8 Best Customer Service Tools for Small Businesses (Expert Pick)

We’ve been running online companies for several years, and our customers frequently contact us for plugin troubleshooting help, sales questions, and more. As our businesses have continued to grow, we have seen how important it is to choose the right customer service tools.

After a lot of trial and error, we have picked Help Scout for our help desk, Nextiva for our phone systems, and WPForms for contact form inquiries. These tools work perfectly for our specific needs and have significantly improved the way we handle customer support.

However, we know that every business is different. What works well for us might not be the ideal fit for someone else, depending on their industry, team size, and customer service goals.

That’s why we also did an in-depth review of other customer service tools available on the market. Our goal was to understand the full range of options and provide insights that can help businesses find solutions that are right for them.

In this article, we will explain everything we learned from testing these options and share our list of the best customer service tools for your small business.

Overview of the Best Customer Service Tools

#	Tools	Best For	Pricing
🥇	Help Scout	Providing support with email, live chat, forms, and more	$25/month – per user
🥈	Nextiva	Communicating with customers using phone calls	$21/month – per user
🥉	WPForms	Support request forms	$49/year + Free
4	Loom	Video recordings	$15/ creator + Free
5	Heroic KB	Knowledge base	$149/year
6	LiveChat	Live chat popups and chatbots	$20/month
7	Brevo	Email and SMS marketing	$25/month + Free
8	Sprout Social	Social media management	$199/month – per seat

How We Test And Review Customer Service Tools

We already use a bunch of customer service tools for our own business, including Help Scout for customer support and WPForms for contact forms. Then, when testing other options for small businesses, these were the factors that we kept in mind:

• We use these tools on our websites: We have only included customer service tools that we have tested and used ourselves. We also went through customer reviews to find options that are recommended by many users.
• Ease of use: We specifically looked for tools that are easy to use for beginners. A user-friendly interface and an easy onboarding process were top priorities when choosing customer support software.
• Different use cases: No all-in-one customer service tool will be ideal for all kinds of websites and online businesses. That is why we reviewed tools for different use cases, such as VOIP phone service, contact forms, ticketing systems, documentation, live chat, and more.
• Customer Support: We tested the support offered by each company to see the responsiveness and quality of service.
• Cost: We compared the pricing structures to determine which tools offer the best value for businesses of various sizes.
• Scalability: We evaluated whether the support tool can adapt to the needs of growing businesses.

Having said that, let’s take a look at the best customer service tools for your small business.

1. Help Scout (Complete Customer Support System)

Help Scout is the overall best customer service software on the market. It allows you to provide support to your users using email, social media, and live chat.

We use Help Scout for our own business, and we like that it comes with a shared inbox to streamline and resolve customer requests easily.

You can also organize conversations into teams and folders and ensure prompt responses by assigning conversations to specific team members. This keeps everyone informed and customers happy.

Plus, the software even comes with a Help Scout Beacon (widget) that you can embed on your WordPress site to add a live chat prompt, knowledge base, and custom product or service alerts.

When using the software, we found that it could also track agent performance and customer satisfaction, making it an ideal customer service tool.

Pros

• We love its artificial intelligence feature, which allows you to draft email responses to customer inquiries with one click. It also generates summaries of lengthy conversations for easy reference.
• The Help Scout inbox features conversation assignments, internal notes, @ mentions, automation workflows, and collision detection to prevent duplicate replies.
• It can integrate with third-party platforms like WooCommerce, Instagram, Freshbooks, Slack, Facebook Messenger, HubSpot, and Zapier.
• Our testing revealed that the tool lets you create a knowledge base for your products or services.

Cons

• Help Scout does not offer a free plan. However, you can try it out with the free trial.
• It does not come with a full-featured WordPress plugin. The Help Scout plugin is only for adding a Help Scout contact form and Help Scout Beacon to your WordPress website.

Why we recommend Help Scout: It is the best customer service tool on the market because it lets you offer email, live chat, forms, and knowledge base support to customers.

Help Scout is a great choice because it offers powerful features, a user-friendly interface, automation templates, and integration with third-party tools.

Alternative: Heroic Inbox

2. Nextiva (Phone and Video Support)

Nextiva is the best VOIP phone service on the market that allows you to offer customer support with emails, SMS messaging, live chat, phone calls, or a knowledge base.

We have been using this tool across several of our websites to provide phone support, and it has consistently helped us deliver outstanding results. The voice quality is top-notch, and customers frequently praise the clarity and reliability of our phone services.

To learn more, see our Nextiva review.

It also offers an internal chat feature for all the agents working on different tickets for better collaboration. Plus, the tool has its own CRM where you can store all your customer data.

Other than that, Nextiva can also be used as a cloud phone system for remote teams to set up an auto attendant phone system, call forwarding, call routing, custom greetings, and more.

Pros

• We really appreciate its tool call pop feature that shows all the important caller details when a customer calls your business phone number.
• It is the best SMS marketing tool, allowing you to segment your contact list and send targeted SMS messages to different groups.
• When we were testing the tool, we discovered that it allows you to create automated workflows for emails, SMS messages, and live chat prompts.
• It allows you to create, manage, and assign tickets yourself.

