Modern business websites have become complex, living and breathing mediums, connecting businesses and consumers. But how customers are using these sites, and what they expect out of them, has changed. 

It used to be that having a website was good enough and if someone wanted something they’d give you a call.  But now, if your site isn’t fast, optimized for mobile, have a clean UX and provide easy customer support options, you’re basically overlooked and outdated.

But how does a small business provide this level of support without breaking the bank? Here are 3 ways to provide stellar support that has your customers coming back time and time again.

Intercom is by far one of my favorite tools to stay in touch with customers. Live chat is a great way to engage your customers and to hear from them first hand. A website can sometimes seem a bit like a black box in regards to how it’s serving your business needs. And while analytics will help to determine what’s going on by the numbers, sometimes the best feedback you can get is by engaging in a good ol’ fashioned conversation with the people using your site.

Although Intercom isn’t cheap, the potential value it can provide far outways the cost. The hardest part is making sure you have someone online when customers need you.

Sometimes when a customer comes to you with an issue or a problem they had you think, “gosh, wouldn’t it be nice to see what they did!” Well, now, with the help of FullStory you can. FullStory is screen capture built into your website. It captures a video of your customers browsing as they move through your site. Should an issue come up, you have a convenient video you can watch to see what might have happened.

We all know a picture tells a thousand words, so what about a video? Well for customer support sometimes a video is just what is needed to add a higher level of support or to make an extra special impression on a new customer. Regardless, video creation and sharing has become so easy with tools like Loom that there really is no excuse for adding custom video support/greetings to your online customer support arsenal.

For the modern business, these aren’t just nice additions, but essential tools for competing and thriving as a business online. And these are just three of countless tools to make your business stand out by providing a high level of customer support. By getting more in front of your customers and staying in touch, you’re going to be able to react to customer needs in a way that increases sales and builds customer loyalty.