Customer Service Automation: The Ultimate Guide for SMBs

Customer service automation is more than just chatbots.

Sure, chatbots are all the rage right now, but you can do more than just install a widget on the bottom corner of your website.

Customer service automation is the process of improving your company’s support features with technology that helps avoid having humans involved in every issue. Whether it’s routing questions to the right people or providing AI-driven scheduling tools, plenty of technology can improve your business’s workflow.

The go-to example is the chatbot. These automated assistants respond to problems and provide solutions without a human rep. Not only is this faster for the customer, but your employees don’t have to spend time answering questions. The interaction is completely automated through technology designed to remove roadblocks for you and your customers.

There are several types of customer service automations. Let’s review a few in the section below.

Types of Customer Service Automation

You can automate customer service interactions in multiple ways – here are some of the most common.

Customer Care Automation

Customer care is the process of creating an excellent customer experience. It mostly refers to B2C brands that sell products and services to individuals but can also include B2B companies. 

When we think of customer care, we traditionally think about customer satisfaction. In other words, what does the business do to make customers happier? 

Regarding automation, brands can streamline customer care by increasing their accessibility. Technology like chatbots and automated emails makes it easier for brands to provide 24/7 support. You don’t need someone managing your phones – instead, people can contact you through your website whenever and wherever they want. 

Customer care automation also improves your reliability and support. Take Uber Eats, for example. If a restaurant messes up your order, the automated customer care form refunds you in minutes. Rather than dialing your phone, waiting on hold, and explaining your case to a rep, you can immediately get what you need through this easy-to-use software. This creates a better customer experience and saves your team from doing additional work.

This is one way to use automation to improve customer service. We’ll review a few other ways later on in this post. 

B2B Customer Service Automation

B2B brands can also use automation to enhance client experiences. They can add chatbots to their websites, automate online appointment bookings, and use their CRM to keep in touch with clients over time. That helps B2B brands maintain strong customer relationships that increase retention, loyalty, and repeat purchases.

Here’s a simple example. Our website has this handy chatbot in the bottom right corner of each page. If you click on it, you can get support from Thryver, our mascot and helpful digital assistant. He can answer questions about our products, services, and offers.

How to Automate Customer Service

There are plenty of ways to automate your customer services, but it’s hard to know where to start. Here’s a step-by-step roadmap to guide you through this process.

Step 1: Replay the customer’s journey.

If you know what you want to automate, then you can skip this step for now.

If not, start mapping different customer journeys at your business. A customer journey is a timeline of events that customers go through when interacting with your company.

For example, most businesses map out the average service request for an existing customer. They write about how the customer discovers their problem, the channels they use to contact your business, and the steps your company takes to fix it.

From there, consider the roadblocks your customer or employee might experience. Consider how automation might remove these obstacles and make life easier for everyone involved.

Once you have this problem isolated, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Research competitors in your industry.

Look at what your competitors are doing to automate their customer support features. Visit their websites, social media pages, and Google Business Profiles and simulate the customer experience. Pretend you’re a new customer considering these brands and exploring the different services provided. You may even call one of these businesses to see if they have an automated phone line or direct message them on social media to see how their chatbots work.

This information is very valuable for your business. You’ll see what customer expect from their experience with your brand. For example, if all of your competitors have chatbots on their websites, you should, too. If you don’t, some customers might see that as a flaw if they’re comparing your brand against another.

Step 3: Adopt automation tools.

Now that you know what to fix, you can search for a tool that provides the automation features you’re looking for. We’ve included a list of tools at the end of this post, but you should lean toward providers that are:

• Reliable and trustworthy
• Easy to integrate
• Compatible with your existing systems
• Provide reporting metrics
• Affordable and within your budget

Once you find a tool that fits your needs, you can start testing it at your business. 

