If you want to have something, gain new heights like you have never had, you need to do something you have never done. This is a simple statement, yet too dynamic to implement. And if you look closely, you will truly appreciate it. If we talk about having ‘happy customers’, we simply cannot undermine the importance of giving them great service.
You make your customers happy; your customers will make you the happiest in the world. It is a simple barter system. You give them world class customer service; they will be extremely loyal to your business.
The Current Rut
At present, the service industry is banking big time on IVRs and human assistance. There are rare cases where customers are guided and led to an alternate method of finding answers and addressing their queries. Most of the call center industry is running via the medium of telephonic conversations. This will most likely change in the coming years. Here’s how and what.
The Next Big Fish
The next big emerging trend for 2016 – big and small companies are considering chat and messaging service, to be incorporated as an essential element and soon to take customer service to a whole new horizon. These features have been around for almost a decade now; it is however only now those companies are pivoting their customer service strategies around them.
So, what makes chat and messaging the face of customer service?
Why We Vote For Them?
The reason why we are investing our vote in favour of this trend is very simple. Today’s age is the age of agility. It is about giving the best response and having minimum response time. This is valid for queries your customer have, his order details, his post-order requests and concerns. The best strategy to go forward in such a scenario where your customers wants to be heard and replied within seconds, would be to be as prompt as he is. Chat and messaging comes handy in such scenario. It is a 3 step process essentially.
1. Typing in your query
2. Pressing the send button
3. Receiving an instant reply
This makes your reps super quick and your customers really happy.
Self-Help for Customers
Another impressive feature of this superduo is that it empowers your customers to a whole new front of self-help options, without having to wait in a queue for an average holding time of about 2-8 minutes.
(Side tip – Nobody enjoys listening to that 40 minute flute solo.)
With so many ways of managing basic account queries, product details, order dispatching and many more, this trend can save you a lot of customers who take their business elsewhere because of ‘bad customer service experience.’
Is it too Technical?
Just when you thought, there cannot be anything more comforting about chat and messaging options, here comes the cherry on the cake. Unlike a standard IVR, where you have to glue your ear to the phone and press buttons after buttons, just to navigate through and reach the correct information dialogue set, this is rather easy. It is like talking to a friend, who happens to work in that company and seeking his advice. You just need to log in and start typing your query. If the credibility of the reply is a concern for you, as most of us feel tendency to have human assistance, you can even ask the rep to mail you the transcript of your chat history. This way you can be double check and keep a record of your conversation for future reference.
How difficult is the Integration?
Integrating Chat and Messaging in your CRM or your reps interface is not much of a task. There are many tools and softwares available, which can take care of this concern for you. With proper integration and usage, you can definitely see a boost in the number of returning customers and your overall business.
What’s more?
Training your reps and agents is fairly easy. It is less headache to teach your reps how to ‘sound polite’ while texting than it is to train them in handling irate customers. If you look at it from a customer’s perspective, anytime during the chat, if the customer wants to speak to an agent, even that option is always there. It is a win-win situation for everybody.
Hence, it essentially means:
Happy Customers = Happy You!
Have more to add? Let us know in the comments section.
