Jillian Ilao

Top Producer is customer relationship management (CRM) software created for real estate professionals. It offers a wide range of essential tools, such as multiple listing service property insights, real-time industry information, social insights, and email marketing. It is ideal for real estate professionals who want access to real-time market information that they can share with potential clients. Read our Top Producer review to find out if it matches your business needs. Who Top Producer Is Best For Real estate agents who want access to real-time market information: Through built-in Market Snapshot feature, agents can access real-time updates on new listings, price changes, selling trends, and neighborhood insights. It is one of the reasons why Top Producer made our list of the eight best real estate CRM software platforms. Real estate agents who want to gather lead insights from social media: One of the unique tools offered by Top Producer is its social insights feature. This connects information from potential buyers’ social media accounts to the CRM, so an agent can view their social bio and enrich their profile. You can also check out our guide on the best social CRMs for other options. Real estate agents managing commercial properties: Top Producer’s features, such as market industry insights, commercial property listings, and marketing automation, make it a good choice for real estate professionals specializing in commercial properties. It also made our list of the best commercial real estate CRM software platforms. Who Top Producer Is Not a Good Fit For Users on a tight budget who prefer a free plan: Top Producer offers many robust features and integrations, but there is no free option available. If you are looking for a free CRM, check out , which tops our list of both the best CRMs for small businesses as well as the best free CRMs for small businesses. Businesses not engaged in real estate services: Due to its industry-specific integrations and built-in tools, companies that aren’t in real estate would only get the minimum value from this platform. If you belong in a different industry, check out our article about choosing industry-specific CRM providers or best CRMs for small businesses for general-purpose CRMs. Top Producer Overview Top Producer Pricing pricing ranges from $54 to $94.50 per user, per month. All plans include key features such as 360-degree customer views, multiple listing service insights, and built-in texting. It doesn’t offer a free plan, though interested users who want to try out the program before subscribing to an annual plan can opt for a paid 30-day trial period, which costs $60 per user. For more information on each of Top Producer’s subscription options, select a plan from the drop-down menu below: Select to learn more Starter Professional Advanced Website Add-on Starter The Starter package includes basic CRM features for organizing lead contact information and communication via email, phone, or text. It also includes the social insights feature, giving users access to personal homebuyer information acquired from online and social media sources. Professional The Professional plan includes all features of the Starter plan. It has a few additional functionalities, such as the Market Snapshot feature, which connects all listing platforms to provide up-to-date market information about home prices, recent transactions, and advanced analytics on market trends. It also gives users the ability to manage content on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Advanced The main addition to the Advanced plan is the ability to use the FiveStreet Lead Management feature. It takes all of the connected lead sources and sends an automatic email to prospective buyers whenever they express interest in these other websites. There is also pre-generated prospect information and the ability to auto-assign a lead to other agents. Website Add-on Top Producer Website, which costs $17.50 per month, is available as an add-on to all subscription plans. An active subscription is required to use this add-on. It allows users to build responsive, customizable, and professional real estate websites. You can also post listings to boost lead generation efforts and capture new buyers with landing pages. Top Producer Features The standout features of Top Producer CRM are the ones focused on the direct sales process, which include lead management, communication, insight analysis (individual contacts and housing market), and workflow management capabilities. The Market Snapshot and FiveStreet Lead Management features are valuable and unique functionalities that help real estate agents serve their customers better. General Features Contact management Lead insight features Email and text communication tools Real estate market insight features Synchronization with calendar, contact, and email applications Simplified workflow management Expand the tabs below to see a breakdown of some of the key CRM software features Top Producer offers: Ease of Use While some find the software user-friendly, a handful of users said that the interface of Top Producer can be a bit intimidating for first-time users. Most of the issues users encounter involve difficulty in setting up the system or finding a feature they need within the platform. Customer Service Top Producer offers customer support from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) Monday through Friday. Support is available via email, phone, and live chat. It also offers an online resources page that provides users with how-to guides to maximize the use of the platform and FAQs. Top Producer Alternatives is designed for a range of real estate professionals, such as brokers and real estate agencies, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it's the best CRM for your business. If you are looking for the best Top Producer alternatives, start with the providers below: Seeing how various providers' pricing, features, and tools rank side by side is helpful. See how LionDesk vs Top Producer stack up in our head-to-head comparison to decide which is better for your business. What Users Think of Top Producer Overall, users find to be a useful CRM and lead generation system for real estate professionals. Many users said the new version is better than the clunkier old one. A standout feature users like is the property insights tool that helps them provide sound recommendations to their clients. Meanwhile, some negative comments users left are about the lackluster mobile app. Some also said that the features can be laid out better within the system. At the time of this publication, Top Producer had the following review scores from popular user review sites: G2: 3 out of 5 based on 30 reviews. Capterra: 3.7 out of 5 based on 114 reviews. GetApp: 3.7 out of 5 based on 114 reviews. Bottom Line We recommend for real estate pros who want to use CRM primarily for sales prospecting because of its robust social enrichment and lead management tools. Users will specifically find its Market Snapshot feature useful because of its real-time insights and data. However, while Top Producer has excellent features designed for real estate, it doesn’t offer a free plan and requires interested users to pay for a 30-day trial.