Here are a few tools you might consider:

Tool	Description
Automated Customer Service Chat	Chatbots are getting better every day. They can schedule appointments, answer questions, and close deals on your website.
Customer Service Automation CRM	CRMs can automatically follow up with customers, nurturing your relationships and increasing brand loyalty.
Automated Call Routing	Communication platforms can automate phone systems so calls are routed to different people at your business.
Automated Phone Response System	Rather than humans answering calls, phone systems can provide automated customer support options.
Email Automation	You can automatically send emails to customers after they complete actions on your website, such as requesting an invoice, scheduling an appointment, or making a purchase.
Automated Scheduling Software	Scheduling tools can automatically add meetings and events to your calendar and send reminders before each date.
Reputation Management Tools	Use this free online tool that automatically scans the internet and evaluates your online presence.
Listings Management Tools	Your online listings are a key customer service resource for your business. Automation software keeps brand information updated across all of your listings simultaneously.

Step 4: Test each change individually.

It is important to test how automation will affect your business before introducing features to your customer base. This helps you avoid mistakes that might be accidentally sent to customers due to adding this technology to your workflow.

For example, you might overlook a typo in a follow-up email triggered whenever a new customer fills out a form. If you don’t test the email before sending it, you will send this error to every new customer who fills out that form.

You should also test each automation individually before adding new service features. If you launch them all at once, it’ll be hard to see which ones helped your business and which ones were ineffective.

Step 5: Compare “before” and “after” performance metrics.

Before installing a new tool, note your current service performance metrics — if they’re available. These include average response time, resolution rate, and customer satisfaction scores.

If you add a new automation to your workflow, you should measure how it improves the performance of your business. That way, you’ll know which tools you should keep and which ones you can stop using.

Fortunately, most customer service tools track performance metrics so you can see how they impact your business. They usually provide a dashboard where you can view all this information in one place, like the example below:

Step 6: Collect feedback from customers and employees.

While performance metrics are one side of the story, customer feedback completes the whole picture. Ask customers how they feel about the changes you’ve installed and where things can improve. Some might love what you’ve done, while others might be more skeptical. It’s important to listen to those who support your business to keep them happy over time.

You should also gather feedback from employees. Sometimes automation isn’t perfect – and it creates more work than saving. If you’re not using these tools firsthand, you might think a new piece of technology is helping your team when, really, it’s just creating a headache.

The good news is the tools below should improve your customer service workflow. How do we know? We tested them ourselves.

What are the advantages of automated customer service?

While there are several reasons to automate services at your small business, here are a few of the most notable advantages:

1. Increased Production

According to Thryv’s Small Business Index, 53% of business owners reported an “increase in business efficiency” after adopting automation technology.

Whether for marketing, sales, or customer service, automation makes your business more efficient. It increases your output by removing roadblocks from your workflow and streamlining tedious and time-consuming tasks.

2. Faster Response Times

One study found that 70% of customers expect businesses to respond to service issues on the same day they’re reported.

AI-powered tools, like chatbots, help businesses meet customer expectations by immediately responding to questions and solving problems quickly. If the chatbot can’t find a solution, it’ll direct the customer to a human for assistance. If there isn’t anyone available, the chatbot can email your team the customer’s information as well as their questions so you can follow up later. Even if you have one person managing customer support, they can do the work of multiple employees with the help of automation.

3. Better Customer Experiences

The Small Business Index found that 81% of business owners believe technology has improved their customer experience. That’s because automation lets them spend more time solving time-sensitive issues that require their team’s immediate attention. While their chatbots and FAQ pages answer simple questions, they have time to respond to urgent and complex problems that deserve their full attention.

4. 24-Hour Availability

Being available “24-7” used to be a novelty. Now, automation has made it easy to respond to customers, regardless of your business’s working hours.

Back to our chatbot example. It will answer the customer’s question or record the message for your team to view later. When you’re back at your device, you can see who contacted your business, what their question was, and any other information that you programmed the chatbot to obtain.

5. Less Employee Burnout

If you’re running a small business, you do more than just customer service. You’re the CEO, the sales manager, and now, the company support rep, too.

