Customer service is the core of every company’s business structure. Through the years, companies have continued to remodel their approach to customer service in line with evolving technology. It doesn’t matter what your business is about; if you wish to scale your sales, then you must prioritize customer satisfaction on your platform.
Most recent advancements in technology are aimed at simplifying business service and providing answers in the least possible time. Customers can make a request or reach out with their problems and get solutions. For example, a student who has a pressing deadline can confidently request a paper writing services reviews at any time of the day. Beyond the quality of work that you get, the confidence that you can reach your writer any time for adjustment makes the service worth the time.
So, as a business owner or sales manager, how can technology help you improve customer service in your company?
Communication Buffer
Communication is the core of customer service. Your clients want to call you at any time of the day and get a solution. Fair enough, you don’t have to keep your workers stuck at the office all day to attend to customer complaints or take orders. You can incorporate different platforms to improve communication.
Apart from the telephone, you can use a synced email platform or auto-response messaging system to ensure that you respond to your clients in real-time. This increases the level of trust that your buyers or service subscribers have in your business. You may also require clients to send you a text or reach out on a social media platform ( such as Twitter).
The advantage of these alternative means of communication includes the chance to collate customer complaints and recommendations. This is very useful in assessing your company’s position before the target market. It also helps to improve customer experience since you can immediately see frequently asked questions and most requested services.
Also, looking at the diverse groups of people in today’s market, the multiple channels of communication that technology provides makes it easier for you to reach people in all demographics. It will be easier to reach millennials and Gen Z clients on Facebook but baby boomers and Gen Xers will feel safer talking to a service provider on phone.
Here’s something to consider: Communication involves your efforts to reach your target market with details about the service you provide and all the ways they get back to you with feedback.
Integrated Online Service (Omni-Channel Service)
If there’s any lesson 2020 entrenched in people’s hearts, it’s that physical office spaces are no barrier to effective customer experience. You can sell your product, receive payment, take reviews, and resolve issues on one platform without ever having to meet the client. This is the omni-channel service that places your entire business in the palm of your client through their mobile device.
As a business, you can make it easy for your service providers to interface with customers and walk them through every process without leaving the platform. Customers can begin their search on social media and transfer to your web app or other mobile apps by following screen prompts. This reduces the risk of losing them to other easy-to-navigate business platforms.
Point to consider: to use an omni-channel service, you need to channel inquiries to one inbox. This allows your service providers to follow up on any of the platforms uniformly.
Self Service Improves Customer Experience and Reduces Cost
If you make products like sound systems or electric gadgets, you will need to provide a user manual for buyers to help them find their way around using the products. But other users might provide a more comprehensive how-to manual that can draw attention away from what you’ve provided.
Now, imagine that a competitor has a more comprehensive manual on their website that solves all the problems of the buyer in one click. This can put you at a disadvantage because people want to interact less with the company if they can solve their problems from the comfort of their homes.
Even when placing an order, buyers want to find the details of the product on your website and make a decision without necessarily calling your service team. They want to easily follow the delivery process and never have a reason to call in for a complaint.
What’s more? With automated self-service and updated how-to manual, your business can save more from fewer phone times while being more efficient with solving real-time problems.
Make Data-Informed Decisions
At every point that you decide to scale your business, you need data that reflects the true position of your company. For example, when you introduce a particular product or service, you’ll need to know how well it is performing after a while. By providing services that are synced to technology, you can analyze customer interaction with the product or service.
Customer interaction with your platform will reveal what their needs are and show you what to improve or remove. It will also allow your team to identify what you are omitting so that every part of the organization can adjust accordingly.
Bear in mind that every part of your company needs this data – the sales personnel, IT and engineering team, and governing board.
Customer Complaints Will Reduce
There are two sides to this. One is that customer service technology involves artificial intelligence. This means that the system continues to learn the behavior of clients and how to respond to them. As a result, your team will continue to iterate until bot intelligence can handle most of the simple issues.
The other side is that, as we mentioned before, you won’t need a large team because there’s not a lot of work to do. But, before you go firing everyone, consider that there are more complex issues to focus on in the company. So, when your system has become self-automated it’s time to focus on personalized experiences for more serious issues. This will position your company as a customer-centric team and allow you more time for improvement.
In Summary
Everyone benefits from a good technological customer experience. It keeps the clients coming back and is good for organic business growth. Word of mouth references (or good online reviews) is the best way to relate your service worth to your target market.
For your business, it positions you as the brand to work with. It also allows your team to gather real-time data that can help you make informed decisions. Technology has come to stay and every progressive business will have to embrace it to move forward.