Frequently asked questions

To choose your Customer Service solution correctly, it is essential to ensure that you have clearly identified your needs, such as:
Will my Customer Service tool be used for internal (IT Helpdesk), external (Support/Support for my customers) or both?
Do I need an Omnichannel solution that is functionally scalable, technically scalable, and therefore at what levels of functionality and performance?
Do I need to interconnect the solution with the other components of my IS (CRM, Accounting, Logistics, etc.)? With what levels of integration (APIs, other means, etc.) and interoperability?
Should my solution be natively multi-platform (Web & Mobile) immediately?
At XPCloud we support you on all the choices that will structure your Customer Service project, on its impact in relation to your challenges and, ultimately: your customers, your agents and your administrative staff (HR, Finance, Management Control, etc.).

Implementing a Self-Service solution allows you to increase your responsiveness, and thus increase your operational efficiency and customer satisfaction (the BOT – a chatbot, callbot or voicebot type of conversational agent that always responds faster than an agent).
This makes it possible to free your agents from a number of simple, recurring, but time-consuming tasks and allow them to focus on complex, value-added requests.
However, the proper functioning of the Self-Service requires a number of prerequisites, the first of which is its power supply and its regular updating.

In order to ensure an excellent Customer Experience, it is important that your agents/employees are able to call upon a specific expertise within their company (HR, Finance, Commerce, Logistics, etc.) in a “transparent mode” for the customer. Examples: Finance for a modification of a means of payment, Commercial Service for the validation of a discount or the continuity of a promotion, etc.
Side Conversations will also generate a better experience for your agents/employees, since they will be able to respond in the most relevant and efficient way to the customer, based on the necessary expertise.

The market is divided into two main sub-markets, the so-called full suite platform and specialist solutions.
We will count among the complete offers: SalesForce, Oracle, Microsoft and SAP.
Specialists include Zendesk and ServiceNow.
Becareful, ServiceNow is really specialized on the internal Customer Service scope (IT Helpdesk), while Zendesk is really the undisputed leader of Customer Service (Also called HelpDesk). Complete solutions are often the reconciliation of several solutions following successive buyouts. At XPCloud, we recommend connecting the best of worlds: for example, Salesforce for the CRM part connected to Zendesk for the Customer Service part. Both solutions integrate in a very fine way, and our teams are particularly advanced on these subjects.

The ergonomics of the chosen solutions, in public cloud architecture, allow a quick and simplified handling of user interfaces and managers.
This criterion, which is essential for our customers, has been taken into account in the choice of solutions offered by XPCloud.

Given the nature of cloud-based solutions (SAAS), the technical requirements are simplified. A professional-quality browser and internet access allow us to use the solutions we integrate with our customers.
Before each project, we conduct an audit of your environment to determine the most suitable solutions and tools.

At xpcloud we know how to support you on a “360 vision” of your Customer Relations or Customer Service project, but we also know how to support you on smaller scopes, given our ability to adapt to your needs.
For more information, visit our Audit Advice page.

According to Zendesk’s latest “CX Trends 2022” report, 70% of customers expect to use conversational channels when interacting with businesses.
Support requests on messaging channels such as WhatsApp and Instagram have skyrocketed. As a result, many brands have adapted to demand and are using messaging applications to create personalized, efficient and convenient customer experiences.
Today, customer experience expectations are changing. Traditional channels, such as live chat, are in a state of flux and are increasingly akin to messaging, asynchronous and flexible applications.

Using a shared mailbox for managing customer service tickets can cause issues such as: 
 
– The search is complex and time-consuming: email exchanges on a customer problem are not linked to a ticket and are therefore hard to find. 
– Lack of data historization: Customer interactions are not recorded, which complicates tracking. 
– No qualitative and quantitative statistics: The absence of statistics makes it impossible to analyze performance and manage.  
  
Acquiring and implementing dedicated customer service software solves these issues as follows: 
 
– Centralization of requests: All requests are centralized and organized systematically. Each email generates a ticket, allowing personalized follow-up. 
– Omni-channel logging: Each ticket is logged omni-channel, recording all interactions with customers. 
– Statistics and Reports: The Explore Statistics module in Zendesk lets you use native reports and dashboards or create new ones without limits. 

Easily measuring the satisfaction of the entire customer journey and continuously improving the customer experience is essential, but this can pose certain problems: 
 
– Conducting satisfaction surveys: To obtain feedback, it is essential to conduct satisfaction surveys, either systematically or according to customer typologies. 
– Qualitative and quantitative statistics: It’s required to assess client satisfaction. 
– Identification of dissatisfaction and areas for improvement: It is important to identify sources of customer dissatisfaction and identify areas that require improvement. 
 
Most cloud solutions integrate a customer satisfaction module natively. This has several advantages: 
 
– Included in monthly cost: This option is available at no additional cost as it is usually included in the cost of your monthly licenses. 
– Qualitative and quantitative statistics: The customer satisfaction study modules provide you with qualitative and quantitative statistics to thoroughly assess satisfaction. 
– Omnichannel Satisfaction: If your solution is omnichannel, you can measure customer satisfaction across all channels. 