The terms “service desk” and “help desk” are often interchanged, but actually refer to two different things. A service desk involves an organization's overall information technology (IT) support capabilities that streamline business processes, with the end goal of providing better services to customers. Meanwhile, a help desk, considered a subset of a service desk, has a smaller scope and covers the reactive handling of end customers’ issues and queries. In this article, learn the differences between a service desk vs a help desk as we break down the two terms, explain their usage, and share examples of the best providers for each. Help Desk vs Service Desk: Which One Do You Need? In a nutshell, service desks are business-centric, while help desks are user-centric. To understand whether your business will benefit from using a more comprehensive tool, such as a service desk, or you simply need a help desk, read our detailed description of each below. Below is a table that shows a quick comparison between a help desk vs a service desk: Help Desk A help desk functions as the receiver of customer queries, issues, and other requests. It acts as a central hub where your customers can talk to your customer support staff. While it can be physical, most help desks are virtual in the form of customer service software that offers tools for live chats, hotlines, or emails. It is designed to make customer support easier through features like ticket management, communications, and automation. A help desk is a subset of a service desk as it is one of the various functions that a service desk covers, and is usually integrated into the wider IT system of a company. It has a more straightforward purpose: to be the front line of customer support. Below are few areas that a help desk covers: Who Benefits From Using a Help Desk A help desk or customer service software’s main purpose is to equip users with the necessary tools to coordinate with their customers and help them answer questions, address concerns, and resolve issues. Below are members of your team who will benefit the most from using one: Small business owners who wear multiple hats: Users running small businesses who need to keep track of customer queries and requests in a centralized system benefit from using a help desk. This helps ensure no customer query goes unanswered or issue unresolved. Customer service representatives: Agents tasked with taking and managing customer service calls and queries who need to record and track cases benefit from using help desk software. Do you need a help desk or customer service software, but don’t know where to start? Check out our article on the best free customer service software to see which one fits your business needs. Service Desk A service desk is a system that covers various aspects of an organization’s IT service management (ITSM). It is more focused on handling the operational needs of an organization, as well as addressing the needs of its employees. It is an integrated system covering multiple functions, including incident management, service level agreement (SLA) management, knowledge management, change management, and asset management. Unlike a help desk, a service desk is made to support your employees by using a centralized system to manage their IT-related issues and queries. It is business-centric as its main function is to streamline all your internal processes, so you can provide better services to your customers. It ensures that various aspects of your business work together to prevent internal hiccups that affect how you conduct business or provide service to your customers. Below are some business areas that a service desk covers: Who Benefits From Using a Service Desk A service desk’s main purpose is to streamline various aspects of your IT support capabilities. Below are members of your organization who will benefit the most from using one: IT specialists and managers: IT professionals in an organization who need to keep track of tech-related cases and incidents, as well as monitor usage of assets and provide technical assistance to employees, will find a service desk helpful. Chief technology officer (CTO): CTOs who are required to oversee their organization's entire IT processes and systems greatly benefit from a service desk as it centralizes systems management. The amount of IT-related incidents reported in a service desk also gives CTOs visibility on potential areas of the business that need improvement. Top Help Desk Software Providers The best help desk software helps users manage all their incoming customer queries and concerns—without any case falling through the cracks. It must have omnichannel communication tools so customers can easily reach your business using the channel most convenient for them. Check out some of the top help desk providers below to learn which one suits your business needs: Zoho Desk is help desk software that lets users manage customer conversations across multiple channels, including email, live chat, chatbots, phone, and social media. It automates repetitive manual actions, such as routing tickets and auto-tagging them to agents based on the topic. It allows users to create smart assignment rules that route high-priority tickets to available agents to help resolve issues faster. LiveChat is help desk software focused on providing users with live chat and botchat tools. It lets users resolve issues faster by communicating with customers in real-time through various functionalities like website live chat boxes, canned responses, chat transfers, and chat ratings. HubSpot Service Hub provides users with essential help desk tools, such as ticketing, live chat, shared inboxes, team email, and ticket reports. It offers tools for help desk automation, a knowledge base, and customer feedback surveys for seamless customer support. It also has voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) functionality that provides excellent call quality, which customers can access directly from the app. Top Service Desk Software Providers A good service desk software provides users with extensive tools to manage the various aspects of their IT needs, as well as streamline internal tech processes. Check out some of the most popular service desk providers below to discover which one caters to your needs best: Freshservice provides a unified service management solution to help organizations streamline their IT support, customize workflows, and set up automations. It offers tools for an IT service desk, IT service management, and IT project management. Its dashboard shows the various status of IT activities within an organization, particularly active tickets and incidents. Freshservice also has the capability of sending internal announcements to the organization. Zendesk Service service desk solution provides multi-channel ticketing and employee self-service portals in a unified platform. It offers tools for asset management, ticketing, agent collaboration, and workflow customization. Its functionalities help your team manage incidents, events, problems, and service requests easily. It also allows IT managers to keep track of company-provided phones and computers by registering the assets to the system. Jira Service Management lets IT, operations, and business teams collaborate easily with one another through a centralized platform that streamlines all of their organization’s internal processes. The system provides users with tools for request, incident, problem, change, and configuration management. Bottom Line Help desks vs service desks are different from one another, although a help desk technically falls under the scope of a service desk. For larger organizations that want to monitor diverse IT-related functions, including asset management, incidents, and various software subscriptions, a service desk is ideal. Meanwhile, for businesses that primarily focus on streamlining their service and communications with end customers, a help desk alone will often suffice.

