Ways That You Can Improve Your Customer Care With Technology

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|Ways That You Can Improve Your Customer Care With TechnologyWhen it comes to technology, there are a number of ways that it can benefit your company. You can use less paper – good for the environment and also for the state of your office! – and you can make a lot of processes within your office run a whole lot more efficiently. But it can also benefit your customers, thereby raising your standard of customer care. Here are a few tips on how you can do that…

You Can Provide Information Easily

Thankfully, technology has made it super easy to provide information to your customers. Your website is supposed to be your first online port of call, so make it a good one. It should be instantly clear what your product is and what it should be used for: don’t provide too much information on the first page, because people will zone out, but go into a more in depth explanation on your ‘About Us’ page. You should also make sure that you should use your site to show customers how they can easily get in contact with you through phone, email, and social media. You could also consider providing a postal address on there, although remember that if you don’t have a physical premises yet, a PO box is just fine.

You Can Give Them What They Actually Want

Using analytics software, it’s extremely easy to see what your customers want. You can see how they interact with your company through emails and newsletters that you send out, through your social media feeds, through your app, through your website, through your blog… the list is endless. You can use the data that you collect to analyse what your customers prefer, meaning that you can provide more of that to them instead of irrelevant and boring information that will annoy and frustrate them. Figuring out what the customers want means that you can provide this information to your sales team, who will be able to target them and provide them with the exact services and products that they actually desire.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|Ways That You Can Improve Your Customer Care With TechnologyYou Can Connect With Them Over Social Media

Social media has made building a relationship with your clients easier than it ever has been before. You need to consider exactly what sort of company voice you want to use: a lot of businesses settle on a business-like but friendly tone, but if you’re aiming at a younger market then you could also look into hiring a social media expert who speaks the language of memes and emojis in a way that can connect to younger people. You can demonstrate through your social media that you answer questions, that you’re always available, and that you provide simple solutions to any problems that people might have. Keep calm, don’t interact with trolls, and make sure that you post regularly.

You Can Keep Their Data Secure

Security is something that is hugely important to everyone, and technology can thankfully help to make sure that data is stored in a secure way, rather than on paper in filing cabinets in your office. You can encrypt data, password protect it, and make sure that only certain people can access it. This is particularly important when it comes to personal information like contact addresses and numbers, and even more so, payment methods.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|Ways That You Can Improve Your Customer Care With TechnologyYou Can Outsource To Speciality Companies

Not everyone is completely adept at using technology, and if that sounds familiar, remember there’s absolutely no shame in outsourcing. A copywriter for your website blog is a great idea, a social media expert for your Twitter feed, and an IT company to run your IT services. It’s a good idea to hire a company that’s specific to the field that you work in: for example, a healthcare IT expert will have different skills from a company that’s used to running small online stores. Outsourcing can be difficult if you’re used to running a company mostly by yourself, but remember that you didn’t start your business to struggle with computers, with payroll, with other aspects of the business that you can’t quite get your head around – there’s no shame in enlisting experts to make those aspects of your company as good as possible.

You Can Ask For Their Opinions

Technology makes it incredibly easy to ask your customers for their opinions. You can post polls on Instagram to see what lipstick shade you could bring out, or you could make it more serious and send out surveys to see how your customer service is rated after people buy products and services from you.

It’s never been easier to build great relationships with your customers – technology has made it incredibly fast and simple to reach out to people and to provide them with what they need.

Current Marketing Strategies that will Help Improve Customer Service

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Service|Current Marketing Strategies that will Help Improve Customer ServiceTypically, most owners of large businesses will have a marketing department and a customer service team, each with its own lists of responsibilities. But in order to truly make a big business and enterprise succeed, these two entities should mesh their services, at least some of the time.

For examples on how business owners can elevate their corporate customer service with the help of some top-notch marketing services, please consider the following examples:

Follow Up with Customers

In order to provide outstanding customer service, it’s vital business owners learn more about their customers’ experiences with their company, including what brought them to the business in the first place, what went well and what could be improved upon.

For example, the marketing team could send follow-up emails that ask whether the buyer has or is enjoying the product or service and then thank them for their response. Large companies can also contact customers by email to offer them a special “thank you” for shopping with us coupon or discount code on a future purchase.

Offer a Modern Customer Service Platform

To help ensure each and every customer has a great experience while placing an order or contacting a large enterprise for any reason, owners should consider adding an innovative cloud contact center and IVR system to their customer service platform.