Failure to recognize applicants at the beginning of the exchange is problematic: 
 
– No customer recognition: Lack of customer recognition at the beginning of the exchange limits personalization of the welcome. 
– Obsolete system does not meet current standards: An obsolete system does not meet current customization expectations. 
– No connection to the customer database: The lack of connection to the customer database prevents access to essential information about the requesters. 
  
With the Zendesk solution, which integrates a very open model with APIs, you can easily connect to the customer database. If the customer wants, you can even host the database directly in Zendesk. 
Personalization is essential in customer service. 
With Zendesk, you have the ability, directly in the agent interface, to recognize your customer, regardless of the channel used and adapt your speech accordingly. 
Thus, you can offer a personalized customer welcome and meet the needs of your customers from the beginning of the exchange, thus improving their experience. 

Agents facing difficulties in their search for information to provide a complete answer to the customer is very problematic: 
 
– No single agent interface, complex and endless manipulations: The absence of a single agent interface results in complex and endless manipulations, which slows down the response process and generates stress. 
– Risk of increased customer dissatisfaction: Response time and incomplete responses can lead to increased customer dissatisfaction. 
– Unable to connect different sources of information: The inability to effectively connect different sources of information makes it difficult to find relevant information. 
  
With Zendesk, the goal is to improve both the customer and support agent experience. We assume that a client cannot have an optimal experience if agent’s one is not well too. 
That’s why Zendesk has developed a single interface for the support agent. When a customer opens a ticket, the agent knows why the ticket was opened, through which channel, and has all the relevant information. 
In addition, you have access to the full customer history within your Zendesk agent interface. Thus, your support agent does not need to switch from one application to another to process a ticket, making it serene and efficient to respond to the customer. This unique experience is felt by the customer, improving their overall experience. 

Entrusting the management of customer support requests to sales representatives can raise several problems: 
 
– No revenue generated during claims processing: Sales reps cannot generate sales while handling claims, which is a direct loss of revenue. 
– No logging of requests: Complaints are not recorded systematically. 
– Unable to track complaints: Salespeople often use their mobile or email to communicate with customers, making it difficult to track tickets and log exchanges. 
  
Sales reps do not specialize in claims management and often their speech and actions are not suited to this function. 
To solve these problems, it is more advantageous for the company to dedicate a specific team to the management of complaints, with the appropriate tool. 
This will allow better monitoring of customer issues, an omnichannel historization of exchanges, and customer loyalty. 

The inability to identify and manage recurring requests is problematic: 
 
No qualification of requests/tickets: The absence of qualification of requests does not distinguish recurring issues. 
Qualitative and quantitative statistics: Qualitative and quantitative statistics are required to assess the nature of recurring requests. 
Inability to enrich or be proactive on the Help Center/FAQ: The inability to identify and manage recurring requests prevents proactively enriching the Help Center or FAQ. 
 
A customer service department wishing to offer quality customer experience cannot remain in this situation. 
 
Zendesk allows you to accurately qualify requests. 
This has two advantages: 
  
– The customer is satisfied as they can quickly find items in the Help Centre that address their issue in a self-serve mode. 
– Agent is also satisfied as they can focus on higher value requests 
  
With Zendesk, the agent also can create new articles, which is very convenient when new recurring requests appear, for example with the marketing of a new product. 
 
The Zendesk Explore module allows you to leverage qualitative and quantitative statistics to better understand your customers’ needs and continuously improve your customer service. 

The neglect of new modes of communication raises several problems: 
 
– No consideration of new media (chat, SMS and social media): The inability to consider new communication media limits your ability to interact with your customers. 
– Complex scalability and costly complementary development: Setting up new communication channels can be complex and costly with on-premise solutions. 
– Not considering new ways of communicating with customers: By being indifferent to new ways of communicating preferred by customers, you risk not meeting their expectations. 
  
Public Cloud solutions are «born» omnichannel.  
Moreover, thanks to their constant evolution and micro-service development model, it is extremely simple to add new communication media. 
These public cloud solutions already provide all available communication channels and can easily offer new channels if needed. 
 
They offer two significant advantages: 
  
– Native scalability: They integrate scalability natively with frequent updates, most of the time included in the license cost. 
– Financial predictability: With the Public Cloud, there is no bad financial surprise, because costs are more predictable. 
  
By opting for a Public Cloud solution, you can offer your customers a full range of communication channels while simplifying the addition of new media over time. 

Lack of history of customer interactions raises some issues for agents:  
 
– Applicant Identification: It is essential to identify the applicant and know their profile. 
– Knowledge of Help Center navigation history: Agent must be aware of the customer’s navigation history in the Help Center, including items viewed. 
– History of previous interactions with customer service: Agent must have history of previous interactions with customer to provide personalized service. 
  
