This is a guest post by Robert C. Johnson, CEO of TeamSupport.

Let’s hop into the shoes of a business executive for a second. It’s 3AM and you’re fast asleep in bed, when suddenly your mobile phone rings. You roll over and answer only to find out a member from your overnight team needs you to forward them an email. After hanging up, you deliberate how to get this employee the information they need. You could brave those cold wooden floors and walk to your office, but instead with just a few taps on your phone the email is sent.

Believe it or not, this executive just provided mobile support, albeit on an internal level. Offering assistance via mobile devices is now a staple of modern business, primarily because of one thing – convenience. And, in the B2B world, smartly implementing convenience is often a cornerstone of a successful business.

With all of this said, here are a few ways mobile support is important for B2B companies…

More work (and thus more support) is happening outside the office – Just like in the example above, it’s getting harder and harder to be “off the clock” when it comes to work. Your job doesn’t always have you right next to a computer, so why should you need one for support? Mobile support for B2B has evolved significantly over the past five years, including the emergence of live chat as a popular channel. The reduced wait times for chat conversations has been a fantastic match with mobile devices (built for short-term usage) to solve customer issues. Busy professionals just don’t have time to sit and constantly refresh their email as they wait for a reply. Instead, a two-way chat conversation that mimics text messaging is the preferred and familiar experience they desire.

Self-service content thrives on mobile – Sometimes referred to as a “companion device”, a mobile phone can often provide the assistance needed without engaging in an actual conversation. Full of seemingly endless information, pulling up a guide from a B2B self-service support site can help tremendously in solving an issue anywhere and at any time. For example, mobile support is essential for technical employees who often work on fixing computers. It enables them to completely power down the machine they are repairing while still having applicable self-service content right at their fingertips.

Mobile support lets you learn more about your customers – Depending on your support software system, you can see exactly what channel customers are using to talk to your business. Adding in mobile as a B2B customer support channel provides more intelligence about individual communication preferences. This information can then be utilized for personalization to proactively approach each customer with important product announcements on the channel they engage with the most. Simply put, the more actionable data you have about your customers, the better you’ll understand them and what they’re looking for from your business.

To summarize, businesses that leverage mobile support will be more accessible to their customers and will learn more about their needs. All B2B companies should have mobile support (either launching or evolving) on their short-term customer experience roadmap. If you’re not one of them, take a close look at why mobile isn’t a priority and do everything in your power to make it one!

This is a guest post by Robert C. Johnson, CEO of TeamSupport.

About Robert

Robert C. Johnson is the CEO and Co-Founder of TeamSupport, a B2B customer support and help desk application. He is a serial entrepreneur and investor who has a passion for technology and growth. Robert sits on the Board of Directors of Dallas Angel Network and the Board of Directors for Blossom Street Ventures. Robert is an alumnus of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

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Thanks to Pixabay for the image.