With more people doing business online than ever before, companies are gaining clarity on what’s working and what needs attention when it comes to the digital customer experience.
Let’s start with the basics – logging in. Logging in to websites is part of our daily routines including everything from our banks to our insurance providers to our favorite retail sites. Unfortunately, between forgotten passwords and multiple accounts, there is a never-ending list of things that can go wrong.
In fact, recent customer experience data shows that 38% of consumers report login issues as a major struggle point. Customers are getting stuck before they ever get started, and it only takes one bad experience for customers to swear off a business. The good news is, by that same logic, one exceptional experience can create lifelong customers.
So how can you solve problems around basic issues like logging in, while saving valuable agent time, improving customer experience and increasing your bottom line? The answer lies in a smart digital guidance strategy.
From proactive guidance to innovation, here are four tips to help end customer login struggles for good:
1. Guide your customers
55% of consumers are struggling with common, basic barriers, like login issues, and when faced with these issues, 61% of respondents would rather speak to a representative, leading to an increase in wait times and stress on your customer service agents.
Basic, repetitive customer issues can be anticipated and resolved before they become customer service tickets. Proactive digital guidance works alongside your customer service channels. The first step is to anticipate struggle. Then leverage self-guided tools to help your customers resolve basic issues like logging in, while saving live interaction for higher-touch issues.
Digital guidance is the easiest and most cost-effective way to help your customers resolve their own issues, while lowering your contact rate and boosting conversions. Creating a more successful customer experience starts with proactive guidance and ends with solving your customer’s issues and building loyalty.
2. Harness proactive communication
71% of people expect to easily find what they’re looking for when on a business’ websites. When customers meet friction online, only the determined 1% reach out. The rest abandon the site or shop with a competitor. In other words, if you aren’t communicating clearly and proactively with your customers from the start, then you may not get the opportunity to communicate with them at all.
Exceed their expectations with digital experiences that include targeted, timely and relevant information. In most cases, your customers’ issues logging in are predictable and simple to solve.
Error messages like “Your email or password doesn’t match our system” are not helpful to your customers. Instead, guide them to reset their password, avoid lock out and prevent an unnecessary contact to your customer service team. By providing the information needed to easily reset a password, you can save your customers and your contact center from frustration.
This can also save your frustrated or hesitant customers from abandoning their experience altogether. Relevant information provided at the right time can be the difference between completing a transaction and losing a customer.
3. Keep innovating
After you’ve implemented guidance and proactive communication, pay attention to your metrics so you can see the effectiveness of your work and determine any new struggle points as they develop. Ensure you are using customer experience tools that allow you to be flexible and responsive.
Continuous data gathering helps improve your customers’ experience by identifying where breakdowns are occurring and understanding what information your customers need during those times.
Audit your customer journey and answer these questions. What issues are occurring most often? How does the password reset process work? How has guidance impacted contact volume around login issues?
4. Walk a mile in their shoes
We are all digital customers at some point, so you have an intimate understanding of what a customer expects from their digital experience. Stay tuned in to how your customers are experiencing their journey and what they are experiencing at each touchpoint to ensure you’re exceeding their expectations.
Studies show that customers prefer self-service over chat, email and phone assistance. However, when customers do need to reach out make sure you are offering them the channels they prefer. According to our survey, when it comes to digital interactions, consumers prefer email and chat over text and bots.
Customers have basic questions and encounter predictable barriers along the digital journey. Login issues are among these predictable struggle points. You can answer these questions and eliminate these barriers with a smart digital guidance strategy.
While digital guidance isn’t meant to replace other customer support channels entirely, it is able to efficiently (and cost-effectively) engage a much larger portion of customers by proactively offering self-service options.
Good customer experience is the core to your company’s success. By implementing these tips, your customers will receive the top-notch digital experience they’ve come to expect, building long-lasting customer satisfaction and conversion.
