Why local customer service ecosystem matter?

The concept of customer experience is built around delivering value. One of the integral elements of the value proposition of any business is customer service. A well-oiled customer service machine is the multi-faceted beast. It is capable of working all-round insight miracles for multiple aspects of the business operation. The customer service ecosystem is a swiss army knife for information gathering. [si_guide_block id="59989" title="Download our Premium Resource – Customer onboarding guide" description="Online customer onboarding is essential to developing brand loyalty and advocacy. Before you can achieve these goals you have to deliver a good impression and develop the customer feelings for the brand."/] Here’s why: It is designed to keep feedback with the user audience, maintain their basic needs and demands. It is also a valuable source of information regarding user habits and the tendencies of product/service use. The interaction with the customer points identifies where there is…

How mobile marketing can be used to support customer service

A lot of attention is given to the way mobile devices have changed the way we communicate at work and how marketers can target consumers.  But the big secret of mobile communications in today’s organisation is the impact on customer service. Most contact centre systems and processes are still designed around the need to handle high volumes of customer calls via the landline. But the new mobile customer behaves very differently. The mobile device, with the new features it brings and ‘always on’ connectivity, affords huge power to the customer. More often than not mobile customers are looking for speed and convenience, whatever channel they choose, whether online self-service or a conversation with an agent. It’s no coincidence that the companies that have innovated most in this space are those whose mantra has always been about serving…

Chart of the week: 37% of consumers who use social media to complain or question brands expect to get a response in under 30 minutes

Delivering great customer service is getting more and more difficult for brands, as customer expectations change. Consumers now want instant service that offers fast results, which means brands need to deliver the best possible customer service via their digital channels. Over a third (37%) of consumers who use social media to complain or question brands expect to get a response in under 30 minutes. According to Conversocial’s report ‘The State of Digital Care in 2018’, people want almost instant responses to issues they air on a social platform. The report shows that the majority of respondents expect a response the same day via social media, with 31% wanting one in under two hours and 26% expecting to hear back in under four hours. In fact, only 6%…

Is there a place for snarky comments when responding to customers on social media?

In a recent report, by Sprout Social, it was found that brand personality on social media affects consumer purchase decisions. Respondents said they wanted more honest, friendly and helpful brand personality on social media over snarky and politically correct comments.

How one company uses snarky comments to engage and produce viral content

Yet, Wendy’s has developed quite the reputation on Twitter. From burying a troll at the mere suggestion that its meat was frozen to throwing shade at its burger rivals, snark has become such a specialty for the fast food chain that you’d half expect to see it listed alongside burgers and fries on the value menu. [si_guide_block id="82119" title="Download FREE Resource – 10 common social media marketing mistakes guide" description="Our actionable…

The aim of multi-platform customer service is to provide customers and audiences with options on how they would like to communicate with brands

These platforms also deliver a seamless service experience for customers, regardless of what channel they may choose to use. Delivering a smooth customer experience means having to understand your customers in order to better assist them with their queries and concerns without hassle. According to Exo Level Seamless Retail Study, 49% of consumers believed that companies should focus on integrating in-store, online, and mobile shopping channels to improve transactions. An overwhelming 89% of respondents wanted to shop for products in a manner that is most convenient for them, whether they use mobile devices, in-store transactions or online catalogs. Multi-platform customer support services should focus on the ability to track customers’ communications and their purchase behavior across various service channels. Having a multi-platform customer support service is by far the most…

Why social media customer care is important in retaining loyal customers and positive brand awareness

With all the noise and saturation of businesses and brands online vying for more clients and customers, there is one guaranteed thing that any smart digital marketer can do to stand above the noise to build and keep their network of buyers: social media customer care, or SMCC. Although most business owners today are familiar with the concepts of digital marketing and customer relations management (CRM), the concept and successful application of SMCC isn’t quite as widespread. In light of ever-increasing volumes of competing brands getting online, the wiser business owners should be shifting their attention to reaching out to their customers when it matters the most, addressing their questions, problems, and concerns.

Social Media Customer Care (SMCC) vs. Customer Relations Management (CRM)

According to the information from this data sheet by UK Website Builder, brands send an…

Blocking a visitor from Live Chat should be your last option, but sometimes it is necessary.

Usually, you can find lots of information online on how to improve customer service by using live chat software. But when is it necessary to block visitors that are abusive?

Learn to tell apart a challenging customer and an abusive one

A challenging customer is still a customer. First, do all that you can to resolve an issue, reassure your visitor and provide great customer service. While using a live chat software the agents have opportunities to learn general customer behavior patterns faster, as they can handle multiple customers at once. There are two patterns that are quite similar for challenging and abusive customers. While every abusive customer is also a challenging one, not every challenging customer is an abusive one. It is important to understand this fine difference, as resolving an issue for a challenging customer can convert…

Chart of the day: A recent study has shown that customers want better customer service from your brand.

It's no surprise that a good customer support service is topping the list of what customers want most from a brand. Having a good communication with your customers is vital in conversion and retention. How else is a customer going to tell you if something is wrong? You need to address these issues as quickly, efficiently and professionally as possible to keep a quality brand and product reputation. This being said, is it a shock that customers favor always on, automated service options the least? No. Customers do not want brands with a detached automated service. It is clear that over half (52%) of respondents want a fast response to their issues, something that can be hard to achieve with…

Customers want good customer service, and don't like being passed between channels

On average, customers interact with four different channels when seeking customer service related enquiries from a business. The types of channels they use or expect to be able to use when contacting a business is changing too. Any marketer worth their salt knows that word of mouth and online reviews are some of the most critical channels for any business, and customer service is key to getting good results. Delivering good customer service now requires a presence across a range of channels, but in a way that allows them to be mutually supportive and helpful, rather than working at cross purposes. This isn't just a 'nice to have', it really is a must, given 97% of people say that customer service is important to their choice of brand. That's according to a study by Microsoft, which asked 4,000 people across the…

Creating quality online customer support can turn prospects into sales

How many times have you raced into a store to quickly pick up a few things and immediately looked for a brightly colored vest to find a sales assistant or customer service person to help you out?And how many times have you scurried from aisle to aisle looking for what you came to buy and seeing no sales associate in sight? That gets real frustrating,  real fast! This is how your online shoppers feel if you don't get online customer service right. They need help. And if they can’t find it – guess what, they’re gone, perhaps forever. According to Forrester, if their questions are not answered quickly, 45% of consumers in the US will abandon their transaction. Don’t think for a minute that your visitors don’t need your help to some degree. Econsultancy reports that some degree of customer support is need…