Best Project Management Software for Customer Support

Project managers are constantly under pressure. They often deal with new challenges when planning projects, manage many employees, and continuously assign tasks and roles. But that’s not it, they also have to adjust to clients' changing needs, and there are multiple deadlines to meet.

It can always feel like you’re wearing many hats simultaneously. Running into problems with your software in the middle of the workflow can significantly elevate stress levels. This is where having an excellent support team comes into play.

With practical support, you can quickly deal with the issues that arise and meet your goals while satisfying your clients. If you’re paying for a service, you deserve good support. Let’s look at what you’d need to watch out for when assessing project management software for the amount of support they offer.

What Makes the Best Project Management Software for Customer Support?

From our evaluation of 45+ providers, we explored the support infrastructure of every provider. We evaluated each software to determine the essential criteria to measure each solution's efficiency and support quality. This helped us to specify our criteria for evaluating the support for each service. Here’s how we evaluate the support in more detail:

24/7 Availability

With the rise of globalization and flexibility in the workplace, people are working at different times across the world. Hence, 24/7 support is becoming very helpful for users of project management platforms. With 24/7 support, you can be assured of support at all times. This is especially useful if your team is spread across the globe and if a provider's location is not convenient for your time zone.

Phone

With most call center staff receiving between 50 and 100 calls a day, it’s evident that telephone support is still needed in today’s tech-first age. Phone calls are a way to get (almost) instant fixes to complex or personalized issues. If you figure you may run into a few, you should look for phone support when exploring project management software. Phone calls are gradually being replaced with live chat, so if you and your staff are comfortable with this option, you may go for this alternative to look out for.

Email

Billions of emails are sent daily, with the pace showing no sign of slowing. Emails help resolve issues that do not necessarily need to be solved instantly or require much-focused attention from support staff. If you’re in an industry that’s not highly fast-paced, email support may just be the perfect fit for your business. You still have to be sure of their response time, as best practices indicate that 24 hours or less is a reasonable time frame. Choose an option that helps you with viable solutions in as little time as possible.

Chat

Chat support comes in two forms: chatbot and live chat. In today’s globalized world, the chat form of support is becoming widely accepted and valuable, as it provides greater automation and convenience than other forms of support. For example, according to Comm100, chatbots handled almost 70% of all requests from start to finish in 2019. By eliminating the need to wait for a human agent, chat support ensures that customers get faster responses to both standard and specific issues quickly and efficiently.

If you use a solution with chat support as a project manager, ensure that the provider offers a responsive and efficient service. Also, if the primary chat response is a chatbot, there should be a defined way of reaching a human agent.

Response Time

With deadlines to meet and specific timelines to follow, time is not often on your side as a project manager. Desired timelines for getting a response to your support requests will vary depending on your industry, so what response time is practicable for you will not necessarily be the same for others. It’s also crucial for you to diligently assess how quickly a provider responds to your request. A great way to quickly check how fast you’d get a response is to assess the support options provided. Phone support and live chat are typically the fastest. In contrast, email support takes the most time to receive a response, with most companies responding within about 12 hours. As to what suits you best, the choice is yours.

Response Quality

Response quality refers to how well the support team can handle your request. The response quality of a project management solution’s support team is critical to the offer. After all, the only goal of seeking support is finding a solution to challenges. In our assessment, we asked over 45 project management software providers about the challenges we faced while using their software and general questions about the service. We then assessed whether they were answered effectively to give them a score for helpfulness.

As a project manager, you want to be assured that support does what its name says – support you. It’s why we also considered it more heavily in our evaluation.

Customer Reviews

The customer reviews score for support is determined by a complex algorithm that considers several factors to evaluate the support services. We use internal and external sources to support our data to ultimately factor in what other people think instead of just our opinion on the support of the software providers.

10 Best Project Management Software for Customer Support

How to Choose a Project Management Software with Great Support

Getting a project management solution that adequately meets your support needs can often be seen as a balance between quality support and quick support. However, you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. We have explored how you can effectively assess providers' strengths in both areas. With several great solutions that provide timely, helpful support, you can always get one that meets your needs in both features and support options.

Consider the support mediums offered and ensure that your team is comfortable and effectively using them to communicate. For example, 24/7 chat support will be more helpful for global companies. Ensuring that the necessary mediums are present in your chosen package will provide your team with a seamless experience using these tools.

If you’d like to find a software solution that matches your support needs, features, and other criteria, you can use our Finder Tool for a tailored search. Our Comparison Tool can also help you compare as many options as possible to pick the best-suited option.