When we look at the current state of the marketplace, more and more companies are putting an emphasis on customer support. The reason for this is because of the many benefits high levels of customer support offered. This includes things like increased customer retention, improved overall reputation, and even growth in revenue. This is why today we will share with you some internal support tips to help you knock your customer support activities out of the park.
Improve Your Reaction Time
Waiting on hold or for an agent to respond to an inquiry is one of the most frustrating things customers have to deal with. They may already be aggravated with an issue and this extra inconvenience will only exacerbate the situation. Therefore, by making your instant chat truly instant or answering a phone call after only a couple of rings, you are helping calm the customer down and making them more amicable. You are also setting yourself apart from many other service providers who force their customers to wait for extended periods of time before answering their questions which will only help you win their business.
If you are having trouble managing the volume of inquiries, consider setting up a dedicated offshore support team. This is a great way to get your own support team that will help you meet your business goals for a fraction of the cost of hiring such a team in your local market.
Allow Your Customers to Help Themselves
While there are some customers out there that will contact support when encountering the slightest issue, there are also many customers who prefer to help themselves. Therefore, an interesting way to level up support is to offer such customers all of the information they need to resolve certain issues. This can be something as simple as posting an FAQ section on your website or as detailed as describing fixes in your documentation. Think about how to be your own support system. What are some of the things you would need to fix problems independently? When you have this part all figured out, go ahead and make it available to your customers.
Respect Customer Privacy
Think about all of the laws in the books about protecting customer data. This includes things like GDPR, HIPPA, CCPA, and many other laws. The reason all of these laws were passed is because customers and government and civil organizations are concerned about what might happen if personally, identifiable information falls into the wrong hands. Therefore, a great idea on how to improve customer support would actually be to offer your customers peace of mind knowing that their information is secure. If you have not done so already, consider becoming GDPR compliant, obtaining ISO 27001 certification, and achieving compliance with other regulations governing how customer data may be used and stored.
Empathize With the Customer
We have all heard the old adage “Treat others the way you want to be treated” and this certainly applies to customer support. When handling a customer inquiry, take some time to place yourself in the customer’s shoes. What would you want the agent to do if you were experiencing the same issue? While you may have rules and regulations that must be followed, there are still many things you can do to show empathy. For example, you would be surprised at how far a simple phrase like “I understand how you must be feeling” could go. It could be the difference between retaining and losing a customer.
Give Your Agents the Tools They Need to Succeed
Customers are contacting your support team with very specific questions that pertain to their situations and it is very important that your agents are savvy enough to know the product or service inside out. Now, here it is important to keep in mind that there are several levels of support. Tier 1 support is for general inquiries that can be answered by agents who have received basic training on the product or service you’re selling. Tiers 2 and 3 are more high-level and will therefore require greater expertise, but your agents should know the product or service well enough to handle those Tier 1 questions. It is a good idea to create a list of the most frequently asked questions and routinely train your agents on how to solve them.
Reduce the Technical Jargon
When offering technical support tips, it’s really easy to throw in a term used by internal employees or professionals in the field. One of the biggest reasons why it is a bad idea to use such terms is because customers feel like you are talking down to them. Therefore, as tempted as you may be to use terms like SLA agreements and any other insider terms, consider substituting them with something simpler to help you better level with the customers.
Project Positive Vibes
Regardless of how hopeless the situation may seem, remember that any customer interaction can be salvaged so be sure to stay positive. If you start telling the customer how bad things are, you will only dig a deeper hole which will require escalation to a higher-level agent. You want to resolve as many calls as you want in the first interaction and staging positively is definitely one of the main things that will help you get there.
Trust Pexly With All of Your Customer Support Needs
If you are looking to expand your current in-house team or set up an entire support team overseas, consider hiring Pexly to take this work off your shoulders. We have more than eight years of experience handling customer support cases of all types and can help find a perfect solution for you. Contact us today to learn about how we can help you.
