Customer service is one of the most important parts of running a successful company. It’s what helps you keep your customers happy and coming back for more, which ultimately leads to increased sales revenue in both old markets as well new ones! So, if good customer satisfaction means anything then make sure that their needs are met quickly with attentive people who make them feel welcomed from start until finish.
Customer service is not just about providing excellent products and services, but also making sure your customers have a great experience with you. Good customer care typically means being timely, and attentive to their needs.
Customer experience is gaining popularity among companies and they are competing with each other to provide the best experiences to their customers. You either put your customers first by being proactive or reactive.
Reactive customer service: A shopper finds something they need on the website, so instead of calling their contact number listed in search results (which could potentially get them waiting for days), they email you about it- expecting a quick resolution since most people are looking for help right away these days! Proactively providing solutions like FAQs/ forums will allow shoppers to find what information is needed immediately without having an adverse effect.
How is proactive customer service beneficial for a company?
Proactive customer support can prove beneficial for a business by increasing customer loyalty, decreasing support calls and controlling communication. By identifying issues and resolving them before they turn out to be problems for customers, the number of incoming customer care calls can be reduced. Moreover, a proactive outreach can help businesses engage in communicating with customers on social media and other platforms and projecting their services most favorably.
Being proactive in their approach will enable businesses to acquire new customers. They will be able to find opportunities to reach out to prospective customers and encourage them to switch to your brand. Proactively reaching out to your customers can strengthen customer-merchant relationships, thereby promoting customer retention. Proactive customer service enables businesses to not only satisfy customers but turn them into brand advocates. By getting proactively involved in resolving potential issues, businesses can provide a better customer experience and protect themselves from escalation.
A flawed proactive approach can impact you negatively
A Gartner study found that two-thirds of customers contact customer service after receiving proactive outreach from a brand, often using costly assisted channels because they required additional information or confirmation. A flawed approach to proactive customer service can lead to confusion and give rise to unanswered questions which can erode the benefits of this type of outreach.
Gartner’s findings showed that proactive service did create a better customer experience for B2C and B2B customers. However, the survey also revealed that after receiving proactive outreach, instead of resolving an issue by themselves or taking no action, 66% of B2C and 82% of B2B customers contacted the company.
“Receiving proactive service leads to a 9% increase in a customer’s value enhancement score,” said Eric Keller, senior research director in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice. “However, proactive outreach that raises unanswered questions erodes the benefits for customers and leads to additional costs for the company. To avoid this, customer service and support leaders must center their proactive approach around building customers’ confidence in the company’s ability to serve them effectively.”
The following tips from Gartner will help improve your proactive strategy.
- Channel the proactive outreach to build confidence in the company’s ability to resolve service issues.
- Always prioritize timely communication on these types of problems so they can be resolved as soon as possible.
- Consider the timing and dynamically adjusting the interactive voice response (IVR) system when preparing for additional contact from potential customers. If you’re confident that an uptick in calls will happen at certain times, set up messages to be answered during those low-call volume periods. You may also consider dynamically adjusting the IVR so that already contacted customers are prompted with several options if their problem relates directly or indirectly to outreach efforts made beforehand!
Also read: Is your company focusing on customer experience? Here is why you should.
