How to use shared inbox software to automate customer support

Shared inbox software is a powerful tool that can help businesses streamline their customer support processes.

With shared inbox tools, agents can collaborate easily on complex customer issues, respond quickly to queries, and track important metrics such as response time and issue resolution rate.

Additionally, a shared inbox typically includes a variety of features that enable advanced filtering and routing, enabling businesses to improve the overall quality of their customer support.

If you are looking for a way to streamline your customer support operations, consider investing in a shared inbox.

With this powerful tool, you can collaborate more effectively on complex customer issues. You can also respond quickly to queries, and track important metrics such as response time and issue resolution rate.  

There are a few things to keep in mind when using a shared inbox to automate customer support.

First, make sure that you choose a software that includes features that are relevant to your business.

Second, consider how you will use the software to streamline your customer support processes.

Finally, make sure that you train your agents on how to use the shared inbox effectively.

Let's dive deeper.

What exactly is a shared inbox?

A shared inbox is a digital tool that enables businesses to streamline their customer support processes by providing agents with an easy way to collaborate and respond quickly to customer queries.

This software typically includes advanced features such as filtering, routing, and issue tracking, allowing businesses to optimize their customer support operations for efficiency and quality. If you are looking for ways to improve your customer support, a shared inbox is an excellent solution.

How can a shared inbox help businesses?

A shared inbox helps businesses streamline their customer support processes in a number of ways.

1) First, shared inbox tools make it easy for agents to collaborate on complex customer issues.

This is because the software enables agents to share information and work together on a single platform with just a few clicks.

2) Second, a shared inbox typically includes features that enable the customer service team to respond quickly to customer queries.

This is important because customers expect businesses to respond to their inquiries in a timely manner.

3) Third, a shared inbox can help businesses track important metrics such as response time and issue resolution rate.

This is valuable because it allows businesses to identify areas of improvement and make necessary changes.

4) Fourth, a shared inbox typically includes a variety of features that enable businesses to filter and route customer conversations.

This is important because it allows businesses to direct customer queries to the appropriate agents, ensuring that each query is handled efficiently.

5) Finally, a shared inbox can help businesses improve the overall quality of their customer support.

This is because shared inboxes allow businesses to track customer satisfaction levels and make necessary changes to improve the quality of their customer support while managing customer conversations.

Where shared inbox tools fail

While shared inbox tools can be an excellent tool for businesses, there are some potential pitfalls that should be considered.

For example, businesses need to carefully evaluate shared mailbox software before investing in it. This is important because not all shared inboxes offer the same features or level of support.

Second, shared inbox tools can only be as effective as the agents who use it. Therefore, businesses need to make sure that their agents are properly trained and equipped with the tools they need to succeed.

Finally, shared inbox software can only help businesses improve their customer support if it is used effectively.

This means that businesses need to create processes and guidelines around how shared inboxes should be used, and should regularly evaluate these processes to ensure that they are still working well.

In summary, shared inbox tools can be an excellent tool for businesses that want to improve their customer support operations.

However, businesses need to carefully evaluate shared mailbox software before making any decisions and must make sure that it is used effectively in order to maximize its benefits.

How do I organize a shared email inbox?

If you decide to use tools to streamline your customer support operations, there are a few things you can do to ensure that it is used effectively. And stays organized.

First, you need to carefully evaluate shared mailbox software before making any decisions. This is important because not all shared inboxes offer the same features or level of support.

Features are critical to keeping things organized. For example, features like shared labels, shared tasks, and shared calendar can be extremely helpful in keeping everyone on the same page.

Second, you need to make sure that your agents are properly trained and equipped with the tools they need to succeed.

That goes without saying. Often, the shared inbox tool you purchase will have a knowledge base or help docs that can help you with training your team members.

Third, you need to create processes and guidelines around how shared inboxes should be used. These processes should be all about keeping things organized.

An example process can include guidelines for

• Handling customer queries in a timely fashion,
• Routing inquiries to the correct agent or team members, and
• Tracking important metrics such as response time and issue resolution rate.

Finally, you should regularly evaluate these processes to make sure that they are working well. This can help you identify areas of improvement and ensure that your shared inbox is being used effectively.

What are the key shared inbox software features?

There are a few key features that shared inbox software typically includes. Here are the main ones we believe are critical:

Internal discussions

This feature allows agents to discuss cases internally before responding to customers. This can be helpful in ensuring that each customer query is handled correctly and efficiently.

Shared labels

Shared labels allow businesses to categorize and organize customer queries. This can be helpful in ensuring that each query is routed to the correct agent or team.

Automated emails

Most shared inbox tooling supports macros and canned answers. They will also help your team members deliver more accurate answers to the simple customer questions you ask to improve customer satisfaction.  

Shared calendar

Having shared calendars can help your team members keep track of when and where they are working. This is important for keeping everyone organized and on the same page.

