- December 22, 2021
- by Last expert
- Blogs, Customer support
- 0 Comments
Many businesses have begun to provide customer care on numerous platforms as the use of digital communication technologies has grown. Customers can now get help via email, webchat, text messaging, and even social media, in addition to the phone. There are a variety of tools at a company’s disposal to assist agents in providing consumers with the assistance they require.
The most popular sorts of client services are outlined below. Let’s take a look at each one and see how they can assist your company improve the customer experience:
Email Customer Service
We’ve gone a long way from the first electronic message was sent in 1971 to the billions of emails sent and received every day.
Customers regard email as a more trustworthy and professional medium among the various types of customer support offered. It’s no surprise that 12 percent of customers still choose to register their wishes via email.
The nicest thing about email customer service is that it is inexpensive. Your agents will have more time to reply, and they will be able to use premade responses or email templates to respond more quickly.
One of the biggest problems with email customer support is that it gets tough to keep track of every single email after a while. In this situation, client email management software can be used to transform emails into tickets, ensuring that they never fall through the cracks.
Pros of Email Customer Service:
Over a period of time, record and document customer conversations.
Use email signatures to add a professional touch to your customer service.
Customers can be notified about the status of their issue or support ticket via automated email alerts.
Attach relevant photographs, videos, documents, or other items with ease.
Cons of Email Customer Service:
Customers may become irritated if email responses are delayed.
When you receive hundreds of emails every day, keeping track of them might be difficult.
Long responses can take a long time to type.
Real-time human-to-human interaction is lacking.
Continue reading: Customer Support Emails: 11 Best Canned Response Templates
Live Chat Customer Service
Live chat is one method that is rapidly growing in popularity among business owners and clients.
According to Forrester study, live chat customer assistance is 17-30% less expensive than making a phone call. The explanation is simple: you can’t manage many consumers on the phone at the same time.
When comparing the various customer support methods, live chat provides customers with the fastest response times. Customers can, in fact, converse with an agent while continuing to perform their daily chores.
You can also provide proactive customer service in addition to this. You can send proactive chat messages to customers who have things in their shopping cart but haven’t made a purchase yet, gently asking if they need any help.
Pros of Live Chat Customer Service:
Increase revenue by assisting consumers in real time while they buy.
Multiple consumer chats can be handled by agents at the same time.
Embed a chat window on your website with ease and learn about customization choices.
Upselling and cross-selling opportunities can be easily included.
Cons of Live Chat Customer Service:
Customers may see chat responses as programmed and robotic.
You must provide the customer with a solution nearly instantly.
It gets more difficult for agents to read the emotions of their customers.
Customers’ usage of emoticons or slang can make it difficult to have a meaningful conversation.
Continue reading: 30 Customer Service Suggestions for Exceptional Customer Service
Chatbot Customer Service
People frequently interact with chatbots to seek answers to their fundamental questions like shopping online or ordering food. When a consumer writes in “where is my food?” for example, the bot provides a real-time update and immediately assists the customer.
Chatbot adoption is a fantastic method to automate customer support and delight customers. Over the last 12 months, almost 67 percent of global customers have interacted with a chatbot for customer service.
It’s crucial to highlight that just because a chatbot can’t solve a client problem doesn’t imply it’s the end of the world. In fact, bots can be used to route customer interactions to the appropriate agents or teams if the customer need additional support.
Despite their popularity and cost-cutting advantages, chatbot discussions lack a human touch.
Pros of Chatbot Customer Service:
Customers should be able to contact you even if your team is not online.
Meetings with customer support or sales teams should be scheduled.
Share relevant self-help articles, videos, and other resources automatically.
Over time, add more questions and answers to your chatbot to improve its functionality.
Cons of Chatbot Customer Service:
Customers can only get restricted responses from chatbots.
Customers may become frustrated by automated responses, forcing them to speak with a representative.
Chatbots powered by AI can be costly for your company.
Conversations with chatbots frequently lack empathy and personalization.
Continue reading: 10 Service Desk Automation Ideas to Improve Quality and Performance
Phone Customer Service
We’ve all spoken with a customer care representative over the phone at some point. After all, who can forget the thrill of receiving appropriate assistance without having to go to a store or office?
For decades, phone assistance has been the most popular method of customer service, and you’ll be astonished to learn that it still is. Around 61 percent of customers in the United States prefer to address customer care issues over the phone.
