According to a National Center for Biotechnology Information study, case management is used to coordinate workflows and control costs in various industries for more than a century now. Case management usually refers to the recording, monitoring, and analysis of involved processes.
Case management is a more holistic approach that focuses specifically on managing work and processes that may or may not be repeatable. Case management solutions are designed to improve work, optimize its flow, and make it knowledge-driven.
During recent years the case management concept has become incredibly popular amongst customer support departments in various industries. Case management software has emerged as a necessary tool for customer service. A case can be any query or incident reported by the customer. As companies grow and customer demands grow, case management software becomes a viable solution.
Methods like paper-based support, spreadsheets, and text documents are no longer adequate and efficient. Case management software for support comes out as the current best option for most industries. So, the question goes: what exactly is case management software? How does it work? And how do you know whether you need one for your business or not? In this guide, we’ll cover all your doubts about case management and its know-how. We’ll also cover:
What is Case Management in Customer Support?
Case management is a collaborative assessment process, planning, coordinating, analyzing, evaluating, and thus optimizing customer support. It helps businesses to manage their resources as per their needs and practice better customer interaction. It promotes higher customer engagement and results in customer loyalty and retention. It ultimately empowers the quality of customer support and brings in cost-effective outcomes.
Case Management Software: A Brief Overview
Case management software is a digital system that enables businesses to track, store, and solve customer queries through a centralized interface. It enables the customer to be a part of the resolution journey as well. The case information is accessible to the agents and customers so that they can collaborate on cases and share information in a secure ecosystem.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as companies have shifted online, customer support departments have also gone online. And hence, there has been a surge in web-based case management software. It has become more popular as the support is available 24/7 and is accessible from everywhere.
Most companies have replaced their manual, spreadsheet-based case management system with web-based ones. So, you must be wondering how case management software works? Let’s have a look!
How Does a Case Management Software Work?
Case management software comes with multiple channels for communication. Customers can simply pick any of these channels and reach out to the respective company for their queries. Once the customer registers their query, the complaint is lodged in the form of a ticket. If your case management software is enriched with auto-responders, an acknowledgment email or notification will be sent to the customer.
On the admin side, as soon as the ticket is lodged, it is assigned to an agent with the required expertise. The agent then takes over the query and begins the resolution process. Admin can set a first-time response limitation for agents to ensure that the customers receive a timely response. Admin can also set other service level agreement rules to ensure customer satisfaction.
To deal with repetitive queries and reduce the agent load, companies can implement a help center with your case management software. Admin can track and analyze the support performances of their agents and get a 360 view of the entire support through analytics. Many case management software also let you implement a live chat option.
Why do Companies Need a Case Management Software?
Here are three primary reasons why companies need case management software in 2021:
1. Workflow Organization
Every day, there is a huge volume of complaint-related data that companies generate. It is very easy to miss critical pieces of information in the process. Sometimes the data might even be stored incorrectly or disorganized.
Case management software is designed to store all your data in a segmented manner. With all data in one place, it becomes easily accessible and secure. This way, agents spend very little time looking for critical information like tasks, lists, notes, descriptions, deadlines, etc.
2. Increased Productivity
Increasing your workflow productivity means increasing customer satisfaction. And customer satisfaction directly impacts customer retention. Hence, if productivity increases, it results in higher profits. Investments in case management software mean you’re investing in the future.
Since the software streamlines a variety of functions, it frees up valuable time for your team. They can invest this time in solving queries as quickly as possible. It updates your communication, reminds you of your tasks, and ensures that you meet deadlines. Nothing falls through the cracks.
3. Unification
Do you ever experience a chaotic situation if your customer support supervisor or agent is on vacation? Do things fall apart in their absence? This is exactly what case management software prevents from happening.
It consolidates the entire support so that all data can be accessed and retrieved from a single place. So, in the absence of a particular agent, you can re-assign the tickets and maintain the flow of your SLAs.
Benefits of Case Management Software
Here are the top 5 business benefits of using case management software:
1. Reduce the Error Margin
Manual systems call for tons of mistakes and flaws in the workflow. It is hard to make sure that everything is on time and in place with manual or spreadsheet-based customer support. Notes can get lost, there is always a data security issue, you can have incorrect information while documentation, and so on.
With case management software, you can collect all essential information and ensure its security as well. The software ensures that the deadline is followed automatically and the customers receive day-to-day updates regarding their queries.
2. Cases Can be Lodged from Anywhere
Thanks to omnichannel case management software, customers have the freedom to contact at their convenience via the channel of their choice.
3. Optimize Your Support Process Regularly Through Analytics
Top case management software doesn’t stop at helping the queries reach their resolution. Finding and analyzing the roadblocks and trends is a major part of customer support as well. Admins must carry out the analytics process and generate reports regularly.