At Zendesk, we talk about a single agent interface. If the integrator works properly with their prospect in pre-sales phase, the agent won’t need to leave the Zendesk agent interface to process even the most complex customer requests. 
 
When the customer interaction is presented to the agent, the agent has all the necessary information, including: 
 
– The customer’s journey to reach them, including navigating the Help Centre (articles viewed) if they arrived via this channel. 
– Customer identification, customer history, and profile information. 
– The history of its requests to support, as well as the omnichannel historization for the current ticket. 
  
With this approach, agents can offer proactive and personalized customer service, improving your customers’ overall experience. 

Integrating an existing information system with a new customer service solution can lead to various issues: 
 
– No native connectors to internal IT tools: It is crucial to have native connectors to facilitate the integration of the solution with internal IT tools. 
– Long and expensive development: Avoiding long and expensive development is essential for effective integration. 
– Current system outdated and evolving slowly: The lack of integration may be due to an obsolete current system that is evolving slowly. 
  
All public cloud solutions are natively in API mode and therefore very open. Zendesk is one of the most open and accessible solutions. 
 
There are 3 ways to integrate Zendesk with your information system: 
  
1/ You can use a connector available on the Zendesk marketplace (about 1300 available to date). 
2/ If the solution you want to integrate with Zendesk is based on an API model, XPCloud can develop a custom connector at a reasonable cost to meet your needs. 
3/ If you have in-house development skills, you can develop the integration yourself based on the documentation of all Zendesk APIs, which is available online. 
  
In addition, the Zendesk marketplace is regularly enriched with new connectors to facilitate integration. 

Here are 6 essential criteria to consider in our opinion (not exhaustive, but these are essential):
1/ Installation time:
Cloud-based solutions can be implemented faster than those to be installed on a server (also known as “on-premises”). A CRM software with good customer support and a large community of users will allow you to quickly and easily solve any configuration difficulties.
2/ Easy of Use:
Many CRM software focuses on easy of handling and use. A clear and intuitive tool that standardizes applications to help your sales people capture and access data instantly.
3/ Interface:
Is the software you are considering ergonomic and visually pleasing? Opt for a tool that allows your salespeople to easily and quickly view their calendar and their many appointments.
4/ Additional modules:
CRM software can find new customers, but much more… Choose a tool with a large and complete integration library to connect your additional modules.
5/ Price:
Most CRM software offers a free trial to allow you to test and evaluate the tool at no cost. The price range of CRM software is wide and can vary (from free to very high). Find the one that suits you and fits into your budget.
6/ Support / Assistance:
What are the Support/Assistance schedules? Find, among the many CRM software, the one that offers you a technical team available in your time zone and that provides you with more than a simple exchange per service ticket.

The inaccessibility of customer service during update or maintenance operations leads to certain problems:
– Costly update in non-working hours: Costly updates, often implemented during non-working hours, can cause disruptions in operations.
– Updating complicated agent interfaces: Agent interface updates can be complex and difficult to use.
– Impact on third-party equipment with additional investments: Updates may impact third-party equipment, requiring additional investments.

At XPCloud, we believe that public cloud solutions can solve these problems.

These solutions offer several advantages:
– Continuous updates: You get continuous updates, eliminating obsolescence issues.
– Web Agent Interfaces 2.0 or 3.0: Agent interfaces are designed in a clean and efficient way, simplifying their use.
– No side effects on your IS: These solutions are very open and work in API, which simplifies the connection to other solutions.

A cloud service (cloud computing service or cloud computing dematerialized ) refers to the provision of on-demand computing resources via Internet. Rather than relying on local servers and infrastructure, cloud services provide access to IT resources, such as servers, applications, data storage, and services, through remote cloud service providers.
Cloud computing allows users to access these resources on demand, usually by paying a subscription or usage based on the volume of services consumed. This provides great flexibility by allowing companies to easily adapt to changing IT capacity needs, without having to invest in expensive infrastructure and manage their own hardware.

An end-of-life On-Premise solution can cause a variety of problems, including:
– Complicated maintenance and scalability: Managing infrastructure and updates becomes complex.
– No RoadMap known: It is difficult to predict future improvements to the solution.
– Connecting to other complex and expensive information systems: Integrations are difficult to achieve and can lead to high costs.

The migration to a cloud solution has many advantages to solve the difficulties associated with an end-of-life On-Premise solution:
– Simplified maintenance and scalability: With a cloud solution, you do not have to manage the infrastructure, the publisher supports all support. You only need Internet access to use your solution.
– Transparent update management: Updates are managed by the service provider, usually in a transparent way for the customer.

No need to mobilize a team during updates, implying the risks of regressions.
– Clear roadmap: Cloud solutions often offer a clear roadmap with regular updates. You no longer must wonder if you have the right version, and a Customer Success Manager can explain the benefits of updates.
– Easy integration: Cloud solutions are built on well-documented API sets, making it easy to integrate with other information systems in your ecosystem.