Headquartered in San Francisco, Helpshift Inc, offers software-as-a-service(SaaS) that companies can use to manage customer service needs on mobile. The firm has raised a total of $3.2 million in seed funding from True Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners.

With the vast majority of Americans using smartphones and tablets on a daily basis, most businesses are evolving to embrace mobility. Yet providing mobile customers with an easy way to get help — and businesses with more customer service options for supporting mobile users —has proved to be a huge challenge. Today's mobile-centric marketplace has created a customer experience divide: a rapidly increasing number of mobile customers demand a level of service that many businesses simply are not able to provide.

The truth is that smart businesses do want to help their customers. The trouble is that they are not equipped to effectively respond to customer issues or feedback because they are stuck using traditional telephone, email, and web-based customer service solutions, most of which provide a queue where unhappy customers have to wait to get help. As phones ring and support tickets pile up waiting to be answered, helpless customers take to the web to write negative app reviews, vent on social media, or worse, delete the app altogether.

The New data-driven Mobile Customer Experience

People rarely speak fondly of their last customer service experience, mostly because it is seldom quick or easy to get the right help when you need it. Just the process of getting to an answer usually involves human or machine interrogation; why do we always seem to need to rattle off our address, phone number, email, account number, device make, model, OS, OS version, and more just to get a simple answer?
Next-generation mobile services seek to change all that by enabling companies to apply more context to each individual customer and understand their needs more clearly. The more customer data and device diagnostic information businesses have — without asking — means less time on an open service issue and a better customer experience for everyone. Not just for answering tickets more effectively, customer data can be used to create a more comprehensive profile over time so that each interaction gets easier and more meaningful.

We have all found ourselves scratching our heads after our favorite app or game releases a "new and improved" version that is radically different than what we are used to. Rather than giving up, imagine easily navigating to the in-app help section where the answer to your question is front and center, along with a searchable knowledgebase. Imagine chatting with customer support in real-time without ever having to send an email or make a phone call — and imagine that the rep already knows your device model and OS, the actions you have made in the app, your account information, any open issues, and important indicators about your preferences and behavior, with no questions asked.

It is now possible for every business with a mobile app to provide next-generation in-app mobile customer support to all of their users, anywhere, anytime.

The business reasons for bridging the mobile customer service divide

It is easy to understand why mobile users love instant, meaningful customer support: it helps them solve their problems as quickly, easily, and painlessly as possible. Rather than waiting for a rep to respond to an email with yet more questions, or worse, deleting the app altogether and leaving a negative review in the app store, we are back to using the apps we love. Most importantly, we are happier users — and when customers are happy, businesses are happier, too. But bridging the mobile customer service divide has real business benefits as well:

1. Reduce support costs and overhead– According to Salary.com, the average salary of a customer service representative is right around $30,000 (plus benefits, training, and other expenses). By eliminating redundant questioning and closing email exchange loops, app developers can dramatically reduce ticket volume as well as the time needed to respond to tickets. This enables companies to respond to more service tickets per rep and require fewer reps as the business grows.
2. Reduce customer churn and increase customer lifetime value – Happy, engaged customers do not leave. In fact, they often spend more. A better user experience results in increased customer engagement and customer retention.
3. Increase brand advocacy and sales- The world's most popular brands are successful because they have more than just customers; they have loyal fans and brand ambassadors. This kind of word-of-mouth marketing is only possible for business that value customer experience.

If you are not supporting your mobile customers, you will not have a business for long. It is as simple as that.
Technology designed for mobile customer service and support offers a unique opportunity for mobile users and businesses alike: an unparalleled customer experience for mobile users and a huge opportunity for mobile businesses to focus their energy — and resources — on building their business rather than answering service tickets.
Mobile computing has changed the way we communicate, shop, and seeks information; it has created new business models, upended established industries, and is becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives. Mobile-centric businesses now have an opportunity to leverage mobile-centric solutions to provide exemplary customer service and take advantage of the benefits derived. The best customer service is delivered where and when it does the most good. Today — and for the foreseeable future — that is on a mobile device.