I guess there could be no two answers to this. Good customer support matters. It matters because it could be the only thing that sets you apart from competition. It matters colossally if you are a small business trying to get a foot hold in this crowded market place.
I am not an expert on this subject nor have I done extensive research on this topic. However, it would seem common sense to get at least the following five basic things right. By the way, these simple rules are working remarkably well for us at FRS Labs and hence the reason to share it with the world.
- Respond quickly. It doesn’t matter how trivial or complex the problem is, responding quickly will give a great sense of satisfaction to the customer that the issue is being taken care.
- Respond without reminders. Don’t put off because there’s four days on your SLA. Getting repeated reminders from customers can suggest only one thing: “I am not happy with your support”.
- Don’t pass around a problem. Passing around a query (result of a poorly trained team) or putting the customer on hold is perhaps the worst experience you could provide to your customers.
- Be nice. Showing a clear understanding (result of greatly trained team) towards their issues can go a long way in establishing rapport with your customers.
- Keep it simple. Don’t ask customers to fill in extensive forms or go through trillion helpdesk layers to get to you. If your users have an issue, they should be able to send an email or pick up the phone and talk to a person – one person – and the call should be dealt with. Then and there.
I guess it is difficult to be sure that if all of the above principles are adopted or applied without fault would lead to more business. I continue to see large companies provide crap services, yet astounded by their business success. I continue to wait on the phone for hours on end to get a simple issue sorted with one of my service providers, one of the ‘largest’ in the world, no less. In most cases I am hesitant to even initiate a conversation with the so called helpdesks in fear of getting my head radiated from gluing my mobile phone to my ears. Perhaps that’s how they get away.
Getting great feedback from customers would only mean one thing; that you have helped them do their job without getting freaked. This will directly translate to ‘I am a satisfied customer’. And it’s universally known that satisfied customers come back for more. I rest my case here.
