Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a practice has been prevalent for decades. The value of the global CRM market was USD 52.4 billion in 2021. It’s expected to expand at a CAGR of 13.3% from 2022 to 2030 for good reasons.

CRM, as the name suggests, was primarily used to collect extensive customer and prospect data, yet it remained isolated from the support systems like Zendesk and Freshdesk where a lot of valuable customer feedback and data is also captured.

More recently, we saw an emergence of support systems identifying themselves as Support CRM but the information about the customers are often duplicated and spread over different systems. As more and more companies are moving towards a product-led methodology, we looked at 10 alternatives to Zendesk for tech SaaS companies based on a number of different attributes. Read on to learn more.

Have You Geared Up?

Poor customer service is the top reason for websites facing abandoned carts, high drop-off rates, and lower adoption and churn. Since customer service agents are often the intermediaries, they do not always have the power to eradicate the problem immediately.

The complaint goes through a whole chain of service teams, Project managers, Product leads, and Designers, and only then do the developers (the ones who can actually fix the bug) get some work assigned to either fix or work on new features that the customers are requesting through customer service agents.

We need tools to bridge this gap between the front office customer support agents and back office engineering teams for a smooth to and fro and a speedier resolution of issues. This is where Dev CRM tools come into play.

They are revolutionizing the tech space with features like AI, Conversational UI, Self-service, and Mobile CRM, to name a few. If you are looking for traditional support management tools, Zendesk is often a choice for companies looking to implement a ticketing system.

A Support Tool Built For Ticketing

Some of Zendesk’s attractive features are

• Ticketing systems — a file of client & customer concerns.
• AI-powered automation — customer support & marketing.
• Dashboard — team progress analysis.
• Self-service — knowledge-based training.
• 1000+ integration — track all shareholder requirements in one place.

Zendesk is a reliable management platform in the customer service sector that ensures multichannel support, integration with top apps, and smooth operations. You might think it’s time to switch to Zendesk, but you should take a step back to see the larger picture.

Do all the features they provide fit your organizational needs perfectly? Does the industry you belong to demand highly functional live chat support, or does it require more of a managerial and integration platform?

While this Customer Experience (CX) solution may be apt for companies like Shopify and Venmo, your company might want to look for other platforms more geared toward tech SaaS companies, such as DevRev.

Why would you need Zendesk Alternatives?

Just like one size does not fit all, one CRM tool cannot work well with every business. Many of Zendesk’s features have their own set of anti-perks, such as a high price range, complex setup, and huge learning curve, which some companies cannot afford for reasons of their own.

Not every tool in the market is beneficial to you. Dedicated business management tools are available to serve your distinct business needs. The key is to pick and choose the right combination for you, similar to purchasing the right beauty formula for your skin type.

While evaluating diverse solutions to improve your business, ensure you cover bases and competencies in “evaluation and contracting, integration and deployment, benefit and backing, and precise product capabilities.” That way, you can position your business for success and scalability.

Staying ahead of the CRM revolution can give your business the edge, so keeping yourself up-to-date is essential. Here is the best amongst the Zendesk alternatives in the market today. Your go-to SaaS tool to boost business and product growth.

1️⃣ DevRev - The New-age CRM platform

We all know customers call the shots, and what better way to ensure CX satisfaction than to build in public and adopt a product-led growth strategy?

DevRev is a developer and customer-centric platform that uses API-first integration to connect the maker and the user directly. With no barriers between the two, the communication gap is closed, and bug fixes are almost immediate.

In times of remote work, much is lost in the back-and-forth between stakeholders and their various tools. Overlooking even one flow can dig holes in your roadmap.

Integrating DevRev in your early stages can help formulate a system where work directly impacts user and business outcomes. It connects data from various sources and streamlines the process through PLuG SDK, Trails, and Vistas.

Plug SDK— Integrate it into your application and gain the power to nudge and guide your users through the app. For instance, if a user raises a concern in the checkout process, the developer who built it gets notified and debugs at the source. You can build a trustworthy solution when you put away the bots and empathize with your users.