Nimble is a simple CRM system that offers excellent social media integration tools and essential CRM features, such as lead and deal management, sales pipelines, and reporting. It also provides users with other functionalities like task management, email marketing, and third-party integrations. It is best for small businesses that want an intuitive and unified system to manage all aspects of their customer outreach activities. Read our Nimble review to find out if it matches your business needs. Who Nimble Is Best For Salespeople who need a CRM system with robust social integrations: Due to its powerful social features, Nimble made it to our list of the best social customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. It lets users post directly from their CRM account, match leads with their correct social media accounts, and enrich their profiles with information from their social media pages. Users who want a simple and intuitive CRM system: Most Nimble reviews highlighted the simplicity of using the system. Users say it is easy to navigate and explore due to its straightforward and clean interface. Hence, it is a good choice for those looking for their first CRM. Alternatively, you can also check our guide on the best simple CRMs for more options. Who Nimble Is Not a Good Fit For Small businesses that want a free CRM plan: Nimble offers many great features and integrations, but there is no free option available. If you are looking for a free CRM option, check out our top choices for the best free CRM providers. Salespeople who need a high-performing and robust in-app phone: Nimble doesn’t have an in-app phone feature. This could be a drawback for salespeople who conduct numerous calls per day to follow up with warm leads or reach out to new ones. Those who need an excellent in-app phone can consider or instead. Organizations involved in healthcare practices: Nimble is not a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant CRM, so it is not a good fit for healthcare organizations and service providers. If you are looking for a CRM system that complies with current patient privacy rules, read our guide on the best HIPAA-compliant CRM software. Nimble Overview Nimble Pricing Nimble offers only one pricing plan at $19 per user, per month when billed annually, and $25 per user, per month when billed monthly. Both pricing plans include the same features, such as pipeline management, contact management, a unified inbox, customer data enrichment through social media integration, email marketing, and third-party CRM integrations. New users can try the software for free for 14 days before subscribing to a paid plan. Nimble Features offers a wide range of features in one platform, giving sales teams a single place where they can manage and track the progress of their sales pipelines, run email marketing campaigns, and create CRM reports. Check below to take a closer look at Nimble’s features: General Features Contact management Task management Calendar syncing Social listening Email tracking Pipeline management Sales forecasts and reports Below is a breakdown of some of the key features that Nimble offers: Ease of Use Nimble has a straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it a great choice for novice CRM users. Most customer reviews for Nimble highlight how easy it is to explore the system, customize it based on their needs, and migrate data from third-party apps. Some users said almost no learning curve is required when using Nimble for the first time. Nimble Alternatives If doesn’t meet your business needs, below are some alternatives you can consider: You can also check out our article on the best CRM for small businesses for more options. What Users Think of Nimble Users who left positive reviews about highlighted its simplicity and ease of use. They said that, unlike other feature-packed CRMs, Nimble’s interface is sensibly organized—making it easy for them to look for the information they require or tools they need. They also like its capability to extract customer data from their social media accounts. Albeit very minimal, some complained about its clunky Chrome extension and limited pricing options. At the time of this publication, Nimble reviews from popular user review sites are as follows: G2: 4.5 out of 5 based on 975 reviews Capterra: 3.5 out of 5 based on 372 reviews GetApp: 4 out of 5 based on 10 reviews Bottom Line lets users enrich their customer profiles through robust social media integrations. Its simple interface makes it a great choice for users who are looking to use their first CRM but still want access to fundamental features like sales pipelines and lead management. Due to its limited pricing options, it is not ideal for users planning to scale in the future. It also doesn’t have a free plan, but interested users can .

LionDesk is customer relationship management (CRM) software designed for real estate agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, and property management services. LionDesk pricing starts as low as $21 per user, per month and includes features like built-in communication channels, lead generation, marketing automation, and transaction management tools. Reviews show it’s easy to use and users love the built-in text and email drip marketing tools. It is best for real estate businesses and pros who want a single platform for sales prospecting, lead management and nurturing, and client communication. Who LionDesk Is Best For Real estate professionals who need a high-performing, in-app phone system: LionDesk’s power dialer packs a punch with helpful features such as unlimited calls, click-to-call, call recording, and voicemail. Find out more about why LionDesk made our list of the eight best real estate CRM software platforms. Sales teams using Facebook Ads and third-party sites to generate leads: LionDesk’s lead generation tools are mainly connected to Facebook. Users can run Facebook ads and extract leads based on identified target audiences and users who click on the ad. It also allows users to import lead information from real estate platforms like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. Check out our article on the best lead generation companies for other platforms where you can source leads. Sales teams looking for artificial intelligence (AI) automation features for sales prospecting: LionDesk’s intelligent lead follow-up feature enables agents to gain information on a prospect’s real estate needs through an automatically generated AI-powered chat feature. An agent can acquire valuable information before directly engaging with an interested client. Who LionDesk Is Not a Good Fit For Startup companies on a tight budget that prefer a free plan: LionDesk offers many great features and integrations, but there is no free option available. If you are looking for a free CRM, check out , which tops our list of both the best CRMs for small businesses as well as the best free CRMs for small businesses. Organizations providing products or services not within the real estate industry: LionDesk’s features and integrations are tailored for the real estate industry. If you aren’t a real estate pro but want a CRM tailored for your industry, check out our article on the benefits of using an industry-specific CRM. Alternatively, check out the best CRMs for small businesses for general-purpose CRMs not specific to the real estate industry, like or . Real estate brokerages looking for project management functionality: Real estate brokerages that want to manage projects across departments on their CRM system should consider other options. includes Kanban and Gantt chart layouts, custom task lists, supervising tools, and more under their free plan. That’s why it is a top choice for free real estate CRMs. LionDesk Overview LionDesk Pricing LionDesk pricing includes three plans ranging from $21 to $83 per user, per month for the most feature-rich plan when billed annually. All plans include essential features like video emails, bulk texting and emailing, transaction management, and Facebook lead generation. While there’s no free plan, offers a 30-day free trial that includes 15 texts, five video texts, and 150 emails. This gives you a risk-free opportunity to determine if it’s the right fit for your business before subscribing to a paid plan. For more information on each of