But what makes phone customer service so popular?
While many client conversations begin on digital platforms like live chat or social media, the majority of them must be escalated to a phone call in order to receive appropriate help. Furthermore, when it comes to building a solid rapport with a consumer, an attentive human voice can make all the difference.
Pros of Phone Customer Service:
Provide each customer with a unique experience.
Customers can talk to an agent in real time and get the best solution.
Boost your chances of success. Resolution of the First Contact (FCR)
Provide them with an automated call back tool so they may interact with you whenever they want.
Cons of Phone Customer Service:
Long hold times can detract from the customer experience and result in turnover.
Customer service representatives are unable to handle many calls at once.
Phone support necessitates extensive agent training because international or long-distance calls might be costly for your clients.
Self-Service Knowledge Base
Customer Service Self-Service Knowledge Base
Customers today want to feel empowered and be able to solve their basic problems on their own. After all, who wants to wait 5 minutes on hold or receive an email response days after an incident?
For clients who want to get relevant advice with minimal effort, self-service has emerged as a ray of hope. For straightforward queries, more than 60% of US clients prefer an automated self-service portal, such as a website or smartphone app.
Now, the concept of self-service is quite intriguing. To make it work for your company, though, you’ll need to concentrate on the UX and SEO of your support pages. Customers’ experiences are impeded if they have to search for useful information.
Pros of Self-Service Knowledge Base:
Be available to both current and potential consumers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Reduce the number of support tickets you receive.
Allow agents to concentrate on more pressing consumer concerns.
To serve consumers from all around the world, create a bilingual knowledge base.
Cons of Self-Service Knowledge Base:
Customers may find it challenging to find useful information at times. You will need to update your existing help content or create new pages on a regular basis.
It’s impossible to address all consumer issues or demands.
Contributors’ differing writing styles and knowledge can result in documents that are inconsistent.
Social Media Customer Service
Social media is no longer just a tool for social connections between friends and family. Today, every company must have a strong social media strategy because a single tweet can ruin a company’s reputation.
Customer expectations for social media customer care have risen dramatically. Around 20% of customers in the United States expect a quick response to their social media questions or concerns.
This makes meeting such high expectations all the more difficult for your company. You may reach customers before it’s too late by keeping a close eye on messages, postings, comments, and group discussions.
By giving prompt assistance, you may demonstrate to potential clients how concerned you are about their needs.
Pros of Social Media Customer Service:
Customers can contact you directly using their favourite social media apps.
Send out proactive notifications to consumers informing them of any planned outage.
Create help or community pages to allow customers to assist one another.
Share customer service success stories to boost your brand’s image.
Cons of Social Media Customer Service:
Negative customer feedback or comments can have a negative impact on a company’s reputation.
It’s tough for huge companies to keep track of every single social media reference.
In most circumstances, the remedy must be disseminated through a different channel.
Customers can send tweets or postings at any time of day, even if your team isn’t online.
Walk-in Customer Service
Remember when you had to go to a brand’s customer care department to return a product you’d just bought?
Despite the fact that internet shopping has been popular for over a decade, most businesses still offer a dedicated customer service/help section within their physical storefronts.
When it comes to creating a rapport with your consumers, one-on-one customer care conversations may be miraculous. Your representatives will have the opportunity to have a meaningful conversation, get to know a customer better, and receive real-time feedback (both vocal and nonverbal).
On the other hand, face-to-face contacts can occasionally put you on the spot. You must immediately provide a remedy to an irate consumer, or the problem will worsen. In reality, a single customer case can consume the majority of your time, causing a minor delay in the task you were supposed to do.
Pros of Walk-In Customer Service:
Face-to-face interactions with consumers will help you better comprehend their difficulties.
Gain the trust of both current and potential clients.
Increase sales by recommending other goods that are comparable to yours.
Observe customers’ nonverbal clues (eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, etc.)
Cons of Walk-In Customer Service:
Having an in-house customer care department can be time-consuming and costly.
Instead, that space may be used to offer additional things.
Your firm will appear outdated if you have a “only physical help department.”
Video Customer Service
Video is quickly gaining traction as one of the most effective forms of customer support. Live video sessions can assist you provide technical support, product demos, or simply gain a better understanding of a customer’s problems.
