SCIENCE OF CX GUEST ARTICLE
Building and maintaining a superior product or service is one of the tenets of business. Aside from formulating the product, enterprise decision-makers should plan for seamless service delivery. Today, providing excellent customer service is just as important as any other business process.
You must recognize shopping as a transaction on one hand and an experience on another. Customers often enjoy a positive customer experience if the service delivery is undeniably excellent. They'll most likely return and become repeat customers.
So, how do you define good customer service? Is it by enabling consumers to return previously purchased items for repairs? Do you thank clients for patronizing your business? Just how well do you understand the implications of customer service?
Customer service is an integral part of business and greatly determines its success or failure. Not paying attention to amazing customer service delivery is why 96% of companies fail within ten years. When in doubt, it's best to consider the following questions so you can rightly evaluate the role of customer service in your business.
What Can I Do to Assist Clients That Want to Patronize Me?
Focus on delivering accurate responses to your customer's questions promptly. Enlighten your customer service representatives about the inner workings of your product? Consider providing “fence-sitters" with promotional offers like a free trial.
How Can I Support Consumers Effectively during the Purchasing Process?
Make the ordering process seamless. Ensure that you can meet clients’ special requests. Work to resolve errors immediately and supply customers with order details like shipping or tracking numbers when required.
What Can I Do to Support Clients Once They've Purchased My Product?
Ensure that you can resolve issues around faulty items. While doing so, target the customer by offering an apology and free repairs.
Five Features of Good Customer Service
Below are five characteristics of good customer service:
- In-depth Knowledge of Your Product
A good customer support worker spends their time troubleshooting customers’ complaints and offering expert opinions on a wide range of issues. Customer service requires a thorough understanding of your product. Ideally, your staff should believe in your product, understand its features, and know its use cases.
This expertise portrays your staff as helpful and intelligent. Your goal is to ensure that your customers get the maximum value from their purchases and feel they got a decent bargain. Make it a point to learn everything about your product to delight your customers with timely suggestions on new features and services.
- Going the Extra Mile to Help Customers with their Difficulties
In recent times, many customers have abandoned a company due to poor customer service. That's why you should prioritize the resolution of customers' difficulties. Making it a vital portion of your support function means that your staff is prepared to handle any problem.
The Zappos customer service department is renowned for its level of excellence. Once, they shipped a pair of shoes free of charge the night before the wedding after delivering his order to a different location.
Now, not only did Zappos solve a problem but the company also showed exceptional customer service which earned the man's loyalty and provided him with a positive Zappos story that he couldn't wait to tell others.
- Adoption of Technology
Depending on the situation, a customer service knowledge management software should combine all collected data into a centralized location and provide a holistic picture of each customer or issue. By doing so, customer service agents can personalize interactions and boost satisfaction and loyalty.
- Self-Service with Authority
No one enjoys being put on hold. Customers can use artificial intelligence (AI) to help ease the burden of business. This involves using chatbots to receive and respond to basic questions.
While chatbots will never be able to provide the same level of service as the live agent, they’re perfect for consumers looking for quick solutions.
- 24/7 Availability
Today, many companies provide round-the-clock omnichannel customer support. By doing so, customers are always attended to and this makes conversion more feasible.
The Future of Customer Service is Technology-Driven
Companies must be concerned about providing outstanding customer service to their customers, existing or prospective. Technology will play a major role, so CEOs should incorporate technological advances in their service delivery. However, company heads should implement strategies based on their industry, hence the need for adequate research.
Having a good customer service record will project your company as a decent one and yield many recommendations. Upon deciding to patronize you until the actual purchase, your company must stay in touch with the customer. It's critical to be present throughout every touchpoint.
Sowmya Juttukonda
She is a content creator and digital media specialist at Knowmax, an AI-powered knowledge management system for enterprises who are seeking to improve their customer experience on all their customer service channels.
