For
many businesses, the default approach to customer service is to respond to
problems as they arise. This reactive method is tried and true, but brand
loyalty is gained when you’re able to impress and delight your more digitally
savvy customers with truly stellar, proactive customer service.
Customer
expectations for more proactive customer service is only going to increase in
the future. In fact, Gartner predicts an increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and
continuous intelligence in proactive customer service by 2023 (full
content available to Gartner clients).
Don’t
worry though, we’re here to make sure you’re equipped by providing you with six
specific actions you can take to start wowing your customers with a successful
proactive customer service strategy.
1. Ask customers for feedback
Customer
service is about giving customers what they want, and there’s no better way to
find out what they want than to ask them. Businesses that regularly check in
with customers can easily identify areas of weakness and correct them before
customers become unhappy.
It
sounds obvious, but maintaining regular contact with all your customers is
easier said than done, especially if you have a large client base. That’s where
software comes to the rescue: customer
relationship management (CRM) software and survey tools can help
you stay on top of maintaining those important connections.
We’ve
written extensively about CRM software here at Software Advice, but if you want
a good place to start, check out our primer “What Is Customer
Relationship Management? Defining CRM,” where we go over what CRM is
and how it can help your business.
Survey
customization example from SurveyFoxy
With
survey software, you’ll be able to make brand-specific customized surveys to
send out to your clients. And remember, you’re soliciting feedback to improve
your customer service, so be sure to be receptive to feedback.
2. Announce mistakes before customers find out
It’s
always better for customers to hear about a problem directly from you instead
of realizing the product or service doesn’t do what they need it to, when they
need it. If your company identifies a problem, you can build customer trust and
avoid damaging PR by taking the following actions:
According
to one report,
Barefoot Wines discovered a barcode error that led a shipment of wine to ring
up for less than it should, which lost the distributor money. The company was
quick to own up to the mistake and informed the distributor about it in person,
with a check in hand to cover the loss. The client was grateful, and a
potential cause for complaint became a memorable experience of Barefoot’s
commitment to serving their customers.
3. Reward customer loyalty with discounts and offers
The
lesson airlines learned decades ago can be applied to any business: offering
tangible rewards for regular business is a powerful loyalty-building tool.
Loyalty
programs build goodwill by demonstrating a company’s desire to reward a
customer to thank them for their business. Proactively reaching out to
customers with offers in between purchases provides an additional opportunity
for positive interactions with customers to strengthen their relationship with
the company.
It can
also solve problems customers didn’t even know they had by alerting them to
something they may be missing out on and offering a way to fix it. Sending an
email to a customer a couple of months before their two-year subscription
renewal is due and offering a discount to thank them for their business is
likely to kindle their desire to renew. It also means the customer doesn’t have
to call or email to renew themselves, which prevents any lapses in their
subscription and ensures their continued satisfaction.
4. Pay attention to what customers are saying online
If
you’re not paying attention to what customers are saying about your business
online, you are missing key opportunities. Reaching out to customers who
mention your company, be it in a good or bad context, allows you to
preemptively address their needs and increases customer satisfaction.
Morton’s Steakhouse discovered this when they saw a
popular blogger’s playful tweet suggesting they deliver steaks to him at the
airport when he landed. To his extreme surprise and delight, a tuxedo-clad
Morton’s employee was waiting for him upon arrival, steaks in hand. The story
went viral and earned the steakhouse a reputation that routinely lands them a
spot in pieces like this one.
To
accomplish a similar win, consider implementing reputation
management software that will alert you to any mentions of your
brand online.
BirdEye’s review
response tool
Positive
mentions can present opportunities to show your gratitude, whether you go the
extra mile like Morton’s, or simply respond to let the customer know you
noticed and appreciate them. For complaints, respond with an apology, a description
of what the company is doing to correct the issue, and a gift certificate or
discount to make up for any inconvenience.
5. Create content that answers common customer questions
Many
customers prefer to find answers to their problems themselves rather than
having to call or email a company. If you make helpful information difficult or
impossible to find, you’re cheating yourself out of a valuable opportunity to
satisfy customers.
In
fact, a Forrester survey even revealed that 53% of customers will
give up on an online purchase altogether if finding the answer to their
question proves too difficult. One of the easiest ways to please customers in
search of a solution is to make answers to common questions easy to find.
You can
identify these questions by doing the following:
·
Talk to customer service representatives
·
Use survey data
·
Identify the most frequent searches performed on your website
·
Review customer service call and email logs
Group
answers in one place, such as a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section on
your site. To provide more detailed information about common issues, create
articles, blog posts, and webinars that provide a more extensive guide to
addressing the issue.
6. Include a live chat option on your website
Live chat software assures
website visitors that someone at the company is there to provide any information
needed and saves them the trouble of having to search for an answer or call or
email the company.
HubRunner, a web design
company, decided to implement live chat on their site to increase interaction
with website visitors. The feature makes it easier for customers to contact the
company and enables staff to build better relationships with them.
What
live chat looks like for your employees in HeyDay
Cassie
Crudo, operations manager for HubRunner, recalls a past scenario where a lead
who became a customer “was excited to find out that the person she was asking
questions to would also be her dedicated account specialist and was the person
she had met at the tradeshow the week before.” The feature offered a way to
provide personal, helpful information to a customer who was still deciding
whether or not to go with the services of that particular company.
Proactive customer service is possible with help from software
Proactive
customer service doesn’t just help you keep the customers you have happy. By
turning your customers into advocates for your brand, it becomes a marketing
tool that drives new business. Investing a little extra in a proactive customer
service approach now is a valuable strategy that can result in considerable
dividends down the line.
As
demonstrated, one of the best ways to create a culture of proactive customer
service in your business is to invest in certain types of software.
If
you’re unsure where to begin and want to have a one-on-one chat about software
options, you can make an
appointment with one of our advisors for a 15-minute consultation
to see which software would work best for your company.
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