Photo by Liza Summer
“Customer Service is everything and anything that touches a customer – directly or indirectly. Customer service means servicing customers and it’s so much more than just solving problems or addressing complaints. Customer service is part of a holistic customer experience that is capable of providing a critical competitive advantage in today’s increasingly cluttered and commoditized marketplace”. – Joseph Jaffe
Clichés such as ‘time is money’, ‘save time and you make more’ and others, hold in the world of business. For customers, time is of the essence. They expect that the company they deal with understands the value of their time. In addition, they expect that it creates strategies that stretch the number of hours they have in a day. In the spirit of respecting customers’ time, many companies have now started providing self-service options. Additionally, they can use tools that help to improve customer satisfaction. An example of such a tool is interactive decision trees.
In today’s business world, customers have changed dramatically. They hate to be interrupted in their busy schedule, especially if it’s an answer to a simple query. They would much rather find the most appropriate and accurate answer on their own. That is with the minimum amount of disruption to their work. Picking up the phone to call or searching for an email on which to send a query, may be simple tasks. However, it seems highly onerous to the frenzied and extremely busy customers.
Create the company’s contact channels
Research shows that customers do not want to use up their time. It reveals that at least 73% of customers consider the value of their time as top-class service from a company. At least 53% of customers are likely to abandon an online query or purchase if they could find what they wanted fast enough. Companies would leave a lot of money lying on the table if they are unable to ramp up service and reduce the timelines for responding to queries and providing solutions to customer problems. Respecting customers’ time is essential, but does not come without its fair share of challenges for companies. With the rise in technology, there has been a significant increase in the number of channels through which, customers can contact companies. These channels seem to be expanding consistently.
Provide efficient self-service options
An increasing number of ways that a growing customer base can contact a company would create problems. The multiple resources that a company has to use to manage this increase may not be comparable. With these ‘equations’ not matching up, the result is unwanted lead times and long waits for customers. In turn, it may irritate customers who would either reduce the amount of business they provide or turn away completely. This translates to a loss of revenue, an increase in costs, and a major dent in the company. Providing ready and efficient self-service that is available would seem to be the answer to these issues, for any company.
Respecting customers’ time should be paramount. It means that a company should make it simple and quick for customers to find answers to simple queries, tap into their mobile devices to access information, and access apps that simplify their lives. Getting answers on the go is easier. It saves a lot of time, effort, and money for both customers and companies. The easier a company makes it for customers to do business, the more engaged they would feel about the company. Research shows an increase in the percentage of people using web-based self-service from 67% to 76% within a short span.
Self-service options show commitment to customers
By respecting customers’ time through providing self-service, a company displays passion and commitment toward its customers. The efficiency of responses increases, bringing down the time for each customer to find answers. They do not have to call a contact center or write an email. In turn, this reduces the workload on the customer service representatives.
Their skill can then be utilized to provide a higher level of service, rather than simply answering queries. Customer service is a high-stress and pressure job. A company must do its duty in alleviating some of the pain of its employees. They need to feel cared for and pass on the same feelings to the customers. By respecting customers’ time and their employees, a company can strike a happy balance between the two. It results in gaining long-term advantages for the business.
Leverage use of technology
What does your company do to display respect for customers and their time? How does your business make it easier for the employees to perform at their optimal efficiency? To start with, companies must leverage the power of technology. They can create a centrally managed database with customer details and history with the company. Doing so ensures that the customer service representatives provide swift and correct answers to customer queries. It minimizes the amount of time that customers need to wait.
In addition, using a standard and updated database helps service agents provide consistent and faster responses across all communication channels. That is irrespective of which one their customers may decide to use. A company can strengthen its internal working procedures and give more leeway to its employees. This ensures that what customers receive at the end is simple, fast, and efficient service. Regardless of the reason they may contact the company.
Mobile-friendly service options
Statistics show that the number of people using their mobiles to access information is increasing fast. For companies, it means that their information and self-service options should be easy to access through mobile phones. The idea is that customers get the help/ information when they want and how they want it. This is probably why there has been a dramatic increase in the number of mobile apps from companies across industries. Respecting customers’ time and effort is now a must-do for every company.
Self-service options should be easy
The premise of self-service capabilities for customers should be that it makes things simpler and quicker for them. The ‘finding options’ should be open. It must allow customers to search for whatever they are looking for without being confined to terms and phrases pre-determined by the company. Customers may not always understand or know these terms. Therefore, it makes sense for companies to ensure that the self-service options are ‘intelligent’ enough to understand the queries/ problems. They should also ‘throw up’ responses that are most appropriate to specific queries. The whole idea behind customer service is to simplify the life of customers. It ensures that they expend the least amount of effort in getting service from a company.
Why is it necessary to respect customers’ time?
It may seem like an added expenditure for companies to invest in self-service. However, the fact is that there are huge benefits for a company too. Customers would contact the company a lot less since they can resolve simple problems and find answers to basic queries on their own. This reduces the number of calls and ‘tickets’ for the customer service employees. They can then focus on providing more value-added services by learning more and increasing their efficiency.
With reduced routine queries, a company would need to employ fewer employees to handle these basic ‘jobs’. Instead, they should hire more experienced and better-skilled employees with higher productivity. Those who prove to be an asset to the company. Fewer employees delivering higher work output are more cost-effective than, multiple employees who can only handle basic queries and responses. With limited resources, it would not be prudent to waste precious human resources and money by hiring mediocre employees.
To sum up
Customers have also shown an affinity for self-service tools and options. That is, especially, for simple tasks such as checking account balances, paying bills, troubleshooting minor issues, and other such simple requirements. They do not want to wait or make the effort to connect directly with a company. By providing these tools, a company is not only respecting customers’ time, but also saving its own business a lot of effort, costs, and time.
