The fundamental principles that define effective customer service apply across all industries and business types. But certain distinctive characteristics of the business-to-business (B2B) environment can have a huge influence on your approach to training customer service staff.

It’s no surprise that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is really starting to make an impact in the customer service industry. How companies interact with customers is being strongly influenced by this emerging technology. Sure, the “chat bot” comes to mind immediately, but even that has taken a backseat to larger uses of AI which still involve (and improve upon) the human element.

It usually requires a special kind of person to succeed in customer service. These individuals are in constant contact with customers, which makes them symbols of how a business performs. Good customer service employees are eager to help; bad ones are eager for the day to be over.

If you’re new to customer-focused industries, you may look at the title of this post and think “what is a web based help desk solution”? It’s an online system help desk teams use to not only stay organized but to become more efficient. Many emerging companies rely on emails and spreadsheets or even a small in-house solution to keep track of customer information. But what if there’s a better way?

There are A LOT of features available for companies to choose from when deciding what’s important in their Business to Business (B2B) customer support software solution. We made this list to help companies think about the key features these solutions offer and their value. Without further ado, here’s our list of 20 essential features in a B2B customer support system.

When it comes to the specifics of working with customers, you’ll see a wide variety of terms thrown around. Phrases such as “customer care”, “customer support”, and “after-sales service” are all frequently used, but there are a few terms that truly stand out in their meaning (despite the confusion surrounding them).

Company growth is a great thing and it puts a buzz in the air that is tough to match. With this increase in revenue and customers, however, often comes a higher volume of help desk tickets. Before you know it, your lone help desk employee is working overtime to keep up. After adding a couple people to truly make your own help desk “team”, you realize that spreadsheets and emails aren’t the way to go.

One of the unique ways a SaaS company operates is that they exist in a constantly changing environment. New software versions are being pushed live, with innovative features rolling out the door on a regular basis. But, with all these changes, problems can and will arise that require the attention of your customer team.