What do we mean by customer service?
Customer service encompasses all activities with which companies support customers. This includes before, during and after the purchase of a product or service.
This proves to be enormously important in the sense that satisfied customers remain loyal to companies. They tend to repeat purchases. They contribute significantly to a positive public perception through reviews or feedback. They also drive word of mouth business.
Customer service interactions
Customer interactions take several forms. Tasks typically include the following:
- Solving problems
- Complaint and escalation management
- Directing customers to the right places
- Offering product suggestions
- Answering general questions
From a holistic point of view of supporting the customer, companies must also consider:
- Providing proactive support (before problems occur)
- Communicating seamlessly across different channels
- Applying emotional intelligence
- Optimizing support processes
- Anchoring customer service in the “DNA” of the company
When done well, these mean that a company is able to:
- Creating a positive customer experience
- Build trust and loyalty
- Enhancing customer satisfaction
This can be done on site through in-person customer support. It may also be offered via telephone, email, chat or social media.
Customer service management: background information
There is more to customer service than reactively resolving customer concerns and problems. Modern customer service can also be proactive. Support models like self-service and automation enable customers to solve problems on their own.
Defining customer service management
With customer service management (CSM), a company wants to give customers good service. This helps build loyalty and create a positive image.
It is one part of customer relationship management (CRM). CRM covers all customer facing interactions. It aims to improve the quality of service provided.
Customer service management strategies aim to solve problems, questions and other concerns quickly and comprehensively. To achieve this, the entire customer engagement must be well orchestrated or coordinated.
Optimizing customer service: Why is this important?
The quality of customer service plays a key role in determining the relationship between customers and companies. Company growth is supported when service:
- meets all customer requirements,
- is individually tailored to them
- acts proactively, and
- has a fast response time.
CSM strategies are put into place even before customers buy something or use a service. It is a comprehensive approach with which companies support their customers. The goal is not only to solve problems, but also to prevent them when possible.
Modern customers also expect to be able to use preferred channels, such as telephone, email, SMS, messenger or chatbot.
„There is only one boss. The customer.”
Important aspects of good customer service management
Delivering high quality service requires much thought and planning. Decisive success factors lie in these aspects:- Adequate process management optimizes services, such as inquiry response and complaint management. This enables concerns to be resolved quickly, satisfactorily and transparently.
- Customer service software, automation and AI-powered solutions save employees time and customers benefit from better results.
- The focus must be on the customer: Personalized approaches are a good start. This is followed by tailoring service to individual expectations. Companies also offer different service options, such as self-service or a conversation with a customer advisor.
- Good customer service is proactive. It solves problems for customers before they become apparent.
- If services are changed often based on customer feedback, they are more likely to meet their goals. This increases customer satisfaction immensely.
Customer expectations and corporate goals
When it comes to service, corporate goals must be linked to customer expectations. This prevents business and customer goals from diverging. It ensures that both parties experience a successful relationship.What expectations do customers have?
When customers consult the service department or use self-service options, they have a problem, question or urgent concern. A quick response and solution are their top priority. In short, they expect issues to be resolved quickly and satisfactorily. To achieve this, the following expectations should be met:- Solutions and answers need to be provided quickly and without unnecessary delays.
- The information must be factually correct, precise and reliable.
- Support must be provided via the preferred channels and at times that suit the customer.
- In the case of complex problems, the processes, timeframe and costs must be clear from the outset.
- Communication should be personal and empathetic, even with automated customer service.
What are important corporate goals for customer service?
We have suggested that meeting customer expectations means that the company is doing a good job. But, how does this translate into concrete goals and quantifiable values? Here are some brief and concise approaches:- You can measure customer service satisfaction using metrics. Two common metrics are the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Certain values can be defined as targets for these.
- Service is significantly responsible for customer loyalty and customer retention. We can measure this with different metrics. These include resale rates and average customer relationships, known as Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). We also look at the customer retention rate and the churn rate.
- Process optimization also counts in customer service. Companies can measure how well processes work. They can measure processing times or the proportion of first contact resolution (FCR).