LionDesk’s subscription options, select a plan from the drop-down menu below: Select to learn more Starter Pro Elite Starter The Starter Plan offers fundamental outbound sales features including 2,000 emails (including video emails), 500 short message service (SMS) text messages, and 100 video texts per month. It also includes other features such as bulk emailing and texting, transaction management that monitors all ongoing client negotiations, prebuilt drip campaigns, and Facebook lead generation―a key LionDesk feature that captures leads who click on Facebook ads. Pro Includes everything in the Starter plan plus custom caller ID (identification), email white-labeling capabilities, transaction management for multiple workflows, and administrative features for creating advanced sales reports. It provides an allocation of 7,500 emails (including video emails), 2,000 SMS text messages, and 500 video text messages per month. Elite Includes everything in the Pro+ plan plus individualized training, third-party integration setup options, priority customer support, and unlimited contact tagging. It provides an allocation of 15,000 emails (including video emails), 4,000 SMS text messages, and 1,500 video text messages per month. LionDesk Features features allow real estate agents and brokerages to organize contact information through data importing and storage. It enables communication with leads and clients through multiple communication channels, including phone, email, and text messaging. In addition, it offers the ability for agents to manage workflows for transactions. General Features Contact management Transaction management Lead distribution Drip campaigns Artificial intelligence (AI) lead follow-up Task management Expand the tabs below to see a breakdown of some of the key CRM software features LionDesk offers: Ease of Use Setting up and operating is simple. Much of this is because it offers many prebuilt templates within the CRM for email and text communication. Because it integrates with most real estate tools, LionDesk also makes it easy to import and manage contacts. LionDesk Alternatives The LionDesk CRM is designed for a range of real estate professionals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it's the best CRM for your business. If you are looking for the best LionDesk alternatives, start with the providers below: Sometimes seeing how various providers' pricing, features, and tools rank side by side is helpful. See how Top Producer vs LionDesk stacks up in our head-to-head comparison to decide which is better for your business. What Users Think Most LionDesk reviews show users are satisfied with what the platform offers. The ease of use, texting capabilities, and drip email marketing campaigns are the standout features customers like most. Negative LionDesk reviews referring to lackluster customer service and occasional website glitches are generally those that comprise less-satisfied reviews. At the time of this publication, LionDesk had the following average review scores from popular user review sites: G2: 3.7 out of 5 based on 30 reviews Capterra: 4.1 out of 5 based on 90 reviews GetApp: 4.2 out of 5 based on 90 reviews Bottom Line is an excellent CRM option for a variety of real estate industry professionals. The built-in communication and marketing tools and third-party integrations allow agents to accomplish a wide range of tasks from initial lead generation to closing transactions. LionDesk reviews speak to its ease of setup and overall value as an all-in-one solution for real estate operations. They do not offer a free plan, but you can try it without risk with a 30-day free trial.

Integrating customer relationship management (CRM) with customer service (CS) software lets users sync information between the two tools and communicate with leads and customers from a centralized platform. The best integrations allow users to reach customers via live chat and chatbots, email, in-app phone, and social media. Find out which CRM and CS integrations would work best for your specific business needs. : Best choice for users who need to integrate an all-in-one customer service management solution, including a help desk, live chat, email, and ticketing : Excellent option for users who want tools to enrich their customer profiles to deliver highly personalized support to their customers : Great choice for users who frequently use live chat tools to communicate with their customers, leads, and contacts : Best choice for users who frequently use voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) calls to reach out to leads, consumers, and contacts : Best choice for teams that need robust automation tools for streamlining customer service needs : Solid, all-around CRM-integratable customer service software for startups and nonprofit organizations due to its special pricing plans : Great for those who need customer service software natively integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system : Best choice for Salesforce users who utilize social media as their key customer service platform Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software Compared See fullscreen table × Need more help in choosing which customer service software to integrate with your CRM? Read our guide on how to choose customer service software. Freshdesk: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software With 360-Degree Customer Views *Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates. can be natively integrated with various popular CRMs, including Freshsales, HubSpot CRM, and Salesforce. Once connected, it enables users to communicate using multiple communication channels with the customer and leads saved in their CRM account. The channels include a help desk, live chat, email, and ticketing. It also provides agents with 360-degree customer views and guided resolutions to improve CS agents’ productivity. However, Freshdesk’s Omnichannel support option doesn’t have a free plan. It also doesn’t provide around-the-clock customer support. Users who want a free plan that covers multiple communication channels can consider , while those who want access to 24/7 customer support can consider . Freshdesk Features Freshdesk offers workflow automation and 360-degree customer views for more efficient and personalized customer support. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Extensive integrations: Dozens of integrations with popular CRM software and other apps, such as email marketing and social media management Email ticketing: Allows users to automatically convert customer emails into help desk tickets to track, prioritize, and resolve support requests in one place Chat and messaging: Lets users engage with customers through live chat and various messaging platforms, including popular messaging apps like , Facebook, and Social media integration: Lets users communicate with their customers on social channels like Facebook and Twitter, and receive notifications about important tweets from its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered social signals monitor Zendesk: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software That Provides Unified Customer Profiles *Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates. natively integrates with CRM systems like Zoho CRM, Capsule CRM, Nutshell, Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, and Pipedrive. Its CRM integration allows users to reach their customers straight from their Zendesk account through live chat, chatbots, social media, email, and voice calls. It offers robust customer profile enrichment tools that build a unified customer view where agents can access all information about a specific customer. However, Zendesk has no free plan nor phone support. Users who want access to a free plan can consider , while those who prefer phone support access can consider . Zendesk Features Zendesk provides users with essential customer service and customer profile enrichment tools. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Single customer profile view: Gives customer service reps a single view of everything about a customer, including order history, loyalty status, and web activities Intelligent case routing: Offers built-in routing and intelligence features to collect critical customer details and reduce agents’ data entry; it also escalates and routes issues to the agent best suited to help Reporting and analytics: Lets users access real-time and historical data to analyze trends in their customer service activities Self-service content: Lets users create instructional materials that customers can refer to, saving agents’ time from taking actual calls LiveChat: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software With Extensive Live Chat Tools *Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates. natively integrates with a handful of popular CRM systems, such as Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive, SugarCRM, and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Once integrated, it lets users communicate with customers via LiveChat using various functionalities like message sneak-peeks, canned responses, chat transfers, and chat ratings. However, LiveChat doesn’t offer a free plan and an in-app phone. Users who want access to free customer service tools can consider either or . Meanwhile, those who need an in-app phone can consider . LiveChat Features LiveChat provides users with a wide variety of live chat tools that easily integrate with their CRM. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Message sneak-peek: Shows users the messages that their customers are typing before they hit send, letting them search for an answer faster and respond in seconds Canned responses: Lets users save responses to common questions and reuse them in other conversations Chat ratings: Allows users to gather feedback to learn if customers are happy with their live chat experience through star ratings and post-chat surveys Chat history: Provides customers with a chat transcript and history so they can backtrack messages and reduce the need for repetitive queries HubSpot Service Hub: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software With VoIP Technology *Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates. is easily integratable with as well as other third-party CRM apps, such as Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Copper, and Insightly. Apart from ticketing, live chat, and team inboxes, HubSpot Service Hub has VoIP functionality that provides excellent call quality, which customers can use directly from the app. It also offers tools for help desk automation, a knowledge base, and customer feedback surveys for seamless customer support. However, HubSpot Service Hub has steep pricing plans for its paid version and doesn’t offer 24/7 customer support. Users who want pocket-friendly pricing options can consider , while those who want 24/7 support can consider . HubSpot Service Hub Features HubSpot Service Hub provides users with omnichannel customer service tools and robust VoIP functionalities. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Knowledge base: Converts frequently asked questions (FAQ) into a searchable library of help articles, videos, and documentation Live chat: Automatically routes customers to readily available customer service reps to get answers to their questions quickly Ticket routing: Allows users to route tickets to available customer service reps for faster issue resolutions Team inbox: Lets multiple customer service reps access a centralized inbox and take on pending cases to help expedite case resolutions HappyFox: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software With Robust Automation Tools *Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates. integrates with 10 popular CRM software, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Insightly, SugarCRM, Pipedrive, Batchbook, and HubSpot CRM. Once integrated, it provides users with a centralized platform to handle all inbound customer queries. It also enables users to automate entire workflows to prevent tickets from being stuck in a stage. HappyFox also has an automation tool called Smart Rules that triggers actions if prescribed conditions are matched. However, HappyFox doesn’t have a free plan, and it only integrates with 10 CRM apps. It also doesn’t have an in-app caller and requires integration with . Users who want to try a customer service software for free can consider , while those who want extensive CRM integrations can consider . Meanwhile, those who need an in-app caller can consider . HappyFox Features HappyFox provides users with automation features, helping them keep track of their customer service tickets. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Ticket categorization: Allows users to classify inbound tickets into predefined categories, such as products, sales, and support Ticket queues: Lets users create custom ticket queues by adding one or more rules to filter tickets based on priority and responsibility Agent collision monitoring: Enables users to avoid agent collision by showing who else in the team is viewing or acting on a ticket to avoid agent overlaps Ticket auto-assignments: Lets users assign tickets to currently active agents, and use load balancing algorithms to balance their team’s ticket assignments and workload Help Scout: Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software for Startups & Nonprofits *Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates. integrates with seven popular CRM apps, including Pipedrive, Capsule CRM, Salesforce, PipelineDeals, and HubSpot CRM. It offers users essential customer service tools like live chat, shared inboxes, and a knowledge base. Help Scout also generates analytics and reports, enabling users to view their overall customer service activities and performance. It has pricing plans built specifically for startup organizations and nonprofits. However, Help Scout doesn’t have an in-app caller or a free plan. It also has very limited CRM integrations. Users who want an in-app phone can consider , while those who want a free plan can choose instead. Users who want customer service software that integrates with many CRMs can consider . Help Scout Features Help Scout offers affordable customer service tools to startups and nonprofits. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Shared inbox: Lets agents take on and answer any pending case or email with visibility to the email trail through shared mailboxes Knowledge base: Allows customers to do self-help support through available instructional articles and videos Live chat: Automatically routes customers to readily available reps to get answers to their questions in real time Reporting: Provides users with overall reports on all their ongoing and closed cases, including the number of active cases, amount of cases resolved in a particular period of time, and customer sentiment toward the quality of support provided Insightly Service: Best Customer Service Software Built Within a CRM System *Only annual billing available. Service is a service and support application that’s made specifically for Insightly users. It provides users with a robust view of their customers, including communication and activity history. It provides customizable dashboard reports to track agent performance against key performance indicators (KPIs). The system also scans keywords in tickets to get actionable insights on the nature of recurring customer issues. However, Insightly Service has no free plan. It also doesn’t offer a free trial or month-to-month billing plans. Users who need a free plan or free trial can consider , while those who want month-to-month plans can consider or . Insightly Service Features Insightly Service offers holistic customer views and a customizable dashboard to track agent performance. