Digital Customer Service
Many times, customer service seems like an implied aspect of business. When people come into your office or store, you are to greet them and meet their needs to the best of your ability. Easy right? What about digital customer service?
Possibly the most important result of customer service is word of mouth. When you excel or underperform in customer service whether in person or on social media, people will know about it. I am not saying that you should have good customer service habits just for the praise or fear of reprimand, but you should be aware that if you drop the ball, you are likely to lose more than one customer.
Customer service is an aspect of business that is just as important on digital channels as it is in-person. This is very relevant for social media channels, a form of marketing that can have a drastic negative or positive echo, depending on how you handle it. For example, if someone asks you a question through a social media channel such as Facebook or Twitter and you don’t respond within 48 hours or worse, you don’t respond at all, it will be perceived as bad customer service. Imagine the negative effect on your brand if you don’t respond to an influential social media channel follower with 5,000+ friends who then posts negatively about you. The effects can be long lasting, as social media archives are always open.
Customer service is also very important when it comes to website management of your “contact us” section. If you choose to provide that option on your website, design, you better take it seriously. People will use that function to seek your feedback regarding a question, comment or issue with a product or service. If you don’t have good website management in responding, you can put a bad taste in someone’s mouth regarding your brand.
Customer service is not all about being reactive – it should also be proactive. If you want to differentiate yourself, use marketing tactics to assure customers that you are always open to answer questions or field comments. Use email marketing to reach out to customers to ask for product feedback. Go the extra mile to serve your customers.
One way to make sure you have good customer service is through a Customer Relationship Management System, or CRM. CRM systems allow you to manage all information about a client and his or her purchasing habits in one place. As your sales representatives or customer service representatives contact a client, they can track the results of their conversation in the CRM system. Customer preferences and changes of address or contact information can be recorded and maintained. Even social media information can be housed in the CRM system.
How do you excel in digital customer service?