This Is Why You Need Customer Service Data
Here’s some data to set the stage: 40% of customers today expect companies to take care of their needs quickly; 33% of customers claim that they’re willing to give up collaborations based on a single poor interaction.
Lately, creating an outstanding customer experience during interactions has become a priority for companies worldwide. While customer service software does play a critical role, so does data. How is customer service data influencing your business decisions? For most companies, this is the first place to look before any major business decisions including product changes and how to improve customer service.
This is a standard practice because customer service is not a standalone department within organizations anymore (and it shouldn’t be in yours). Customer service is the duty of all departments. Generally, customers expect to be able to reach out to someone from a company within minutes, using the communication channel they prefer. But what can you learn from taking a closer look at customer service data?
Poor Customer Service Is Costing Your Company Revenue
Customer service is an integral part of a spotless Customer Experience (CX) strategy. Without it, companies can’t achieve the desired levels of CX. And this is costing your business money. Customer service is part of a streamlined and highly functional CRM system. And according to our 2021 CRM and Sales Impact Report, 52% of the interviewed teams complain about their CRM costing them revenue. With regards to customer loss, mid-market companies complain that customer churn is nearing $5.5 billion each year. There are several reasons why this happens, but everything can be boiled down to the lack of access to a CRM tool that facilitates customer interactions and offers a clear view of customer needs across all departments.
Although these complaints come from sales representatives, the solution is in the hands of customer service professionals, and most importantly, from technology and data. With the right technology, support professionals will be able to enjoy no roadblocks, no blind spots, and no busy work when interacting with customers, while getting all the information they need to streamline customer interactions.
Customer service data offers a glimpse into key metrics that measure customer satisfaction and identify severe pain points in your relationship with them. Collecting and interpreting this data helps companies tailor adequate strategies to overcome such bottlenecks.
Customer Service Strategies Worth Investing In
According to recent data, 84% of customers today base their brand selection on customer service. With technologically advanced customers, companies need to give their customer service a kick too. If a functional phone number was just enough in the past to achieve customer satisfaction, now you have to think of omnichannel customer service. You need to offer them options and various communication channels, such as:
- Chatbots – According to recent data, the chatbot market size is about to reach almost $10 billion by 2024. Although text bots are already the norm for many companies, voice-activated chatbots will soon become mainstream.
- Live assistants – Live assistants are still a great way to ensure your customers find a resolution to their problems. However, make sure that you supply your teams with adequate systems to lower resolution time. Most of the time, customers complain about needing repeat interactions to solve their issues.
- Knowledge bases and self-service portals – Self-service portals are an excellent way to ensure that even your most independent customers find a quick resolution to their problems. 70% of customers today expect companies to offer self-service solutions, including access to knowledge bases and resources.
- Intelligent routing protocols. When you have access to advanced technology, you can set up intelligent routing for all customer-facing processes. Workflow automation lets you decide which is the best course of action for different customer situations in advance, so your support reps can take care of critical aspects of customer interactions.
- Omnichannel support. Ideally, you are available to your customers on their own terms, with time-aware customer insights that enable your teams to anticipate customer needs and personalize experiences across multiple channels.
When you let the platform do the work, such solutions come incorporated within customer experience platforms and play a determining role in dissolving silos between departments, but most importantly between you and your customers.
Customer Service Metrics You Should Measure
When it comes to customer service, companies should keep an eye on two important metrics: Customer Effort Score (CES) and Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Customer Effort Score (CES) – This metric measures how much effort your customers need to make when interacting with your company. These interactions can refer to navigating your website or using your product, but in general, it measures the quality of your customer service. The higher this score is, the less likely your customers are to shop with your brand again. Why? Because it has been proven that low CES is a good indicator of loyalty. How do you measure this metric? The easiest way is through CES surveys. There are specific times when submitting these surveys to your customers works best:
- Right after interacting with your brand for making a purchase or subscription
- Right after interacting with your customer support department (or other methods of self-service available)
- When releasing new products or services, and you need feedback on their functionality
Net Promoter Score (NPS) – How likely are you to recommend this company to a friend or colleague? We’re confident that you’ve come across this question several times by now. Well, this is how you gather data on how likely your customers are to become your brand advocates. This is also how you measure how many of your customers are likely to renew subscriptions or come to your company for other products or services in the future. Generally, this metric is a great way to figure out the health of your customer service and CX.
CES and NPS aren’t the only metrics to follow when you try to give your customer service a kick and elevate CX, but they are the most telling in terms of customer engagement, loyalty, and health of your pipeline.
Need more insights on how you can let the platform do the work? Keep an eye on our blog and see what we have new for you!
