Customer service in the digital age
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Dear customer
Effective marketing means getting the right message to the right person at the right time. Take the time and leverage data to understand your customers. And then, tailor each message directly to them. Learn more.
Uncomfortable
“In order to grow, one must become comfortable being uncomfortable. What I mean by that is that I want you to start putting yourself in situations that you're uncomfortable with, to do things that you would normally avoid. For example, if you have a fear of public speaking, take it on directly.” -- Mario Armstrong
Next-level analytics
Tracking website traffic with tools like Google Analytics is essential, but once your visitors land on your page, do you know where they’re looking? Pinpoint user focus with sophisticated tools like Crazy Egg and ClickTale. Use the information to optimize your site’s user experience and improve your conversion rate.
Help customers help themselves
Enabling customers to resolve questions and issues themselves can save them time and improve customer satisfaction. Consider a tool such as Desk.com or Zendesk® that allows you to create a custom self-service support center on your website. Organize the center by topic to help customers find answers quickly and easily.
4 tips to make your business more responsive
There was a time, not so long ago, when an argument over The Bee Gees’ drummer could last for months … until someone finally went to a library and checked out “The Unabridged Encyclopedia of Disco and Its Death.” These days, such debates are won in the time it takes to whip out a smartphone. We’ve entered the Age of Instant Everything.
This is apparent everywhere, including — maybe especially — in customer service. Today, if you’re taking 24 hours to return a customer’s phone call or email, you’re losing business. Your prospective clients are so used to having unlimited access to everything — from trivia to shopping — that when it comes to making purchases or troubleshooting existing orders, they expect immediate responses. If you’re having trouble keeping up with today’s tempo, it might be time to rethink your support strategies.
Here are four tips to make sure your customer service efforts aren’t as dead as disco:
- Make information accessible. Many of your customers would rather figure it out themselves. Make your website user-friendly and easily navigable. Detailed and sophisticated product materials and online support will empower customers. And if you’re looking for customer loyalty, nothing grants a sense of ownership like uncovering insider solutions. Having a phone is one thing — knowing that phone is another.
- Provide intelligent support. Make smart hires, and then train extensively. The days of customer service agents reading from scripts are numbered. Because today’s savvy customers can resolve so much on their own by dipping into online knowledge bases, person-to-person support is becoming a much more complex conversation. Customers tend to pick up the phone only after other forums have failed, so your employees will need to be able to troubleshoot in real time. Regurgitating passages from an internal knowledge base will no longer do the trick. Investing more in personnel will often save time, money, and loyalty down the line.
- Make amends. The gratification part of instant gratification is just as important as the immediacy. Make sure your staff is empowered not only to provide solutions, but also to make amends when and if trouble rears its head. Discounts, rebates, or even a bit of swag can go a long way toward keeping your customers happy. Is it bribery? Maybe. But keeping customers happy costs less than finding new ones.
- Keep customers in the loop. Without an online order confirmation, most of us assume there’s a problem. You’ll be fielding fewer calls if your Content Management System (CMS) sends emails or texts to each customer as changes occur in their order’s status. Some popular platforms that can accomplish this include OrderMotion’s OMX for eCommerce, Magento Enterprise, and Mozu.
Don’t give your customers the chance to doubt you; let them know you’re on top of it.
Stayin’ alive in the digital age
Today’s customers are accustomed to having answers at their fingertips, and they expect the same from you. They require immediate responses to questions, answers to problems, and access to information. Anything less, and they’ll feel like they’ve left home without their phones — out of the loop and disconnected from the Instant Everything they’ve grown so accustomed to. Don’t leave them leafing through the liner notes of “Stayin’ Alive” when they ought to have answers, here and now.
We’d love to hear from you! If you have another tip for making your business more customer responsive, please leave a comment below.
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