Giving priority to customer relations is the best strategy a company can adopt. But this is an area where improvisation rarely yields good results. What you need are a few techniques that will enable you to grow your business sustainably.
Implementing best practices
What do we mean by “best practices” and how do we build successful customer relationships? These terms are simply a set of tools and strategies that you can make available to your team, to exponentially improve customer relations. As a result, you build a solid reputation for your company, a positive public image and a long-term relationship of trust with your customers. The first step in developing your strategy is to understand your customers’ expectations. Generally speaking, they will approach your team for the following reasons:
- A need for support or advice on how to use a product,
- The search for product safety information,
- Your company’s opening hours,
- The different services you offer,
- Search for information on the possibility of returning or exchanging a product,
- Various complaints,
- Reduction request,
- Search for special offers.
Once you’ve identified your customers’ key expectations, you’re ready for the next step: implementing an effective strategy.
Welcome to the world of cloud telephony
You have multiple tools at your disposal to boost your customer relations. It’s important to choose the ones best suited to your business sector. Cloud telephony is an ideal solution for many companies. Digitized telephony from A to Z, with automated functions that can be stored in the cloud, via VOIP, offers invaluable support to teams. This service enables you to respond more effectively to your customers’ requests and needs. This flexible system also takes the load off during peak periods. At the same time, you can approach your business from a new angle. It’s an opportunity to expand your output, by setting up or reorganizing multi-site teams. Remote working has everything to gain from this type of installation.
Train your teams well
Despite appearances, the teleoperator profession remains little-known, and customer relations often suffer as a result. It appears to be simple and accessible to all, with no real strategy or skills required, apart from a certain degree of oral fluency and a natural flair for commerce. Nothing could be more normal in an ultra-connected human society, where people are constantly on their cell phones. The problem that remains, in many companies, is that an untrained teleoperator systematically lowers the level of customer satisfaction, by making blunders or not having access to the right equipment. It’s essential to provide your teams with specific, solid training to optimize their performance. A professional teleoperator must combine :
- A good yield,
- An adapted sales strategy,
- Great flexibility,
- The right tools,
- Perfect control of the entire process.
Put an end to multiple calls
Multiple calls from the same customer are counter-productive. Many companies believe that this strategy pays off, as it seems to be an opportunity to “create a bond” or “build loyalty” with customers who feel accompanied. In fact, it always causes harm to society. Quite simply, because the customer won the case, with a lot of wear and tear, which tarnishes the company’s image. The feeling turns out to be negative, at odds with the company’s primary goal. Your objective should be redirected towards a simple formula: one problem = one solution at first contact.
Better ticket management
On a daily basis, your customer service department receives a considerable number of requests. These are undoubtedly varied. Their importance is never equal. Just like the difficulty of solving the problem at hand. Sorting, organizing and prioritizing these requests saves your teams a considerable amount of time. This means each call or request can be processed more quickly. To achieve this, companies can rely on a tagging system. As simple as it is effective, this method greatly simplifies the customer follow-up process.
Well-organized teams
An in-depth study of your customer base can help you manage your teams. For example, it’s very costly for you to schedule a lot of agents in a rather quiet slot. They are literally paid to do nothing but wait for the phone to ring. This is one of the main causes of lost time and money within a company. On the other hand, the worst thing that can happen to your customer service department is to be understaffed at the height of the rush. The result is often disastrous, with waiting times far too long for customers. Avoiding these two blunders is therefore a priority. To ensure a worry-free future and satisfied customers, consider using a dashboard. This logistical support provides vital information that can improve team management. It also produces detailed real-time tracking.
Automation becomes a company asset
Often greeted with suspicion by professionals and the general public alike, automation has proved its worth in the workplace. How can we expect a team of agents to focus on the customer, when they have a large number of ancillary tasks to perform? It’s either impossible or exhausting. Keeping your teams alert and efficient is a guarantee of success and increased customer satisfaction. Kavkom offers a range of automated processes designed to relieve agents of a number of constraints. They then have only one priority: solving the customer’s problem.
