5 customer support tools for everyday use

Your helpdesk app helps you with a lot of things, but it can only do so much. I use a lot of third-party tools when I reply to tickets – they help me save time and provide better quality in my replies. In this post I've compiled a list of the five most useful tools.

TextExpander and Autotext

These two are a must. TextExpander is for Mac. You can use Jitbit's similar free tool – Autotext – on Windows.

You can use them to expand custom keyboard shortcuts to expand into frequently-used text. Meaning that you can create custom phrases and assign shortcuts to them. For example, you can type something like "tyi" and it will automatically expand into "Thanks for taking your time to share your idea".

Both of these tools provide usage statistics so I was able to do rough calculations. With my average typing speed of about 60 WPM those tools saved me about 50 hours last year alone. That's more than two days of typing. Should I say more?

Grammarly

Grammarly is a spell checker done right. It's a browser extension you can use on any OS. I've been using it for almost a year and I'm a huge fan.

Not only it fixes basic typos, it analyzes your writing and suggests how you can make it better. Since I've started using it, my writing has noticeably improved. Give it a try – your customers will notice.

Hemingway App

You don't have to use Hemingway App if you're using Grammarly, but it couldn't hurt. Hemingway App makes your writing bold and clear. Basically, it removes all the useless words from your texts and makes you sound like a real Hemingway.

Whenever I write a long support response or a blog post, I'm running it through this app.

Foxtype

This more of an honorable mention, but Foxtype is worth checking out. This simple tool analyzes your text for politeness. They also give you rewrite suggestions.

Crystal

I've just started using it, but Crystal looks very promising. It shows you the best way to communicate with any customer based on their personality. Just check the screenshot below:

Crystal tells you all the do's and dont's when communicating with every customer. It's magic! It hasn't been working consistently for me, but when it does it's great – check it out.

These are the tools I've been using lately. Share your top picks in the comments.