80% of companies say they deliver “superior” customer service, but only 8% of customers think these same companies actually deliver “superior” customer service.
Though most brands believe that their customer service is adequate to keep their customers happy, it’s clear that most customers feel otherwise.
When a person purchases products or services from a brand, the customer must feel engaged to the brand before, while and after making the purchase.
Whatever industry you might belong to; there is no denying the fact that customer service is very important aspect for your business. Good experiences through all these contact stages lead to customer loyalty.
Customers are never shy of trying out a new brand in search of better experiences and they have huge number of choices. If the customer service consistently meets customers’ expectations than there’s a chance customers will think twice before shifting brands and most often the customer will decide against it.
This is why it is important to understand just what the customers want from in-house or outsource customer services.
Easy to Use Service
Customers like to have a number of options when they get in touch with a brand.
Some customers like the traditional voice calls while others seek solutions through chats and social media support. In fact social media customer support is most trending among the modern customers. It has been generally noticed that customers use social media customer support for generic questions.
While the same customers use voice calls or live chat for complex or urgent issues.
Timely, Relevant Service
Customers are prone to continue shopping from a brand that offers good first contact resolution rates. Repeat calls sink the confidence of customers and even irritate them. The solution should not only be timely but relevant too.
Customer service agents should get down to the knowledge level of customer to offer viable solution. Simple solutions will help meet the customer’s needs. Keeping calls on hold or queue will not help the brand as it frustrates the customers.
Friendly Service Agents
Customer service agents should value the worth of customized communication. In more than 80% of communications it has been seen that the agent does not ask the name of the caller or address him/her by name.
Asking the customer for basic introduction and then conversing by the name makes sure that you are on the right track. No matter how irrational the customer may be, agents should understand. They should be partners for the customers. Once such an impression is established in the minds of customers, the rest of communication will be easy.
Self Service Customer Service Options
Customers are using technologies in their workplace every day. So they are increasingly gaining independence from traditional customer service help.
As customers, we’re busy people. Many customers with strict schedules don’t have the time to wait in call queues for their answers.
To meet the needs of customers, modern brands should look at implementing self service options. Provide a list of product information and basic questions for the customers. It would help the customers solve their own problems. On the other hand it will free the agents from answering to basic questions and they can focus on complex issues.
Service Language Preference
Though brands feel that English is a global language and it is good enough to support all customers. But more than 80% of people are not quite comfortable communicating their thoughts and problems in English.
By offering support solely in English language brands are isolating a large number of customers. They are not having the experience they expected. This is why brands should research their target customer base and target market. Everyone wants to converse in languages that they are comfortable with.
This is where multi-lingual support is so important for brands and the customers they serve.
Strategies That Work and Meet Customer Needs
These are some of the common requirements of customer from their customer service. But meeting these is easier said than done. Outsource customer services are expected to answer a diverse range of customers all having their own list of preferences. To help the contact centers there are many technologies emerging.
There is Live Chat solutions which help the agents carry out multiple customer interactions and keep a track of each.
Brands are also using the call holds to propagate useful information about the self service options. Answers to the basic questions are also available at the websites. Other than this the online communities are also great sources of self help information.
There are online translators that can be integrated with the chats to offer multi-lingual support. These translators can quickly and accurately translate the text helping agents answer back in customers’ language of preference.
When latest technologies (such as telecom billing software, online translators, Live Chat software) are used to cater customers what they need, the brands can create a large loyal customer base.
Customer centric services can be the differentiator between your brand and the others in your business niche. Customer centric service culture helps smooth the internal and external workflow too.
