Discover customer pain points – then fix them: CX will soar
Once a business uncovers customer pain points, immediate action must be taken to improve CX, thereby building loyal customer relationships.
Everyone knows that customer brand expectations are exceedingly high right now. The empowered buyer is not only educated about the products and services they want at a given time, they also know how long that product will last, what it should cost, who sells it, the average price point, and common complaints about customer service or product performance.
If the product/brand experience fails to deliver, there are plenty of comparable options available for future purchases.
Savvy companies are aware that customer satisfaction relates directly to the quality and effectiveness of customer experience – meaning they need to solve customer problems as soon as they arise.
Nevertheless, a significant gap remains between sky-high customer expectations and the reality of customer dissatisfaction with the purchase and support experience they receive.
To close this gap, companies need to solve their customer’s problems the first time. To do this, help and support must be delivered consistently and effectively across every channel—and on demand.
A successful customer service platform (whether self-service or agent-driven) not only answers customer queries accurately and efficiently, it also points them toward additional knowledge and resources and arms them with information about future products and services, upgrades, and add-ons.
Help is on the way: How to solve customer problems
In order to provide great customer service and support, consumers expect a few things:
- Relevant content that’s easily found – including self-service options
- Personalized, contextual support
- Real-time assistance achieved through in-the-moment customer insights and analytics
No more needles in a haystack: Make content relevant, meaningful, and easy to find
The most helpful and supportive content in the world means nothing if it’s fragmented and siloed in various support forums, websites, and hard drives across departments throughout the company.
Lacking an integrated approach to content delivery, customers are left with partial answers and can become frustrated if it doesn’t solve their problem quickly.
The onus on the company is to deliver current and accurate information across web and mobile channels (discussion forums, self-service channels, agent-driven chat, email, SMS, social media customer service, or phone-based support).
Social media and customer service: Aligning for great CX
Customers demand seamless experiences across channels, so social media and customer service teams must collaborate to boost the customer experience.
Use personalized, contextual support to solve customer problems
Because any product and service can be researched and validated by potential customers so handily, post-purchase these customers will use similar skills and expect a more fulfilling user experience. In other words: this isn’t your grandfather’s shoe store.
Buyers expect to receive customer service that’s personalized to their stated and unstated (but inferred) preferences.
Customers want to access those personalized services in contextual situations – in other words, they’re looking to validate their purchase decision over and over.
Additionally helpful is content that ranks and is optimized for SEO – it should surface the most relevant information based on customer queries, and provide support that’s customer-friendly, not product-centric.
The future of SEO: Search, trends, content, Google algorithm update
Understanding and learning SEO methodologies that'll help your site rank for relevant terms isn't a job for the faint of heart - and those who can do this are in high demand today. Learn all about the future of SEO and the Google Page Experience update.
How to solve customer problems via real-time reporting and analytics
By tracking and reporting customer behaviors and search trends, the support module will gain intelligence and insight, highlighting patterns that address future customer needs.
For example, if customers consistently report trouble implementing a software update, the intelligent customer service platform will be able to address this systematically.
Ultimately, solving customer problems the first time builds a positive brand experience, and supports ongoing customer discovery and research into additional product purchases, add-ons, or upgrades.
The well-supported customer has a greater lifetime value as a result. Positive customer interactions with robust service and support build a stronger brand, with greater customer loyalty, and ultimately more revenue across channels.
