5 Ways of Delivering Outstanding Customer Support

Customer support is becoming a key battleground for businesses looking to separate themselves from the competition. In fact, companies like the online retailer Zappos, managed to build a billion-dollar empire out of it. One of Zappos’ company values is “to live and deliver WOW”. Since customer support can help take your business to the next level, we will provide you with five ways of delivering outstanding customer support. 

1. Don’t Keep Your Customers Waiting 

When we look at the average response time for various customer support channels, we can understand why so many customers are frustrated with the level of customer support. For example, let’s take instant chat. The average time a customer has to wait for an agent to respond to the inquiry is 2 minutes 40 seconds. By the time an agent gets around to answering, the customer will be very aggravated by the long wait time. Another thing to keep in mind is that consumer expectations are increasing every year and you need to be able to keep up. 

Outsourcing your customer support can help you not only reduce wait times but improve your metrics across the board. Setting up an offshore support team can give you an advantage in an area where your competitors are lacking. 

2. Get to Know Your Customers 

According to data from Segment, 40 percent of U.S. consumers say they have purchased something more expensive than they originally planned to because their experience was personalized. While a lot of the personalization can be done through various software tools, such as your website platform providing personalized recommendations to customers, your agents have a big role to play as well. When a customer calls in or contacts you via other channels, be sure to know their name and previous interaction history. This will show the customer that they are not just another number in an online queue, they have your undivided attention and that the company truly cares about them as a client. 

3. Own Your Errors

Even the best customer support teams will make mistakes once in a while. Since nobody’s perfect, mistakes will happen and it’s up to you to fix them instead of hiding or trying to justify them. Also, a customer support agent that’s working as part of a team, there will be times where they have to take responsibility for mistakes they did not make. In other words, they may have to fix messes that someone else caused. And no, it’s not fair, but that’s life. Deal with it. After all, each customer support agent is the company as far as the customer is concerned. A good way to deal with such situations is to acknowledge how the customer is feeling. This shows a lot of empathy and can help you retain the customer. 

4. Welcome Feedback 

Obtaining customer feedback is very important because it serves as a guiding resource for the growth of your company. After all, how are you supposed to know what you are getting right and what needs to be improved? In short, feedback is the way to keep your community at the heart of everything you do. So, what are the best ways to collect customer feedback? One of the most popular methods is through online surveys. There are a ton of questions you could ask customers and you can choose between short pop-up surveys which are good for targeting specific issues of longer traditional surveys. 

5. Think About a Customer’s Lifetime Value 

A customer’s lifetime value is the metric that indicates the total revenue a business can reasonably expect from a single customer account throughout the business relationship. Companies in both the B2B and B2C sectors need to think beyond the first purchase and try to serve existing customers with products/services they like and make them happier, resulting in them spending more money at your company. This can also help you target your ideal customer segment. When you know how much money a customer has spent buying from you over a period of time, you can develop a customer acquisition strategy that targets customers who will spend the most on your business.

Leverage Technology to Enhance Support

In today’s digital age, leveraging technology can significantly enhance your customer support efforts. Implementing AI-powered chatbots can provide immediate responses to common inquiries, freeing up your human agents to handle more complex issues. Additionally, integrating CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems allows you to track and manage customer interactions and data seamlessly, ensuring that every touchpoint is personalized and informed. By utilizing these technologies, you can improve efficiency and provide a more tailored customer experience.

Training and Empowering Your Support Team

An often-overlooked aspect of exceptional customer support is the ongoing training and empowerment of your support team. Investing in regular training sessions helps agents stay updated on the latest products, services, and customer service techniques. Moreover, empowering your team with decision-making authority can lead to faster resolution times and higher customer satisfaction. When support agents feel confident and well-prepared, they are more likely to deliver positive and impactful service, which can significantly enhance your company’s reputation and customer loyalty.

Trust Mindy Support to Give You a Competitive Edge With Exceptional Customer Support

Whether you are looking to set up a new sales team from scratch or simply augment the in-house team you already have, Mindy Support can provide you with the guidance you need to get your project off and running smoothly and as quickly as possible. We are one of the largest BPO providers in Eastern Europe with more than 2,000 employees in six locations all over Ukraine and in other geographies globally to cover all required language skills.

Our size and location allow us to source and recruit the needed number of candidates within a short time frame and we can scale your team without sacrificing the quality of the work provided. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.