Customer support is demanding and requires your full attention to create an excellent service experience. You can quickly burn yourself out if you don’t have the right tools to streamline communication and complete some of the work for you.

Relying too much on automation can also be a disadvantage. Let’s review those factors in the section below.

What are the disadvantages of automated customer service?

Here are a few risks to be aware of when automating customer service at your business.

1. Low Personalization

One byproduct of customer service automation is a lack of personalization. Personalization makes an interaction feel unique – like using the customer’s name or remembering their preferences.

Whenever you automate something, you lose a little personalization. Since automation works like a template, it completes tasks the same way each time. While this is efficient, you don’t get as many chances to add those little touches that make a service experience special to your customers.

2. Communication Limitations

If you have talked with a chatbot, you know it’s not a perfect experience. There’s a limit to what they can say and do, and sometimes, you just want to speak with a human instead.

For these scenarios, it’s important to provide an option to forward conversations to live communication channels when needed. This still gives your chatbot a chance to work its magic but also provides an out for customers who would prefer to speak with a human.

3. Difficult Learning Curve

Some employees might not understand or are skeptical of tools that automate their workflow. They might not know how they work or believe this technology will replace their job.

As a business owner, it’s important to demonstrate how customer service automation can save time and improve productivity. Automation is not designed to replace humans; rather, it optimizes their output so they can produce more with fewer resources.

4. Consumer Bias

Some customers won’t give automation a chance at all. They’ll stick to their tried-and-true methods of working directly with your team – and that’s okay. Just be sure to provide services that cater to these individuals, as well. Try to show them the benefits of using resources like chatbots or your website, but don’t push too hard, and always be willing to provide human support as needed.

Now that we’ve discussed the pros and cons of customer service automation, let’s examine how you can automate tasks for your small business.

Customer Service Automation Case Study: Blossom Valley Detailing

Blossom Valley Detailing is a small automotive business located in El Cajon, California. It’s owned by Michael Zurich, who cares deeply about the quality of his car detailing work.

Like many small business owners, Zurich doesn’t have a team of employees managing customer service. He’s juggling marketing campaigns, sales conversations, and customer service — all at once.

Blossom Valley Detailing adopted three key customer service automation tools to make the company more efficient. First, they installed an automated scheduling tool, so new appointments are automatically added to Zurich’s calendar. That keeps him more organized and sends him reminders about upcoming projects.

The company also added email automation to its website. If you fill out this form, you can receive a free quote in minutes:

Finally, the business also adopted an online payment processor. Zurich’s team can track and process payments quickly through a safe and secure interface. The system also sends notifications when payments are overdue so customers can respond quickly and avoid potential penalties.

Now that you know what automation can do for your business, let’s look at some of the best software to consider.

Customer Service Automation Software

These are a few of the top customer service automation software ranked by G2. We tested each one and listed its prices, key features, and target market below.

1. Thryv

Best for: Small Businesses

Thryv is an excellent solution for small business owners looking for a do-it-all tool that’s easy to use and implement on their team. One of its best features is its CRM, which is linked to a “Client Portal” where customers can schedule meetings with your business after completing a form.

A “Client Card” is created in your account whenever a new customer books with your company. This card not only contains information about your upcoming meeting with that customer but it’s also linked to a centralized inbox where you and your team can manage communication. If you want to follow up with the customer or they contact you, all their messages are stored in one place so anyone on your team can respond.

Pros:

• Great customer support
• User-friendly interface
• Easy to integrate
• Do-it-all software

Price: Free to get started with Command Center, Marketing Center starts at $199/month; Business Center Starts at $199/month;

2. Zapier

Best For: Mid-Market Businesses

Zapier connects tools using “zaps.” Simply put, a zap sends a message from one tool to another, creating an action as a result. For example, in the image above, the zap updates our project board in Asana whenever we update a row in Excel.

What’s great about Zapier is that it leverages AI to create a user-friendly customer experience. If you’re a new user, you can describe what type of zap you want to create, and the AI assistant will build it for you. From there, you just have to confirm that everything is set up properly and that your zap will work in minutes.

