The Importance of Customer Support

Cus­tomer sup­port used to be an after­thought. Now, sup­port has become a stan­dard com­po­nent of the prod­uct pack­age, and is an area in which com­pa­nies can, and do, dis­tin­guish them­selves from their com­pe­ti­tion. With cus­tomer expe­ri­ence man­age­ment book­marked on every C-Level’s lap­top, all ser­vice and sup­port chan­nels are being scru­ti­nized for improve­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties. Pro­vid­ing con­sis­tent, supe­rior cus­tomer sup­port expe­ri­ences is an opti­mal way to increase cus­tomer loy­alty — and increase revenue.

3 Rea­sons You Should Improve Your Cus­tomer Support

There are numer­ous def­i­n­i­tions of cus­tomer sup­port, and many facets of the sup­port dis­ci­pline. Yet, the mea­sure of suc­cess for all sup­port chan­nels is cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion. A sim­ple con­cept on the sur­face, but with dif­fer­ent cus­tomers hav­ing widely vary­ing issues and expec­ta­tions, the solu­tion is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Here are five rea­sons you should improve your cus­tomer support:

1. Sat­is­fac­tion Varies. Deliv­er­ing great cus­tomer sup­port means cus­tomiz­ing ser­vice to the unique needs of each cus­tomer. Each customer’s issue will be dif­fer­ent from that of other cus­tomers, and even dif­fer­ent from that same customer’s prior expe­ri­ence. Sup­port employ­ees must be able to tai­lor solu­tions to effec­tively resolve cus­tomer issues, each and every time.
2. Sup­port Chan­nels Evolve. Tech­nol­ogy is advanc­ing at a rapid pace and now there are a mul­ti­tude of sup­port chan­nels avail­able to cus­tomers. Your cus­tomers will choose the sup­port chan­nel of their pref­er­ence, and your team must be able to deliver a con­sis­tent sup­port expe­ri­ence regard­less of whether the sup­port chan­nel is web chat, phone, or face-to-face.
3. Rev­enue Increases. When cus­tomers expe­ri­ence con­sis­tently great sup­port – they talk about it. They tell friends, fam­ily, and col­leagues. Loyal cus­tomers will not only pur­chase many times, they will also encour­age their peers to pur­chase, which sig­nif­i­cantly increases com­pany revenue.

Can Your Employ­ees Pro­vide Great Cus­tomer Support?

New cus­tomer sup­port employ­ees rarely walk onto the call-floor or the client’s loca­tion fully pre­pared for the tasks at hand. Exem­plary cus­tomer sup­port employ­ees are devel­oped, and devel­op­ment requires tech­ni­cal skills train­ing, com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills train­ing, and reg­u­lar coach­ing from super­vi­sors and management.

Supe­rior cus­tomer sup­port teams must strive for con­tin­u­ous improve­ment. In an arena of con­stant new prod­uct releases and new sup­port chan­nels to main­tain, your cus­tomer sup­port employ­ees need train­ing to stay one step ahead of your com­peti­tors. An invest­ment in cus­tomer sup­port is a must. Pro­vid­ing con­sis­tent, supe­rior cus­tomer sup­port is a rev­enue gen­er­a­tor, and an effec­tual way to dif­fer­en­ti­ate your com­pany from its rivals.