3 Tactics for Delivering Exceptional Customer Support
A little can go a long way in the area of customer support. By being equipped with a few effective customer support tactics, you can successfully improve support processes, increase customer satisfaction, and boost brand loyalty. Modern consumers are provided more options than ever before, and in order to step up and meet these expectations, companies should explore the following three support tactics.
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Listen to & Support Multi-Channel Users
It is very important to be easily adaptable for your customers. In today’s competitive and experience driven environment, businesses should aim to support their users across as many channels as possible. According to a recent study conducted by HeyWire Business, 53% of consumers ages 18-34 prefer to use email, web chat, text, or social media instead of the phone for their customer support. This illustrates the fact that most consumers are now multichannel users, and their processes and experience should be seriously considered by all companies and their support teams.
In order to prepare for the heightened expectations of multi-channel consumers, many businesses are tracking users through cloud technology. The cloud allows for data from customer’s mobile devices, tablets, and computers to be saved and accessed at later point in time. Accommodating a customer’s service options and processes displays a willingness to work within their comfort zone to get the job done, and can increase sales as well as develop long-lasting brand loyalty.
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Focus on Responsiveness
No matter what channel your customer decides to contact you through, it is indispensable to respond quickly. We believe that your commitment to service is often determined through response times. There are methods to track pieces of data such as responsiveness through customer service metrics and software.
Perhaps more meaningful than tracking metrics, spend time ensuring that your employees are focused on the importance of timely responses. Sometimes an employee may not know how to best resolve a customer’s issue or answer their questions, but replying to their initial request in a timely manner that acknowledges the receipt, summarizes the message for clarification, and confirms that next steps are being taken, will help your customer feel secure that they chose your company to do business with.
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Remain Pro-Active
One support attribute that can never be replaced, is the ability of a company to remain pro-active. By staying ahead of the curve, and keeping eyes and ears open to service needs before they manifest, you position yourself for success. Issues that arise will not come as a surprise, and will be more efficiently and effectively handled. Plan to inform customers of changes well before they are implemented and look for trends in service requests. By uncovering service needs before they are requested, you position yourself for smoother support processes, and you provide the customer with a more intuitive support experience.