No business can survive for a long time without customers. They are the bedrock of any company.
Customer service is the direct one-on-one interaction between a consumer and a company representative in person, online, or over the phone.
If you run a small-budget business and are interested in boosting profitability, the customer service team should be one of your priorities. Depending on the nature of your business, a customer service representative offers support to customers before, during, and after they buy and use the company’s products or services.
A study showed that companies who pay more attention to their customer experience are more likely to report revenues that are twice that of their competitors.
A good customer service strategy requires understanding the latest technological trends, targeted audience demography, and regulations.
A customer service strategy is only as good as the team behind it. Today’s technology has made it easier for teams to collaborate on different projects virtually and worldwide.
Gone are the days of robotic phone menus and endless email chains. For optimal productivity, today’s employees are best managed via platforms they are most comfortable using.
In today’s digital world, people text more than call. This is why using an instant messaging app has become critical for a successful customer service strategy. Although there are various options for businesses, you should choose the one that offers security and effortless collaboration with a user-friendly interface.
Reasons to leverage instant messaging for customer service strategy
Typically, instant messaging apps are designed for communication between two individuals. They may lack certain features available in emails and other communication channels.
However, dedicated instant messaging apps are designed to offer simplicity, a user-friendly interface, and features that allow easy collaboration for teams.
This may include the ease of tracking work progress and sharing files.
Below are some reasons why you should leverage instant messaging for customer service:
Convenience
Many customer service representatives are familiar with how instant messaging tools work. This offers convenience of use and saves time and cost for training.
They can also move around with their gadget and still keep abreast of tasks, thanks to the friendliness of the tools on different devices.
Tasks delegation
Time efficiency is paramount for a contact center. Instant messaging software allows seamless delegation of tasks among staff.
It also helps employees quickly communicate a problem with superiors or colleagues for prompt response.
Increased efficiency
It offers flexibility that allows more than one kind of communication simultaneously.
A staff can simultaneously ask a colleague for updates on projects they are collaborating on while at the same time responding to a message from a supervisor or team leader.
Increased sales
Effective collaboration among customer service team members can result in better productivity, leading to quality customer support.
Quality customer support is strongly linked to higher customer retention and acquisition of new customers.
Also read: Top 10 Secret Messaging Apps for Private Conversations
How to plan a successful customer service strategy
A customer service strategy is a roadmap that outlines how a business will deliver exceptional customer support throughout the entire customer journey, from pre-purchase inquiries to post-sale issues. It is a secret weapon for customer satisfaction and business growth.
Here are the key elements of customer service strategy your marketing team can work with:
Problem identification
First, you must identify why you need to improve your customer service quality. Who are your customers? What are their needs and expectations? What are their pain points?
Identifying and understanding the problem can help you in devising the perfect solution.
Goals and objectives
Once the problem is identified and solutions devised, set goals and objectives for the new project.
Will solving the customer support issue improve your customer retention? If yes, by how much? Having a Key Performance Index (KPI) to work with can help you measure the strategy’s effectiveness.
Channels
It is recommended to offer your customers support via different channels. This allows them to reach you through their most comfortable platform, ensuring smoother communication.
Personalized service
When customers contact a company’s support, they want to talk to a human and not an AI-powered. Even if an AI powers your support, it should express some human feelings.
Personalize your interaction with customers by addressing them using their first names, remembering their past interactions, and tailoring your service to their preferences.
Proactive communication
Do not wait for customers to come to you about a problem before addressing it. Send regular updates about upcoming changes or potential disruptions. This could be anything from a scheduled system maintenance to a product recall.
Giving your customers a heads-up can help them prepare and avoid frustration.
Metrics and measurement
It is essential you perform a periodic analysis of the effectiveness of your strategy to identify ways you can adjust for optimal results.
Feedback loop
You should not rely solely on metrics generated by analytics. Send out surveys and encourage customers to give feedback about the customer service they just received.
This can help uncover hidden facts typical data cannot expose.
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