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Customer satisfaction surveys: Lets users send surveys after resolving cases to get customer feedback Community forums: Allows businesses to create forum pages for their customers where they can post their questions and get insights from fellow users Knowledge base: Lets users publish instructional articles that cover general and specialized topics that their customers can refer to later Notifications and reminders: Sends users reminders for unresolved tickets, so no issue remains unresolved Salesforce Service Cloud: Best for Social Customer Service *Based on annual billing. **Essentials plan is the only plan that offers monthly billing plans. can only be integrated with Salesforce products. It is a feature-rich customer service platform that lets users manage and route cases and tickets, customize customer service processes, access customer activity history, and extract customer service reports. It has excellent social customer service features that let users monitor, listen, and respond to customer posts on social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. However, upgrading to a higher-priced plan in Salesforce Service Cloud requires a steep investment in pricing. Users are also tied to annual plans for its higher-priced plans. In addition, support must be purchased separately for 30% of a user’s total subscription cost. Small businesses that want more affordable plans and monthly billing options across all plans can consider , while those that want free access to customer support can consider . Salesforce Service Cloud Features Salesforce Service Cloud offers users essential customer service tools, including managing customer queries from social media accounts. Below are features we find most beneficial for users: Social customer service: Lets users route social media cases to the right agent by using keywords, classifiers, and language detection to ensure timely responses AI (artificial intelligence) chatbots: Saves agents’ time by allowing chatbots to take action on customer queries like checking claims status or modifying orders using natural language on real-time channels like chat and messaging Phone integration: Allows users to make calls directly from the app and save call logs for future reference Intelligent routing: Lets managers distribute work based on agent skill set, availability, and capacity to handle incoming work based on their case pipeline How We Evaluated the Best CRM-integratable Customer Service Software The best CRM and customer service software integrations allow users to scale the customer service capability of their CRM—giving them tools to communicate with customers using various channels. These include live chat, chatbots, email, and an in-app phone. While using their CS software, a customer or lead’s details from their CRM are easily displayed on their dashboard, letting them provide more personalized support. Pricing: Pricing is typically the most important factor for small business owners. We also considered the availability of a free version, range of pricing plans, and other relevant add-on fees. General feature: The purpose of any customer service software is to provide CRM users with easy solutions to deliver high-quality support to their customers. We looked at the options and evaluated which ones offer the essential features for users. Ease of use: User-friendliness and intuitiveness are two of our key considerations when choosing the best customer service software to be integrated with CRMs. We evaluated whether the software requires a high level of technical experience to get users up to speed with using the system. Help and support: Support is a critical part of any type of software, especially for teams with no in-house technical support. We analyzed the types of support offered by these providers through live chat, email, and phone, as well as determined the hours when support channels are available. Expert score: We looked through existing customer reviews on credible sites to measure the level of satisfaction current users have, as well as any problems that they typically encounter. We also added our thoughts and expert opinion on key features, value for money, and popularity.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in customer service provides businesses with workflow automation and intelligent tools to streamline and expedite customer outreach. AI tools, such as chatbots, data enrichment, predictions, and intelligent routing, enable customer service teams to speed up case resolutions and personalize service supported by data insights. This article explains how AI can effectively improve your customer service operations, along with some examples of its usage. How AI in Customer Service Works AI in customer service works by integrating tools in customer service software that mimic human intelligence or behavior, reducing the need for actual human interaction. Ultimately, its goal is to automate customer service processes and produce instant results—versus waiting for longer turnaround times. AI in customer service also employs machine learning techniques, where AI tools interpret and analyze data to provide teams with actionable insights, accurate predictions, and data-driven recommendations. By combining these, customer service teams can give their customers highly personalized and tailored services and solutions. It also boosts overall agent productivity by accommodating more customers in a shorter time. Click through the tabs below to see various functions of AI in customer service and how they can help you improve the overall support you provide to your clients: Why AI in Customer Service Operations Is Essential Today’s customers demand fast and efficient customer support, with some expecting real-time responses or immediate resolutions to their queries. This situation creates an overwhelming demand for companies to have enough resources to accommodate all their customers’ concerns. However, there are instances when this is not possible—especially for small businesses with tight budgets and limited human resources. This is where AI in customer service comes into play. AI-powered tools provide swift, human-like assistance to customers—decreasing the time agents spend interacting with customers, especially for simple queries. It also helps businesses provide smarter, more personalized service to customers by analyzing relevant data in their profile, which agents can use when speaking to them and resolving their concerns. Below are some statistics on the use of AI in customer service: Benefits of AI in Customer Service Using AI in your customer service activities presents tangible benefits. While AI technically removes the human element in customer service, new technologies are constantly being developed to mimic human interactions accurately and offer a more personalized customer service approach. AI in customer service unloads many of your customer representatives' tasks, lessens the time needed to resolve cases, and operates around the clock. Below are some clear benefits businesses can experience when using AI in their customer service activities. Eliminates Human Interaction for Repetitive & Common Issues AI significantly decreases human interaction, especially for simple and frequently asked questions that bots can answer. This allows agents to focus on more important and complicated queries. For example, simple questions about business opening hours or basic product information can be provided by chatbots, while more complex concerns like requests for product returns or refunds can be handled by agents. Expedites Response Times & Case Resolutions AI tools, specifically chatbots, help hasten case resolutions. They dramatically reduce customers’ waiting time for simple and routine queries that can be answered without human assistance. Tools like response suggestions also provide agents with ready-made answers they can easily feed into chat boxes, eliminating the need for agents to find answers on their own. Operates 24/7 Apart from expediting responses, chatbots also work 24/7, so customers’ queries are always attended to. If they are unable to answer questions, chatbots have the capacity to request contact information, such as emails and mobile numbers, so agents can reach out to the customer during business hours. Who Can Benefit Best From Using AI in Customer Service The main purpose of AI in customer service is to prevent customer service agents from doing manual, repetitive, and routine tasks through automated tools and data analytics. Below are members of your team who can benefit the most from using AI in customer service. Bottom Line AI in customer service can help save on costs and alleviate the workload of customer service teams—whether that is reducing the need for them to entertain simple queries or pulling up rich customer profile data in real time. Regardless of whether you are a business owner with a limited workforce or an established business that handles large volumes of customer queries, using AI tools will help you provide more efficient and personalized service to your customers.

