With so much competition in today's business world, you need to stand out from the crowd--and the best way to do that is through stellar customer service. Fortunately, with the right tech solutions, you can take your company from "good" to "great" in your audience's eyes.
Today's tech tip is all about leveraging technology in smart ways to boost customer service and win ongoing loyalty.
The Truth About Customer Service
You can have the best product or offering in the world--but if your customer service leaves anything to be desired, shoppers will go straight to the competition.
Here's what customers want from you:
- Timeliness: These days, customers want answers ASAP. Ideally, they're looking for help within seconds--and if they have to wait hours or days for a response, they'll likely get frustrated.
- Convenience: With the ever-growing prominence of digital shopping and online services, customers expect 24/7 service. That doesn't always mean talking directly to an agent; it can sometimes include self-service solutions such as chatbots.
- Accuracy: Don't expect to keep a customer's patience--or their loyalty--if you continuously give them wrong answers and have to correct yourself. Your audience expects your back-end systems to provide you with up-to-date, accurate information about them and their needs (and certainly about your own offerings).
- Support: When customers reach out for help, focus on providing that help--not on up- or cross-selling. Sure, this can play a part in your overall customer journey, but don't let it be the focus of your support approach.
When you look at all of these elements together, it's easy to feel a bit overwhelmed. How do you bring together so many good habits to create one cohesive customer service framework?
The answer is simple: Choose the right tech.
A Tip for Customer Service Tech
When it comes to customer service technology, it's critical to remember one thing.
Not all customer service tech is customer-facing.
That's right: Solutions you use internally will also impact your external interactions. Take, for example, your document management system. Most of these processes happen behind the scenes, but your audience will still feel the impact when your teams are able to quickly pull up relevant files or share forms with a click.
As such, it's important to think carefully when choosing and optimizing tech for customer service outcomes. Balance your approach, but keep in mind that internal tech has benefits that expand across your entire organization, while external solutions may be more limited in scope.
Choosing Customer Service Tech Solutions
Ready to think about customer service tech? Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Internal
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software: CRM platforms help you keep track of customer information, interactions, accounts, and more. This software is also great for extracting insights from customer data and improving your workflows or processes.
- Managed Services: Managed print, managed IT, document management--these managed services can help eliminate inefficiencies and keep your teams pushing in the same direction. Plus, with fewer repetitive, manual tasks to worry about, customer service experts can focus on what they're best at.
- Communication Solutions: Whether you're working with a shared inbox, a collaborative digital workspace, or a platform that the entire customer service team has access to, communication solutions are key to running a tight ship. This helps internal teams stay on the same page and present a united, organized front during customer interactions.
External
- AI Chatbots: Chatbots use knowledge bases to answer customer questions without a service representative. This enables consumers to address concerns at any time--and, if necessary, conversations can be escalated to human helpers with records of the entire interaction previous.
- Self-Service Platforms: AI chatbots are just one part of a much larger push for self-service. If you use customer platforms that include knowledge libraries, how-to videos, personalized content recommendations, and more, your audience will be able to answer their own questions--and their satisfaction will improve along the way.
- Voice Capabilities: Expand the number and kinds of devices your customers can use to get in touch with you. Voice capabilities enable users to supplement other experiences and connect in the same ways the use to play their favorite music or chat with friends.
In conclusion, customer service technology is more than just phones and email platforms. Think both internally and externally to choose the tech that's right for your business.
Need help delivering stellar customer service experiences? Contact us today for all the tech tips you need to make it happen!