Trails — Trails are where the software draws a map across components, microservices, capabilities, and features. This way, you can monitor and visualize the construction and consumption statistics. It is like a roadmap on steroids.

Vistas — Vistas disrupt the market with an evolved ticket and system management. Think of it as a jira+slack+zendesk where a converged system of records enables oiled cross-team reporting and communication.

Other Zendesk Alternatives

Along with Zendesk and DevRev, you can use some of these tools as supporting tools to elevate the experience of working in your organization.

2️⃣ Zoho Desk

Zoho is a context-aware customer service help desk that provides high-quality features with minimal integration, such as ultra-wide customization domain and automated workflow operations with reporting and analytical capabilities.

Their AI feature-Zia can speak to customers, auto-tag tickets, and access the knowledge base to find the apt solution. They provide solutions by industry, role, size, and operations of an organization.

3️⃣ Hubspot

Hubspot’s Service Hub offers a comprehensive CRM framework with back-end features for businesses to manage front-end touch points like gathering customer service data and enhancing acquisition, retention, and expansion, amongst others.

The all-under-one-roof system of tools makes it easier to switch between building marketing, sales, and support team solutions.

4️⃣ Slack

Need lightning-quick navigation of channels, introduce someone to your workspace, discover files and documents at an instant with advanced search modifiers or keep your developers updated on the new designs uploaded to Zeplin after every iteration? You got Slack!

It is a team collaboration tool that has got something for businesses of all sizes. With instant messaging, file sharing, and extensive integration, you can stick to the same app and summarize the work executed across all platforms.

5️⃣ nTask

A project management tool with powerful native modules allows for quirky features like monitoring project performance through in-built Gantt charts, automating task repeats to the desired frequency, and connecting issues to projects using smart metrics.

It uses a human-friendly kanban board to organize and assign tasks, keeping it secured with two-factor authentication. The mobile app makes it easy to keep track on the go.

6️⃣ Twilio

A cross-platform customer engagement solution that helps companies communicate with their audience on their channel of choice. Their API integration empowers businesses with features like reminders and alerts to context-aware software-based contact centers.

Twillio Engage, Frontline, and Flex, the latest additions to the suite of data management and analytics by Twilio Segment, cover the entire span of the customer lifecycle — from marketing to sales to customer service.

7️⃣ Clearbit

A sales intelligence software that helps you grow your business by sorting through data points of over 250 public and private data sources and creating actionable marketing opportunities.

Simply put, it is the marketing data engine for elevated customer and stakeholder interactions. It is the tool to connect with a user on a personal level by identifying prospects and understanding the intention of the user on your platform.

8️⃣ HelpJuice

It is an easy-to-use knowledge-base management solution that relies on the self-service module to help all stakeholders and customers navigate platforms easily. Your customer support team can cater to more instantaneous pain points and high-value tasks.

You get a closer look at what grabs the attention of users and the impact certain features make. You can then tailor the experience to fit your audience using cutting-edge analytics and comprehensive customization.

9️⃣ Intercom

It is an Engagement OS that closes the gap between a business, and it’s customers. The ongoing dialogue system streamlines the communication with clients, enabling businesses to build authentic relationships through their sales and growth funnel.

Besides simplifying access to customer support, Intercom allows creating an in-depth knowledge base accessible to all on mobile and desktop at all times. Once a call is done with a client, you receive a full report of the customer pain points, the conversation’s development, and the issue’s status.

🔟 Freshdesk

Freshdesk advocates real-time information and documentation updates, which uses collision detection to ensure multiple employees do not simultaneously overlap on the same ticket.

A self-service customer support portal caters to small and medium-sized organizations. Its intuitive and easy-to-use interface keeps the learning curve small, which makes onboarding new workflows quite simple.

Conclusion

We have picked out a comprehensive list of top business and customer management software from the constantly evolving technologies, as the most viable options for Zendesk alternatives. Most features can be repetitive, which every organization needs, but the key is to identify the correct permutation and combination of tools for your business.

Business requirements change as the product evolves, like the tools you invest money and time. Keep an eye out for disruptive tools in the market from the get-go and provide a well-structured foundation for you and your team