Cons

• Nextiva doesn’t have a free plan.
• After evaluation, we have concluded that it can be overwhelming for beginners because it offers so many features.

Why we recommend Nextiva: Overall, Nextiva is a super powerful customer service tool that connects you with your customers using phone calls, video conferencing, emails, and SMS messages.

It is an all-in-one communication tool that can help you take customer service to the next level. If you have a small business website, then Nextiva is the perfect solution for you.

Alternative: RingCentral and Ooma

3. WPForms (Contact Forms)

WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin and the best option for contact form customer support. It comes with a drag-and-drop AI form builder, 2,000+ premade templates, and complete spam protection to make sure that your customers can submit their details safely.

Over the years, we have used this tool on our websites to create various forms, including registration forms, login forms, and contact forms for submitting support inquiries. For more details, see our WPForms review.

You can use it to create a simple contact form for users to submit support requests on your website. Then, you can view and manage all the form submissions right on your WordPress dashboard, making it easy to organize your support requests.

The plugin also offers conditional logic and geotargeting to display specific form fields to users based on their choices or location.

Pros

• You can style your WordPress forms.
• WPForms sends you an email notification every time a form is submitted on your website. Upon testing, we found out that you can also send a confirmation email to users.
• We really like its user journey addon, which lets you see what your visitors did on your site before submitting a request. This can help you resolve their issue faster and see where they got confused.
• The plugin can integrate with various tools like Constant Contact, AWeber, Stripe, and more. It can also connect with Uncanny Automator to help you build automated workflows.

Cons

• Some of the features in WPForms are locked in the free plan.
• It does not offer any dedicated customer support features.

Why we recommend WPForms: If you want to add a form on your website so that customers can contact you, then WPForms is the best tool for you.

Alternative: Formidable Forms

4. Loom (Video Recordings)

Loom is a powerful communication tool that records videos and screencasts for your team members to watch. Your support team can use this tool to collaborate or send videos to customers to walk them through the process of resolving an issue.

You can also include webcam footage along with the screen video to add a personal touch.

During our investigation, we found that Loom lets you record your system audio, narrate your recording, and capture sound effects from your computer.

Pros

• The tool allows you to remove unwanted parts from the video. You can also add drawings, arrows, and text to highlight content.
• Our testing revealed that Loom creates a shareable link once you have created a video.
• It allows you to capture videos on your mobile device and add custom branding and captions.
• We appreciate that Loom lets you add an extra layer of security by setting passwords and expiration dates for the videos.
• Loom can integrate with Gmail, Slack, and Zendesk.

Cons

• Loom has a free plan but most of the features are unavailable in it.
• We didn’t like that recordings have limitations on video quality in the free plan.

Why we recommend Loom: If you are looking for a tool that lets you connect with your customers and teammates using video recordings, then Loom is the best customer service tool.

Alternative: Droplr

5. Heroic KB (Knowledge Base)

Heroic KB is the best WordPress knowledge base plugin for creating beginner-friendly documentation for your products and services. This makes it invaluable for customer service and support since you can help customers without them needing to contact your team.

We found it super easy to use because it lets you organize your knowledge base articles into categories and even comes with an AJAX search feature to help users find relevant content quickly. To learn more, you can check our HeroThemes review.

Additionally, you can add a PDF or other downloadable files to your articles for reference. For more details, see our tutorial on how to add documentation in WordPress.

Pros

• When we tested the tool, we discovered that it allows users to add ratings and comments on your knowledge base articles. This can be used to collect customer insights.
• We were particularly impressed by its AI assistant, which adds a custom chatbot to your website.
• You can choose to display your knowledge base publicly or restrict access for internal use within your organization.
• Heroic KB can integrate with Heroic Inbox to create a powerful customer support system.

Cons

• Heroic KB doesn’t have a free plan.
• During our evaluation, we realized that it does not let you send email or SMS to customers.

Why we recommend Heroic KB: If you want to add a knowledge base or documentation for your products, Heroic KB is the perfect customer service tool.

6. LiveChat (Chat Support)

LiveChat is the best live chat software on the market. It allows you to send messages to your customers in real time to resolve issues and provide support.

During our testing, we found that setting up a live chat system on your website takes just a few quick clicks, highlighting how user-friendly the tool is. To learn more about our experience, see our LiveChat review.

The tool comes with its free LiveChat plugin that easily adds a live chat prompt to your WordPress blog. You can also use canned responses, which are pre-written messages that can be inserted into customer chats.

LiveChat can integrate with top email marketing services, allows you to customize your chatbox according to your brand colors, and offers reports and analytics features.

For details, you can see our tutorial on how to add free live chat in WordPress.

Pros

• Our research revealed that you can create an automated chatbot with the software.
• We like that you can add a survey form before and after a live chat session. This can help you see how your support staff is performing.
• LiveChat allows file sharing, chat transcripts, chat routing, and visitor tracking.
• The live chat prompt on your website also shows an indicator when a customer agent is available for chat.

