6 Ways Technology Can Improve Your Customer Service

If you don’t already know that customer service is the most important thing for a business you’re in big trouble. When a customer has a poor experience with your company, they’ll tell all of their friends and they might even post reviews online. One bad review can easily undo all of your hard work and put potential customers off using you in future, even if you’ve got loads of other good reviews alongside it. Even though you might think that your customer service is already the best that it can be, there is always room for improvement. The way that you speak to customers and the speed and efficiency with which you deal with any problems is vitally important but that’s just the bare minimum. Like most things, technology can make things a lot easier for you when it comes to customer service. There are so many great developments that can help you to deliver a better service to your customers and if you aren’t taking advantage of them, you’re letting yourself down. If you think that it’s time to revamp your customer service operation, here’s how technology can help you do it.

Around The Clock Service

As a customer, one of the most frustrating things about dealing with a company is that their call centers are usually working to the same hours as any other company. That means they’ll only be available while you’re at work. You’ll likely end up trying to fit a lengthy customer service call around your already busy day which is a real pain, but those days are over. Cloud technology has made it so much easier for people to work remotely which means you can often outsource your customer care calls to freelancers all around the world. That means that there’s always somebody awake to take calls, whatever the time is. You can also make good use of instant messaging services instead of phone calls to make it easier for people to work from home, answering queries at any time of day. That means customers will be able to get in touch with you when it suits them not when it suits you which is a huge bonus.

Apps

Being able to do things on the move is another plus for customers because it means they can easily get in touch with you when they’re out of the house. Getting software development companies to build a dedicated app where customers can deal with any problems is a great way to improve the service. The best thing about having a dedicated app for your company is that you can fill it with all sorts of information and frequently asked questions. That means instead of having to ring up your call center, they can just find the information they need by themselves without having to go through all of that extra hassle. It also makes it much easier for them to browse and buy your products so it’s a win win for you.

Reviews

We’ve already established that bad reviews can be disastrous for you but if you’re giving good customer service, you shouldn’t be getting any. In that case, they work in your favor. If you don’t have reviews on your website or social media, alarm bells will be ringing when a customer visits your site. They’ll automatically assume that your customer service is terrible and you want to hide that fact from potential customers. On the other hand, if you’re very vocal about the good feedback that you’re getting, you’ll make a lot more sales.

Good Records

When a customer is dealing with a complex issue that requires multiple phone calls over a longer period, there’s nothing more frustrating than them having to explain the problem over and over again every time they call you. They want you to know exactly what their problem is and where they’re up to with a solution so you can resolve the problem as quickly as possible. The easiest way to do this is build a database and online platform where you can keep good records so whenever somebody new picks up a call, they’ll have a complete rundown of the customer’s history. That way, they can pick up where the last person left off and sort out the problem for the customer without all of the hassle.

Data Gathering

The online world allows for a lot of data gathering about your customers. While a lot of people are wary about this, it’s incredibly helpful for businesses. The best way to market products and give customers a good service is to know them well. If you gather information about your customers you can target products and offers directly to your customers. This is far better than sending them blanket emails all the time which will just get frustrating. Holding information about them like their address etc. also means that you don’t need to keep asking them for the same information over and over again which also winds customers up.

Personal Service

One of the best developments in recent years is social media. It’s fast become the major platform for marketing and that’s no coincidence. The main benefit of social media marketing is that people feel more like they’re dealing with a person rather than a faceless company. If you start treating social media like another way of sending formal communications, you’re doing it wrong. You need to take advantage of the more informal nature of social media and offer a warm and welcoming service to your customers. They’ll come away with a much better feeling about your company and they’ll carry on coming back time and time again.

Having a good call center and training staff to deal with customers efficiently is a good basis for great customer service but it’s only the beginning. There are so many different platforms out there where you can in touch with customers and help them deal with any issues they may be having. You need to make use of all of this new technology to give your customers the best service possible if you want them to come back.  

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About Dequiana Jackson

Dequiana Jackson, Founder of Inspired Marketing, Inc., helps overachieving women entrepreneurs conquer limiting beliefs and create marketing plans that grow their businesses. This includes one-on-one marketing plan development, digital product creation, web design and content marketing. Dequiana is the author of Know Your Business: How to Attract Ideal Clients & Sell More and runs the award-winning blog, Entrepreneur-Resources.net.

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