Customer service is not a simple department or element in the company’s structure. It is much more than that, customer service is part of the company’s DNA and culture. Efficient customer service can have several benefits for the company. That’s why it is key to implement a good customer service strategy.
Customer service is the assistance and support a company provides to its customers during the Pre-Sales and post-sales phases. It is a key factor in maintaining a good reputation and also retaining customers.
According to a research conducted by salesforce 89% of customers tend to make additional purchases thanks to a positive experience with customer service. Although customer service has been perceived traditionally by many business owners as a cost center not generating any revenues but rather representing an additional expense to the company, it is much more than a simple service but rather a true value proposition. Modern leaders are aware of the added value of customer service and are investing more in it.
Streamlined customer service can lead to business growth generating more revenues thanks to encouraging customer loyalty: A customer who is satisfied with one of the company’s services is more likely to order the new products of the same company as a result of the positive experience he already had with it, satisfied customers may also play a key role in word of a mouth marketing recommending the company’s products to other potential customers which would certainly lead to building a good reputation and attracting new business opportunities. A positive customer experience might be a strong competitive advantage differentiating a brand from its competitors and enabling it to get more market share.
Investing in efficient customer support is not an easy mission, it requires a lot of energy and expertise. It starts with building efficient tools that are user-friendly for the company’s agents and also for the customers. An example of that might be the company’s website which should be user-friendly and working properly along with other tools agents and customers might be using to interact. Yet, despite the importance of tools and processes, the key part of brilliant customer service lies in human resources, a customer service agent should have a set of key skills that would contribute to customer retention and satisfaction. One of the key skills of efficient customer service agents is: Responsiveness because time is money, and because it is very important for the client to get fast replies to his requests. Fast turnaround time ( TAT) is crucial and one of the key performance indicators when evaluating customer service performance. Good communication skills such as active listening, empathy, emotional intelligence, and friendliness are also well appreciated, according to one of the studies 73% of customers stay loyal to brands thanks to friendly client support agents. This is proof of the importance of soft skills in this kind of roles. Moreover, good problem-resolution skills are fundamental to excellent client experience, the representatives should be able to identify client issues, analyze them, and resolve them efficiently.
Being proactive, well-knowledgeable, and committed are key qualities for a customer support agent. Linguistic skills such as the knowledge of several languages represent a great plus especially when it comes to working with International customers. Any customer is always glad to collaborate with someone who speaks the same language as him, speaking the same language means building a stronger connection with the customer which may be a game changer.
Building reliable customer support requires a lot of time, energy, and resources. It starts with providing well-structured and comprehensive training for the customer representatives involving a good knowledge of the products and services and also common issues and how to address them. The training should also focus on the importance of soft skills: Active listening, respect, and emotional intelligence are highly important when it comes to customer service because customer service is all about empathy and putting ourselves in the customers’ shoes.
In addition to that, getting customer feedback is crucial as it helps to relevant insights that may help to identify improvement areas and set up an action plan to address the existing issues. There are many forms that may support to gather customer feedback. It can be done through surveys, calls, and meetings with key customers. It is very important to understand the client’s perception of a product or a service and work to improve it when necessary.
In addition to gathering feedback, conducting analyses and following up on performance indicators such as response time and resolution time can be of great help in pinpointing weaknesses and addressing them because the data represents a credible source of information, and analyzing it might help to give management the right direction.
On top of analyzing the key metrics, analyzing the customer’s demographic characteristics and cultural aspects can help to better understand the customer’s needs and nature, this valuable information can support maintaining an outstanding service and identifying additional training needs. For example, dealing with customers from different generations or cultures may trigger the need to train agents more on cross-cultural communication as well as specific manners and forms of communication.
Overall, customer service is directly linked to customer loyalty and retention. It may drive revenue growth and build a strong reputation for the company differentiating it from its competitors and supporting its growth. Hence, it is highly crucial to invest in a good customer service from the very early Pre-Sales phase till delivery and post-sales phase.