Digital customer service involves meeting the needs of customers through digital channels for example; websites, email messages, text messages, online chat and social media.
Today, many companies and organizations have established digital customer service divisions that devote at least some resources to helping customers through these growing digital channels.
According to a report published by the Institute of Customer Service London, customers today face significantly fewer problems when buying goods and services than they did five years ago, but they are more inclined to complain when things go wrong. By the time customers enter a store they know what they want to buy and how much they want to pay.
The real importance of digital to business is not in the emergence of new technology; the importance is the shift in customer behaviour. Customers have high expectations and demand the same personalized, convenient service whether they are buying shoes online or tweeting about a website outage.
How to master digital customer service: By Tusiime Edward
1. Get Personal
Customers want very personalized experiences. They expect a company to put the information and products they want where they expect to find them. Nearly half of customers will dump their online cart if they can not find a quick answer to their questions.
That means, a customer service representative must be available to chat at any given second customers navigate your website. Or the toll-free number must be prominently displayed on all web pages so that customers do not have to work to find it.
Technology allows us to automate things; It allows us to communicate with people across the world that we may never actually meet. These notions seem at odds with the idea of providing a personal customer experience, but it does not have to be that way.
By using new technology to create innovative product, design, and communication, it can be easier than ever for brands across all industries to remain customer-first in the digital age.
2. Connect in a meaningful way
When customers contact you one way, then choose another to follow up, representatives need to know what happened during the previous engagement, what’s pending as a result, and how satisfied the customer currently is.
Then they can respond to the follow-up in the most appropriate way. For example, when a customer takes to Twitter about a broken shoe be quick to reply and send them a replacement along with a text message or email promising to make things better.
3. Track and Share Customer Satisfaction Metrics
After investing time and resources in delivering the best customer experience possible, it’s important to know how well you are performing. Is your team meeting and exceeding customer needs? By tracking customer feedback with industry standard question formats like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), you can survey customers in a structured way to better measure performance.
But data on its own does not mean much until you leverage it to take action. One approach is to share negative survey insights with operations to improve your products or service then communicate in your online community or over social media that feedback has led to improvements.
Customers expect a consistent, high-quality customer service experience, whether they are sending you a DM or using your website’s live chat. Master digital customer service and you are more likely to improve brand loyalty and retain your customers.
Customer expectations are rising so fast and companies are responding so slow. We can thank (or blame) technology for most of these new customer expectations, the amount of information that is available make customers expect more.
Online communities combine two of the most critical customer care attributes valued by today’s customers—peer-to-peer support and self-service. Customer-centric “social hubs” for your like-minded brand enthusiasts have a substantial positive impact on perceptions of trust and loyalty, and provide a seamless pathway for customers to get support.
4. Route and Prioritize Issues
Choose a digital customer service solution that allows tracking of all social customer activity and interactions in one place while prioritizing the most important conversations to be addressed first.
At a glance, you should be able to identify “early-warning” signs of potential issues with live, actionable data so that you can head them off before they turn into a PR crisis. With the right preparation and software, customer care teams can efficiently manage a high-volume event while continuing to maintain day-to-day service levels.
No matter how much time you spend training agents, sometimes issues come up that need to be resolved by an internal expert. Have workflow solutions in place that allow you to quickly triage questions internally so that designated internal resources can respond.
5. Give Agents All the Training and Support They Need
Train your agents often and in multiple areas, such as social skills, the customer care playbook, when to escalate, what NOT to do or say, and the psychological aspects of customer behavior, needs, and conflict resolution. Most importantly.
Agents who understand how to manage their own stress and provide self-care will have the bandwidth to handle high-pressure situations. Agents benefit from sales and Public Relations training as well and should have a basic understanding of the products and services your business sells.
6. Strengthen Bonds with Visual Engagement
Tell someone, and they might remember; show them, and they are much more likely to remember. When customers can see options and how they fit together, they ask fewer questions and connect more deeply with your product or service. Incorporate images, animation and video in support interactions.
For example, agents can share a user-generated video of a customer resolving common issues or an infographic of how to handle a software update. By utilizing a social response tool, your customer care team can efficiently manage thousands of support interactions and still find ways to turn ordinary interactions into unforgettable experiences.
customers have high expectations for quality of service, which makes it crucial for businesses to improve their ability to deliver great digital customer experiences. Inconsistency in this area frustrates users and erodes loyalty, which will impact overall customer experience.
Customers care about digital. In fact, customers do not think of their experience in digital and non-digital categories. They want to access companies in the most convenient way possible, regardless of channel.