Customer service is about answering questions the right way the first time. It sounds simple, but it is not always easy, and you may need to rethink your customer experience strategy and embrace valuable new technologies.
Obtaining new clients is considerably more expensive than maintaining existing ones. And satisfied customers are the ones who stay loyal. According to a 2011 callcentres.net survey, 83% of respondents said they would make more purchases from companies that were easier to do business with. But customer experience needs are changing rapidly, with social media, analytics, and new devices and technologies redesigning the landscape. I've compiled tips from companies that continually receive high marks for the customer experience they provide, and I've been able to identify the best four practices.
The best companies know that the important thing is not only to solve problems but to establish a lasting relationship with customers.
In its retail stores, Apple is dedicated to making friends. Employees will try to "sell you something less" than what you were planning to buy, to get you the lowest priced, least complicated product that will do what you need. And truth be told, we all like to get what we want for less than what we expected to pay. Apple's approach, they claim, results in fewer product returns, higher sales rates on ancillary services, fewer frequent compatibility issues, and very low employee burnout.
Contact centers can mimic this approach with the use of analytical and cross-selling marketing programs. These programs involve using real-time and historical data to proactively suggest agents and products and services that may be of interest to individual customers. Close the loop by rewarding agents for selling the most appropriate solutions, rather than the most expensive.
New technologies for consumers make it even more critical to support customers consistently. As you add SMS, text chat, video chat, and mobile platform channels to your team, it is vital to control them. The integration tools between various channels can seem overwhelming; But the alternative is an inconsistency in the customer experience, which can cost you a considerable cost.
Salmat, Australia's largest provider of outsourced contact centers, is updating its 35 contact centers' technology to become an 'omnichannel' customer service provider. Salmat, which handles more than 100 million inbound and outbound phone calls a year, needed to engage with customers, whether on Twitter, Facebook, SMS, email, or phone, says CEO, Grant Harrod. "Consumers do not necessarily select the channel that you would like them to use to communicate; they select the channel with which they want to communicate with you." And each of these channels "has to be consistent."
According to a 2012 report by Frost & Sullivan, the overwhelming majority of consumers end up trying to speak to a real agent and are more satisfied after live interactions, whether by phone or chat. Imposing self-service channels on customers can keep your costs under control in the short term, but in the long run, it can cost you retention and sales opportunities when not used correctly.
Palm Coast Data handles the subscriptions and distribution of 500 magazines to 45 million subscribers. The technology upgrade has brought two new features to the 200 Palm Coast contact center agents working on-site and increasing agents working from home. The ability to chat with magazine subscribers (typically two at the same time) and make scheduled callbacks to customers when they have free time. According to the company, this has increased the productivity of these 'combined agents' between 86 and 98% and increased customer satisfaction.
Develop a culture where employees are comfortable initiating conversations and listening to customers rather than just answering questions as quickly as possible. In this way, agent wear decreases, and customer satisfaction increases.
Shoe retailer Zappos.com is a perfect example. Its mission statement states that "Customer Service is not just the name of a department!… We have aligned the entire organization with a single mission: to provide the best possible customer service. Within our company, we call this our philosophy to CAPTIVATE the client". The call center is located at the company headquarters, and employees begin to work at the company with four weeks of training as customer service representatives. Subsequently, the call center employees have another three weeks of training, for a total of seven weeks.
After all that training, Zappos.com is confident that its employees will be useful to customers. They do not read on-screen prompts and are not asked to keep calls short. This doesn't seem logical, but it works. Stories of people receiving bouquets of condolences, free products, and lifetime memberships to the VIP program spread like viruses on the Internet, resulting in intensely loyal customers.
Final words
As technology changes and new generations bring new perspectives to the market, the foundation of customer experience management remains the same. This must be the top priority at every level of the business if you want to provide outstanding service. It should be the focus of every initiative. And it must be the goal of every employee.
