Although there is no secret recipe for building great customer loyalty, there are some things that are a positive force for the same, such as hosted contact center software. With consumers getting inundated across online and offline channels alike, attention spans are saturated - and therefore getting shorter by the day. Therefore, your company’s customer experience strategy needs to be sharp, in order to attract the attention of potential customers (especially as they flick through an otherwise cluttered social news feed).
There’s only so much that you can do, when it comes to buying the best contact center software for your business. So what else can you do, to stand apart from your competitors and maximize customer loyalty? Here are five foolproof ways.
Prompt responses and minimal waiting times.
Having to wait long hours over a hotline is an experience that almost all of us are familiar with. So why subject your customers to the same? Contact center bottlenecks are a common occurrence, especially in companies that are experiencing high levels of growth, or simply due to brief seasonal demand. In spite of the spike in calls, it is still imperative to maintain standards of quality, when it comes to providing a customer experience that is unique, yet consistent.
This is why numerous leading contact center software providers offer cloud-based solutions that are able to scale up or down as needed, with businesses only paying for services used thereafter. Whether it’s utilizing technologies (such as standard VoIP or IVR) or a sophisticated enterprise unified communications solution that works with social media, your business needs to ensure that your customer service team has a solid plan in place to streamline the flow of calls. If not, customers abandoning call queues in frustration will only push them towards your competitors, thereby hampering customer loyalty for your business.
Not having customers repeat the same details.
This is another common occurrence, especially for customers that reach out to service teams frequently within a certain window of time. As the customer is spoken to by different agents, each new agent ends up asking for the same base information (which may have already been provided multiple times before). Again, this ignites frustration, especially if customers may have been waiting for a long time to receive feedback.
Cloud-based CRM systems today offer a centralized record of all customer information, which includes past interactions, billing and even purchase habits. Encompassing many of the features of unified communications, such CRMs may be part of contact center software pricing, depending on the vendor. Centralizing all customer data can enable agents to log everything in one place, while agents that handle successive inquiries can obtain context at a glance - without having to ask customers for information that they have already provided.
Evolving with the times.
Keeping up with changing technologies may be one way to look at sustaining customer loyalty, but handling customers goes beyond that. Even though brands pay big money to media outlets and advertising agencies for creating awareness, customers aren’t always swayed simply by brand value, for purchasing a product or service. For this purpose, it’s wise to acknowledge the fundamental reason that customers purchase a product or service only if it adds value to their lives; it’s the cornerstone of any business idea/model.
This is why it is vital to constantly engage in product development, so your offerings stay relevant to the changing needs of your customers. Ultimately, this will matter more to your business than brand value per se, when it comes to generating steady sales, and yes, sustaining customer loyalty.
Sincerely pursuing solutions to problems.
When an angry customer calls or walks in through the door, is your customer service psychologically equipped to diffuse the situation? This primarily means being receptive to the customer’s dilemma, by getting into their shoes. Sure, this can be a tough thing to do, especially when a frustrated customer is at your back. However, being able to diligently understand the customer’s perspective and persevere towards offering a useful solution will distinguish your business from that of your competitors.
Even if there has been an error on the part of your business, offering robust problem-solving to an overwhelmed customer will create a positive impression, and help build stronger rapport with said customer. This way, unhappy customers will be retained, by offering them solutions that truly add value to their unique situation. Successfully managing customer crises is one of many qualities that make up good customer service - and every customer service team can build the emotional intelligence needed to tackle customer troubles.
Closing the loop on complex customer journeys.
Digital channels are greatly relied on by businesses today to reach their customers and generate sales. However, the online medium brings with it complexity, as even the most typical of customer journeys can be long, and one that demands several clicks until a user is eventually able to obtain what they need. Therefore, it is important to ensure every step of the customer journey across digital channels is unique, necessary and leads the user one step closer to their goals; if not, it will only create frustration, and subsequently, abandonment.
Digital campaigns can further add steps to an already lengthy online user journey. Whether it’s a social media or display ad campaign, stand out by reducing the steps, time and effort it takes for users to obtain whatever it is that has piqued their interest from your content. Landing pages are a great idea from a UI, UX and CX perspective, as they direct users to a page that is consistent with your online content, and is specific to your campaign’s end objective.
