What do you need to enhance customer service? Many companies assume that having a help desk service or a service desk management tool is enough to guarantee service quality. Of course, counting on them says a great deal about your service vocation; however, automated tools for customer service management are barely the first step step towards service excellence.
Now, if you additionally include social medias in the equation, then you expand the horizon to directly serve to your clients through more service channels. Altogether, you have a powerful combination of tools and personalized channels that lead towards the service excellence they deserve.
So, if you already belong to the select group of companies who have both approaches to enhance customer service; then it’s time to delve into their correct use. But, what if instead of updating your staff in long programs; you apply a powerful decalogue to enhance the customer service?
Keep reading and discover the 10 golden rules you need to observe to enhance customer service.
10 golden rules to enhance Customer Service
1. Provide 24/7 attention
Given the globalization and the wide scope it provides, it is very possible that you have more than one foreign customer requesting for your services before or after business hours.
Same, you’ll have to extend your schedule to provide quality service to people who simply need to contact you after their own business hours; or even very early in the morning, before they go work.
Now, we understand that hiring staff to comply with this to enhance the quality of service translates into more expenses for you. However, there is a solution: Include a chatbot at your service desk, and another on your website.
Having a robust chatbot helps you to answer questions and even directly resolve tickets by superseding your agents. Also, well-configured chatbots helps you to manage quotes; leads and sales while you and your agents continue sleeping.
2. Create multi-channel scripts that ensure quality standardization
This is essential to create and respect uniformity that will help you to enhance customer service.
It’s quite simple: If your clients contact your customer service by Facebook, mail or chatbot; they must find the same response quality in the same waiting time; and even the same welcoming message.
Of course, achieving this demands a multi-channel tool for customer service tool that allows you to centralize and address all the types of communication you have. Through this, you will be able to replicate and give more than one use to your scripts to keep your good score with your clients.
In summary, it does not matter what channel your clients use. Your social networks, Email, Chat, Web site or Apps, all of them must have the same quality and level of automation.
3. Get closer to your customers
The trick here is becoming more than a company that interacts with its customers through their service agents, who actually have to stick to a script that mechanizes every contact.
Gettin closer to your customers is easily achieved through human and close relations that also contain real solutions and professionalism.
Now, how do you achieve and balance both goals? Simply: Hiring qualified personnel who actually know their work as agents; and through specialization courses to enhance customer service.
Like this, you’ll will immediately notice positive ratings for both, your company and your staff. Everybody appreciates a positive review and specially because they result in the best and most effective advertising campaign for your brand.
4. Provide answers and solutions in the same contact channel
Derivations are another key aspect you must take care of. Of course, we all know that a percentage of the tickets you receive will need specialized attention in other layers. However, derivation to other care channels must be taken off the equation.
This means that if a client decided to contact you through Facebook, then the attention and final solution to his complaint or request must come through the same channel.
The reason is very simple: If your client contacts you via chatbot to report a complex problem and the initial response you give is to call or send an email; you will surely increase his frustration which in the end will end up being negative for your purpose to enhance customer service.
This example takes us to the next point.
5. Unify each client history
If for some greater reason it is absolutely necessary the derivation of the client to another channel for the solution of his problem; at least save him the trouble of telling you the reason for his contact over again.
This is one of the most common complaints of customer service; and if it is your desire to enhance customer service, you must anticipate your requirements and needs.
To achieve this, the only thing you need is to unify all the customer information (contact data and history of complaints/requirements/claims/questions/solutions) in the same spot that you and your agents can easily access from any channel.
6. Offer a robust and friendly Knowledge Base
Many more times, your clients will need your assistance for simple and repetitive cases that do not need to create a ticket. For these frequent questions; offer a robust and friendly knowledge base that will save them from calling your service agents to solve such requirements on their own.
Such knowledge base benefits even your agents and influences your results regarding the achievement of business objectives. In addition, it also gives you a clear guide to detect the most typical queries, and which can be derived to the chatbots.
7. Provide attention every time they contact you
Never leave unanswered a ticket, a phone call or an email even if they contain questions whose answers lay in the Knowledge Base.
In addition, good practices establish that we are obliged to ask to the customer if he needs something else. This simple question helps you to enhance customer service, and it may even potentially include a lead or business opportunity for you.
8. Follow-up
There is always the chance that the client has found the solution to his problem and yet; is impossible for him solve it on his own. Whether he reports or not this new issue, we are obliged to respond; and if we do not do it, the fault resides in us.
Again, good practices demand that we have to follow-up every requirement and take the time to build a closer relationship with our customers. Then, set parameters for your agents to spend time tracking their assigned tickets.
Remember: Every problem solved should represent a satisfied customer; and each satisfied customer holds the potential of good recommendations. And this must be another of your goals to enhance customer service.
9. Set a maximum response time for replying
It may surprise you to know that according to specialized reports; the average response time to give the first response of a ticket generated on the companies’ websites is approximately 12 hours.
Same, you will also be surprised to know that the average waiting time for telephone service is 20 minutes. Although less, this time is however too much to say; and it’s very expensive for everyone.
Then, in an era where immediacy is the only norm; such average times are nothing but absurd. Let’s put it this way: Are we willing to wait 12 hours for the answer of a company; or are we willing to waste 20 minutes of our lives listening to music on the in the background through the phone?
So, this is the deal: If we want to enhance customer service; we must weigh the customer’s global experience with our brand. And nobody is willing to wait 12 hours or 20 minutes without first looking for other options that probably; will give better responses in terms of time.
For this reason we have to learn and internalize, and even make part of our scripts and protocols reducing the maximum response time to 3 hours. In that time, we are perfectly capable of answering to the client; and letting him know that his requirement has been taken into account; and that a timely response will be given soon.
10. Unify and simplify the user’s experience
The ideal goal to enhance customer service is to offer a multi-channel site that everyone, clients and agents equally, can easily access from their different devices. In this sense, having presence in the main digital channels positively influences the final decision of our customers when they check their options in service.
So, we must contextualize ourselves in the real capabilities of each channel and take advantage of their differences to improve and simplify the user’s experience. In other words, it is absurd to set up a chat to operate like a telephone and for example; enable it so that the client be able to use it only when the agent is actually online.
In summary, if our desire is to enhance customer service; we must simplify the service processes and adapt them to each channel without losing the quality and uniformity.
Last considerations to enhance your customer service
Although it may look like there are many considerations to be taken into account; actually these 10 golden rules simplify the process to enhance customer service. If it really is your desire to take a step forward in this direction, we put at your disposal the best tools for customer service.
It’s just a matter of taking few moments to leave us your contact information here, and in less time than you expect you will receive the opportune response from our agents to help you drive your company towards service excellence.
