Your company can get more customers to switch from competitors to you by focusing on this one selling point:
Customer service options.
Nearly 60% of customers say they’d be at least somewhat likely to switch the brand they’ve used for a long time if a competitor offered more ways to connect with customer service and the company, according to a recent Harris Interactive and inContact survey.
They want the latest and greatest, too. About 70% said that mobile apps are an important customer service option when they’re deciding which product to buy. Nearly the same number of survey respondents felt that companies that only have an 800 number to offer customers for service are outdated.
One big key to gaining their business, customers said, is flexibility. They want companies to offer a variety of customer service channels so they can access something — or someone — at a time that’s most convenient for them.
That means round-the-clock access to information — or a person, if self-service fails.
Make multichannel work
One-channel customer service doesn’t do the trick anymore. Neither does disconnected multichannel service. Customers will be frustrated if the rep exchanging emails with them doesn’t know about the phone calls they made days prior. And they’ll become irritated by repeated text messages sent to their cell phones.
Whether you have customer relationship management (CRM) tools that manage your interactions, or rely on account histories and mass-produced software, you want one person (or a team, depending on the size of your operation) to oversee the efforts. Then your sales team and marketing material can tout a seamless customer service experience to prospects and customers.
