the 5 most important steps to improving customer service

T H E 5 M O S T I M P O R T A N T S T E P S T O

I M P R O V I N G C U S T O M E R S E R V I C E

T H E 5 M O S T I M P O R T A N T S T E P S T O I M P R O V I N G C U S T O M E R S E R V I C E

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression"should be the mantra for

all customer service-oriented organizations that not only want to make that all-

important initial sale, but also create repeat selling opportunities and excellent

referral pipelines. Any less and these companies can quickly find themselves

grappling with negative feedback, lost sales, and an exodus of customers to their

nearest competitor.

When it comes to great customer service, some organizations get it right and

others miss the boat entirely. Business call centers provide the perfect backdrop

to offer excellent customer service to a wide range of callers – unfortunately, that

is not always the case. All it takes is one rude encounter to directly impact a

company’s bottom line. Bad service, lost customers, and associated

replacement of those departed clients are three financial costs that can push a

company’s profits into negative territory.

T H E 5 M O S T I M P O R T A N T S T E P S T O I M P R O V I N G C U S T O M E R S E R V I C E

Consider these statistics:

$83 BILLIONLOST EACH YEAR

as a result of poor customer experiences.

Source: Parature Customer Service Blog

89%OF CONSUMERSbegan doing business with acompetitor following a poorcustomer experience.

Source: RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report 2011

$289AVERAGE ANNUAL VALUEOF EACH CUSTOMER LOST

TO A COMPETITORSource: Genesys Report – The Cost of Poor Customer Service

50% OF CONSUMERSgive a brand just ONE WEEKto respond to an issue before they stopdoing business with them.

Source: RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report 2011

T H E 5 M O S T I M P O R T A N T S T E P S T O I M P R O V I N G C U S T O M E R S E R V I C ET H E 5 M O S T I M P O R T A N T S T E P S T O I M P R O V I N G C U S T O M E R S E R V I C E

There are a number of tried-and-true tactics that you can use to make sure your

business does not fall into the bad customer service trap.

Here are five that you can put to work right now!

THE GOOD NEWS :


ESTABLISH A SOLID “FRONT LINE” FOR YOUR BUSINESS .1

Too many organizations waste time and

resources building out internal, front-line

customer service support teams and neglect the

more important aspects of their business.

The end result is an organization that has spread

itself too thin and hampers its own productivity

and profitability as a result. Customer service

suffers in these situations when no one really

knows where the front line is.

Allowing a call center to handle the front line

allows you to focus your efforts and resources on

more important activities.

Let your call center servicesprovider handle those criticalfirst impressions for you

Create a 24-hour presencefor your customers with yourcall center

Ensure that calls madeduring plateaus, peaks, andafter hours are answeredpromptly and professionally

TIPS TO AVOID COSTLYFRONT-LINE MISTAKES :


LOWER YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE WAIT TIMES TO ABARE MINIMUM .

2

There’s nothing more frustrating for a customer than having to

wait to complain, ask a question, or provide feedback. As the

seconds or minutes tick by, your client becomes increasingly

irate. How can you avoid this? Utilize a call center provider with

experience and expertise to answer every call in seconds.

Your provider will equip your business with data gathering, including recorded calls,

call data and reporting to be more proactive versus reactive with your service. Top

contact centers enable businesses access to benefit from best of breed technologies,

without the cost burdens of having to bring all the equipment, software and

infrastructure inside a business.

Leverage a large team of trained professionals for immediate live answer,

thus eliminating the risk of creating a “bad impression” of sitting on hold. You

and/or your call center provider should also listen to recorded conversations and

identify the key elements that make up those conversations to identify trends

and prepare for faster, more effective turn-around time to problem resolution.


Peak calling hours can quickly turn into a customer service nightmare. Calls are

stacking up, queues are backing up, and there simply aren’t enough hands on deck

to handle the onslaught. Hiring additional employees is an expensive option,

particularly if these peak periods only come a few times a month, quarter, or year.

You want your customers to be able to confidently call you on their schedules and

not when they think your company is open and operating.


UTILIZE CONTACT SERVICES CENTERS TO ASSIST WITHCALL VOLUME DURING PEAK PERIODS .

3

An easy way to achieve this goal is by outsourcing the task to a reputable contact

services center that can deftly handle any overload that your firm is experiencing.

By putting this overload into the hands of a reputable, experienced firm you’ll be

taking the pressure off of your own company and allowing it to focus on what it

does best.


3 PROVIDE LIVE CHAT SUPPORT .4

This one may seem obvious in today’s connected world, but a surprising number of

companies overlook the need for live chat support when setting up their online

customer service functions. This is a mistake that you can’t afford to make if you

want to provide excellent customer service and reduce the number of customer

phone calls and the costs associated with these live contacts.

You can use live chat to improve the customer’s

overall experience while also enhancing your

customer service offering. This is a win-win

situation for the tech-savvy customer who

would rather open a live chat window than pick

up the phone to get his or her problem solved.

Customers submit their inquiries via a web-

based interface, thus eliminating the need to

dial the call center. This makes your online

customer service offering even more cost-

effective than the phone, allows clients to

submit their inquiries in real-time via a web-

based interface, and eliminates the need to dial

the call center directly.



3 CREATE A COMPANY-WIDE CULTURE AROUNDCUSTOMER SERVICE .

5

Good customer service starts at the top. When executives, owners, managers, and

other stakeholders buy into the idea that customer service should be job one, the

rest of the organization will follow suit. Clarify specific behaviors and actions that

employees should be delivering when working on the front lines with customers –

as well as with co-workers, vendors, and others. Craft a mission statement that

reflects this commitment to excellence and avoid wavering from it. Highlight

examples of customer service – both within and outside of the company – through

recognition ceremonies, events, celebrations, and simple gestures like mentions of

top customer service efforts in a corporate newsletter. Borrow a page from Disney

and start training employees on the value of excellent customer service during the

orientation period – not once they are already on the job and dealing with your

valued customers.


As you determine which of these strategies to fold into your own organization’s

mission, remember that good customer service is the lifeblood of any business.

Whether you are selling products, services, or a mix of both, you simply cannot

grow and prosper without the support of your existing customers. Promotions and

price-slashing may bring them back in a pinch; however, promoting long-term

relationships and ongoing referrals requires a concentrated effort to operate at the

highest level of customer service possible.

REMEMBER . . . GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE :

Delivers a “WOW” factor with every engagement

Improves brand loyalty

Recommits customers to your company

Engages existing clients more deeply

Leaves every customer with a positive experience

To learn more about how AnswerNow can create the WOW!

experience for your customers, contact us today!

1-800-226-0491

5665 W BEVERLY LANE

GLENDALE , AZ 85306


WWW .ANSWERNOWINC .COM

http://www.answernowinc.com/