Big or small, all business alike must understand the importance of customer service.

A loyal customer base is imperative to the long-term success of a company.

Keeping a strong base means keeping customers satisfied through personal interactions and experiences.

Since business is very competitive and customers have many options available to them besides the service you provide, keeping their attention and business can be a challenge.

And while businesses competition heats up, so does technology advancements.

By leveraging technology to meet the needs of the customer and even going above and beyond their expectations can make the challenge of keeping their business much more manageable.

The technology you use in your business should revolve around your customers’ needs and the efficiency of running day to day operations.

While everyone moves pretty fast now, accessible communication is a must for any business.

Providing your customers with the opportunity and resources to reach out to you directly when they have questions or need assistance, is a large step in the right direction.

One of the most frustrating aspects of bad customer service is not getting the answer you need or not getting help soon enough.

You don’t want these types of complaints against your business.

In order to prevent some unsavory Google reviews, consider multiple communication avenues for customers to get in contact with you besides email and audio calls.

Other forms of communication could be texting, chatbots, or mobile apps.

When you think of how technology improves customer service, it’s because of the following:

1. Speed - We live in a fast-paced world. Consumers don’t just want now, they expect it now. If you are unable to reciprocate the speed they desire, consumers will not hesitate to take their business elsewhere. This applies to more than just customer support, think of Amazon. They offer same-day delivery in some areas now. Now that’s speed!

2. Convenience - This goes hand in hand with speed. Acquiring the product or service you offer should be quick and easy. If it’s difficult at any step, you’ll notice customers fall-off and not complete the buyer’s journey. To remedy this, look at your data and see which steps in your acquisition process customers are spending more time on or not completing. From there, you can make the changes necessary to simplify the process.

3. Personalization - As much as customers say they don’t want personalization, 70% say they would pay more attention to personalized products (InfoGroup). This is because receiving an ad for an irrelevant product is annoying. Personalization improves customer service because of the ability to tailor to consumers’ needs from marketing, advertising, sales, to support. With all the data available nowadays, it’s possible to personalize almost all aspects of the consumer journey.

4. Options - Not only do consumers want speed and convenience but with that we want options. Allowing the customer to choose how they interact with your business gives them more power. If you only offer one or two modes of communication and that’s not that customers preferred way of contact, then they might choose to do business with a competitor that has their desired form of communication. It’s beneficial to have options when it comes to interaction, communication, purchasing, paying, delivery, etc.

Below are 4 areas where technology can be implemented to improve customer service.

Website

Your website is a mecca of resources for your business and it’s important that when customers visit it they have no trouble finding the tools and information needed to contact you right away.

Oftentimes, customers want to look for the answer themselves.

In this case, it’s helpful to include some FAQs and comment sections where customers can swap answers with each other.

Chatbots are the latest and greatest advancement in online business communication.

While customers seek instant communication, investing in an AI-powered chatbot for your website can help to improve their experience with your business.

Because chatbots are available via mobile, desktop, website, text message, and voice control, customers have plenty of ways to utilize the technology to get their answers and help as fast as they need it.

Check it out: Tips For Boosting Website Speed

 Software

Using a Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) is a handy way to keep track of all of your customer’s information, calls, appointments, emails, and notes.

Being able to retrace a conversation or aspect of a relationship with a customer, when time is sensitive, can show them that you truly care about your relationship and are there to help.

A CRM is useful for building strong relationships with your current customers and prospects by fostering constructive and healthy pipelines of communication.

Check it out: How To Automate Your Business Processes: The Software You Should Be Using

Empower Your Customers

Don’t underestimate your customers!

Most of them, if not all, are used to doing their own online banking, self-check-out at the grocery store, and planning their own vacations online where they have plenty of information and control.

Don’t let your technology be any different.

By providing customers with self-service options, such as ticketing software, where they are able to create and track their own service order, will make them feel more empowered and encouraged to take advantage of those resources.

Check it out: The Future of Customer Self-Service

Social Media

No doubt one of the best communication techniques to come out in the past couple of decades, is social media.

Social media across all channels has been influential in improving the relationship between businesses and customers for years.

If you have not incorporated a channel of social media for your business, then it’s high time you do!

Social media has allowed communication to be open 24/7/365, giving customers more flexibility to connect with support.

Having a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter may be great for business.

Customers are already on there most of the day anyway, so why not join in?

Social media opens so many doors for building and strengthening customers relationships.  

Check it out: Social Media Customer Service 101 Infographic

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