*Note. Many of these tools can be deployed by any company. We strongly recommend that the team is either a dedicated in-house team or a professionally managed alternative. The one tool not possible by a dedicated in-house team is scalable customer service.
*This is the second part of a 2-part series. Click here for the first part.
The state of customer service in 2021 means customers expect everything to be fast and easy. They want to visit a website and find what they’re looking for all within a few seconds.
Successful companies invest more time to expand the number of customer service channels offered (email, chatbot, messaging, phone, social media, etc.) while improving self-serve options. In the past, expanding customer service channels came at a huge cost.
The digital revolution makes customer service tools easier to implement and more cost effective than ever before.
Proactive Customer Service
Proactive customer service puts your customers front and center. As an example, a customer visiting your website may receive an automated chat request welcoming them and asking how it can help. If the customer puts in a simple request (e.g. what hours are you open?), the bot can answer immediately. If it is a more complicated request or doesn’t know the answer, the visitor can click to talk to a live person by phone or chat.
This information is gathered and sent as a report. If enough people ask the same question, an answer can be written and posted in the self-help section of your site. Next time someone asks the question, the answer will be readily available. Proactive customer service offers the fastest resolution for your customers and it gradually improves over time. Click here to learn more.
Omni-Channel Customer Service
All of the major platforms customers interact with (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, etc.) share two similarities: choice and immediacy. Customer preferences have changed dramatically and it’s important we give them what they want.
With managed customer service, small and growing businesses get access to 12 or more channels where customers can communicate with the company. More importantly, all channels flow into the same funnel where customer service reps can see all communication from a single customer. Consolidating messages, emails, and calls means the representative looking after the customer’s request can see the whole history of the situation. Omni-channel customer service gives a better experience, reduced wait time, quicker resolution, and reduces cost for your business. Click here to learn more.
Actionable Insights
Leveraging your businesses resources is the only way to survive this day and age. We need to be hyper focused on key metrics to be agile and improve business practices. Your customer service is no exception. With a managed customer service approach you get to leverage the most powerful technology available to the largest organizations.
When your customer service is truly omni-channel, all customer communications pool in the same place. Analytics can then be run on each interaction with a customer to find similarities, and then a variety of improvements can be implemented. Customer satisfaction, resolution time, response time are all tracked.
Customer service is the managing company’s expertise — meaning you also get guaranteed service level agreements (SLA’s) and world-class customer satisfaction ratings (CSAT). Leveraging data from true omni-channel provides a feedback loop of improvement over time, which increases customer satisfaction, and reduces cost for your company. Click here to learn more.
Scalable Customer Service
The world is unpredictable (especially because of how interconnected everything is in today’s economy). With the support of a managed customer service team, you never have to worry about unforeseen surges in customer service demands.
A managed customer service team is like an elastic band — it expands and shrinks as needed. If your company releases a product that gets a lot of attention, hits the jackpot and goes viral, or simply needs additional support during a busy holiday season, you won’t have to worry. Capitalize on these opportunities with a fast response time, efficient resolutions, and interacting with customers on social media. Click here to learn more.
Self- Help
Visitors and customers want choice. They also generally know what they need. We refer to the customer’s preferences to solve their problem as “self-escalation”. If the customer has a simple question like “what hours are you open” or “what services do you provide” they can type it in the chatbot which directs them to the correct webpage.
Common requests like these can be easily resolved by the chatbot. If it’s a more complicated request, the customer can be immediately connected with a customer service representative via live chat or phone call.
The goal is to give your visitor the choice of how they want to interact with your business. With the support of a managed customer service team, your self-help capability grows and improves over time to offer customers fast and efficient solutions. Click here to learn more.
Sales and Marketing
Customer service teams at larger organizations help support sales and marketing. These teams are becoming more connected. Smaller companies often can’t afford to have enough customer service reps and connected technologies to make it efficient and feasible.
With a managed customer service team supporting your business your marketing team and sales team will both benefit. In regard to marketing your brand, a managed customer service team can connect with hundreds, if not thousands, of customers through social media and review sites.
Your sales team can better qualify leads as they visit your site and put engaged buyers where they need to be — ultimately boosting your bottom line.=
Cost
Customer service teams are expensive. A managed customer service model for your business means, in some situations, you only pay for what you use. Some managed customer service companies charge by minute (encouraging reps to stay on the phone longer to drive the cost up), have surge pricing for busy periods, or hidden costs you find out about after being billed.
In our opinion, paying per resolution is the best model for a managed customer service approach. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes but you’re only charged for what impacts your business the most — satisfied customers. Make sure to checkout our ROI calculator to get a better idea click here to follow through to our ROI calculator
At the End of the Day
The model you choose for your customer service department has a dramatic impact on the success of your business. If you are a small or growing business that empathizes with anything above please get in touch. We’re happy to provide any insight we might offer. (have a picture of something)