Creating and keeping the trust of customers can be directly linked to the quality of service experience they receive from an organization. Convergys research has shown that customers value companies and brands they can trust to deliver superior service and understand exactly what they want.
So how, therefore, do organizations drive customer experience best practices and earn their customers’ trust?
Personalization plays an important part. Customers want to be assured that when they contact an organization, they will be put through to a knowledgeable agent, who knows their history, knows their preferences and will assist them with their query first time around.
Empowering call center agents plays a pivotal role in driving these personalized and relevant customer interactions. Giving agents the necessary technology to build a complete picture of the customer contacting them is imperative. Being easily able to access the knowledgebase for answers and have the power to resolve the customer’s inquiry on their first contact is key to building customer trust.
Should an organization proactively contact a customer, it must be sure the contact will be of absolute value to that customer, and could never be considered a time wasting exercise with irrelevant offers or blanket communications. Companies must apply business rules so that promotions and offers are intelligently delivered only to those customers whose history and preferences clearly highlight a desire for them.
This personalized approach builds customer trust in organizations by showing that the organization truly knows and understands them. That trust extends to customer confidence when taking up upsell/cross-sell promotions – they will trust that they are agreeing to something that will bring further value to them.
To create and keep trust, an organization must demonstrate it is doing all it can to look after its customers. If there is a security concern with a customer’s account, such as fraudulent activity, over-spend on a subscription plan or missed payment that might incur the customer additional fees, an organization must let the customer know as soon as it happens. This will demonstrate the company is acting responsibly to keep its customers safe and secure.
Of course, these actions will not only build trust, but also reduce the customer effort, increase customer satisfaction, and ultimately create loyal customers who may even become advocates for your brand and recommend your services or products to others.
