the XWiki TeamA part of this article has been originally published in 2016. This is an updated version.
We all want a product that requires as little customer support as possible, but things never go as planned. Because the market is extremely competitive nowadays, you have to constantly be on the lookout for new ways to engage your customers. Those times when your company needs to provide professional assistance in a matter of minutes is what can the difference between a rising star and an average company.
Don’t drive your customers away
According to a study conducted by Accenture, 80% of the customers who switched providers due to poor service said that they could have been retained if the first contact with the company was leading towards a resolution. It is a trend that doesn't seem to stop spreading as the current generation of millennials is known to be picky in terms of assistance. This has also been enforced by the importance online reviews hold now - poor or negative ones will make customers even more skeptical about spending money.
In addition, brand loyalty appears to be declining from one year to another. Customers always keep an eye open for better offers and will make the switch to a competitor if that's what benefits them most. Not answering their needs is what leads to low engagement, and, in turn, short term loyalty. However, if you are proactive when it comes to customer support, you will have a significant competitive advantage that can help you in the long haul. You only need to be there, ready to welcome unsatisfied users.
Ensure and keep a constant level of communication
Maintaining and constantly improving communication with your customers is the key to building long term relationships and achieving great customer satisfaction. Just to put how important this is into perspective, try to think how you feel being put on hold for over 5 minutes or being caught in an endless loop where you're sent from one support agent from another due to a lack of knowledge. The answer is (more often than not) frustrated and annoyed. This is the same for most, as almost 80% of the interviewed people consider these reasons good enough to make them take the business elsewhere.
Clear communication at all stages is very important when it comes to keeping customers happy. If you have a contract, try to make it simple enough that it can be explained in a paragraph. If you're working on an issue submitted by a client, try to briefly explain what you're doing in a manner in which they can understand. Or at least let them known as quickly as possible that their issue is being taken care of. It only takes a few minutes and helps reassure the client their problem will be solved.
Ask for feedback
Most companies lack the initiative to seek feedback from their customers, but this is what can offer essential insight into customer needs and behavior. Getting to know what your customers think of your products, services and overall experience with your company helps you understand what you can do better and how. You can't deliver an improved customer experience or keep up satisfaction unless you know what you should be focusing on.
Encourage feedback at all stages so that you can discover your customers' honest opinion on your company. Be open to receiving both positive and negative feedback, as you can learn just as much from both.
Remember there is always a solution
It’s always easy to say what needs to be done, but it’s way harder when you need to come up with a solution. However, part of that solution lies in technology, which is already everywhere. Customers know that and, nowadays, it's expected of every company to have an online presence. While phone calls and emails still work, it's unsure just for how much longer.
There certainly are a few things your customer support team can do to improve customer interactions, but the most cost-efficient way to provide fast, proven to work solutions and quit redirecting people from one agent to another is by implementing a knowledge base. By adopting such a solution, you can reach out to your customers, instead of waiting for them do to it. Provide essential resources for them on the most common issues or create exhaustive self-help interfaces wherein the customers can save time and seek solutions to their problems by themselves.
Create a Knowledge Base for Customer Support with XWiki
When a customer gets in contact with you, they expect quick and professional customer support offered by an experienced agent. While nothing over the top, in order to provide that you have two options:
- Train all your agents to offer cutting edge technical support which costs both time and money. However, the risk of investing money in the wrong employee will always exist. Following this path, when your company evolves and needs more support agents, you will have to pay exponentially for their training.
- Implement a knowledge base where the support team can search for previously signaled issues and check the solution provided. This not only lets your company grow without any concern in this area but also helps take less time for a solution to be found. This means faster response time to customer issues and, by extension, an increased level of customer satisfaction.
XWiki provides a state of the art Knowledge Base specifically developed and tested to meet the most exigent needs in terms of solution storing. Ranging from bringing structure to your data, to real-time collaboration, the XWiki Knowledge Base can do it. You can get started with XWiki Cloud or contact us for a custom solution.
Remember customers are the backbone of a business, therefore carefully listening to their needs and knowing how to keep them happy can help your company thrive.