The coffee industry has a ton of international coffee chains that seem to be taking over. However, there are still many entrepreneurs who are trying to compete by offering great alternatives to cookie-cutter establishments. If you are an entrepreneur who feels inspired to start your own coffee shop but clueless on how to name your cafe, we’ve gathered some tips on how to come up with cool and memorable coffee shop name ideas that will resonate with your target market. Once you’ve chosen a name for your coffee shop, check out our guide to designing a restaurant website which comes with a professionally-designed template you can use for free with any WordPress site. 1. Get help from a restaurant name generator. Maggie Aland, Fit Small Business Use this restaurant name generator to have instant access to dozens of ideas for your coffee shop name. All you have to do is enter your name, the type of food you plan to serve, and your location and a long list of suggested establishment names will be automatically generated for you. Many restaurant name generators just put together cool sounding or random words. However, in general, this is bad practice because you want people to instantly know that your business is a coffee shop. 2. See how your potential name would look on a coffee mug When you’re opening a coffee shop, mugs with your shop’s name are essential. If you print your potential name on a mug and don’t like the way it looks, that should make it clear that the name is not meant to be. Click here to see how your name looks on a coffee mug. 3. Make the name humorous. Julie Pech, Owner, The Chocolate Therapist The name should be humorous because it's easier to remember. People come in all the time saying "The Chocolate Therapist? Book me a session!" or "I need therapy" or other comments that let's me know they like the name of the shop. I've also seen other coffee shops with names like "Romancing the Bean," "The Ink Spot," and "The Laughing Goat," which are more likely to stick with people. 4. Use pun-ny names. Nick Lucs, Work Pulse You’ve already got the coffee theme, but these days that’s not always enough. It’s time to get creative and add an extra layer. Whether you’re looking for a name of your own, or you just need a good laugh to remind you that you’re not the only punny entrepreneur out there, check out this laughable list of coffee shops that really went for broke. Bean There, Drank That Steaming Hotties Tea’se Me Has Beans Brewed Awakening Sacred Grounds Fleetwood Macchiato Deja Brew Thanks a Latte Perkatory Whole Latte Love Espresso Patronum (only Harry Potter lovers will get this!) Espresso Yourself 5. Buy a .com domain name for your cafe. Richard Harroch, Contributor, Forbes After deciding on a name, secure the “.com” domain name for your business rather than alternatives such as .net, .org, .biz, or other possible domain extensions. Customers tend to associate a .com name with a more established business. It’s likely that someone will already own your desired .com name, but many domain owners are willing to sell the name for the right price. You can who owns a specific domain by using the WHOIS lookup at Network Solutions. Once you register your domain name, learn how to setup a WordPress website. Also make sure to grab your desired business name on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. 6. Experiment with word play. Lorri Mealey, The Balance Paula Deen’s first restaurant business was called The Bag Lady, because she and her sons went around delivering bagged lunches to local businesses. This is a great example of playing with words. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck called his earliest restaurant Spago, (Italian slang for spaghetti.) Fun restaurant names are easier to remember and better for passing on by word of mouth. 7. Name it after someone special. Wendy’s Opening your own establishment entails emotional investment and sometimes owners find it fitting to name their restaurant after someone dear to them. Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s named his restaurant after one of his daughters. After trying all five of his children's names for the restaurant, Dave decided on daughter Melinda's nickname - Wendy. Today, Wendy’s is still one of the most well-loved fast food chains around the country. 8. Pick a name that shows what your shop is about. Karen, Surfers Coffee Bar Our cafe, Surfers Coffee Bar, is a non-profit coffee shop in Wahiawa, Hawaii, run completely by unpaid volunteers who love to surf, and exists to bring people together by providing a great atmosphere, amazing music, and coffee of the highest quality. We are linked with another non-profit humanitarian organization, Surfing the Nations, whose mission is to meet needs and change lives through the sport of surfing and selfless service. 9. Reflect your passions in the name. Adam, COFAX Cofax’s name came about from playing around with the phrase “coffee on Fairfax.” Once “coffee on Fairfax” was in the discussion, we started to talk about the Dodgers and how fun it would be if we had a Dodger theme for our shop. Of course, Koufax came up and we realized if we merged the phrase “coffee on Fairfax” we get Cofax, which coincided with our Dodger theme. From that, the name was born. We are all Los Angeles natives, and Dodger fans, so for us it just sounded right and that’s what we feel was most important when choosing a name. 10. Protect your business identity. Kiah Treece, Staff Writer, Fit Small Business Once you’ve decided on a name, you should choose a business structure and establish your coffee shop as a legal entity. Use a reputable provider, such as , to walk you through the entire process. Not only will Incfile work with you to reserve your trade name, but it will help you decide what type of business to register your shop as. Its agents simplify the process of getting a business license and the necessary permits, and even offer to do the paperwork for you. . 11. Name it after your specialty beverages and treats. Sana Ale, Startup Guys It is a very simple approach to name your name restaurant after the specialty item you want to be known for. This also helps people in knowing what is available at your place. For instance, a continental restaurant will have a sophisticated name whereas a place serving fast-food will have a trendy and casual name. A café can go with the name of its specialty beverage or famous cake or dessert . 12. Give people a story to believe in. Bo, Thou Mayest (Kansas City, MO) We chose the name “Thou Mayest” after we read John Steinbeck’s book “East of Eden”. It means “the way is open”. We use this as our “battle cry” because we believe “Thou Mayest” is more than a name, but rather, a movement of people who want to make the spaces they inhabit more valuable by, as Cameron Sinclair beckons, “design like they give a damn”. We extracted the meaning of “Thou Mayest” to create our mission statement: We believe that coffee and conversations are best shared over great drinks. We love the community that coffee creates and our job is to instigate energy and cultivate creativity through thoughtful care of our craft. 