Stop Selling And Start Listening; Customer Service Excellence Pays Dividends
Customer engagement involves the relationship of a customer to your business. A thoroughly engaged customer becomes invested and loyal to your brand. It’s not organic. Customer engagement requires work.
The concept of customer engagement only fully emerged in the digital era. Engagement became more prevalent and more visible as two-way communication between customer and brand developed over online channels. Engagement isn’t only digital, of course — it can also happen in person and through traditional communication channels.
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When customers feel appreciated, companies gain measurable benefits — including the chance to win more of their customers’ spending dollars. Arguably; no single customer engagement is more powerful than successfully solving an issue or complaint and, in doing so demonstrating respect to your customers
Respect for customers is a simple concept that starts with engaging with them efficiently through their preferred communication channel and gaining their trust by treating them as individuals, understanding that they have a choice, their time is valuable, and they have better things to be doing with it.
The customer journey matters. When someone makes contact because they have an issue, that is foremost in their mind. Treating every customer-initiated contact as a sales opportunity is clearly tempting but not particularly sensitive if they are making contact to seek help; validating the reason for contact before filling gaps in customer service with a sales message is likely to be better received. For example, help answer the customer’s query or solve their problem. In addition, they are far more likely to be receptive to learning how deepening their relationship with your brand could benefit them — for example, upgrading their mobile phone or connection package.
Anyone who has found themselves tearing their hair out, spending hours trying multiple channels to get a simple answer from a supplier, will be familiar with being subjected to a barrage of sales messages pushing other products or services while waiting in a call queue to resolve a current issue like my “my broadband isn’t working.” No, this is not the right moment to upsell me on renewing my contract or taking out more services/
Honestly, I find it amazing that anyone would think a good time to sell to me is when I am trying to talk to them about an issue with the goods or services they provide I have already paid for. It is not the time to be selling but to be servicing, and the basic principles of excellent customer service should revolve around respect, consideration, delivering a great experience every time, and meeting the customer’s needs:
Indeed providing respectful service is not a complex concept and arguably should be considered common sense, respect customers’ time, resolve their problems, and they will think good things about the company. Yet, many organizations seemingly fail to consider how they look from their customers’ perspectives. For example, asking me to call a premium rate line as the only option to resolve a service issue starts way down the scale of expectations.
Even if the contact is via a channel of choice, including webchat and email, tolerance for waiting is short, and customer expectations of immediate response (i.e., within five minutes) have drastically increased in the past year: webchat saw an increase of 21%, reaching nearly 43% in 2020, while email’s response expectations grew by 45%. For voice and video calls, 33% of customers expect an immediate response.
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Find out who I am quickly and efficiently. Security processes such as two-stage verification validate whom I need to be streamlined and efficient. Once my I.D. is established, I should not need further identity validation if my conversation is switched to another channel, from live chat to a callback. Is there anything more irritating than completing an authentication process, or communicating why you are making contact, only to be asked to go through the procedures again? Instead, connecting me every time to a knowledgeable human or A.I. resource who can access all relevant information about me and my account and efficiently handle my needs demonstrates respect and consideration.
I don’t like waiting, no one wants to wait, but if my expectations are managed, then, like most people, I will be tolerant within limits. Tell me what to expect at the beginning of the process, and keep me informed. If Customer Service is busy, say so upfront and manage my expectations.
Please don’t make me wait for no apparent reason. You are not paying for my time; as a customer, I am paying for yours. Ensure my journey from that first contact to a satisfactory conclusion is smooth. Make it easy, clear, and simple to find the help I need regardless of what channel I am using to initiate a conversation, and you will be rewarded.
Don’t try to sell. Try to help.
Deploying video calls, email and chatbots clearly helped companies weather the pandemic. Yet let’s not get so besotted with technology that we believe we can go on autopilot. In today’s world, I’ve found that prospects don’t want to be “sold to.” And they don’t want to be “marketed to.” A truly digital-first approach to sales and marketing rests upon a strategic imperative to build meaningful digital interactions that deliver a series of messages with one overarching goal: trust.
It’s a fact: Give customers a great experience, and they’ll buy more, be more loyal and share their experience with friends. That’s what every company strives for referrals the best sales of all. Yet, so many seem disappointed. Call it an experience disconnect: companies tout the latest technology or snappy design but haven’t focused on — or invested in — the most meaningful aspects of customer experience.
When customers feel appreciated, companies gain measurable benefits — including the chance to win more of their customers’ spending dollars. The payoffs for valued, great experiences are tangible: up to a 16% price premium on products and services, plus increased loyalty. While every industry sees a potential price bump for providing a positive customer experience, luxury and indulgence purchases benefit the most from top-flight service.
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Originally published at Upstack.co on Jan 12, 2022, by Symon Blomfield.
