Product development teams today are working in a changing environment: our work is becoming more distributed, and our tools for work and communication have migrated online. Not only that, but teams are highly cross-functional in nature: we are designers, developers, product managers, scrum masters. We have different backgrounds and speak different problem-languages, making effective collaboration all the more complex.

This month we’re happy to announce our new and improved Freshworks Marketplace. The new Marketplace offers a unified experience for users looking for apps to customize workflows and introduce additional functionality to Freshdesk and other Freshworks products.

They also bring lousy headlines. Hey, they can’t all be hits.

A good report highlights data trends and communicates important information that keeps the wheels of your customer service or support department running smoothly. A less-than-perfect report, on the other hand, conceals important ideas, overwhelms the readers with convoluted information, and will probably end up as a paperweight on your desk within a few hours of printing. Here’s how to make sure your reports always fall into the first category.

As consumers’ preferred channel for solving simple queries, self-service can play a huge role in helping businesses scale in a customer-centric way. Take it from Freshly. Founded in 2015, the meal delivery subscription service brings nutrient-rich, chef-cooked meals right to customers’ doors, eliminating the confusion around (or lack of interest in) recipes or evening grocery store runs.

The way brands engage with customers in today’s interconnected world is constantly changing. Tied to this constant change is the evolution of customer experience. Over the years, the industry has become better at understanding and implementing measures to enhance customer experience. But there is still a lot more to be done.

Customer service is a concept that can mean many things to different businesses. At the heart of it all however, serving the customer is what keeps a business running. It’s crucial for the longevity of any company. Gartner’s 2018 Customer Experience Survey found that two-thirds of a company’s competitive edge was predicated on the experience they delivered to their customers.

Customer relations is one of the most important and difficult to maintain aspects of running a successful business. It’s through attentive, efficient, and friendly relationships with customers that you will be able to bring in new clients, retain existing customers, and receive referrals from those who love your product and trust in your business. But those positive relationships do not develop overnight.

Language is the currency of support. It allows us to produce results when talking to customers over the phone, via chat or over email. But, just as it can allow us to repair bridges that are broken, it can crumble them down, if used improperly. There is no quicker way to lose a customer’s trust than giving them the wrong information or speaking to them in a way that makes them feel disrespected or like you don’t care.