The standard of customer experience (CX) you're able to deliver is a crucial factor in the broader performance and success of your business.
Many companies are currently focusing on this as a priority. Insights for Professionals surveyed 230 organizations for our research report The State of Customer Experience in 2022/23, revealing key findings including:
- 45% of businesses intend to invest in CX over the coming year with the aim of improving customer satisfaction
- Two-thirds (66%) see building customer understanding as their biggest CX challenge
- Nearly one in ten (9%) aren't confident in their customer service abilities
- Poor communication (14%) was cited as one of the biggest reasons why firms fail to retain customers, along with lack of personalization (16%)
The results also showed that nearly one in four respondents (23%) left callers waiting for an average of five to ten minutes to speak to a customer service agent.
For most people, this will be far too long to wait. Those who are left disappointed might not be with you for much longer, with separate research showing that 58% of American consumers would switch companies because of poor customer service.
To keep your audience happy, make sure you have a strategy to keep queuing times to a minimum.
1. Develop a knowledge base
Six out of ten professionals surveyed by IFP said they planned to reduce waiting times by building a customer service knowledge base.
This gives you a central repository where you can store a range of relevant and useful information, which could prove just as valuable for your staff as for your customers.
If resources such as a database of answers to commonly raised queries are easily accessible to your support agents and customers alike, for example, you'll drastically reduce the time required for people to get the information they need.
2. Be proactive
An ideal scenario for your customers and for you is your support team being so in tune with audience needs and priorities that they can pre-empt requests.
Helpdesk agents who can predict potential issues and contact customers before they call you will reduce queues and drive up overall experience standards. You'll also benefit from higher levels of brand loyalty and advocacy.
This relies on a high level of audience and industry knowledge. Make sure you're giving your employees the time and resources they need to build a deep and evolving understanding of your customer base.
3. Empower your customer service agents
There are many things you can do to help your customer support team do their jobs as effectively as possible.
Delivering specialist training, for example, will help your staff develop skills that are essential to efficient customer service, such as active listening, problem solving, communication and product knowledge.
Frontline workers should also have reliable access to tools and resources that make it easier for them to provide the answers callers are looking for as quickly as possible.
4. Focus on response times
The amount of time they have to wait to speak to someone will always be a big issue for customers and a key factor in how they feel about your business.
That's why it's crucial to maintain a constant focus on your response times. You'll often find that providing a quick reply - even if it's just to say a request has been noted and is being actioned - is enough to keep callers satisfied while you investigate the issue.
Research by Nielsen has shown that one in three people would still recommend a brand that deals with customer service queries quickly, even if the initial response is incomplete.
5. Direct calls to the right people
Issues will be dealt with much quicker and queues reduced significantly if calls are being routed to the people who are best equipped to handle them.
This is particularly important if you receive a high volume of queries relating to technical aspects of your product or service, which require specialist knowledge or skills to resolve. It's vital to have a clear system in place that sends these queries along the right channels and gets customers the help they need in good time.
If this is an area where you have room for improvement, it's worth looking into how you could benefit from using a dedicated customer service software platform.
6. Turn technology to your advantage
Bespoke software is just one example of a tech solution that could make a significant difference to your customer service queues and CX standards.
Many members of your audience might expect you to provide an online self-service portal, where they can find information themselves and complete straightforward tasks without having to speak to anyone. This offers the dual benefits of higher customer satisfaction and fewer people waiting in queues.
Another increasingly common tactic is to introduce a chatbot to provide immediate responses to common queries. Just make sure the technology works well for your customers and delivers good ROI for your business.
Further reading
Access the latest business knowledge in Marketing
Get Access
Marketing Insights for Professionals
Insights for Professionals provide free access to the latest thought leadership from global brands. We deliver subscriber value by creating and gathering specialist content for senior professionals
Comments
Join the conversation...