And just like that it’s all over: Germany defeated Argentina 1-0 to win the 2014 World Cup.
I am no football/soccer expert, but watching the games, I thought, that in many ways, football is very much a business. Just like a successful business, a football team can generate great profits. And it’s painful to watch when they don’t perform. Emotional fans might boo and hiss when things don’t go their way, hoping for better luck next time, but in business, not being on top of your game can lose you valuable customers.
Customers unfortunately, aren’t as loyal as football supporters. So what lessons can be learned from the World Cup about customer service?
Just like the concept of kicking the ball in the net, keeping your customers happy might seem simple enough – I mean, companies prepared for the huge surges in customer contact from all channels, didn’t they? Calls, social media, web-chat and emails … But who won? Who were the companies, no matter their industry, that organised their contact channels to cope with this demand and added value too?
Cheers for value added customer service
Customers won’t really do the Mexican wave or cheer you on when they are happy, but when they are unhappy with your service, the ball game changes. Knowing the ‘game’, being able to predict which questions they might ask and the ability to respond to enquiries promptly, consistently and across whichever channel/device they choose to do so, ensures customers can self-serve the majority of information themselves easing both customer and contact centre stress levels.
Yellow card
Valiant efforts to deliver multi-channel customer service made by companies can still crash and burn spectacularly if not deployed properly, so it’s of great importance to invest in the right integrated customer service software technology, with a centralised knowledge-base at its core.
Having a centralised knowledge-base at the core of online customer service delivery can result in significant cost savings, reduce inbound customer contact and improve contact centre efficiency.
Offense and Defence
Allowing customers to provide feedback and complain through the online customer service portal can provide vital insight into areas for improvement. Organisations regularly analysing this information can optimise their service offering and meet regulatory guidelines. Sharing resolutions and feedback shows customers and team members that you are active in your approach, listening to what they have to say and that their opinion has value to you.
Final whistle
The World Cup had many people apprehensive, questioning and predicting in advance its success, and unsurprisingly, some companies’ still harbour myths about online customer service delivery too. As a trusted online customer service technology provider, Synthetix felt it our duty to debunk some of these myths through an infographic. Discover the winning formula by downloading it here.