13. A winning coffee shop name has to have a positive connotation. Susan Ward, Business writer, The Balance Many words have both denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (emotional meaning). A word’s connotation can be positive, neutral or negative, depending on the emotional associations that people generally make. The classic example is the difference between “Mom” (which has a very positive connotation) and “Mother” (which has a neutral connotation). "Rocky Mountain Cafe" has a positive connotation for most people, evoking sunny days skiing, hiking or just hanging out in a beautiful natural environment. Change the name to something like Sludge Town Diner and see if anything positive comes into your mind. What it means to you is that when you're choosing a coffee shop name, you need to choose words that have the positive connotations that you want people to associate with your coffee shop. 14. The name should reflect the cafe atmosphere you want to convey. Walt L. Jones III, Principal, SEQ Advisory Group If someone wants to start a coffee or internet bar, a name like "Wired" may be an option. If you want more of a lounge-type establishment where people could relax, have some great coffee and maybe hear some music, "Slow Roast" may be an option as it captures the essence of taking time and care. The point is, focus on the atmosphere and the message and the name will come. 15. Factor in search engine optimization (SEO). Graham Winfrey, Staff writer, Inc. Making your company easy to find on the search engine results page (SERP) is an important consideration when picking a name. If you're going to use a proper noun for your name, you should think about how that decision will impact SEO. Choosing a common term like "Bell," for example, will make it hard to place your company’s website on the first (or second) page of Google’s search results. SEO is about getting your website to rank on the top of organic (non-paid) search results when a person does a search of your cafe. 16. Use location-based restaurant names. Alyssa Burns, WebstaurantStore By basing your restaurant name on your address, you make it easy for your customers to remember where you are when they want to return or tell their friends to visit. This can be just the street name, like South Congress Cafe, which is on South Congress Ave. in Austin, TX. You can even use your entire street address, like the Boston restaurant No. 9 Park did. 17. Make the name easy to remember. Jared Miles, Writer, HubPages The perfect name should roll off your prospective customers' tongues. It should be easy to spell and pronounce, because the best publicity of a business can often be found through word-of-mouth. If adoring customers can't tell all their friends about the great service they received at Joe Blogg's Patisserie and Coffee Shop, they might just talk about Starbucks instead.   18. Don’t use obscure names. Phil Davis, Founder, Tungsten Branding Avoid making your business name so obscure that customers will never know what it means. It's great for a name to have a special meaning or significance--it sets up a story that can be used to tell the company message. But if the reference is too obscure or too hard to spell and pronounce, you may never have the opportunity to speak to that customer because they'll simply pass you by as irrelevant. If people pass by your storefront, you want them to instantly know what they can expect if they decide to come inside. 19. Write down all your name ideas and don’t filter. Julia, Blogger, Dream a Latte Start writing and make lists of all the names that come to mind. Make lists for feelings or ideas you want your brand to stand for. Don’t be afraid to write down words even if you don’t want to use them, because they may trigger other words. Since I love to be organized, I’d make multiple lists and keep what stood out on a single “namestorming page.” It helps to have your vision/mission, inspirations, and top name ideas all on one page. Make ongoing changes to this page until you find the right name. 20. Don’t be caged in by naming rules. Coffeeshop PR The Internet has helped break all the rules when it comes to naming businesses. A good example of no rules when it comes to names is “Google.” If someone said they were going to name their company “Google” 10 years ago, we would have given them a strange look. Now that word is a noun, verb, and everything in between. 21. Use identifiable visual elements in your name or logo. Andrew Hetzel, Coffee Strategies Keep the image of coffee present so that customers can quickly identify what you do. Picture driving by a business at 40 MPH and seeing the name or logo. In the blink of an eye it should be clear that you serve coffee as a primary business. On the topic of logo: be certain that the logo is clear, not elaborate and has a crisp, easily identified color scheme. 22. Collect as much info about your business as possible. Mary Ellen Spera, CFO/Market Analyst/Lead Copywriter, Parker's Voice When I craft a brand, I seek as much information as possible such as the owner’s name, type of service that differentiates it from others, theme, operating hours, what type of clientele, etc., and suggest names from there. For example: A Roma Java – it will be pronounced as "aroma," but with the "A" separated it will list higher in yellow pages. Bottomless Cup Café – especially good for the establishment that has free refills and serves food too. Daybreak Coffee – good name especially if you only serve the early risers, breakfast crowd. Good Cup of Joe – straightforward; inspires trust Lava Java – good name for a coffee shop that sources its beans from the sides of volcanoes Mr. Green Beans – reminiscent of childhood especially for Baby Boomers who grew up with Captain Kangaroo. Quiet Coffee Corner – good name for a bookstore/coffee shop Whenever Coffee – good for a 24-hour Establishment Wise Ones Cups – good alliteration; good for an establishment which also sells newspapers and magazines 23. Get opinions from others. Tatiana, Delishably After making a very long list of possible names (it is okay to list some that seem silly or outrageous, as this list will be narrowed down, and after reading these outrageous names a few times over, they may grow on you), give the list to close friends and family members and have them choose the names they like. This will give you an idea of what names will give your cafe that frontline appeal, the kind of appeal that can make all the difference. If you are really having a hard time coming up with any names, or if you find yourself stuck between a few good ones, invite a group over to discuss it over some coffee (how suitable)! Just keep sipping that coffee, the name will come to you! 24. Conduct a thorough search to see if the name is already taken. Nina Kaufman, Lawyer, Ask The Business Lawyer There are a few places that you'll want to look to see if anyone else is using the same business name as you are. First, if you are filing as a DBA -- short for "doing business as," a term that indicates an informal business name that's not your legal business name - you will want to check with your local county clerk's office. Or, if you want that to be the name of your corporation or limited liability company, you will need to check with your state's Secretary of State, which approves business entity filings. Second, depending on your plans for your business, you may also want to do a trademark search. There may be no one in your state using the same name but someone in another state may be using it as a trademark. If you have plans for expansion, you could run into conflict and possibly be prevented from using your mark. Over To You We’d like to thank everyone who contributed ideas on how to come up with creative coffee shop names. We hope that these ideas will get your creative juices flowing and that you’ll have caffeine lovers lined up at your newly opened cafe in no time. But before you open your doors, check out our review of the top cafe point-of-sale (POS) systems designed to help you run your entire operation. Some are even free and have loyalty programs built right in -- that's a sure way to help customers remember your name! Speaking of names, what's your favorite naming tip from this list? Leave your comments below and let’s talk!