5 Tips to Improve Customer Support Service
Got a bot? It should come as no surprise that this won’t be enough to give your customers the support they may want. With remote business being the norm these days, customer support has moved away from the physical helpdesk, but the human element is still key. What is Customer Support? – ServiceNow observes that it’s a broad definition that covers everything you do to resolve customer issues, but no matter what online resources you offer, there will still be customers who reach a point where all they want is to talk to a person. Once they do, you can bet that quality is going to matter. Are you using these tips to improve customer service? If not, it’s time to get started!
1. Choose the Right People For the Customer Support Service
Customer support services usually work according to a script, but the people who deliver it not only need to create a good impression when delivering it – they also need to know when to deviate from it. The people you choose should be skilled communicators. They must be well-spoken, but it’s even more important that they should be good listeners. If they aren’t, your customers might be justified in feeling that they may as well be talking to a machine.
2. Choose the Right Software
Customers hate having to repeat themselves. Once they’re on the line to support, they want the agents they’re talking to know about their experiences up to that point. That means placing some really good software in the hands of your customer service agents. They need to know what led the customer to the current point and what support they’ve received so far.
The software also helps to prevent “dropped balls.” For example, if callbacks have been promised, they can be scheduled, and reminders help your support agents to keep their promises.
3. Go Omnichannel
Nowadays, most companies offer omnichannel support for the customer support service. Yours should too. “Omnichannel” means “across channels,” so what this means is that support should be available on the channels your customers prefer to use at any given time. This could include email, social media, online chat, and telephone.
4. Make it Easy to Talk to a Person
Have you ever hit “help” or “contact us” only to find you have to jump through hoops in order to get in touch with a real person? While resource bases and bots can help customers to help themselves, making it easy to talk to a real person when they feel the need will save them a lot of frustration.
5. Don’t Make Them Wait
Nobody likes waiting. Having agents available 24/7 and ensuring that all contacts receive swift responses can be something of a tall order. Nevertheless, having people available when your customers need them is part and parcel of good customer support. Outsourcing can offer solutions – provided you choose the right company to represent you. At the very least, ensure that contacts are acknowledged through an automated message and get in touch as soon as you possibly can.
Use Support Requests as a Resource
The best possible situation is one in which your clients don’t need support at all. Use requests for support as a resource to find out what issues your customers struggle with and seek ways to eliminate the issues they commonly experience. Once again, the software can help you to spot those issues, and from there on, it’s up to you and your customer support service team to use the information constructively.