Less scripting, more spontaneity
When the teleoperator profession first came into being, employers got into the habit of providing their agents with scripts to which they had to refer in order to respond to customer requests. Initially, this rather well-honed strategy was effective. Today, this is no longer the case. Customer expectations have evolved. People expect a personalized exchange. Your agents need to focus their response on quality and personalization. That’s why quality training remains essential. Adaptability and mastery of a company’s identity can’t be improvised. Each agent must be seen as an essential link in the sales chain. Your teams are on the front line, faced with customers who are dissatisfied, lost or waiting for personalized guidance, support, advice and assistance. The script, once effective, now reflects a dehumanized relationship that customers don’t want.
Learning how to offload customer service
Taking stock of the most frequent requests is an excellent strategic idea. Aren’t there questions about a product or service that come up every day? If this is the case, in addition to your customer management program and a complete set of adapted equipment, don’t leave out the more traditional tools. A well thought-out FAQ can save your teams. The customer then has a kind of self-service for his most common queries. A chat bot can also be an effective addition to your arsenal. By automating certain responses, such as directing a customer to a specific page on your site or resolving a misunderstanding about how the company or your online catalog works, you save your agents a significant number of calls that can be resolved by the customer themselves.
Personalizing customer contact, a strategy that always pays off
An optimized customer relationship is also defined by its ability to get closer to the caller. We live in a society where personalization has become indispensable in just a few years. Personalizing a response, creating a human connection with the customer, giving the impression that you know them and that your response is therefore entirely tailored to them – this is the solution for building customer loyalty. A person who feels understood, supported and recognized perceives the contact established as extremely positive, and this takes precedence over the initial reason for their call.
Continuous quality control
Establishing a strategy and training your teams is the first step. Making sure that the quality of customer service you want to achieve is a reality is something you should never neglect. How do we get there? Regular analysis of the performance of all your agents forms the basis of your development. Thanks to this data, you can get a concrete, objective view of your service. Reliable call statistics give you the opportunity to adjust your requirements and approach. What do these statistics, which you’ll edit using reliable, state-of-the-art tools, include?
- The precise rate of first-contact resolutions,
- Your customer satisfaction score,
- The level of effort provided directly by the customer,
- Customer satisfaction with a long-term objective,
- Drop-out rate.
This last point is probably the most important. Nothing is more damaging to your customer service department, and in turn to your business, than a customer who can’t reach you.
Enhance your customer service
Does your company offer a high-quality product or service? This is an excellent start. Often neglected, customer service must be fully integrated into your development strategy. Learning how to make the most of it affects customer loyalty just as much as the quality of your products. To make your customer service more efficient, make sure you :
- Gather appropriate tools,
- Automate certain processes,
- Train your agents and share your philosophy with them.
Don’t ignore negative customer reviews
Compliments are a great source of satisfaction for a company, and rightly so. However, this doesn’t mean your attention should be diverted from the negative comments, especially the constructive ones. Often, they raise a specific issue which, if resolved by your teams, will lead to a significant improvement in customer satisfaction and your reputation. An unhappy customer, despite appearances, represents an opportunity for your company to grow. By identifying what went wrong with this person, you’ll be able to bypass the obstacle and avoid seeing the situation multiply. This method is particularly useful when the advice given by the user concerns your area of expertise. It may seem like an unworthy suggestion, but it could be the innovation or change you need to move forward.
Support your strategy with the right tools
The human factor remains of paramount importance, but you can rely on tools that will optimize your capabilities, such as :
- Performance analysis,
- An unlimited package, with no hidden charges,
- Introduction of call statistics,
- Ticket follow-up,
- Installing the right CRM software,
- Setting up an international virtual phone number,
- External management to reduce maintenance costs,
- An affordable mobility solution for your teams.
A serene and efficient customer relationship, with full satisfaction on the one hand and the possibility of development on the other, is built on a daily basis. To achieve this goal, you’ll need dedicated, well-trained teams, an excellent strategy and tools created especially for you. In this respect, Kavkom is your privileged partner.
