If your company is operating with an financial budget, various functions are probably top of the list in the allocation of money. So, naturally, your product department could need some financial support, and marketing, particularly advertising can always need a bit of padding. But, it could be a waste of time to put money into your customer service department.
Contrary to what you might think, the customer service department is just as important as, if not more so, the other teams. Ultimately, it’s the primary link between your business and its customers.
What is customer service?
Customer service is the services an organization offers its customers before or after they purchase or use services or products. Customer service can include providing suggestions on products or solutions to problems, resolving complaints and issues, or answering general inquiries.
Every customer interaction provides a chance to increase your company’s revenue growth. A great customer experience is a key competitive advantage that builds brand customer loyalty and increases recognition.
Why is customer service important to a company?
Customer Service is a variety of functions in a business, but its primary role is as an information source for the company and the business. What does that mean?
1. Front of House
Customer Service representatives represent the company to potential customers and customers too. How they present the company can help customers decide whether or not to deal with them. Thus, agents should be polite and helpful while being able to answer questions properly.
2. Defuse Situations
Customer Service concentrates on negative emotions and the necessity of finding a way to change these negative feelings into positive ones so that you can ensure that the customer is satisfied. It could be a defective product or confusing instructions, but no matter the cause, the purpose of customer support is to soothe the customer and give details that satisfy them.
3. Customer retention is cheaper than customer acquisition.
A boost in retention of customers of just five percent could translate into an increase in profits of 25 percent. This is because repeat customers are more likely to purchase more money with your brand, much as 300 % more than the average consumer, which leads to your business having to reduce operating expenses.
Based on the findings of our researchers, we have found that the cost of customer acquisition (CAC) the amount it takes to get a new customer is higher for a business that doesn’t allocate a significant portion of its budget to customer service. So, ultimately, investing in customer support can reduce the rate of churn, which reduces the amount of money you invest in acquiring new customers and the total CAC.
4. Customer Oriented = Customer Experience
Suppose a buyer is searching for a specific product and more than one vendor is able to offer high-quality products at a reasonable price. In that case, the quality of customer service is often the most important element. Customer Service personnel who can go above and beyond to make a purchase possible could be why a buyer is more likely to purchase from that particular company.
5. Reputation Management
Customer Service representatives are typically the first to be informed of problems with products, and they can notify departments of problems before they become aware of them. This capability to relay information at a moment’s notice will save your business thousands of dollars in reputation-related costs because you can address issues or issue press releases and take products off the shelves before the problem gets worse.
6. Great customer service can protect customers who experience a mistake.
As we’ve already mentioned in the past, when clients experience an unpleasant experience with a customer, they’ll quickly talk about it and then leave the business. On the other hand, if your business is able to provide excellent customer service, 78% of customers will be willing to work with that company again following an error.
In addition, it is the case that only one in five customers will accept a bad experience with a company that’s overall customer service they consider to be “very poor,” while more than 80 % will be willing to forgive any negative experience when they rate the service staff at very good.
Real-Time Reviews
On the other side of reputation management, the customer service department receives favorable reviews about the company daily. The reviews can be posted on your website, on social media, and everywhere where people can view their reviews. Therefore, establishing a solid communication system in your business to ensure that your customer service team can promptly give feedback to the appropriate department is crucial for your company’s long-term success.
Customer care vs Customer service
Customer care is the act of developing a personal connection with your customers. Customer support is the guidance or supports your company offers to them. Customer care is not as quantifiable as customer service and is more focused on one-on-one interactions with customers.
Both functions improve the satisfaction of customers; customer service is the one that helps by answering customer questions and providing assistance. Customer support is, however, focused upon actively listening and being aware of the emotional needs of customers in the same way as their physical or business needs. In doing this, your company can establish an extended, mutually beneficial connection with your customers.
How can you deliver outstanding customer service to customers?
If you’re creating an entire service team for support from scratch or are already an expert, we’ve identified the best practices from our recent CX Trends Report to help improve your customer service.
1. Prioritize training for agents.
Businesses with highly-performing customer service teams know the need for additional training, greater empathy, and greater investment to lower churn rates and strengthen their staff. You should consider implementing a tiered learning program that starts with basic technical skills, such as the basics of product knowledge, and increases the knowledge of agents at regular intervals.