Live video customer service has helped businesses stay connected with their clients throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where social alienation has become the new normal.
However, live videos aren’t always required. You can create custom walkthroughs and demonstrations and publish them on social media, through the help centre, or through other methods. Customers will be able to watch the help videos at any time and replay segments to better apply the troubleshooting techniques.
You may even make thank you videos for consumers to show your appreciation for their loyalty to your company and become a brand known for personalised customer service.
Pros of Video Customer Service:
In a matter of seconds, you may schedule online video meetings.
You can lower your ticket volume by posting support videos online.
Have one-on-one encounters that are personalised.
Easily share recorded videos on social media, the support centre, or other customer-friendly channels.
Cons of Video Customer Service:
Not suitable for a non-technically informed audience.
Low internet speed or a bad connection can make it difficult to get help.
Creating interactive movies for every frequent problem might be costly.
Distractions in live video sessions, such as a pet wandering in the background, are common.
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On-Site Customer Service
This form of customer care is delivered to a customer’s home or workplace. On-site customer service can include operations like installing a product on-site, doing annual maintenance, or repairing a product.
Customer support that is provided on-site is frequently quite pricey. You’ll have to think about things like recruiting remote workers, their training, travel fees, and so on. As a result, most businesses can only afford to provide these services to premium consumers and not to regular customers.
Certain items, on the other hand, necessitate the physical presence of an assistant in the event that something goes wrong. For example, if a server or networking problem arises, an IT specialist must be on site to resolve the problem.
Pros of On-Site Customer Service:
Customers prefer on-site customer support because it is more convenient.
Real-time service can help you solve problems faster.
Customers can confirm the legitimacy of parts being replaced as a last option if all other routes have failed.
Cons of On-Site Customer Service:
Visiting the customer’s location can take a long time.
On-site service is highly costly, and it is not available to all consumers.
Agents must be trained in a variety of customer care areas, including technical support, among others.
Because of the unpredictability of working hours and location, agents can become frustrated.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Customer Service
The technology that allows clients to engage using their voice or mobile keypad is known as Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVR systems can understand the customer’s situation and supply the appropriate information based on their inputs.
Basic client queries are easily handled via IVR. When a customer phones to confirm an appointment, for example, the IVR may ask for the customer ID before providing the needed information.
A well-designed IVR can improve the client experience. However, poor implementation might defeat the aim and leave customers frustrated and unhappy.
You should be extremely cautious because a big and sophisticated IVR menu might be confusing to callers, while a short menu may leave out critical items.
Pros of IVR Customer Service:
IVR is accessible to assist clients with their inquiries 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
It might give your company a more professional appearance.
Can enhance call flow by sending consumers to the appropriate agents or teams.
Your agents will have more time to focus on more important matters.
Cons of IVR Customer Service:
Customers may be frustrated by limited IVR alternatives.
IVR necessitates a significant upfront expenditure.
IVR cannot handle complex client concerns, and it can only handle the most basic customer inquiries.
Customers may become confused if the IVR menu changes frequently.
So Which Types of Customer Service Should You Choose?
Your choice of customer service can make or ruin your business. The demographics of your target audience, their interests, your company’s budget, team size, and other criteria will all influence your decision.
Popular Channels: Determine which channels your target audience prefers. For the same, you can distribute appropriate surveys asking clients to rank communication channels in order of preference.
If you have a small team and a lot of clients to serve, invest in self-service tools like a knowledge base, IVR, chatbots, and so on. In the same way, if personnel isn’t an issue, you may easily rely on channels like phone or video support.
Customer service trends: The customer service landscape is constantly changing. As a result, it’s critical to keep an eye on the various sorts of customer service that are gaining traction in your market. You will be able to meet client expectations as a result of this.
Yes, to Excellent Customer Service!
Customers today expect more than one channel to interact with their favourite brands. While some customers prefer modern channels such as live chat, social media, and the like, others prefer traditional channels such as the phone or email.
You may always question your clients directly about the greatest sorts of customer service for your expanding business. In addition, you must keep an eye on developing trends in order to provide your audience with wonderful customer service experiences.
Remember that the correct mix of customer service channels will enable you to provide round-the-clock support, cut expenses, increase sales, and, most importantly, keep your customers happy. Whatever type of customer support you chose, there are some customer support features to ensure customer satisfaction.