Many of us are looking for new ways to stretch our resources and get the most impact with the tools we already have. And while we find ways to be savvy with current investments, we’re also putting our heads together to uncover new ways to support our revenue-driving teams in reaching their goals.
How can you help sales, account management, and marketing hit their numbers this quarter, without spending an extra dime?
Invite them into Help Scout as light users.
There is untapped revenue hiding in conversations with your customers in the support queue. And as light users, your revenue-driving teams can take advantage of this revenue source. Bring sales, account management, customer success and marketing into the queue so they can connect better with your customers and get the most out of those relationships.
My favorite part of Help Scout is the visibility it gives you into the customer journey. All of the conversation history, common issues, and requested feature enhancements are available for the entire company to absorb. We now have Marketing, Sales, Product, and Engineering in Help Scout alongside Support because it’s such an important window into the customer experience and history.
Taylor Davis
Senior Director of Customer Experience
Nurture prospects from the start
Aside from your customer support team, your sales team is likely next in line when it comes to spending the most time talking to prospective customers, so naturally, they should be clued in on the conversations they’re having with your support team. By adding members of the sales team as light users, they can do things like:
Identify new leads from support conversations. New contacts are coming through the queue each day, and some of them may be brand-new leads for your sales team. The support queue can serve as an additional inbound marketing tool for them.
Pursue opportunities to engage and nurture prospects who are in the sales process or trial experience. Are prospects coming through the queue with questions during their trial? Rather than sending them a standard response to their question, sales can add a personal touch by reaching out to schedule a call and answer their questions 1-on-1.
Prioritize support for big customers and hot prospects. There are undoubtedly accounts that your sales reps have been chasing after. If those prospects are writing in looking for answers, sales can follow the conversation and better personalize their next email or call, and support can make sure to respond in a timely manner.
And just like the sales team should be clued in on the conversations your support team is having, customer support should be up to speed on who is coming through the queue and where those people are in the sales process with your business. Adding light users makes it easier for the sales team to give the context support team members need in order to provide the best experience with your brand.
Grow relationships with existing customers
When it comes to finding ways to maximize revenue across the business, one of the key places your team should look is existing customer relationships. While acquiring new customers should always be one goal of successful businesses, investing in your customer relationships is an often overlooked strategy that can lead to significant benefits—and profits—in the long run.
Many companies are spending more on acquisition instead of nurturing the customers they already have. Yet 82% of companies state that customer retention is far cheaper than customer acquisition.
And not only are customer retention strategies effective at saving money for your business, but they’re also proven to help businesses make more money. Data shows that increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profits anywhere from 25% to 95% and that existing customers provide 65% of a company’s business.
If you’re not working on growing existing customer relationships, you could be leaving a lot of additional revenue on the table.
Enter your customer success or account management team.
Similar to your sales team, your customer success and account management teams can benefit significantly by spending time in your support inbox. A primary goal of these teams is to identify where—and when—your product can solve additional pain points for your customers. By bringing them in as light users, they can keep an eye on behaviors or actions customers are taking that suggest they're ready to invest more in your product. And once they’re in the queue, they can pursue upsell opportunities, track churn risks, and get ahead of issues with customers they already have a relationship with.
Keep customers engaged
When it comes to keeping your customers engaged with your brand, your marketing team is working hard to maintain consistent communication with them through email, social media, advertisements, and more. But has your marketing team leveraged opportunities to engage with your customers on your website?
As light users in Help Scout, marketers can create proactive messages to introduce new touchpoints on your website or in-app. Are you running a sale to welcome a new season? Let customers know about the sale and available discount right when they land on your site. Did you recently launch a new feature? Create a message directing customers to your blog to read up on the latest product update.
Outside of getting in front of your customers with messages, your marketing light users can also source new marketing projects in the queue by identifying potential co-marketing opportunities and happy customers to feature in a case study.
Make more money without spending another dime
Your relationships with both existing customers and interested prospects present a massive opportunity for your business. By investing in those relationships, you can save money and time, and unlock new revenue along the way.
Help Scout’s Plus plan includes 25 free light users and the Pro plan includes 50. To learn more about plan options, check out our pricing page. If you’re already on the current Plus or Pro plan, you can start adding light users! Learn how in this knowledge base article.
Don’t miss out on opportunities to grow existing relationships. Add revenue-driving teams as light users, and uncover the revenue potential hiding in the queue.