High touch customer service - Are we able to give a superior experience to our customers?

Customer service - we have been at both the receiving and giving ends of it. While we have absolutely enjoyed the customer service of a few companies, a few would not have been so delightful.?

Did you know that 67% of consumers cite bad experiences as a reason for churn?

Keeping in mind our experiences as a customer, one would agree that poor customer service reflects on the company directly irrespective of how amazing the product could be or how reputed the company could be.?

Excellent service should ideally be one of the core values of a company and should reflect in the way teams are built.?

Let’s look at how to create a superior customer experience. An experience that we, very much,? would want to receive as well.?

What is high-touch customer service??

The type of customer service that involves human interaction to resolve a problem or grievance as opposed to that of a self-service portal or an online community is referred to as high-touch customer service. As we are in the era of personalization, companies at all scales prefer to keep their services as human and interactive as possible.?

Before we dive into the core, let us understand what are the aggravations faced by a customer often:?

1. Response - The first irritant is not getting a response on time. All grievances are time-sensitive.?
2. Resolving - The second irritant is not having their issue addressed on time and the delay in process of the solution.?
3. Inadequacy - A task done poorly is worse than a task not done; the third irritant for any customer is when the issue is not resolved even after the customer service.?

These three factors may seem insignificant at the outset but are highly common factors for a customer to regret the association with a brand or a vendor.?

It has been researched that 66% of consumers who switched brands did so because of poor service. As important as receiving the response and service are, it is equally important to ensure that the customers have a smooth experience at it.?

Keeping this in mind, how do we deliver superior customer service that not only resolves the problem but also demonstrates the brand value??

Here are some tips -?

1. Need for Speed: Not only do racers need speed, but so do the customer service personnel. The lesser the response time, the higher the chances of a customer feeling heard. It can be frustrating trying to lodge a complaint or expecting some delivery or returns and having no one to effectively communicate to. Train the personnel to be highly responsive and be time-sensitive
2. Quality of resolution: Delivering a service is a touch-point that needs to be a pleasing experience. The quality of resolution plays a crucial role in how the products, service and brand are overall perceived. Research shows that 84% of consumers are frustrated when the agent does not have information. It all starts with the right information, acknowledging the problem, actually addressing it and keeping it quick, while at it.?
3. Explaining the why: Delivering the experience doesn’t end once the issue is resolved. It is then important to have a debrief to explain to the customer what went wrong with the offering that led to the grievance and how to ensure its non-recurrence. This builds the factor of trust and confidence among the customers and lets them bank on the goodwill of the company.?
4. Reassurance of availability: The final step of customer service is reassurance. The reassurance that the support is continued and availability is ensured whenever the customer seeks it. here, one may take the review or feedback of their experience with the company.?

At all stages, the company needs to clearly establish to its personnel that they need to be good listeners with empathy. The personnel also need to be trained to ask the right questions and navigate their way through the issue.?

Train your teams to be:?

1. Empathetic?
2. Good listeners?
3. Flexible?
4. Well aware?
5. Thorough?
6. Well behaved?
7. Proactive?

Tip - Document the responses of a customer the best way possible by keeping them as objective as possible.?

If you wish to deliver a superior experience to your customers and build high-perming teams, get in touch with us and explore your growth.?