Outbound Funnel is known for helping clients, from small startups to Fortune 500 companies, to set up well-optimized sales engagement platforms and workflows for their sales team. However, we also time to time engage with Clients that are looking to optimize their Customer Experience workflow and as such we've been building out an active Services practice. Initially working on Chat specific solutions like Intercom and Drift, our team extended beyond and started to extensively work with customers on establishing best practices on HubSpot Service Hub which that carries a ton of out of the box applications and integrations.
In this edition we'll take a look at timely release of HubSpots 2024 State of Services report and combine it with our own customer engagements to bring together both our hands on practice observations and how It matches up with broader findings by HubSpot team
To start, lets focus on key areas outlined in HubSpot’s 2024 State of Service report that matches our own most common initiatives
1. Omni-Channel Support
2. Internal Alignment
3. Efficiency empower by AI
4. Tools Consolidation
5. Data-Driven Personalization
Lets look at how a strategic approach to these tools and practices can help companies, from startups to Fortune 500s, transform customer support and drive long-term growth.
Meeting Customer Expectations with Omni-Channel Support
One of the key findings in HubSpot's report is the growing need for omni-channel support. Customers now expect to reach out across multiple channels—email, chat, social media, and phone—without experiencing any drop in service quality. What we’ve seen through our work with clients is that integrating these channels into a unified platform, like HubSpot Service Hub, is critical for delivering the seamless customer experiences modern users demand.
When companies bring all communication touchpoints under one umbrella, customer service teams are better equipped to resolve inquiries faster and with more context. HubSpot Service Hub’s omni-channel capabilities allow for full visibility into each customer interaction, which ensures that no matter where a customer reaches out, the support team has access to their history, preferences, and any previous issues they’ve raised. The result? A smoother, more responsive support experience that builds trust and satisfaction.
Achieving Internal Alignment for Better Customer Support
Another focus area in the report is internal alignment. When service teams work in silos, it’s difficult to provide a cohesive customer experience. Many of our clients come to us with this challenge—departments aren’t sharing customer data effectively, and this leads to delays, redundant efforts, and inconsistent messaging. The solution often lies in utilizing a CRM like HubSpot Service Hub that not only serves the customer service team but integrates sales and marketing data as well.
By centralizing data within a single platform, all teams involved in the customer journey can collaborate with shared insights. This breaks down the barriers between departments, making sure everyone is working from the same playbook. This level of alignment ensures that sales, marketing, and service teams are all contributing to a unified customer experience, which ultimately improves service delivery and customer retention.
Driving Efficiency with AI
Efficiency is a critical driver for scalable customer service, and AI is becoming a key enabler in this area. As HubSpot’s 2024 State of Service report points out, AI is transforming how companies handle repetitive tasks and streamline customer support workflows. In our experience, integrating AI-powered tools such as chatbots and automated ticketing systems in HubSpot Service Hub has helped our clients drastically reduce response times and optimize resources.
AI allows companies to handle routine requests without overwhelming human agents, which means teams can focus on more complex customer needs. This automation doesn’t just improve efficiency; it also allows for greater personalization. AI can sift through customer data to provide agents with relevant insights and recommendations during interactions, ensuring that even automated responses are informed and tailored to the customer's history and preferences. For businesses looking to scale their support operations, AI provides the necessary leverage to do so without losing the personal touch customers expect.
Streamlining Tools for Operational Efficiency
Tool sprawl—when companies use too many disconnected tools—creates inefficiency and slows down ticket resolution times. This issue is a common pain point we address in our client engagements. HubSpot's report reinforces this, noting that consolidating tools into a single system is key to improving support efficiency. HubSpot Service Hub, with its broad range of integrated capabilities, allows organizations to reduce reliance on multiple disparate platforms.
By streamlining tools, companies eliminate the friction caused by switching between systems and centralize their support efforts within one cohesive platform. This not only speeds up response times but also simplifies the management of customer interactions, making support teams more agile and capable of handling growing ticket volumes as the company scales.
Delivering Personalization with Data-Driven Insights
Finally, the ability to deliver personalized customer service is becoming a major competitive advantage. Today’s customers expect more than just fast support; they want interactions that feel tailored to their specific needs and preferences. HubSpot’s report shows that companies leveraging data-driven personalization see higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. In our practice, we help clients unlock the potential of HubSpot Service Hub’s CRM tools to gather, analyze, and act on customer data.
When customer service teams have access to detailed customer data—such as interaction history, buying behavior, and past issues—they can deliver highly personalized service that feels relevant and informed. This builds stronger relationships and encourages customers to stay engaged with the brand over the long term. Personalization also helps preempt issues before they escalate, as data can reveal trends that signal potential problems, allowing teams to proactively address them.
So what's the take away?
One of the most impactful best practices highlighted in both our experience and HubSpot’s 2024 State of Service report is the centralization of customer data to drive internal alignment. When teams have access to a single, unified view of the customer journey, the ripple effect is powerful. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also fosters stronger collaboration across sales, marketing, and service teams.
As customer expectations continue to rise, investing in alignment through platforms like HubSpot Service Hub isn’t just about improving operational efficiency—it’s about enabling a seamless, connected experience that customers can find delightful and easy to communicate with You. In today’s competitive landscape to win customer attrition and attention by serving them thoughtfully (now powered by automation and AI to help them with right data for the right solution) is literally a game-changer.
For more insights on aligning your service and sales teams, visit Outbound Funnel or check out the full State of Service 2024 report by HubSpot.
