Customer care is one of the most critical steps in starting a business. It’s a crucial part of every business for you to build strong relationships with your customers. According to a survey report provided by ArenaCX, 56% of customers stated that they are willing to pay a premium for a product to get excellent customer care.
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The importance of providing excellent customer service cannot be overstated, especially in today’s fast-paced world, where consumers are more demanding than ever. You can’t afford to take any chances when it comes to taking good care of your clients and keeping them happy because if you don’t do it right, they will go elsewhere. Therefore, here are five tools that enable a top-notch customer care experience.
1. Call Recording Software
We will start with an essential tool every startup needs. Call recording software is a great way to improve customer service, allowing you to record, store and review calls. If a customer has a problem or question that keeps coming up, storing this information will help you identify it and solve it. It also enables you to train staff members to be more confident when handling similar questions from other customers.
If you have ever tried calling tech support for something like your internet provider or cable company, then you know how frustrating it can be when all they want is for you to restart your router. Or worse yet, keep doing what their automated system tells them repeatedly, even though nothing has changed in your setup.
Call recording software is also perfect if there are any issues with employees not following protocol. This way, management can review calls made by these agents. They can then be properly trained on how things should go down for things to get done correctly and quickly. You can learn more here about how call recording software can help a startup.
2. Help Desk Ticketing System
Help desk software is a tool to help you manage support requests and improve customer satisfaction. It enables you to organize customer requests, prioritize them and track their status. Once the ticket is created, it can also be automatically assigned to a specific team member who will take ownership of handling the issue until it’s resolved.
Help desks allow people to submit requests without having to wait on hold or talk through an automated voice system. It will enable your customers to self-serve by creating their tickets directly from the website or mobile app, with no need for them to call or email any information first. It saves time and money and reduces friction between you and your customers while ensuring they receive better service because they are not required to do anything more than submit a ticket.
3. Knowledge Base and Self-Service Portal
A knowledge base and self-service portal are two tools that are essential for any business that’s aiming to provide excellent customer care. They both work toward the same goal, reducing the number of phone calls you receive from customers by giving them the information they need in an easy-to-use format.
A knowledge base is a database of information about your company and its products. It can include everything from troubleshooting guides and FAQs to tips on improving performance or using new features, as well as step-by-step instructions on navigating through your website’s user interface (UI). You can create a knowledge base in any content management system (CMS) or platform.
A self-service portal is a website where customers can go if they want answers before calling support or submitting an online ticket request. A basic setup includes live chat functionality, so agents don’t have time wasted waiting around while someone figures out how to fix their problem. However, there are many other ways these portals can be customized depending on what works best for your business model.
4. Social Media Management Platform
Social media management platforms help with customer service. These tools allow you to manage your social media accounts and automate some tasks, which is excellent news for your company’s bottom line. While social media might be a powerful tool, managing it is equally tedious.
You can hire a dedicated social media manager or invest in an excellent social media management platform. These platforms automate tasks like scheduling posts, replying to customer queries, welcoming new followers, and more. Below are some of the best tried and tested social media management platforms.
- Buffer
- Hootsuite
- Sprout Social
5. Live Chat Software
As published by Forrester, according to 42% of US online buyers, US retailers need a live chat feature. Live chat is one of the most powerful tools for providing excellent customer care.
Not only does it help you convert more visitors into customers, but it also reduces your customer service costs. Live chat software can be used for online and offline businesses, including hotels, restaurants, and retail stores.
The main benefit of live chat is that it lets you provide a personal touch to your customers by letting them talk directly with someone who understands their needs better than anyone else. Live chat software makes it easy to interact with customers when they have questions or concerns about your business or products/services.
Taking Great Care of Your Customers Can Result in More Sales and Higher Customer Loyalty
Customers are the backbone of your business. Without them, you wouldn’t have company. You can’t survive without customers; they won’t come if you don’t care for them. 9 out of 10 consumers want an omnichannel experience with seamless interaction between communication methods.
Customer satisfaction is essential to keeping them happy and engaged with your business. And this is where excellent customer care steps in. Excellent customer care will help you retain loyal customers and attract new ones while increasing sales opportunities.
If you take care of your customers and give them the tools they need to solve their problems, they will be loyal to your brand and buy more products from you.
