Scaling Personalization through Effective Customer Support

How personalized is your customer support?

“Customer Support if designed correctly not only help you get the CSI level up but make you a formidable force within your domain.”

How many times have we had a bad experience when we call customer care of any domain and I bet you half of us are already nodding heads and there are instances coming to mind.

I recently had one with a Travel Aggregators, I canceled my booking with airlines and airlines refunded the amount to the company while I never received anything in my account. I called to check and after a twenty-minutes wait someone finally picks up saying, “Sir, you should have informed us. We can only lodge a refund request now and you may get the money back within 5-7 working days.”

And, then I realized by design there haven’t thought of refunds and deliberately either are trying to keep your money with them or just delaying the process. Now, if someone asks me do I want to reuse their services my answer probably would be let me go and check out airlines app/website and book through them.

With the number of competitors squeezing into your space, your website should be designed to provide your customers with the best customer support that is accessible and helpful. Your goal should be to create a solid base of satisfied customers who will return to your website every time if they have to purchase the type of product you sell. You will only achieve this objective if your customer service measures up to your customers’ expectations.

The best customer support experience is personalized, empathetic and effective. It is traditionally associated with well-trained personnel who talk to customers, understand their needs, problems and provide with quick solutions.

Here we are presenting 7 ways to help deliver exceptional e-commerce customer service for your customers

01. Use Phone number as an unique identifier

Use customer phone number as an unique identifier for knowing the product purchased details instead of asking the customer for an customer id or product serial number which is very annoying and time consuming. Though we understand there would be challenges but at least will allow you to start a conversation.

02. Provide feasible alternatives

If a customer calls up the customer care to understand if there is a delivery option available in a particular pincode, the respondent can provide with the list of available COD delivery options near to that place if the delivery cannot happen in their area, allowing the customer to place the order and be happy about it while generating additional revenue stream for companies.

All it probably would require is a map view with places marked with green where the delivery is possible within 50 kms radius.

03. Offer multi-channel support

Customers like to have a choice of contact channels, so they can select the one that is most convenient for them. Today, many customers use more than one support channel and expect to receive a consistent experience over all the contact channels. Use emails, offer live chat to be more productive and also more consistent in your responses as you can build in pre-written responses.

04. Give Recommendations

When the support team of the e-commerce store receives a call from the customer he should be provided with an interface such that when the customer’s phone number is entered, all the details of customer with his purchase history is shown allowing you to have contextual calls. A simple interface which allows the recommended products for the user will also allow you to upsell, cross sell or just propose a new product.

05. Give timely response

Customers need to know how soon they should expect their issue to be addressed. When your customers do need to send you a message by phone or email, answer their requests within a reasonable amount of time. This time has become significantly shorter in recent years, with most customers expecting an answer by phone or email in four hours, while social media responses are expected almost instantly.

06. Create a Customer-Friendly Environment

Just like a brick-and-mortar store, customers expect to find an environment tailored just for them on an ecommerce website. Be sure your website is instinctive and easy to navigate, so customers can get through their transactions quickly and with minimal headache. Place other contact information prominently, so a customer who gets stuck in the process can seek out fast help.

07. Monitor Social Media for customer trends

Social media has become a significant component to customer service today, whether the business is online or in person. Practice social media management that will help you identify potential customer problems quickly and address them promptly.

Use social media to your advantage as well, by creating a customer community on your Facebook or Twitter page. Of all of the different forms of social media, one of the most effective forms of providing social media support is through Twitter. 32% of customers voicing their concerns on Twitter expect a response within thirty minutes.

The critical value of customer service

Customer service is very crucial for your business. We believe the pointers above will give you enough food for thought to begin designing a formidable customer service experience and if you are still confused. Come, let’s have a coffee together

Share with us your experience in the comments section below.