through the door?

There is no substitute for hearing the voice of the customer directly in your own ears, no matter where you work in the company.  When I was a tech writer, I relied on that knowledge to keep the product documentation I wrote accessible to the customer.  From my own shifts as a customer support rep, I knew what my readers were likely to understand — and what would prompt them to reach for the phone instead to call the support center. I used that knowledge to write accurate error messages for the development group so that both the customer and the support rep on the phone had a better chance of understanding the reason for a call. Those customer conversations taught me a lot about how the products were being used in everyday operations, and gave insight as to what the customers hoped most to see in future versions.

Unfortunately, in most technology companies, the wealth of insight and data residing in the customer contact center is wasted. Nobody asks for it, and the support center managers don’t market what they have to the rest of the company.  The result is that a significant amount of potential profitability is left untapped.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  Take the challenge, and go find out for yourself.

Before you head down to your contact center, though, make a commitment to play by the rules. You can take calls directly if you have the necessary skills and knowledge, or just listen in — but do so as John/Jane CSR. Leave your C-Level title and all of its authority behind. Listen closely to both what the customers are saying and how they say it. Watch how John and/or Jane CSR use the center’s tools as they work to help the customer.  In between calls, ask them how they deal with different types of customers, personalities, and what they focus on as they manage the process of the interaction through to resolution. Resist the temptation to take notes, or to explain; just listen.

When you get back to your office, it will be time for reflection.  What did you learn about the knowledge inventory in your contact center? What was different about hearing the voice of the customer directly in your ears? How does what you saw and heard directly relate to the profitability of your company?

You aren’t likely to learn everything there is to know about your customer contact center in one visit. It will take many to gain a full understanding of the power of the resource. Ideally, you should commit yourself to a regular schedule of sessions on an ongoing basis, to develop your awareness and to keep the voice of the customer fresh in your ears.

There is another benefit to be gained from regular visitation by the CEO and the other C-Level officers to the company’s customer contact center. Each visit sends a subtle, but powerful message to the team that this is work worth the doing, important enough so that the senior management team pays personal attention to it. No amount of PR text or company meeting speeches can convey the message as well as a regular presence and direct participation.