Chapter 2: Why customer service is important to growing your business.
These days it takes more than a great idea, some capital, and a ping-pong table to get a new business off the ground. Great customer service needs to be a part of your company's DNA from day one. Superior customer service not only meets the needs of customers but also provides a competitive advantage by fostering loyal relationships, enhancing brand reputation, and minimising customer churn. In the customer service industry, the adoption of digital channels like social media, live chat, and video calls is becoming standard, with customers expecting businesses to provide seamless experiences across these platforms.
Why is customer service so important? It can be the difference between a hot IPO and just keeping the lights on. Providing great customer service can generate more marketing and sales opportunities. So meeting your customers’ satisfaction is paramount to keeping your business growing successfully. To enhance customer service, businesses must invest in omnichannel solutions that offer seamless customer experiences and prompt, reliable responses across different channels. Neglecting customer service can lead to increased customer churn, as poor customer service often results in customers turning to competitors, damaging brand loyalty and image.
Here are five more reasons why customer service is important to your business:
Increased sales through customer loyalty.
Customer support isn’t just about retaining customers. It’s also an effective way to increase sales by fostering customer loyalty. Providing answers and support to customers and prospects is crucial for encouraging customer loyalty through exceptional service. This approach not only helps in retaining customers but also plays a significant role in building strong relationships and increasing trust. It’s not just your existing customers who have questions — your prospects do too. It’s been reported that 52% of customers will abandon online purchases if they can’t find the information they’re looking for. Provide online support or easy ways for customer service teams to get the answers they are looking for. Save your sale by getting customers and prospects the information they need, when they need it. Loyal customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and refer new customers, further increasing sales.
Improving customer retention rates.
It’s an oft-quoted statistic that acquiring customers costs 6–7x more than retaining your existing ones. For small businesses, with limited time and resources, ensuring a positive customer service experience is even more important. You simply can’t afford churn. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that 68% of customers leave because they’re upset with the treatment they’ve received. Enhancing the customer service experience not only helps in retaining customers but also significantly impacts customer loyalty and retention rates by reducing churn and improving brand image and loyalty potential. Offering fast, helpful customer service and creating a seamless omnichannel customer service experience is critical to keeping customers satisfied. Not to mention that happy customers and word of mouth can also be some of the most effective drivers for new business.
Finding opportunities to cross-sell and upsell.
Your current customers can be one of your best sources of business. When you connect all of your support channels and the apps you use to run your business, like a customer relationship management (CRM) app, everyone at your company, especially customer service representatives, can be in the know about customers. These representatives play a crucial role in leveraging customer information across various digital channels, such as social media, live chat, and video calls, for sales opportunities. Support agents can see order histories, open opportunities, and shipping status, while sales know when a customer needs help. By ensuring that customer service representatives can access and share relevant information across these different channels, you provide a seamless customer experience. Furthermore, a well-coordinated customer service team works together to uncover cross-sell and upsell opportunities through their daily interactions with customers, contributing significantly to the brand's loyalty and competitive advantage. When you share customer information, product insights, and support metrics across the company, not only can everyone be more productive and do a better job of building relationships, but you can also uncover opportunities to cross-sell and upsell customers.
Improved products and services through customer insights.
Whether you have three people or 30 on your support team, they’re a crucial link to the outside world. Unlike product management or marketing teams — which only talk to customers from time to time — your agents talk to real customers every single day. Integrating proactive customer service into this dynamic not only addresses customer problems before they escalate but also uncovers opportunities for product enhancements that can significantly boost customer satisfaction. A good customer service application coupled with a CRM system will gather information from a huge variety of sources across your business and beyond. It can tell you how customers are interacting with your product and if they’re having problems, allowing your team to be proactive in making necessary adjustments. We can’t underscore the importance of your product decisions and how they impact customer service. By categorising your cases carefully and adopting a proactive customer service approach, you can identify what modifications and features customers would like to see in your product or what the biggest pain points are. These customer service insights are crucial in driving the most critically important product decisions, ensuring that you're not only reacting to feedback but also anticipating customer needs and expectations for speedy issue resolution.
Making better informed business decisions.
Excellent customer service is a foundational element for making informed business decisions. Your customer service tools can help you do more than just support customers. They can help you improve virtually every aspect of your business. Data from your help desk lets you see how your agents are performing and provides indicators for optimising your support team. Your help desk can also provide an overview of CSAT (customer satisfaction) scores and customer health indicators, where exceptional customer service plays a crucial role in maintaining high service standards and strategic importance. Or track the most requested customer features. When you look at a help desk solution, make sure it’s easy to get the insights you need to make faster, smarter decisions. Providing excellent customer service is a key strategy for achieving business growth and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Customer testimonial: Intuit
Learn why Intuit leverages Salesforce Service Cloud to provide amazing support for its customers.
