In such a competitive economy, online businesses must take advantage of available technology, boosting customer service efforts to get ahead of the competition and increase customer satisfaction.
There’s no doubt that the world of e-commerce has changed the way business owners tackle customer service. Businesses are finding more creative ways than ever before to get their audience’s attention, and these efforts can play a major role in winning over your customers. Here are some customer service techniques your business can implement to provide the best online customer service possible.
Automated services
Supporting shoppers via e-commerce platforms has its unique challenges, including an influx in service and support requests. You’ll need to answer high volumes of product queries, fulfil orders, and return policies. To avoid burning out your service team and weakening your personalisation efforts, you need to automate. When done right, you can still engage with your customers on a personal level.
You can automate online services in a variety of ways. Enable a self-service support portal that allows your customers to solve simple service tasks on their own. Automate a host of transaction messages for order confirmations, receipts, and shipping notifications for low-value tasks. This way, you can focus on handling the more challenging cases. Letting customers know you’re on top of their concerns is one of the easiest ways to increase customer retention and loyalty.
Personalisation
Don’t overlook personalisation efforts as you work on automating some of your customer service processes. Customers will want more than just quick answers to basic queries. They’ll expect a more personal approach that makes them feel special.
Boost your efforts aimed at providing the best experience for your customers. Be there not just when problems arise. Add personal touches to your email campaigns. Offer guidance to help customers make the right purchases. Try to form meaningful relationships with your customers beyond just solving their problems.
Optimised processes
Customer service strategies aren’t always set in stone. It takes practice, proper implementation, and constant tweaks to keep your strategies working for you and your audience. The best way to get on top of these challenges is to study your data. Evaluate volumes by channel, track your busiest hours, and follow commonly discussed issues among customers. Studying your data, and optimising your processes based on that data, provides support and validation to your decision making, so you can plan for more successful customer service outcomes.
Innovation
Consumers are always looking for speed and convenience, so your customer service team should be able to provide prompt responses when issues arise. However, you should go beyond allowing your customers to reach your team through a chatbot. Apart from being present 24-hours, 7 days a week, try to innovate your customer service efforts. Tap into different platforms and meet your customers on channels they prefer. Whether that’s on social media, via e-mail, or by phone, it’s necessary to serve customers with a consistent level of quality that is fast, convenient, and flexible.
Dominate online with excellent e-customer service
As the online marketplace becomes more competitive, the best way to stand out is by providing an unrivalled customer experience. By joining Bartercard Australia, you can bolster your customer service efforts through personalised rewards programs. Gain support from a wide network of businesses so you can introduce your company’s unique voice to new customers. Join the Bartercard community today!