What kind of questions do you ask yourself when you’re purchasing new customer service software? Commonly, they look something like this:

• Is the vendor’s share of the market high enough?
• Are they promising a speedy setup process? And return on investment?
• Is their price point within the budget I have available right now?

All very sensible questions, but have you considered asking yourself the following…

1. How important is my business going to be to this vendor as soon as I’ve signed on the dotted line? Will they listen if I need help or a new feature?
2. Does that super speedy setup process really consider the unique differences of my team and requirements?
3. If I’m forced to upgrade to a higher pricing band to gain access to a feature, will the system still be in budget?

…many organisations don’t. Not taking these factors into account means many teams ending up cheating themselves out of a productive, partnership-style relationship with their chosen provider.

Let’s take question 1. Here at HaloCRM we deliver the same outstanding feature set and partnership-style customer success services to all clients regardless of size, including quarterly stable upgrades with all our latest features. You can rest assured that no problem will go unheard, all feature requests closely reviewed, and every call to our friendly team will be answered by an expert who genuinely wants to see you succeed every step of the way. With both hosted and on-premise installation services, no matter how you operate, our team will always be able there to lend a helping hand and holistically support your account with us. 

 

Question 2 is another common pitfall. On the face of it a super-fast, standardised setup process sounds like a dream, but often it can turn into a nightmare. At HaloCRM our flexible, upfront approach also extends to how we handle your requirements. We understand the importance of a seamless customer service journey and know that what that looks like is different to every organisation. We will collaborate with your team to turn even the most intricate of demands into a simple, standardised workflow that works for everyone, without skipping a single detail. Nothing is too complex. While we will always use industry best practise processes and suggest standardised metrics to evaluate your teams against, this will always be carefully blended with the bespoke requirements of your organisation.

 

Now onto budgets. Practically all customer service platforms will ask you to choose a pricing band with specific features associated with it. While this can be brilliant for teams looking for a more streamlined, cost-effective version of a tool while they are growing, it can often become stifling when the time comes to expand. Think being forced to upgrade by two bands for one fundamental feature or being denied the budget internally for a vital upgrade. We strive to take the headache out of procuring and maintaining a customer service platform, whilst delivering a feature rich platform with unparalleled scalability and speed. We are practically unique in the market with our simple approach to pricing and customer success. We don’t charge for features, tickets, usage, size or anything that will limit you. Instead, we give you unimpeded access to the entire omnichannel platform all for one reasonable price. Just tell us how many agents will be managing enquiries, and that’s it! The bigger your team grows, the cheaper the per agent cost. That’s what makes us so perfect for growing teams.

 

In short, when purchasing customer service software, buyers should think beyond the standard questions that only consider the near-term benefits, and focus on the long-partnership they want to build with their chosen vendor. Factors like the potential for hidden fees, spiralling subscription costs, neglect from customer success teams and a stagnating feature set are all too common pitfalls that can easily be avoided by asking the right questions early on.