Customer service is important to any business. The quality of that service will either enhance or degrade customer loyalty to your brand and your business. The business that proves to be responsive to customer questions, complaints, or other needs can gain a clear competitive advantage. For this reason, it is important to use all resources available to make sure your customers are taken care of. With the constant advancement of technology, your resources are endless.
Websites
Allow your customers the ability to ask questions, and get input from others. Include a Frequently Asked Questions section, which could possibly allow a quick answer.
Have a designated e-mail address for customers comments, concerns, etc. Make sure it is monitored as frequently as possible. The quicker the response, the more satisfied someone will likely be.
Communications
Unifying communications allows you to see that the customer who left a voice mail also sent an e-mail with the same request a few days ago.
Software
There are tons of data-gathering tools available. Customer relationship management software could help you manage your customer relationships, especially if you are using several techniques to improve your customer service.
Data management and analytics
Use data collected from customer to analyze their preferences. You can also use this to then personalize your marketing to individuals, based on their preferences.
Insight-driven marketing
Gain insights into your business from customer data so you can more effectively target marketing.
Marketing automation
Streamlining and automating business processes to improve efficiency and keep costs low. With marketing automation, for example, you can create multiple newsletters, advertisements, etc. and have them set to send out at certain times and forget about them.
Self-service optimization
Find ways for customers to interact with your business. Some people rather a self-checkout, some would rather put in their own service requests. This helps you in the end, as they can do it their selves if they choose, and your employees can do more productive things.
Workforce effectiveness
Encourage your staff to embrace new ways improving customer treatment by providing tools and training to deliver better service.
