We live in a world where customers expect to engage with a brand anywhere, at any time. In order to meet customer demands, our businesses stay open around the clock. But the challenges don’t stop there.
These days, it’s impossible to achieve customer service excellence without offering an omnichannel experience. And what does that mean for companies? Ensuring that our customers can reach us via their preferred channel, and get a prompt response. It’s no small feat, but if the customer’s smile is at the heart of your strategy, your organisation will find a way.
A strong, tactical approach to customer service is to offer a personalised service. It’s thinking of the customer as a single individual It’s optimising the resolution of simple cases so that your sales agents have more time to solve complicated tasks. It’s not straightforward, but you don’t have to face this on your own . Fortunately, the market is replete with cutting-edge technology, such as Zendesk or SugarCRM, that can help you achieve tactical excellence in customer service.
So, how do we effectively plan an omnichannel approach? How many channels do we focus on? Should one channel be given priority over another? These are just some of the questions that companies have to ask themselves when shaping an impactful customer service strategy. Luckily, we’ve thought it through so you don’t have to. Here’s our advice:
Fail to plan, plan to fail
Step number one should always be the same: take a moment to reflect on your customers’ behaviour. What’s your channel reach? Is one channel more popular than the other? Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that each channel should have equal attention when it comes to development and resources. In fact, if you take the same approach to each channel, you’re demonstrating that you don’t know the complexities of your business. Plan your approach based on what your business needs.
More IS merrier
The more channels you make use of, the better your data. The better your data, the greater your insights into customer trends. With these insights, you can also keep better track of your business’ pain points, so you know the exact approach to take to improve your customer service. Equally, when it comes to forecasting your business’ future trends, access to a high volume of customer data will ensure that your predictions are accurate.
Move as one
Although each customer service channel should be approached differently, it is recommended that you employ a single software system to allow for effective cross-channel communication. Innovative software solutions like Zendesk’s omni-channel suite addresses this very well. More often than not, your customers will use multiple channels to reach you at any given time. If you are unable to provide a seamless, omnichannel experience, your customers will likely become frustrated with the lack of consistency. Moreover, without a system that tracks cross-channel data, you risk slowing down the sales process as well as problem resolution.
The human touch
Your customers are unique, and so are their problems. While technological systems help you share data and streamline your customer service strategy, it’s important to remember the added value that your sales agents bring to the customer’s experience. Technology should support your agents, not replace them.
Personalisation
There are fantastic resource when it comes to creating a more personalised service for your customer. Tools involving email marketing and chatbots, for example, have proven to be highly effective in driving digital marketing approaches. But technological personalisation can only take you so far. Once again, it is imperative that you balance technology with human engagement.
Ultimately, the best thing that you can do for your business is take the time to plan and implement an effective customer service strategy. By putting the customer first and guaranteeing them a seamless experience with your brand, you’re opening yourself up to higher customer satisfaction, more sales opportunities and overall long-term growth. Keep your customer happy and your business will survive, thrive and soar.