- Continuous improvement is also an important credo when it comes to service quality. It can be measured by internal audits or customer feedback.
- Turnover plays an important role in many areas too. You can measure customer service from upselling and cross-selling. This can be done by looking at the sales made from service contacts or counting the upsells.
Customer service management: the advantages
When companies improve their service quality or maintain it at a consistently high level, this undoubtedly has several advantages. We can look at this from various perspectives:- the customer perspective
- the employee focus
- the company view
„Customer experience isn’t an expense. Managing customer experience bolsters your brand.“
The following points highlight what this does for everyone involved.
Advantage #1: Satisfied, loyal customers
Providing customer service that’s focused on the customer’s interests puts them first. This makes for a happier and more loyal customer. Excellent service also has the advantage that customers recommend the company to others. This may enhance its reputation.
Advantage #2: Boosting sales
Satisfied customers result in higher sales and long-term relationships. High sales volume in the short term and customer base growth in the long term are extremely important business criteria.
Advantage #3: Effective processes and workflows
Automated processes such as ticket management or follow-up tasks after customer contacts save time and avoid errors. Customer service teams with clear structures and transparent processes can also work more effectively and achieve better results.
Advantage #4: Motivated employees
Functional service management also ensures that employees are motivated and show more commitment. This is mainly due to the fact that well-coordinated workflows and structured processes lead to less stress. Observable successes leads to a positive mindset.
Advantage #5: Stability and sustainability
Customer benefits are directly linked to employee interests and the company’s situation. If customers receive first-class service, this leads to long-term relationships and stable relationships. It ensure a partnership in which one business cares for another.
Customer service management software
A service that meets customer needs requires a good structure. It also needs a clear flow of information and skilled use of knowledge. To meet high quality standards and give customers more, companies need help from customer service software.Requirements and important functions
Customer service software should be intuitive to use. It should make things noticeably easier for agents and customers. A dedicated solution usually results in a quick return on investment (ROI). These are the most important requirements and functions:- With a ticket management system, inquiries can be centrally recorded, prioritized and tracked.
- Self-service portals such as knowledge bases, frequently asked questions and community forums provide low-threshold access to useful knowledge content.
- Agents can work together on inquiries, assignments and notes, resulting in optimized collaboration.
- GDPR compliance, access controls and encryption protect data and ensure compliance.
- Simple implementation, intuitive operation and the option of mobile device interfaces use make the software user-friendly.
- KPI dashboards, feedback evaluations and performance reports can be used to offer insights and opportunities for improvement.
- The integration of channels such as email, chat, telephone and social media enables omnichannel support.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI)
The benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly important to customer service management and helpdesk solutions. AI saves time, improves response times and helps to make customers happier.For example, AI chatbots and virtual assistants can answer customer questions at any time. Automatic ticket assignments and the creation of suggested answers also save time and effort. In the helpdesk, users benefit from automatic classifications, optimized workflows, predictions and tailored support based on customer history.
Autonomous learning and mood recognition
Further advantages are offered by natural language processing (NLP) and self-optimizing knowledge databases. AI can recognize the emotions of each customer. It can quickly find important and urgent cases that need priority.Through the latter, the AI recognizes the emotions of the respective customer and can quickly identify critical and urgent cases that need to be prioritized accordingly. This is just as much a part of personalization as intelligent suggestions for products, solutions or knowledge database articles.
Conclusion: Customer service management – an important driver
Customer service is a core area for companies. This is where their customers’ image of their own services is directly manifested. Bad service experiences are just as memorable as those in which customer service acted as a real savior.Companies should therefore not under estimate the importance of the service they provide to their customers. They should constantly strive to improve quality and offer new, helpful services.
Personalization is a factor that customers now firmly demand. AI applications are also increasingly part of this. Companies are being asked to use them to the benefit of everyone involved.
It should also be emphasized that interactions and the type of communication are at the heart of customer service. Service is about people. People constantly seek empathy and solutions tailored to their individual mood and preferences.
In addition, companies should always keep an eye on the relationships between strategic goals, customer needs and employee perspectives.
Find out how OTRS can support you in your customer service management.
