NEW YORK – According to a study cited by the Customer Edge website, 80% of businesses believe they provide superior customer service, while just 8% of customers say they have experienced superior customer service, a recent study found. While some may disagree with those numbers, the simple matter is, there is always room to improve when it comes to customer service.
Customer Edge lists five ways companies can close the gap between a company’s customer service performance perception and the customer’s real-life experience.
- Eliminate customer service borders. Focus on achieving a truly consistent customer service process across all channels. That requires investment in data integration, tools and training.
- Don’t hyper-focus on delighting your customers. No one reaches out to customer service when things are going well, they just want to get something resolved as quickly as possible. Let go of the myth of excellence, and focus on enabling customer service professionals to provide answers quickly.
- Quit fighting fires. Customer service has traditionally been a reactive arm of the corporation, responding to problems only as they arise. Today, customer service needs to be proactive. Thanks to emerging technologies in the areas of big data, real-time analytics and the Internet of Things, that’s possible. By applying the right technology and integrating it with the service experience, reaction will be the exception not the norm.
- Shutter your social media group. Everyone with a customer service issue potentially has a mass audience. Social media is so important to customer service today that it can no longer afford to be a standalone function, it should be integrated into customer service and marketing processes instead.
- Don’t implement self-service to cut costs. Directing customers to solve their own customer service issues is a great way to cut costs fast—and is a fast way to tick customers off. While customers generally want to be able to help themselves, not everything can be addressed via self-service.