Customer care (or customer service) is having to evolve as trading and shopping moves more and more online.
In the past, businesses have wowed customers with attention to detail, meetings in person and ties to the local community. However, with more and more online business models, customer care has moved on to 24/7 help desks, communication via social media and live chat.
Listening to your customers is still the key to excellent customer care, but how can you do that in an ever-growing digital world? Here are some tips for you to consider…
Do your research
Communicating via social media sites and messaging apps may not be something you do on a regular basis, but if your customers are there, you should be too! Spend some time researching social media platforms and messaging apps to discover which ones your customers are using.
Keep the personal touches
Customers who buy online are more tech savvy than ever before and will recognise a standard automated response straight away. Ensure your electronic communications are personal and meaningful interactions. Why not set yourself a goal to personally answer all communications within three hours, regardless of how they are received?
Move with the shift in demographic
“Millennials” and “Generation Z” customers now outnumber the “Baby Boomers”. Younger generations want fast service, delivered using mobile devices and social medial platforms. Prioritising these platforms can be beneficial for businesses because they allow you to widen your target market and reach more possible customers. Businesses should ensure they are moving with the times and not be afraid of change.
Open all hours
Whilst you should be aiming to create personal and meaningful interactions with your customers in a timely manner, it is not always possible. Modern day life is hectic! Customers may want to communicate “out of hours” due to shift work or being in a different time zone. For these instances you could consider, chat bots or online customer service agents who operate across different time zones. Lots of these customer service functions can be outsourced to third party providers.
Become a mystery shopper!
Walk in your customers shoes for a day and experience the care they receive.
- Call your helpline – do you end up in an endless cycle of options and menus or on hold for what seems like hours?
- Email your firm with a query – do you get a helpful response within your permitted timeframe?
- Complete an online purchase or on the phone – was it a positive experience you would recommend to your friends and family?
Remember to make a note of any improvements you could action to make your sales process and customer care world class.
The move to online business, coupled with changes in customer expectations have upped the bar in terms of what excellent customer care looks like.
We recommend getting out there and sampling different social platforms and messaging apps for yourself. Try something new and remember to always look out for ways to improve.