ChannelReply Review: Everything You Need to Know

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Think about the type of customer support you dish out to your customers. Is it through live chat, email and over the phone? Do you have forums, knowledge bases and handy video blogs to guide customers on how to use products?

That’s all fine and dandy, but what about the various platforms you sell through? If you’re currently only selling through your website, you most likely don’t have to worry about complications, but what about those businesses that have scaled up successfully?

What about those that are pushing products on places like eBay, Amazon, and the many other marketplaces to choose from?

Think about it. If a customer buys a pair of shoes from your Amazon page, all of those customer service communications are completely separate from your website’s customer support. It’s a pain to jump from one to the other, and you’re most certainly neglecting customers or slowing down the response times.

Fortunately, a tool called ChannelReply has come into play, and the company began after going through the same frustrations that we have talked about above.

In short, it’s an integration app that combines the Zendesk customer service and support ticket system with your other selling outlets like Amazon and eBay.

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The ChannelReply system has seen strong growth over the past few months, and they are continuously rolling out new integrations for systems like Desk.com, Freshdesk, Etsy and Newegg.

Upon taking a look at ChannelReply myself, it seems like the simple tool activates quickly and pretty much brings together your entire customer service flow. But I wanted to dive a little deeper to understand exactly what makes ChannelReply unique, and who it would work best for.

ChannelReply Pricing

A 14-day free trial is offered for all users who want to try out ChannelReply to see if it works for their customer service needs. However, once you complete that free trial, three reasonable plans are available for you to choose from:

  • Standard – $49 per month for eBay account integration, Amazon account integration, up to 250 messages and unlimited Zendesk agents.
  • Pro – $79 per month for two eBay account integrations, two Amazon account integrations, up to 1,000 messages and unlimited Zendesk agents. This is their most popular plan.
  • Enterprise –  $179 per month for unlimited eBay account integrations, unlimited Amazon account integrations, unlimited messages and unlimited Zendesk agents.

The Features That Standout for ChannelReply

Seamless Customer Support Integrations, All in One Place

Zendesk is the big integration here. ChannelReply is offered directly through the Zendesk app store, so it only takes a click of the button to get started.

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You’ll also find that integrating with your eBay and Amazon stores is rather easy as well. The point of ChannelReply is so that everything is in one place, so replying to an eBay customer should really be no different than one that comes in through your Amazon store.

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Not to mention, the Zendesk interface is completely responsive so you can reply to your customer support messages while on the go.

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All Available Customer Information is Pulled

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Let’s say one of your eBay customers sends you a request for more information about a pair of shoes you’re trying to sell through the site. Or maybe they want to ask about your return policy. Regardless of the type of message, this user’s information is pulled into your system for you to reference back to later. For example, you gain access to the buyer user ID, listing item title and number, listing hyperlink and the direct message link. Therefore, you can see if the person has had any messages in the past, and it allows you to quickly look at the product they’re talking about.

Automated and Personalized Responses

Some customers ask rather similar questions, so if you start to realize that a templated response would speed up the process, ChannelReply provides automated messages for just that reason. In addition, you can generate personalized responses based on the type of customer information that the system collects. Call people by name, reference the product they’re interested in and more.

Priority Levels and Messages Directly to the Right People

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Upon receiving a message from a person on Amazon or eBay, you can specify how urgent a message is so that the more pressing matters get solved first. These priority levels are shown to everyone in your organization so that the process runs smoothly. What’s more is that some messages might be catered more towards sales than they are for customer support reps. If you have a larger organization with multiple reps, ChannelReply has the tools to recognize which messages are for whom, and it sends it directly to the right people in your organization.

ChannelReply Support

The ChannelReply company provides your standard email support, but they take it a bit further to ensure that all clients understand the system and have a pleasant experience when working with their own customers. To start, a support module is offered right in your dashboard, meaning that you can open up an email field and shoot them a question at any time.

However, what truly stands out is the fact that ChannelReply provides personal support for companies that need it. For example, they are quite keen on setting up Skype calls to guide users, while also assisting in the installation and management processes. Overall, the support is prompt and courteous, and you often get the chance to show your problem through Skype to a real expert.

In Conclusion

So, what types of companies should be using the ChannelReply program? Since the pricing may seem high for some startups, we recommend it for those who have managed to take the step to other sales platforms besides an individual website. Since customer service should be one of your number one budget priorities, it’s essential to implement a support integration system like this once you begin selling items on places like Amazon and eBay.

It’s that simple. If you have an Amazon store, or you sell through other spots like Etsy, ChannelReply turns your customer support into a well oiled machine. Both your workers and your customers will thank you. If you’ve had a chance to play around with ChannelReply, let us know what you think in the comments below.

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