Customer Service In the Gaming Industry: Specifics And Challenges
Gaming companies work hard to attract new gamers, but keeping them satisfied with the overall product requires an even greater effort. A lot of gamers are looking for in-game support, and they expect companies to treat them as individuals and provide customized experiences.
In this article, we will talk about some of the specifics and challenges of customer service in the gaming industry and some tools you can use to provide your customers with great experiences.
Table of contents:
1. Specifics of Customer Service in the Gaming Industry
2. Challenges in Gaming Customer Support Solves
3. The Most Effective Chanels for Online Gaming Customer Support
4. Why is It Better to Outsource Support for Games Instead of Doing It In-house?
5. Trust Pexly With All of Your Customer Service Needs
Specifics of Customer Service in the Gaming Industry
When speaking about game customer service, there are certain things you should pay particular attention to:
- Understanding your players. It’s always important to understand your players to get an idea of the types of services and experiences they are looking for. This will help you better adjust to fit the needs of each individual player. Troubleshooting a game problem can be annoying for players. They expect a quick fix to their issue. However, if they are forced to explain their problem to an agent who has zero background about their concerns, it can quickly add to their exasperation. Alternatively, if a highly skilled and knowledgeable agent handles the matter, it reduces the customer’s effort and helps create an enduring relationship.
- Customer segmentation. Successful gaming companies are fully aware of how crucial it is to know the mindset of gamers for their future growth. In recent years, it has also become apparent that customer behavior is dynamic, and their individual preferences are quite diverse. While a good number of PC gamers are technically skilled and prefer fixing their problems themselves by seeking support on the developer’s website, console game players usually prefer quick and easy access to customer support for online gaming without leaving their games.
- Real-time and multichannel support. Your gamers are looking for help right away and do not have time to wait on hold. They also want to contact you via a channel that is the most convenient for them. This is why you must make sure to provide multichannel gaming customer support.
- Team up. Game developers can benefit from working with a third-party provider. Game publishers hire third parties to do things like run e-games and tournaments, build multiplayer engines for their games, find streamers to promote new games, and much more.
- Feedback-based improvements. The feedback that you get from your users is one of the most important pieces of information you will ever receive. This is the type of information you need to prioritize since it gives you valuable advice on what you are doing well and areas of improvement.
Challenges in Gaming Customer Support Solves
There are many customer support gaming issues your team will need to address. Below are some of the most frequent ones:
- Hardware and software issues. A lot of times, you will get inquiries that there is something wrong with the gaming console, the controllers, and any other piece of hardware. The same is true for the software that you sell. Your agents need to be knowledgeable on how to troubleshoot a wide variety of issues.
- Social media discussions. Gamers are not shy about sharing the experiences they had with a particular game. They will post their comments on your social media page or another group, and you need to monitor what people are saying about your games. If the discussions are going on on your social media pages, you will need to moderate those to make sure all of the content is appropriate.
- Payments and subscription problems. There will be times when a payment did not go through, a gamer wants a refund, or a wide variety of other payment issues. These sorts of inquiries need to be resolved right away to make sure that your customers are getting the best experiences.
- In-app guidance. Not all of your users will be super savvy about how to use your new mobile app. When they contact your game customer support, you need to walk them through the setup process and answer any questions they may have.
The Most Effective Chanels for Online Gaming Customer Support
Since your customers are demanding outstanding experiences every time they contact support, you need to have the tools to provide them with what they are looking for. The following tools will be helpful for meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers:
- In-game chat support. This is a great service because your customer does not need to exit the app or game they are currently playing. This will make sure they are more involved with your product.
- Email Support. Email is still one of the most popular types of communication methods for contacting customer support. You need to be sure to provide an answer to all email inquiries within 24 hours.
- Online communities and social networks. Gamers like to communicate with each other about the newest game they tried and share their experiences. They will also post support questions on the pages, so be sure to monitor them.
Why is It Better to Outsource Support for Games Instead of Doing It In-house?
There are many service providers on the market today, and you need to know how to pick the best one. Here are some steps you can take to choose the best one:
The reason you should outsource your gaming customer support is because of all the benefits it offers. First of all, it will help you reduce costs by eliminating overhead expenses and paying lower labor costs. It will also allow you to offer things like 24/7 support and omnichannel support. Most outsourcing firms have staff operating on a rotating schedule to ensure continuous and uninterrupted service across multiple channels for their partner companies. This setup is highly advantageous for video game companies with player bases worldwide and living in different time zones. It allows players to connect in real-time with customer service no matter what time they need.
Trust Pexly With All of Your Customer Service Needs
If you are looking to offer your gamers top-quality support, consider hiring Pexly to help you set up a dedicated offshore support team. You also have the option of augmenting your internal team with additional agents. We have extensive experience in gaming customer service and can help you find the solution that is right for your business.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.