Why Customer Service is Important for Every Business?

February 11, 2021

Why Customer Service is Important for Every Business?

No matter what you are buying, or the service that you are using, there are certain things that you expect. One of, if not THE primary aspect that you would expect is satisfaction from the service. That is why customer service is so important. Your customers are an essential part of your business. Without them, you have a bottomless money pit that will get you nowhere. Whether you own a market stall, a store, or an online business, your frontline is the people who face the customers every day.

Source of image: Envato elements

Understanding Customer Service

Customer service is an integral component in maintaining a relationship with your customer. Consequently, a happy customer is your primary tool in creating more revenue. Satisfaction is the key to creating a relationship with customers, and this relationship will create two things. One is the clients’ return. The other is referrals and recommendations.
Customer service needs to be a one-stop process for the people who need it. The last thing that they will want is to be pushed from pillar to post and back again to try and get the solution that they require. There are a few things that make customer service either wonderful or weak:

• Accessibility – Of course, the first requirement when someone needs assistance is to be able to access it easily. Therefore, it is imperative that whichever communication method you choose for your service, the route in which your customers will take is evident at all times.
• Timing – Once your client has the phone number to call, the online chat url, or the email address to use, they have to take the first step. It is at that point that there needs to be a timely response. When you have an issue that requires customer service, you do not want to be waiting for hours on hold, or for days to get a reply email. That is not good for business.
• Engagement – So, you have got the accessibility and timing sorted out. The person has answered the phone promptly. Great. It is now up to the operative to do the hard work.
• Resolution – Resolving the issue that your client has is the last step to keeping your customer service in top shape.

Now let’s take a more in-depth view of what we can achieve and how.

Accessibility of Customer Service

Have you ever needed to call a help center? If you have, then you are likely to have found some of the frustrations of accessibility of customer service. Let’s use a typical scenario that you have probably found yourself in to have a look at the importance of each of the aspects.

You should be interested in Modern Technology for Busy Contact Center Managers as well

It is 2 am, and you have an issue that you need help with as soon as possible. Your first thought is to Google the phone number. After an hours struggle to find a support contact number, you have found one only to find that their operating hours are nine till five.
It is becoming more and more commonplace that the need for actual human support at the times that are out of regular working hours.
Hours of operation are often the key to great accessibility.

Timing of Customer Service Operatives

The timing of your customer service operatives can have more of an impact on your business than you think. Let’s continue with the above scenario:
You have now managed to find a “contact us” form on their site. In your frustration, you fill it in with every detail that you can think of at 2 am. You send it off and go to sleep. When you go to sleep, you are hoping to wake up at 9 am and receive an email detailing exactly what you need to do to resolve the problem. 5 pm comes, and you are starting to think that either there are no customer service operatives, or that they didn’t receive your contact form at all. 
You can see how this is only going to lead to bad reviews of your company. If enough people have this same experience, then you are going to see a substantial drop in customers pretty quickly.
Swiftness can equal success.

Engagement Of the Operatives in Customer Service

The engagement of the operatives is the front line of customer service. Even if step one and two work smoothly, everything can fall apart here. We shall continue the makeshift storyline as if all of the above is precisely how you would like them:
You are now on the phone to someone. You think, great; this is going well. You are asked to describe your issue, which you do. Your uninformed operative gives you a generic “err; I will have to transfer you to another department.” Ok, that’s fine. The next agent rudely tells you that your issue is not theirs and you have to contact a different number. 
This type of engagement has let down every single step of the process. There are ways that the operative could have better handled the request. These alternatives will explored in detail in a different article.
Good engagement equals Re-engagement.

Resolution of the Call Centre

The resolution of the call center is the last step to getting a process correct. When you have managed to get the accessibility, timing, and engagement correct, this is the part that matters. Resolutions can come in many forms depending on the issues at the beginning. However, you will have noticed that I have left this part til last. Not only is that because it is the final step, but also because it should be the most variable.
Sometimes, unfortunately, there are no resolutions to be offered. But how you have handled the rest of the process is what will keep your customers coming back to you. If they feel valued and heard, they know that you care. Customer care is synonymous with customer care.
Resolution is the ultimate solution.

Why Customer Service is Important – Conclusion

While there are only four steps to successful customer service, they are all as important as each other. You can not do one without the others, and you can not miss a step. Likewise, you can not be good at one and not the rest. That is why, here at Call Criteria, we pride ourselves on setting the standards to all four of these steps. Use the contact page to get in touch, and you will instantly see the difference.