In today’s customer-centric age of marketing, putting your loyal users at the core of your business is critical. Customer service has seen leaps and bounds of upgrades in the past year, and it will continue to be an asset for most companies in retaining and gaining clients. There should never come a time when you feel complacent about the service that you’re providing them.
Functionality, self-service options, and lightning-fast response times are just some of the demands of customers in this digital age, and it’s crucial for your business to keep up. In fact, 70% of shoppers aged 16-24 expect near real-time response times from brands.
Before 2018 ends, review if your business is giving the gold standard of customer service to your buyers.
1. Eliminate the need for customer support calls
Most people are too busy nowadays to deliberately call customer service agents if they have some concerns they need to address. Phone calls are taxing because of the notoriously long wait times—it just takes a lot of effort.
To solve this, your business should be opening up more channels of communication. Make it easier for your customers to talk to you. If you’re on social media, let them know that they can tweet, DM, or mention you in comments any time. Better yet, set up chat support on your website.
Studies show that millennials prefer live chat over any other medium of customer support. This is something to pay attention to because they are now the largest consumer demographic to date. The younger generation is more familiar with these modes of communication, and it’s about time to adapt.
Of course, having an omni-channel customer service requires more than just creating accounts on online platforms. We included a more in-depth discussion on setting up a true omni-channel customer experience in a previous post, so check that out.
2. Get in touch before they do
Because your customers are busy, they may sometimes push their needs aside to attend to other pressing matters. Show them that you value their experience by checking up on them every once in a while.
Email marketing is a good strategy for this. You can send something as simple as, “How has your experience been so far?” or give a link to a comprehensive survey where your customers can share their thoughts.
This humanises your brand and lets your customers know that you are reliable should they need your help.
3. Set up a dedicated FAQ page
An FAQ page is necessary for any business that has a website. It should aim to educate your potential and existing customers no matter what stage they are in their buying journey, from ordering to troubleshooting.
Write down basic information that your audience should know on your FAQ page to save time—both on their end and yours. Update this regularly as you change processes or release new features in your service.
For instance, if you ship out items, some of the most common sections you should include in your FAQ are the shipping and delivery timeframe, return and refund policies, payment methods, to name a few.
4. Consider multi-language customer support
In one of our previous posts, we discussed the importance of having multi-language support in your customer service and why you should integrate it in your practices right away. It not only increases overall trust with potential buyers, but it also allows you to attract more customers vs transacting in one language only.
Supporting most, if not all, of your customers’ languages is another way to show that you value their business with you—74% of customers would choose a company that offers sales support in their language. It will reduce miscommunication and strengthen your relations with your foreign users.
5. Invest in the right customer support tools
With the plethora of online customer service software out there, it could be overwhelming to pick the perfect tools that support your business.
Start with a reliable and data-rich customer relationship management (CRM) system that will allow you to manage your customer database and improve your rapport with them. Follow through with a help desk ticketing system, 24/7 instant messaging support, and programmed chatbots.
Find out what your business needs the most and always listen to your users’ suggestions. Go for tools with rich features that can offer insightful product data. These will prove to be helpful in improving your customer service down the line.
Moving Forward to 2019 and Beyond
Technology is getting more advanced by the minute. AI has already infiltrated the customer service industry, and it’s highly likely that many functions will become automated. Although this appears to be the trend, it’s important never to lose that human connection with your customers. At the end of the day, people still want genuine and personable interactions with your brand as it helps them relate to you better.
Having dedicated customer support representatives will always be necessary for your business. Allow Transcosmos to help you build a competent team with their pool of outsourced talents from across the world and other customer service solutions.
