A great customer service experience can help your brand build trust, gain customer loyalty, increase sales, and attract new customers. However, a bad customer service experience can have the opposite effect. Consumers who feel a brand has treated them poorly will tell an average of 15 people about the experience, which can lead to a negative review and a loss of potential business. That’s why optimizing your customer service standards is so important. By providing accessible channels, reducing wait and response times, and empowering consumers to help themselves, you can limit the need for direct support.

While some of the key aspects of optimized customer service are easy to implement, such as making sure your agents can answer questions quickly and clearly, there is also much more room for improvement when it comes to the overall customer experience. To make the biggest impact, you must consider all aspects of the customer journey, including touch points and channels.

Start with a Voice of the Customer learn more here survey to understand what’s working and what’s not. This can help you to prioritize which areas to improve first. Once you’ve done this, set clear goals and create a plan for how to reach them. This will be a roadmap that can guide your team towards the most positive impacts on both your customer base and business objectives.

Provide Multiple Channels for Getting Help

Make sure you can connect with your customers on their preferred platforms by offering email, phone, text, chat, and social media. In addition, ensure you have a place for self-service to reduce your team’s contact rate (such as an FAQ page or community forum).

Streamline Processes

It’s essential that your teams have the tools they need to handle all types of questions and issues efficiently. This means having a unified platform that allows agents to seamlessly switch between communication channels. For example, if a chat has become too complicated to hash out on screen, the agent should be able to easily transition to a phone call. In addition, having a tool that keeps track of all the information shared during a conversation will ensure that the agent has the right information to resolve the issue.

Offer Personalized Recommendations

Give your customers what they want before they even know it. This can be as simple as incorporating cross-sells or upsells into your chat sessions or as advanced as offering recommendations based on product and purchase history. By delivering what the customer wants before they know they want it, you can limit their need to seek out direct support.

Providing a great customer experience is the best way to build trust, improve customer loyalty, and drive sales. By optimizing your customer service standards and ensuring your customers can find the answers they need, you’ll have a competitive edge that will keep them coming back.