This newsletter was hand-curated while listening to Sorry by Halsey.

Service Blog

October 5, 2020

Hi there,

Catch up on your prescribed dosage of customer service with this week's latest and greatest content on the Service Blog.

Enjoy,

Rebecca White

HubSpot Service Blog

The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition for 2020

In the last five years, the cost of acquiring new customers has increased by over 50%. Marketing is becoming more expensive, customers are becoming less trustworthy of brands, and companies should just give up … right? Well, the first two statements are unfortunately correct, but rest assured, the last one is not. Companies shouldn't give up — they should simply get smarter. (You have heard the saying, "Work smarter, not harder," haven't you?) If you're looking for ways to improve your customer acquisition, you're not alone. Reducing the costs of customer acquisition and proving the ROI of marketing efforts are two of the most commonly cited marketing priorities among companies. In this guide, you'll learn the basics of customer acquisition, how to lower the cost of acquiring new customers, and how to leverage your loyal ones. By the end, you'll be able to build an acquisition strategy so agile, it'll withstand the test of time and ever-changing trends.

5 Things That Distinguish a Knowledge Base From a Company Blog

The HubSpot User Blog is clearly a blog. It's pretty straightforward, really — it even has "blog" in the title. But, then again, it does feature articles like, "How to Clean Up Your HubSpot CRM Data" and "How to Navigate Integrations Reporting." So, maybe it's more of a knowledge base? Maybe. I'm still not ruling out a Tide ad, either. If you've ever had this dilemma, you know sometimes it can be tough to categorize content on your website. If you're creating a knowledge base or redesigning your site, you might find some pages where you're not sure where to put them. If they end up in the wrong spot, customers might leave your site empty-handed after searching the wrong resource for information. This point of friction can lead to poor customer experiences and even churn. After all, more than 40% of customers will leave your brand after one bad online experience. In this post, we'll list some features that distinguish knowledge base articles from blog posts, so you can make sure your content is located in the right place for your customers.

How You Should Be Using Chatbots for Customer Service

Everyone feels a little social anxiety from time to time. Whether you live with a bunch of roommates, have to attend a meeting with 20 other people, or have to call your dentist to make an appointment, sometimes, sometimes you just can't deal with other people. Or maybe that's just me. Either way, I was heartened to learn that, in a recent survey, 60% of millennials already use chatbots regularly to purchase basic goods. Many customers like me want to be able to solve problems on their own through self-service instead of having to hop on a phone call -- and that's where chatbots can help. Chatbots are growing in popularity, and one common use case is for live customer service chat, where customers can start communicating with a chatbot to resolve routine service issues -- with the option to connect with a live human agent to solve more complicated problems. However, implementing a chatbot into your customer service team can be tricky. So, in this post, we'll review how should be using chatbots for customer service and break down some best practices to keep in mind when implementing one on your site.

How to Automate Ticket Routing for a Speedy Helpdesk

When I fell on my shoulder snowboarding, I went to my doctor. She said I needed to see a specialist and referred me to another doctor who was an expert in shoulder-related issues. While my doctor could offer an immediate response, my best option was to work with an expert who could solve my issue. If you slip and fall on your shoulder, you likely wouldn't immediately see a specialist, nor would you visit any doctor (eye, ear, nose) for assistance. You'd probably go to your primary physician first, who would send you to a specialist to help. This is exactly how ticket routing works in customer service. When a customer has a problem, they reach out to your support team. Whether that's through a phone or an email address, their inquiry is forwarded to a queue where reps respond to their problem. If you have a ticketing system, reps are assigned each case based on when it was submitted, which channel was used to submit it, and which support rep is best suited to respond to the issue. This creates an automated system where customer inquiries are quickly assigned and responded to as soon as they reach your support team. In this post, we'll walk through the fundamentals of ticket routing including what it is, why it's useful, and how you can automate it using your team's ticketing system.

22 Stats That Prove Why You Need a Crisis Management Strategy in 2020

Crises are an unfortunate fact of life and history. Whether they be of identity, confidence, the Third Century, or any kind of disaster, they're nearly unavoidable — and businesses are particularly vulnerable to them. The nature of crises a company might face can range from financial emergencies to cyber attacks to natural disasters. And the ramifications of these kinds of incidents can be lasting and catastrophic if they're not quickly and effectively buttoned up. That makes a sound crisis management strategy a "should have" for smaller, maturing businesses and an absolute "must have" for larger, more well-established ones. You can't control the crises your business will run into, but you can control how you prepare and respond. Here are some statistics that show why your business needs a crisis management strategy.