Customer service is the face of a brand. The ease and speed of communications and how customers are spoken to and treated by advisors, helps them decide whether that company values their loyalty and repeat business.
When customers have a negative customer service interaction, it’s the entire business that gets the blame, rather than the individual representatives that the customer dealt with.
Nearly half (42%) of those we surveyed said that they believe poor customer service is caused by businesses not treating it as a priority. In comparison, only a third (33%) blamed it on poor attitudes from individual customer service agents.
By failing to recognise the reputational impact of poor customer service, businesses are putting their entire reputation on the line. In fact, our research found that nearly half (47%) of consumers stopped purchasing from a brand altogether due to a negative customer service interaction.
Therefore, to improve consumer trust and build a strong reputation for providing a high-quality service, businesses need to enhance their customer service communications.
Increasing accessibility
The first step to improving the customer experience is by making customer service more easily accessible. Today’s consumers don’t want to wait on hold or search endlessly for help online.
Having short waiting times is the most important component of good customer service for consumers (61%). Therefore, businesses need to make sure customer service is easy to find and instantly accessible via a variety of channels, such as email, phone, live chat, social media, and more. To enhance accessibility further, consider incorporating a free online ticketing software, providing customers with a streamlined and efficient way to submit and track their inquiries around the clock.
Introducing 24/7 customer care is another option for businesses seeking to improve accessibility. For many consumers, having a customer care team available only during the hours of nine to five is inconvenient due to this coinciding with their own working hours.
To avoid customers becoming frustrated with the level of service on offer, there should be some degree of service available all day. To accommodate for this, businesses can increase their capabilities by recruiting an outsourced team.
Outsourced teams are fully trained and have the relevant technology systems on hand to begin work immediately. Unsurprisingly, outsourcing labour can be cheaper than changing in-house operations considering the average cost of a customer service employee is £34,346.
By introducing outsourcing, a business could save as much as £18,000, based on an average of 5000 contacts a week. This will not only allow for some cost savings, but it will also maintain customer satisfaction levels; key to a good reputation.
Use intelligent automation
Today, businesses have access to innovative technologies that enable them to take their customer service strategy to the next level. To improve satisfaction, technology can help to offer a more personalised experience for customers.
Automated systems can offer customised product recommendations based on past purchases or use data analytics to determine what types of products appeal most to which customers.
Additionally, chat bots can send out tailored messages based on individual customer preferences. This can improve the relationship between a business and its customers by demonstrating that the needs and preferences of customers are being valued.
Additionally, utilising intelligent automated systems can eliminate some of the mundane and simple tasks for the team. This includes answering basic questions, processing returns and collecting data from customers. By removing these jobs, the customer service team’s time can be freed up for them to focus on revenue building and more complex customer enquiries.
However, this is only viable when a direct route to a human operator is always available. Considering the current level of technological development, chat bots can’t be relied on for responding to more sensitive or complex customer enquiries.
Therefore, human representatives are still necessary to provide a fully effective customer care journey that protects brand reputation.
Leverage analytics
Harnessing the power of data can help businesses to improve their care strategy, dependent on what their customers really need. Analytics tools enable companies to track interactions in real time and segment customers into meaningful groups.
This allows them to better target their communication strategies for greater results. Furthermore, tracking performance over time including tracking customer sentiment and trust scores through surveys allows companies to better understand how satisfied customers are and any areas for improvement.
Final thoughts
By taking the above into consideration, organisations can drastically improve their customer service communication strategy to create a positive band reputation. Building strong relationships with customers is essential for any business looking to stay competitive in today’s market.
It can go a long way towards improving consumer sentiment surrounding brands and their overall reputation. Those that fail to do so risk falling behind competitors offering a better and more comprehensive service.
By Kirsty Robinson, Head of Marketing at FM Outsource
Header image by Moo