Cons

• LiveChat software doesn’t have a free plan. However, the connecting plugin is free.
• You can use a live chat prompt for quick questions and troubleshooting, but complex issues might be better addressed through phone calls or emails.

Why we recommend LiveChat: If you want to add a feature for instant communication with your customers, then LiveChat is the best option. It allows custom branding for the live chat popup, loads quickly, and also helps create a chatbot when an agent is not available, making it a great choice.

Alternative: HubSpot

7. Brevo (Email Marketing)

Brevo is a popular CRM, SMS marketing, and email marketing service. It allows you to add a live chat popup to your website for real-time communication with your customers and other users.

Plus, we were impressed by how easily you can add basic chatbots to answer customer queries, qualify leads, and schedule appointments, freeing your support staff for more complex issues.

Brevo also comes with a customer data platform to manage all your customer data from different places in a single platform. You can import user data from databases, data warehouses, FTP servers, and APIs.

Then, Brevo will create customer profiles and allow you to segment the audience based on different criteria.

Pros

• Brevo can customize sales pipelines to track purchase deals. It can also automate these tasks and receive notifications.
• When we were testing the software, we came across a recording tool to capture your videos and audio meetings.
• Brevo can integrate with WP Mail SMTP to ensure high email deliverability.
• The tool comes with email templates, and you can create complex email and SMS marketing campaigns with it.

Cons

• Brevo’s free plan has limited features.
• We found its automation features a bit basic.

Why we recommend Brevo: Brevo is a great solution if you are looking for a tool to create email and SMS marketing campaigns to bring back customers.

It also lets you communicate with users in real time through its live chat prompt, has a CRM, and can create landing pages, making it a wonderful tool for customer service.

Alternative: Constant Contact and ActiveCampaign

8. SproutSocial (Social Media)

SproutSocial is a social media management platform that can help you improve the customer experience by boosting your presence on social media websites.

It includes a collaborative calendar for scheduling social media posts and automatically publishing pre-approved content. It also supports multimedia publishing.

You can use all these features to boost your social media following and keep users updated about your WordPress site, which is essential for customer service.

Pros

• Upon testing, we found that you can edit images directly within the SproutSocial interface before publishing them on a social platform.
• It has an algorithm that lets you schedule posts for optimal engagement based on historical data.
• It comes with custom URL tracking, campaign tagging, and post-level reporting and analytics.
• We appreciate its Twitter trends report that helps you optimize your social media strategy.

Cons

• SproutSocial has no free plan.
• It does not allow you to create SMS, emails, or live chat popups to connect with customers.

Why we recommend SproutSocial: If you want to use social media platforms to boost customer service, increase followers, and bring traffic to your site, then SproutSocial is a great choice.

Alternative: ClickSocial (for social scheduling) or AgoraPulse

Which Is the Best Customer Service Tool?

In our expert opinion, Help Scout is the best customer service tool on the market because it allows you to provide support using email, social media, and live chat popups. It also lets you create contact forms and a knowledge base and has an AI feature to turn specific customer responses into reusable instant replies, making it an all-in-one solution.

However, if you want to connect with your customers using phone calls or video conferencing, then we recommend Nextiva instead.

On the other hand, if you have a small business, then you can add a simple contact form for users to reach out to you using WPForms.

If you just want to add documentation for your products or services, then you can opt for Heroic KB. Similarly, you can add a chatbot and a live chat prompt with LiveChat.

Frequently Asked Questions About Customer Service

Here are some questions that are frequently asked by our readers about customer service and its tools:

What are the 5 most important things in customer service?

When offering customer service to users, these are the 5 factors that you should keep in mind and follow:

• Empathy: It is important to show genuine concern for a user’s issue. You should try to understand their situation and make them feel comfortable.
• Communication: You must actively listen to the customer’s needs, ask clarifying questions, and ensure they understand the information you provide.
• Problem-Solving: Users usually contact customer service when they need assistance setting up the product or have run into an issue. You must work collaboratively to find solutions, explain the process, and direct users to important resources.
• Efficiency: Your response time has to be fast, and you must not keep your customers waiting. You should aim to provide solutions quickly.
• Personalization: You should personalize conversation with the customer using their name or purchase history and tailor your approach to their specific needs.

What benefits do customer service tools offer?

Customer service tools offer multiple benefits, including:

• Improved efficiency in handling customer queries due to a ticketing system
• Improved resolution times for customer issues
• Real-time communication with customers using live chat prompts
• Valuable data and analytics to identify customer trends
• More time for agents to focus on complex issues due to automated workflows

What are the advantages of using help desk software?

Help desk software helps businesses manage their support team and respond to customers’ requests. It comes with a built-in ticketing system, knowledge base, and live chat features to manage customer interactions from a single platform. This can improve customer experience and boost your conversions.

For more information, you can see our top picks for the best help desk software.

Related Guides to Customer Service Tools

• How to Create a Client Portal in WordPress
• Best WordPress Plugins for Chat (Expert Picks)
• Best WordPress Help Desk Plugins for Customer Support
• How to Add Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section in WordPress
• How to Optimize the Customer Journey for WooCommerce Store
• Best WordPress Automation Tools and Plugins Compared

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