Human Interaction is the Best Customer Service

Organizations often refer to customer service as a cost center or a branch of their business that does not produce a return on investment. Many companies believe that no matter how much time, money, and training they put into their customer service that there is no way of knowing if the effort is worthwhile. Therefore, why not take that money and put it into something more efficient? This has been proven to be a huge mistake. Below are some inexpensive, but powerful alternatives to traditional customer service.

Social media platforms – Twitter especially – is popular because of the ability to efficiently address customer service problems. They are a fast way to see what your customers are saying and how they feel about you, without over-extending yourself on a full, customer service support team. Social media has helped businesses understand the importance of customer service, some more than others. Positive human interaction is often what keeps customers returning to your company.

Using social media to address customer service issues can be a key part of your strategy. The social media platforms are free, customers are already using them, and they provide a centralized location for comments and complaints.

Human Interaction = Slower Service = Happy Customers

Businesses invest in fast customer service to deal with numerous customer complaints in a timely manner. Yet, fast customer service does not necessarily mean good customer service. A recent research study on the baking industry found that, though fast service was desired by customers, it was actually desired less than interaction with a happy and helpful employee. Implementing a fast response can lead to increased mistakes and carelessness, which leads to less efficiency. Your employees will have to perform the same tasks 2-3 times just to correct the mistake. The result could be a seriously unsatisfied customer or losing one altogether.

Encourage your employees to take their time with customers. Each employee should be able to devote time listening to each customer, validating their feelings of frustration, and fixing the customer’s problem. When an employee doesn’t feel rushed to fix a problem, they have the opportunity to handle the situation with more control and competency.

Has your company been investing the minimal amount to improve customer service? Ask your customers how they feel about your customer service with NBRI’s customer surveys. Contact us today.