By leveraging the right case management software, you can pinpoint unique relationships between cases and find out the most common queries. You can add these queries and their solution to your knowledge base. This also allows you to deliver compliance reports quickly. Through your software, you can find out which strategies are paying off and which need to be scrapped. More or less you can evaluate the productivity of your entire support through case management software analytics.
4. Helps you Serve Personalized Experiences
The biggest benefit of case management software is that it enables businesses to serve a personalized customer support experience. A flexible case management software quickly adapts to new queries and can let you know the buyer’s history quickly. With the help of this history, your agents can study the customer’s needs, wants, and likes. This way they can connect with the customers in a better and more personalized manner.
5. Flexibility and Security
Case management software improves the overall scalability of your customer support department. The software adjusts seamlessly with your third-party tools. It gives you the freedom to organize cases based on your workflows and criteria. Pick a software that is customizable and adaptable to your changing needs.
Another benefit of using case management software is the security factor. This completely depends on your choice of software. You need to pick software that follows all the latest standards of security. Superior case management software keeps your data safe. It also enables you to take a data backup regularly.
Case Management Software: Feature Analysis
So, we saw the benefits and know-how of the case management software. Let’s talk about the most important thing i.e. the features. Below we have listed almost all the features that come with case management software. Among the below listed, some features are a must-have whereas some cater to only particular industries. Therefore, before you begin picking features, you need to list down your business needs and figure out a plan accordingly.
1) Ticket Import and Assignment
The ticket management features like automated ticket importing, automatic ticket assignment ensure that no query is missed and the right query goes to the right agent according to their expertise.
2) Shared Inbox
Managing a shared team inbox that processes customer requests, manages tickets and suggestions, is the central function of case management software. A shared inbox is a simple, intuitive, and integrated mechanism for managing support tickets. It also lets you manage multiple customers from multiple channels at the same time.
3) Omnichannel
With the help of omnichannel features, you can engage with your customers across channels of their choice from one unified interface. You can set up well-orchestrated workflows across email, phone, social media, and so on.
4) SLA Agreements
Dynamic timers let you configure various timers to measure the time your tickets spend in various states. Pick a case management software where SLAs and escalation rules can be set up and modified based on your real-world performance. This may include due dates, response time, routing workflows, and so on.
5) Live Chatbots
Implement an automated live chatbot to your case management software. They make it much easier for customers to get answers on the fly. This discourages the customers from raising issues on social media, automated phone systems, or communicating via emails. In case of complex queries, chatbots help you keep the customers engaged until an agent takes over.
6) Automated Ticketing Features
Automate processes like workflows, ticket import and assignment, Service Level Agreements, ticket status updating, notifications, escalations, and more.
7) Chat Within the Ticket
While selecting a case management software, look for shared inboxes that let the agents comment or chat within the tickets.
8) Collision Detection
Collision detection enables agents to view if someone else is viewing or replying to the ticket. This saves potential collisions. Your agents can also merge similar tickets in order to minimize redundant efforts.
9) Customer Self-Service
This feature is a necessity and not an option. Implement a self-service knowledge base and relieve your agents from answering the same queries again and again. It helps customers find solutions to their problems themselves.
10) Reporting and Analytics
With various data metrics, you can gain actionable insights and get a complete view of your support performance. Later with the help of this data, you can evaluate your strategy to designing better customer experiences. You can also use this data to predict the behavior of prospective client queries.
11) Ticketing Software Integrations
You might be using a variety of tools to perform various tasks and operations. Most small and mid-size businesses use dedicated tools for CRM, invoicing, marketing, and so on. It is therefore essential to choose a ticketing software that has easy integrations.
12) Leave Your Follow Up On Autopilot
You can leave the follow-up part of your customer support on automation tools as well. For instance, if a customer did not read a message in a chat, you can send a follow-up email/notification using the ‘Resend if unseen’ feature.
13) Canned Responses
With canned responses, this is perfectly possible. Canned responses simply refer to pre-saved or pre-formatted text for future use. Such messages serve as a quick reply and save time for your agents. It saves the support reps from typing repetitive answers time and again. Besides, they reduce typos and help the customer support agents disperse stress.
14) Email Ticketing Software
An email system is the one that automatically converts customer emails to tickets. It lets you compile the tickets and organize them in a single place. You can set up workflows and automated SLA rules. With an email ticketing system, you can make your brand voice visible at every touchpoint.
15) Customization
Customization is a must-have feature of case management software. It enables you to connect with your targeted audience on a personal level. It lets you scale and personalize your data, based on roles, categories, and preferences.
Case Management Software: DeskXpand
DeskXpand is a case management software built with all that helps you deliver a more cohesive, flexible, and integrated customer experience across all channels. It is built by functional experts and developers with certifications in their respective fields. We can help you bring together a scalable solution specific to your business. We are ISO27001 certified portal experts with 14+ years of industry experience. We aim to help you achieve complete visibility and attain a high-resolution rate through cohesive customer support software. So, would you like to take a trial?
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https://www.deskxpand.com/blog/case-management-software-beginners-guide/
