For years, customer service has been regarded as merely a component in the post-sale process. But growing competition in the marketplace forces many businesses to reevaluate their view of customer support operations. Providing exceptional customer service is more important now than ever before. Investing in customer service pays off in the form of increased sales, employee engagement, and productivity.
Increase Your Revenue
The competition is out there, and great service can be the differentiator for your brand. Aside from a business gaining raving reviews, 67% of customers who receive great service spend more with a company they’re happy with, and 83% of those customers will refer others to that same company. Great customer service is a direct contributor to customer loyalty and helps lower acquisition cost through word-of-mouth advertising. Overall, this helps to increase your bottom line with a higher Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) from existing customers and rapid growth of new customers.
Customers are the anchor in any business. It costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain one. Great customer service grants businesses with customer insight, and the ability to stay ahead of changes in customer desires, expectations, and buying behaviors. Providing great customer service gives businesses a competitive advantage. Since existing customers are 5 times more likely to buy again, this allows companies to make product or service improvements, create new products, and develop marketing strategies to upsell and cross-sell to customers through the same customer service avenue. This helps increase overall ROI. Happy customers account for an average of 2.8% in annual rapid revenue growth and 20% of incremental growth per year from existing customers.
Better Employee Engagement
Bad customer service accounts for $62 billion per year in lost revenue. Providing great customer service starts internally. 69% of employees say they will work harder when appreciated. Employee engagement and customer satisfaction go hand-in-hand. Reports show that companies who work to improve their customer experience also saw an average 20% increase in employee engagement. Investing in a positive and well-structured customer service team that works in tandem with your sales force can minimize customer turnover and help reduce returns and cancellations. Properly trained, they can provide additional product information, and turn an upset or buyer-remorseful customer into a satisfied one. They can also be empowered to recommend additional products or services to complement the customer's needs.
Increase Productivity
Great customer service is more than friendly service. Agent competency and simplified processes also rank high in customer satisfaction. Being placed on a long hold or having to navigate through multiple channels to resolve issues can have your customer running to your competitor. Ensuring your front-line staff is trained and possesses updated tools to work efficiently is important to providing great service. Creating synergy between departments requires less work and less staff to create a first call resolution for customers. In turn, a minimal number of steps helps decrease errors and increases production speed. This means, during a normal shift, agents can resolve more issues, thus decreasing the cost per unit of work.
Proper training, a positive environment, and adequate equipment with simple processes help boost morale. Employees enjoy doing a good job, leading to recognition and appreciation from peers and management. This is reflected in interactions with customers.
Outsourcing your customer service is a smart way to gain access to an experienced and professional staff like Pittsburgh Telephone Answering Service. Our friendly and well-equipped agents provide exceptional live customer service to your customers 24/7. Contact us at (412) 571-2630 to learn more about how you can leverage your cost and time with our customized customer service packages.
