The client interacts with multiple individuals within a company. During their interactions, the quality of service matters more than how responsibility for individual tasks is divided within the organization. Therefore, the flow of information between different teams is crucial to delivering the appropriate level of support. In this article, I will explain how Service Hub can help integrate sales and customer service efforts to achieve the highest quality customer experience.
I have often heard unfavorable opinions about the collaboration between sales and customer service, such as "the salesperson made the sale, and then communication ceased" or "everything was great until the contract was signed, and then we encountered reality." This is a fairly common problem in organizations where sales is handled by one department and customer service (or, more appropriately, "success") is handled by another. Sometimes, there are even different sales teams responsible for generating new business and for working with existing clients (Account Managers). Since the client encounters multiple individuals from the beginning of their journey, if we fail to ensure proper information flow, problems are inevitable. This process has been extensively discussed and is well known under the term "customer handoff," so why does it still cause so many issues in companies?
There could be several reasons, such as the lower commitment of the Success team compared to the salespeople, inadequate staffing in the department, poorly defined processes, and more. However, a common and well described problem is the lack of communication between sales and customer service. This lack of communication often stems from working with different data sources and systems. It works both ways because Success may receive fragmented information and not know the negotiation history with the client, which could lead to encountering unexpected problems. On the other hand, if sales wants to upsell or expand the service with new features, they may encounter unpleasant surprises. In the midst of this, the client, upon realizing the lack of communication between service providers' employees, can become highly annoyed or, in extreme cases, decide to terminate the cooperation.
One solution that can help in such situations is working with a single source of data, just like in HubSpot. This way, every salesperson automatically sees how customer onboarding is progressing, and Success team members see how the sales process has been conducted. But that's not all because in HubSpot, you can add an unlimited number of individuals from other departments, such as the legal department, accounting department, or technical staff (installers, technicians, etc.), for free. This allows you to create more advanced processes in the form of tickets, such as customer onboarding or advanced technical issues. In one place, you can have information about whether the courier was sent, whether the technician visited the client, whether the invoice was issued, whether the legal department made the necessary revisions, and more.
Sometimes, the salesperson is the only person whose mobile phone number is stored for the client, or they are the only one who shares their mobile number. In such cases, the client calls and asks for all this information from the salesperson. Thanks to data centralization, the salesperson can provide the information without having to contact other departments, simply by checking it in HubSpot.
In tickets, you can also create pipelines with different statuses, such as "new request," "in progress," "waiting for feedback," "closed," etc. Pipelines can be prepared for different issues, such as invoices, installations, or the technical department. This provides a great deal of order in the data.
Another useful feature is creating your own knowledge base in Service Hub and connecting it with the appropriate sequence intertwined with phone calls, emails, or surveys.
For example, we create a database of articles in HubSpot, which can include tutorials on how to log in, basic information on how to use the system or product. These articles can be in video or text format. When a lead becomes our customer, we initiate a sequence that includes:
- A phone call from the Success department for greetings and introductions.
- An automated email with links to the knowledge base and login information for the customer portal.
- After a few days, an email reminder and a satisfaction survey.
- After 2 weeks, an invitation to online training or articles with tips on how to get the best out of the product.
The example sequence includes a survey. In Service Hub, we have the option to build different surveys and present them to the client. We have access to surveys such as the Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Effort Score (CES), customer satisfaction surveys (CSAT), or custom surveys. Then, we can decide whether the survey will take the form of a simplified pop-up on the website or if we will send invitations via email. The responses provided by respondents will be stored in the CRM, and based on the collected feedback, we can decide where and what to improve.
Our sequence also utilizes the customer portal. It can be easily created in HubSpot without involving the IT team. As a result, after logging in, the client can see their ongoing matters. Access to the portal becomes a modern support point, eliminating the need for phone calls as everything is available within the application. The portal is connected to the CRM module and can also be linked to the help desk, shared mailbox, or knowledge base.
These are just some of the tools available in Service Hub, and their utilization equips customer support with the necessary means to provide an excellent experience. With a single customer service and sales database, it becomes easier for the sales department to sell additional services and for marketing to prepare personalized communications. According to the "flywheel" philosophy, this leads to satisfied customers recommending our company to their acquaintances.
If you would like to build customer support that will delight your clients or learn more about how HubSpot can help your company, please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to answer any questions!
