Customer service is frequently regarded as a “necessary measure,” something that is required but does not generate cash. However, we live in an age when people make memes about extremely long support call wait times, which is made much more likely if the helpline belongs to a huge corporation.
Customers’ demands have shifted, resulting in such issues. Clients perceive it can be better, which is why those memes exist; excessive wait times and bad customer service should no longer exist.
In more ways than one, they’re correct.
According to a study by Bain & Firm, prioritising experiences for customers can help a company grow revenue by 4% to 8% faster than the market.
As a result, customer service can no longer be treated as an aside; it must be integrated into the overall customer experience. It can also be one of the pillars of your business if you handle your fingers well.
It’s not difficult to go from conventional customer service—where an agent merely wants to solve a customer’s issue and continue—to building empathy into the customer experience’s core structure. You only need two things to get started: the correct approach and the best tools.
Multichannel is the way to go
Whenever it refers to the channels you use for assistance, you have a lot of choices: email, chat, phone, and social media are the most likely options.
If you’re asking why you need several channels, the idea is obvious: your consumers are on them. While it may be more simple to train and specialise support personnel on a unified system, your consumers require all of the options offered. Some people wish to communicate over the phone, while others prefer written correspondence; both will be able to reach you.
Although some clients won’t want to join your platform to access chat, having a social media option for them is a terrific idea. Because most individuals are continually linked to their social media accounts, it’s not uncommon for them to turn to them first when seeking assistance.
You can discover more about folks who message or phone you if you provide customer service on multiple platforms. You can consolidate all of your conversation data into a single platform, which will allow you to spot upgrade and bridge possibilities.
Show compassion at all times
Some of your clients will be irritated. Others will be annoyed. Others will be dissatisfied with your services regardless of what you do. Others will be pleased, but they are a unique find, as few individuals contact support simply to express their gratitude for a sense of accomplishment.
Your first responsibility is to interact with the clients, regardless of their emotions. They could be mistaken; perhaps they have not read the first FAQ option. Whatever the case may be, you must feel empathy with them.
Say you’re apologetic for their problem and that you’ll be there to assist them. This will demonstrate to your clients that you are a trustworthy partner and that they must stick with your business despite any challenges that may happen.
Personalize your interactions with customers
Imagine if you can somehow learn more about your clients when they start a conversation than just their first name? What if you could get a snapshot of the items they use and their relationship with your company? You’ll gain a deeper understanding of their demands and be able to provide a more customized solution.
For reference, if a customer says that their whole order arrived late, you may instantly fetch up their information (even before they expressly ask for specifics on their last order) and provide all the knowledge you have. Even better, if your CRM is integrated with an ERP, you can quickly view their record.
Once you have direct connections to a consumer’s entire history, you can ask them follow-up questions like, “I see this is the first order that’s been late for you in the last year—is this true?” These types of questions demonstrate that you are concerned about your customers’ well-being, not just their pockets.
Using the SyncApps extension, you can combine Zoho CRM with your marketing automation or customer support systems and gain insights from each of your support engagements. These measured values will show you how to improve service quality and incorporate it more effectively into the overall customer experience. If your email marketing and customer service systems are linked, you can quickly send follow-up emails to anyone who has called customer service.
Treat customer service as a foundational building brick, and your income and customer retention will skyrocket.
