How Retailers Can Ace Customer Service To Win Loyal Customers

Businesses say they support the idea that the “customer is always right,” but figuring out what is right for the customer requires a willingness to listen.

Four-fifths (80%) of customers feel that the experiences provided by a company are just as important as their products and services.

Salesforce Survey

In the same vein;

A vast majority of people who have a bad experience (91%) will not willingly do business with that company again. 

Glance Report

Every retailer should take this statistic to heart. But there is another stat from the report that is arguably just as important:

Nearly three-quarters (70%) of unhappy customers say they would make another purchase if their issues are resolved quickly and favorably.

Retailers that are looking to attract and retain customers need to acknowledge the importance of problem resolution. They must also understand the need for a powerful, consistent experience across all forms of retail, whether online or in-person. 

In order to accomplish this task, retailers will need an outstanding customer support team that recognizes the evolution of both the customer experience and shopper habits. They will also need to incorporate skills-based routing with call resolution. This will ensure that customers can be easily transferred to specific experts, rather than being shared around to different people as customer agents search for someone who knows how to help. And last but not least, retailers will need to empower their support teams with advanced voice technology that allows for a more intimate and personalized customer experience.

Shopper Habits are Evolving

Customers no longer shop in one particular way. In addition to traditional in-person shopping, customers may visit a retailer’s website or shop through an app – or in some cases, place an order right over the phone. They may opt for delivery or in-store/curbside pickup. 

There are two things that all of these modes of shopping have in common. The first is that customers expect a consistent experience across retail, whether browsing in-person or online; the second is that customers’ phones are always nearby. This makes it easy to quickly place a call whenever they have a question about a product, an order, return, or exchange. Whatever their inquiry, the phone continues to serve as a preferred method for contacting customer service. 

With skills-based routing, agents will be able to more effectively transfer calls to specific agents and ensure that customers receive quick answers to their questions and fast resolutions to their problems.

Our own research has found that skills-based routing can connect callers directly to the right agent or to a personalized IVR message, resulting in an up to 80% decreased call waiting time.

Then, when customer service agents are able to view a full customer service history for each customer within a CRM like Salesforce, the first-contact resolution is dramatically increased while call abandonment is decreased by 30%.

The Customer Experience is Changing

Today’s customers have many unique needs and preferences, but there is one unifying theme that prevails in almost any circumstance: the quality of service. The best way to fulfill their wants and needs is to rely on customer agents that are informed and empowered with advanced voice technology.

Voice technology can provide agents with call transcripts and notes from previous calls that allow them to personalize their offers when speaking to customers. This creates a better experience for both parties, allowing retailers to serve customer needs with fast service, relevant information, and appropriate offers.

Customer Expectations are Increasing 

As retailers evolve their product offerings to meet the current needs of the market, they should not overlook the necessity of providing the best service possible. They can succeed in meeting this goal – and fulfill customer expectations – by empowering their call center staff with voice technology. In doing so, customer agents will be properly equipped to serve customers with relevant information and personalized offers, creating a consistent experience that fulfills their every expectation.