Client service? Importance of the service and customers’ major expectations
The latest EY study, “Barometer of the economic, social and territorial impacts of contact centres in France – 2022 Edition” informs us that 78% of French citizens contacted a customer service in 2021.
Accessible by email, telephone, messaging, social networks, etc. The customer service fills a major need: exchanges with advisors ready to inform and help solve problems.
In addition to providing assurance in the event of a problem, the customer service is in ongoing contact with customers, enabling brands to be at their sides before during and after a purchase. Its whole purpose is to optimise satisfaction and the customer experience.
Long perceived as a cost centre, the customer service is now a winning investment.
At the centre: customers, with advisors and technologies as pillars. An ecosystem that generates value: average basket, repeat buying, ARPU, Net Promoter Score, churn, etc.
There’s also a reference now, a criterion of choice, of preference.
61% of consumers state that they switched to a competitor following a single bad customer service experience.
EY study, “Barometer of the economic, social and territorial impacts of contact centres in France – 2022 Edition 2022”
The Customer Service provides a real competitive advantage and is a major strategic priority for brands and companies in an era when needs of autonomy, personalisation and omnichannel have never been greater.
On closer inspection, it’s also a barometer for satisfaction with your offers, products and services, a laboratory for practices and processes, and a catalyst of transformation and innovation.
Finally, and a sine qua non condition of value creation, the Customer Service is a Customer Observatory, enabling you to understand, define and meet customers’ expectations.
Every interaction, piece of data, journey and verbatim is an opportunity to understand, measure and deliver the expected service.
Of course, it’s hard to generalise on what “all customers” want.
There are a number of common points nonetheless, the basis of an effective, quality customer relationship.
- Provide several contact options, so responding to channel preferences: be where the customer is – where they’ll be at that particular time, whatever their age or language and whether their problem is simple or complex
- Be accessible and prompt: nobody likes waiting
- Understand needs: the basis and condition for the customer service’s success!
- Solve problems: a customer service’s raison d’être, because there’s the need for an effective solution behind every request on the customer’s part. Advisors have to be provided with the resources to act as facilitators
- Listen: really listen to customers. Their voices are louder now than ever before!
- Exceed expectations by personalisation: everyone appreciates being known and recognised: contact and purchasing history, file tracking, family, seniority, situation change, etc.
- Give coherent, reasoned responses: several channels, several solicitations = a single conversation!
- Be proactive: the customer service mustn’t be reactive; it’s a companion, a facilitator, it informs, communicates and anticipates.
- Surprise: the unexpected, the extra little service, the right word, from interaction to conversation … a history shared between a brand and its customer
- Be honest: A prerequisite for a lasting relationship and mutual engagement