High-performing businesses have a 10x higher chance of being likely to agree with the statement that their employees are of the highest quality and, six instances more likely to plan to significantly expand the opportunities for education and training.
2. Automate repetitive tasks
Automate and identify repetitive tasks to help agents save time and increase their productivity. For instance, top performers are three times more likely to employ chatbots that AI powers to assist with agents’ workflows, and they’re paying. A majority of business leaders believe that chatbots are driving huge cost savings.
A majority of companies anticipate that the majority of customer service interactions to be automated in the near future.
3. Personalize every experience
Provide agents with access to vital information about customers–not just their names–that can be used to enhance their customer experience. In fact, 72 percent of consumers expect agents to be able to access all relevant information.
90 %of customers also pay more for businesses that tailor the service they provide. In addition, 92 percent of customers will spend more with businesses that make sure that they don’t need to repeat the same information.
4. Evaluate existing customer service channels
The majority of customers pay more for businesses that provide the best option for customer support. Make sure you have metrics for satisfaction that are linked to each channel. Continuously monitor and benchmark the performance of all channels to see whether you can make improvements continuously.
5. Concentrate on the impact of business
Provide opportunities for agents to increase profits by cross-selling and upselling, aided by a profound knowledge of the customer’s current requirements. Create a separate profit and loss statement that reflects the revenues generated by agents so that the connection between customer service and expansion is more tangible.
The top performers tend to be 7.6 times more likely to agree that they see customer service as a primary revenue generator and 6.2 times more likely to agree that the funding for customer service has grown with the company’s expansion.
6. Integrate systems
Integrate CRM and customer service platforms to track changes in customers ‘ behavior and the value they have over their lifetime. Sharing information between these platforms could result in the development of relevant, personalized solutions for customer issues that otherwise would not be thought of.
7. Keep leadership in the loop
Ensure that the core team gives regular updates to the leadership team, so they’re informed of changes to customer service policies and performance metrics. Give opportunities to customer service-related insights to play a larger role in the larger corporate policies and strategies. Business leaders who have the highest ratings for customer satisfaction recognize the value of their teams for customer service. They’re not only better able to prioritize funding for initiatives in customer service as well, but they’re also better positioned to be able to keep a check on the business’s impact and make any necessary changes in the process.
Examples of good customer service
1. Make use of creative and unexpected return policies
If a client places an order on the internet and later decides not to enjoy it or that it isn’t right for them suggest that they gift it to a friend or family member and then offer to provide them with a replacement item for the same price. In this way, you’ll be able to make them feel happy, and your product will end up with another potential buyer. The customer could decide to purchase the product in the end.
2. Be transparent and educate your customers.
Giving information about the products you offer can aid in cross-selling or upselling your products.
It’s possible to seem like a pushy or negative approach to customer service. If you’re honest and take the time to educate customers prior to purchase, you’re sure to make them leave content. Engaging in a conversation with them can assist you in adapting your recommendations to their preferences.
3. Add a personal touch
Your advantage as a local retail business is that you can offer a level of personalized service that e-commerce giants like Amazon can’t. Customer service is an opportunity to add a human touch to your business.
4. Putting personalization into action
Pay more attention to customers who are in need by helping them to find the best product.
For instance, if a client is searching for an item of skinny black jeans, take you to the area where they’re displayed instead of simply telling them, “They’re over there on that table.” Then, you can show them the different choices and discuss the various features of each pair to help them evaluate the different jeans and help them make a decision.
5. Look for opportunities to surprise or delight your customers
A cafe began selling branded T-shirts. To celebrate the initial launch, the cafe assigned each employee to give three shirts away to their loyal customers. One customer, a college student with a massive social media following, shared an appreciation video that expressed his joy and amazement. The people who liked the post shared it, and the page of the shop received a lot of new followers due to the post.
6. Keep in touch with customers
Clients in a wellness spa receive personalized hand-written thank you cards after every appointment. The spa also gives out small discount coupons on each customer’s birthday. In addition, the spa recently introduced an incentive program for loyalty where customers get free additions to their service package.
If your client leaves your business, you may keep your relationship going with simple gestures.
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