5 steps for improving real-time customer service

The scenario of business world is going to change drastically with more than half of consumer products and services research and development focusing on improving customer experience by 2017. Social media has brought about a revolutionary change in emphasising the need for excellent customer service.

Consumers are willing to only choose those products or services that offers the best experience. This has led to an increased market competition and have substantially raised the bar in current customer care scenario. Real-time customer care is crucial to this trend, as nobody has the patience to wait for answers. Maximum businesses have still not mastered the art of real-time customer service. These are few handy tips using which you can improve Real-time customer service at your organisation:

1.) Concentrate on your customer database

Treating customer like kings and queens starts with personalization, and this comes from having all customer related data in one place so customer care executives can pick up from where the last conversation ended and see the previous history of interactions. This creates positive customer experience and generates brand loyalty.

2.) Predict requirements using Analytics

Predictive analytics is touted to be one of the top customer service trends for 2015. By suggesting the next best alternative or proactively engaging in trending customer service, is sure to reap huge dividends. Analytics also helps in pacing up customer service in real time environment, by helping the customer care executive understand the customer and his needs in a jiffy.

3.) It’s okay to be human(and make mistakes)

Customers prefer talking to human than to a robot any day. Therefore, an efficient real-time customer service ensures that there is a steady brand voice dealing with all customer interactions. Transparency and genuineness is the key to connect with customers on a whole new level. They do not expect perfection and accuracy at all times, but they do expect honesty. So it’s fine to make mistakes once in a while, but not apologising for it, is definitely not okay.

4). Enable customer service on smartphones

With the ever growing demand and usage of mobile phones it has been predicted that mobile search will generate 28 billion more queries than desktop search by 2016, and it will just keep on growing by the numbers. Therefore, mobile applications (apps) should connect well with real-time customer service. Websites that have an app version should make it convenient for the customers to interact with the customer care executive as well.

5.) Be customer ready 24/7

Prompt response and quick actions for resolving issues are extremely crucial for effective customer service. It is not called “Real-Time” for nothing, it literally means the same. It could mean a difficult feat for businesses which are not used to effective customer service, but it sure gives them an opportunity to buckle up and work on building customer loyalty.

In a nutshell, real-time customer service involves potential as well as peril, but if done the right way, your business can reach the pinnacle of success and popularity.

How to nail customer loyalty programs like a pro

Nowadays, right from rendering customer satisfaction, to engaging customer retention, customer loyalty programs act as a touchstone  for every business. Uniquely designed strategies  provides a judicious mix of tailor-made solutions and channels to engage maximum customers. Especially ,with the  wide range of unmatchable offers, customer loyalty programs revolutionize  a brand into a customer value-centric tool .

5 Key points that must be addressed while rolling loyalty programs

1-) Reward repeated purchases 

Successful marketers not only offer points on visits, but also on every penny spent because customers love getting rewards.Those customers, who earn rewards or points  for their association are obviously more enthusiastic to spend more and visit often. Every customer has different preferences and it's vital to respect that. Marketers should create rewards and services from a customer’s perspective. A reward program with a lot of rules and limited -period offers can drive away customers engagement . Provide services and information to customers only in the way they want to receive.This ensures the maximum customer engagement, reduction in customer churn costs, and also turns out as an effective loyalty program in the industry.

2-) Encourage employees  

If you cannot successfully persuade an employees' engagement, then a customer loyalty program will never reach its full potential.
For crafting a never-ending customer journey, it’s crucial for employees to join in with customers. Delightful campaigns, surprising rewards and real-time engagement with  customers  protrude business amongst competitors and earn optimal customer satisfaction.

3-) Right Platform

It’s vital to research potential opportunities before stepping into the market. While many customer loyalty programs use  the traditional card-system for their reward management, others are seeing huge success with mobile loyalty apps. It has highest customer participation rates, and a proven way to enhance the customer and the client experience. But for a lasting experience, mobile marketing shouldn't be the only way of initiating symbiotic interaction.

4-) Recognize disengaged groups-

With all the hype around attaining maximum participation for customers, sometimes marketer’s easily lose sight on older segments. Securing customer loyalty must be the top priority for brand’s effective customer relationship skills and proper customer engagement strategy, which enables marketers to examine the behaviors, attitudes of consumer and their perceptions of customer loyalty, rewards programs, and customer engagement.

5-) Data Driven Insights-

Crafting  customer loyalty programs require a customer-centric approach, strategic planning and unblemished execution. For customer satisfaction, it’s imperative for marketers to harness deep understanding of each customer database and  create persuasive experiences. In recent years, the marketer's ability to build relationship with the customer form a new approach to a personalized reward expand business success. Constant communication can enable businesses to recognize customer value proposition and offer tailored models that attracts numerous customers focusing on their requirements. It’s the ultimate way to hook customers for brand positioning that delves deep into the customer’s mind, so they’ll keep coming back for more

Overall, the ability to understand and leverage customer database, demonstrate customer loyalty, thus, constructing exceptional offers for an unforgettable customer experience, and prioritizing customers can achieve the pinnacle of brand success. Whether it is a consumer, channel partner, or an employee, customer loyalty program covers every segment by collaborating with businesses to build profitable relationships with their target consumers.

How far should you go to deliver optimum customer satisfaction?

Customer satisfaction is the successful cornerstone of every successful business. Evolving trends in marketing have brought new meaning to customer service and validated every organization's take on customer satisfaction as well as culminating it into the organizational culture for attaining optimum customer delight. Strategies for customer satisfaction instilled in employees should  be more than just resolving customer queries. Alluring  customers with adept customer service should be a major recruiting asset of the company.

It’s been studied that overall customer satisfaction, efficient customer service with sales experience, retain more customers.

3 Tactics to improve Customer Satisfaction 

Customer stories-Understanding integral aspects of customer lifestyle is a vital link to generate customer loyalty.While it may be persuasive to focus chiefly on product design and marketing, but having a customer-centric mindset always gives a strategic advantage for businesses.Efficient in-house customer service, generates valuable information and numerous opportunities for crafting an unforgettable customer experience and attain maximum customer satisfaction .
Customer experience - Building  strong customer support team that centres around organization’s culture on customer satisfaction leads to high customer retention and renewal rates. In fact, it could lead to more customer participation.Sincere dedication to putting the customer  first isn't always easy, but it does go a long way. To earn  trust amongst customers,it is imperative to listen to what they have to say, understand, re-examine the conversation and ensure the cause ,for creating new values for providing a satisfactory experience.

Convert Customers Into advocates – Organizations achieve optimum customer satisfaction when their existing customers become, the real advocates of the brand. Many companies spend a lot of time and resources on outsourcing marketing channels for generating  brand awareness and qualitative measurements. When customers speak about the product value, it ultimately demonstrates the efficient work of an organization. Additionally, a customer’s voice are proven to be, more  encouraging, than any marketing channel. Happy customers help organizations for enhanced customer engagement, harness and amplify their passion for the company and its products.

Every business with a customer-centric approach must focus on providing a satisfying customer purchase experience rather than maximizing sales conversions. Difffusing customer satisfaction into a job description having real-time cooperations among distinctive teams is key to customer satisfaction. Considering, customer satisfaction with product management planning, focusing on quality assurance, is a smarter way to  reduce customer churn .