Group email management

Support@ - e-mail support@ is a key feature for all shared email accounts. Using your own shared mailbox at the same time as your own email allows you to reply quickly. Likewise assigning emails to specific agents will let everyone know the responsibility, preventing duplicate replies or abandonment emails.

Collision detection

This feature allows businesses to see when two or more agents are working on the same customer query at the same time. This can be helpful in ensuring that each query is handled efficiently and preventing duplicated effort.

Beyond these key features, here are a few other common ones you'll want to look out for:

• Shared labels and folders to help keep emails organized. This helps ensure that all customer queries are routed to the appropriate agent and saved in the correct place.
• Shared contact lists that make it easy for agents to keep track of customer information.
• Shared templates that can be used to quickly respond to common customer queries.
• Shared search features that make it easy for agents to find relevant emails.
• Shared reporting and analytics features that provide insights into customer satisfaction levels and areas of improvement.

These are just some of the key features that shared inbox software typically includes.

One other feature that's not so common is its integration with a project tracking tool. But it should be. Here's why.

Shared inbox tools are often used to manage customer conversations that are complex and require collaboration between multiple agents.

In order to effectively track and manage these types of issues, shared inbox software should be integrated with a project tracking tool. This can help you visualize the progress of different issues, identify bottlenecks or delays, and make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.

Businesses should evaluate shared inbox software carefully to make sure that it offers the features they need to improve their customer support operations.

The core benefits of shared email tools

The tools offered by many companies are available as support@. The tools each have its own set of options that may include limitations. A shared e-mail may be a great solution for teams with limited resources.

Provide more than just email support

In fact, it can create an insanely awesome customer experience through automation.  

With a shared inbox, every customer support request is routed to the shared mailbox. From there, it can be triaged and assigned to the appropriate agent.

This ensures that every query is handled promptly and efficiently.

But that's just the beginning. Through automation, you can take your shared inbox to the next level.

For example, you can set up autoresponders to let customers know that their query has been received and is being worked on. In turn, these automated messages help agents provide the right answer, fast.  

Save time and effort with workflows, tags and saved replies

Your customer support team members will be valuable when they spend more time understanding your customer's needs than when it'll just be an incredibly cluttered email sorter.

Use the shared inbox to implement a tag and generate a workflow for the automating of tasks. In addition, as support trends develop you can build the library of saved responses (aka prebuilt email templates) so there is no need for typing the same answers.  

Reduce complexity for your customers

Although help desk software interrupts your conversation through ticketing / login portal, a shared inbox will not affect your customer. They will receive helpful responses.

In addition, your customer service team members can easily view your entire customer profiles – information you have asked before or in your past, accounts histories and quick connections with other internal processes.

Respond to customers and collaborate as team members in the same space

If you are working on a shared mail account and you want assistance from team members, you should normally delete that conversation from your inbox.

A shared inbox should solve these problems through a chat function that appears in-line with customer communications, but is only visible by members of your team.

What are the best shared inbox tools?

There is no single "best" shared inbox tool, as the features and functionality that are most important to your business will depend on your specific needs.

At DoneDone, we believe we've built the best shared inbox tool out there because it has everything you need...without all the "fluff." It's simple, on purpose. For example,  our shared inbox tool  includes the following features:

• Automatic task assignment
• Workflow automation
• Chat function for team collaboration
• Saved replies (prebuilt email templates)
• ...And it's built right into the project tracker. This allows customer conversations to be tied directly to to-dos and tasks.  

Of course, we want to provide a biased solution, so here are a few other potential inbox tools you might want to check out:

• Hiver. It offers shared inbox features such as shared labels, shared appointments and shared notes.
• Front. This tool allows you to manage shared email accounts with multiple team members, automate workflows, and collaborate in real-time.  
• GrooveHQ. This shared inbox software includes features such as shared task lists, collaboration tools, and a notification center.  
• Help Scout. This shared inbox tool allows you to handle customer communications, track your team's activity, and view customer profiles.  
• Zendesk. This popular shared inbox solution offers features such as shared conversations, shared content, and shared dashboards.

There is no clear "best" tool, as the features and functionality that are most important for your business will depend on your specific needs.

Ultimately, the best software for you will be one that meets your unique requirements and offers the features that are most important to your team. So, be sure to do your research and try out a few different options before making your final decision.

In Conclusion

In this post, we've looked at software and how it can be used to automate customer support. We've also examined some of the features that are important to consider when choosing a shared inbox tool for your business.

Remember: automation isn't just a saved reply. Automation is also workflows, tagging, and the ability to improve internal processes to deliver a better customer experience.

When you're ready to automate your shared inbox and improve your customer support, check out DoneDone.

Our shared inbox tool includes everything you need to get started, and it's built right into the project tracker.