Pros: 

• Easy to setup 
• Free to get started 
• Compatible with most software providers 

Price: Free to get started, $20/month for Professional; $69/month for Teams; Contact sales for Enterprise

3. Salesforce Service Cloud

Best For: Enterprise-Level Businesses

Salesforce provides a solution for businesses that field high volumes of customer service requests. It offers advanced tools like a service desk and knowledge base software that you can use to build self-service solutions – resources that customers use to solve problems on their own. They’re handy if your company gets a lot of service-related questions and needs some help reducing the additional stress put on your team.

Salesforce might be the right option for your business if you need advanced service features. If you’re looking for a simpler solution, we recommend some other options on this list.

Pros:

• Advanced customer service tools
• Mobile user support
• Very customizable

Price: Free to get started, $25/month for Starter Suite; $80/month for Professional; $165/month for Enterprise

4. Gladly

Best For: Consumer Services

Gladly is geared toward retail shops that sell goods and services online. Similar to a CRM, this software stores customer information but also tracks each customer’s purchases at your business. That way, you can use their purchase history to troubleshoot their problems with your company.

Gladly also offers a ticket automation tool that routes service questions to different people at your organization. This feature ensures customers are connected to someone best suited to troubleshoot their issues. Not only does this create a better customer experience, but it also removes the manual work of forwarding calls and emails to different people on your team.

Pros:

• Supports email, phone, live chat, and SMS
• Insightful reporting tools
• Encourages team collaboration

Price: $180/month for Hero Package; $210/month for Superhero Package

5. Intercom

Best For: Information and Technology Services

Intercom is a digital help desk that’s designed for small businesses with dedicated customer support teams. It has a ticketing system for recording customer service cases, an AI chatbot, and a range of internal support features like bug reporting, feature requests, and more.

Intercom is ideal for someone who works in the customer service industry. It’s similar to many of the tools that I used when I worked in customer support. It’s handy if you’re managing multiple customer requests and need one tool to oversee all your tasks in one place.

Pros:

• AI-powered chatbot
• Team inbox for collaboration
• Easy to integrate with other applications

Price: Free to get started, $39/seat/month for Essential; $99/seat/month for Advanced; $139/seat/month for Expert

6. VoiceSpin

Best For: Sales Teams

VoiceSpin is a customer service platform designed specifically for call centers. It includes AI tools like an AI voice bot, an AI dialer, and a speech analyzer that provides detailed summaries of your calls. These tools can handle customer requests so you can focus on other business tasks. 

VoiceSpin is ideal for businesses that want to reduce their call volume. If you spend hours each day on the phone, this platform can help you stay on track. The tradeoff is that you’ll have fewer customer interactions, which may affect your relationships with them over time. That’s where a CRM can come in handy and help you connect more with customers that you might not have spoken to in a while.

Pros:

• SMS messaging & call recordings
• Advanced analytics for measuring call performance
• Automated call routing

Price: $40/user/month for Basic plan; $85/user/month for Advanced plan

7. Forethought

Best for: Ecommerce

Forethought is a customer service tool that helps you build AI agents. AI agents are like chatbots but powered by artificial intelligence. They can have human-like conversations and make decisions based on what they’ve learned about your customers. They can also hand off conversations to your team and share data to help you close deals and create better customer experiences.

Forethought is ideal for ecommerce brands that want to sell products and services online. By solving customer problems directly on your website, you’ll reduce abandoned carts and motivate customers to purchase quickly. You’ll attract more customers, close more deals, and generate more sales for your business.

Pros: 

• Pre-built templates 
• AI conversation routing
• Real-time customer insights

Price: Contact for pricing 

Automating Customer Service at Your SMB

Every small business should provide excellent customer service. After all, it’s one of the strongest advantages you can have.

But, as your business grows and attracts more customers, it’s harder to give each person the attention they deserve without bringing in a little help. Customer service automation can streamline your company’s workflow and free up the time needed to give each customer the attention they deserve.