For instance, if a marketing plan includes a goal to offer customer support 24/7, an IVR system is a great option. And for business owners who feel automated agents are impersonal and confusing to customers, this is definitely not the case with an IVR system, which are designed to provide a highly-personalized customer experience to help customers get the answers they need through features like in-queue self-service.

This modern IVR solution can even predict a caller’s intent based on recent transactions, meaning if a customer is calling back to follow up on a previous question, the IVR system can determine this and cut right to the chase.

Boost the CSR Team’s Training and Seek Feedback

Even if a business owner thinks their customer service team is performing well overall, there are still areas in which these employees can improve. Experts say enterprises should hold regular training and refresher courses that will help customer service teams improve their skills.

Topics to cover include empathy and patience, as well as general updates in the company’s products and services. This way, if a confused customer calls in and has questions about a potential new product, the customer service rep will remain friendly and patient, and will be able to accurately discuss recently launched products, services and prices.

To make this type of training less dry for your team, business owners can role play with them by taking turns to play the part of the challenging customer. To ensure this ongoing training is “sticking” and everyone is on board with the company’s policy, business owners should then follow up with customers and asking them to rate their customer service rep through a rating system sent out via email or a series of quick questions over the phone.

Marketing and CSR Departments Combined are a Powerful Force

Rather than view their marketing and customer service teams as disparate teams, owners of large companies should look for ways to combine their powers — at least some of the time.

By offering ongoing training, following up with customers and giving them access to a user-friendly and modern customer service platform, businesses should see a tangible boost in customer retention and satisfaction numbers.

Developing Trust With Your Customers

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Service|Developing Trust With Your CustomersPeople tend to think that it’s the quality of a company’s products or services that determine how much success they’re going to have. And it’s true that they are important, but if a business is going to reach its full potential, then there has to be a solid foundation of trust between the company and its customers. Without it, there’s only so far that they can go — and it really isn’t all that far. As such, it’s important that you’re taking steps to develop your customer’s faith in your business. We take a look at a few ways how below.

Make Yourself Available

You could have the best products at the best prices, but if there’s no-one there to answer the questions and concerns of your customers, then there will be a trust issue. If you’re running a business exclusively online, then make no mistake: you need to make yourself available. People are understandably cautious when it comes to buying online, so you really need to show them that you’re trustworthy. If you have a phone number they can call, and answer your email and social media comments quickly, then you’ll be on the right path.

Consistent Performances

Trust is built over time. A new company has no credibility; with them, it could go either way. You can’t win your customer’s trust overnight — you have to do it by offering a high level of service over an extended period. They need to see that you’re reliable. This can happen in various ways: first, you can just build up your website, and your positive reviews. That takes time. You’ll also need to be reliable in other ways, such as always being online. People have doubts if a site is always going offline and/or is slow, so make sure you’re working with a company that offers managed IT services. They’ll ensure that you’re always online and ready for business.

Do What You Say You’ll Do

It’s all good and well promising a customer the world, but if you can’t deliver it, then you’ll end up doing more harm than good. People prefer honesty over boasts! If delivery is going to realistically going to take five days rather than three, then make sure they know it. You don’t impress anyone by telling them how good you are — you just have to show them, and let them come to their own conclusions.

Handling Problems

It doesn’t matter how watertight your ship might seem, eventually you’re going to run into a mistake that affects a customer. This doesn’t have to be the end of the world, providing you take care of the issue. People are pretty forgiving so long as the business does all that’s within its power to rectify the mistake.

Build Your Authority

Finally, look at building your authority. If you know a lot about your products and services, then share the knowledge through blogs, podcasts, and your social media accounts. You’ll quickly become trusted as the go-to company in your field.

Customer Service Mistakes Your Business Might Be Making

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Service|Customer Service Mistakes Your Business Might Be MakingCustomer service is the backbone of any successful business. No matter how great your product may be, it will struggle to sell if your customer service skills are lacking. Treating customers the right way is often the difference between getting good reviews and earning brand loyalty, and consumers avoiding your company altogether. The trouble is, no business is perfect, and mistakes are often made. With that in mind, here are six customer service errors to avoid.

Skimping On Staff Training

You can’t expect your customer service staff to deliver quality service if they have no training. It doesn’t matter whether you have three or three hundred staff members, you must train all of them to do their jobs. This training should be an ongoing and dynamic process to allow your staff to work their very best. If you can’t train your employees yourself, then bring in an expert to do so.

Failing To Keep Promises

When you make a promise to a customer, you must make sure that you deliver on it. For those offering a service, you should check that you have what you need to carry it out, whether that be cleaning products or commercial machine tools. Anyone with a retail business must have plenty of stock. If you break a promise you’ve made, it will damage any relationship that you have built.

Hiding Your Contact Information

Live chat, text messages, and social media have completely transformed the relationship between businesses and consumers. With these tools, you can offer customers a much greater convenience than ever before. The trouble is, many companies forget to display their contact details or purposefully hide them. Doing this will frustrate customers and cause suspicion.

Forgetting Self-Service Options

While it’s essential to be available to customers, you must understand that not all of them will want to contact your business. After all, customer service lines are infamous for their high charges and long wait times. Thankfully, you can help customers help themselves. A FAQ page is a common feature on company websites, as are user manuals, buying guides, and videos.

Ignoring All Customer Feedback

When a customer takes the time to leave you feedback, you must make sure that you read and respond to it. Although no entrepreneur likes to read a negative review, this sort of feedback is beneficial. You wouldn’t know where you needed to improve without it. Listen to all you are told and assure customers that you’ll get back to them if you don’t have a solution right away.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Service|Customer Service Mistakes Your Business Might Be MakingRude Behavior Of Employees

There is no excuse for rude behavior. As frustrating as it can be dealing with a problematic customer, arguing back will only make the situation worse. This is something that all well-trained customer service employees should already know. Customers won’t tolerate rudeness from your staff, so you shouldn’t either. If you believe an employee made a mistake, then tell them that they did.

Without customers, your business has nothing. To treat yours right, make sure that you avoid the mistakes listed above.

4 Ways to Improve Customer Care in Your Call Center

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|4 Ways to Improve Customer Care in Your Call Center If you’re managing a call center, customer care is the name of the game. You’ll undoubtedly have all kinds of targets to meet, and it’s in your interests to make every call a customer care success. How can you make this a reality? Sometimes, customer care is less about focusing on the caller, and more about investing energy in your staff. Here are four ideas on how to improve customer care in your call center.

Service with a smile

Did you know that a smile can be heard on the phone? Picking up the phone with a smile on your face can make your voice sound warmer and friendlier, and encourage the caller to trust you. This all happens subconsciously, without the customer really being aware! It’s a free, easy way to build a connection instantly. With a smile, you can set up in the right way even the most challenging of calls. Train your staff on this simple trick, and you could see customer satisfaction shoot up!

Celebrate your staff

If you want your staff to smile on the phone, you’ve got to give them plenty of reasons to beam off the phone, too. Working in a call center can be energetic, fast-paced, and fun. But it can also be draining and repetitive. Not to mention the exhaustion of dealing with angry customers. Keep spirits high by celebrating your staff regularly. This is how BPOs in the Philippines motivate their employees. They recognize employees achievements monthly, quarterly, and annually, and provide perks that they can enjoy. Your celebration could be as simple as some targeted praise after a perfect call that you overhear. Or you could create a reward system, perhaps where coworkers nominate each other, or based off a leaderboard related to departmental targets.

Create a positive environment

So much of excellent customer service comes down to brilliant representatives. But even if you hire the very best representatives available, if the environment is poor, they will either leave or become disengaged. The culture of the call center should be all about support and positivity. Then these elements will feed into the service provided. Remember, the culture is often dictated by what happens at the top. Think about how senior staff communicate and how they handle challenges. The team will look to them to set the tone for the entire department, so it’s vital they set a shining example. Positivity is everything.

Get the right tools

Making use of the latest tools like Knowledge base software could really boost your call center and make customer service a breeze. Artificial intelligence applications can make life easier for representatives as well as customers. You should also invest in analytics tools which will enable you to track and record statistics relating to calls and customer experience. This can be useful for training, appraisals, and rewards.

It might be possible for some of the processes within the department to be automated completely. For example, you can use RPA tools for real-time automation. This can improve productivity and allow for proactive staff training. Saving time and boosting productivity means benefits for you and your customers. You could even take the bold move of asking your staff what tools might help them better do their job.

Conclusion

Getting call center operations right can be extremely challenging. If you wish to outsource call center services as a business, read this comparison guide first.