Almost 80% of customers will change their mind about a purchase if they receive poor customer service. That’s eight out of ten sales lost. However, the main issue that is posing a devastating threat in this equation, is the fact that business owners find out only about 4% of negative experiences from their customers. Imagine how much would business owners actually worry, and for a good reason, if they only knew the exact number of their unhappy customers.
So as we are investing in tools for marketing automation in order to optimize our sales funnels, we are failing to face the actual issue that is literally destroying our businesses. The problem is evident – it is the human factor. One factor which cannot be optimized.
On average, as much as 71% of employees in your place of work are simply not engaged. Furthermore, 26% are actively disengaged, meaning that they couldn’t care less about their work. So when a customer calls your service, and gets a response from one of the 71% of your staff – they will hardly receive a good service. Even worse, if they get one of the 26% of actively disengaged workers – they will hardly receive any service at all.
But should you worry that much about customer service if your sales funnel is perfectly comprehensive and optimized for an average user? Statistically – yes, because 83% of online shoppers require some assistance when they are buying a product.
With all of these statistics in mind, it is evident that your customer service is the step of your sales funnel which requires your immediate attention. But how can you exactly improve it? Same as every other step in your funnel, this one will require some investment of time, funds and efforts in order to optimize it for maximum performance.
Recruit the top talent
Finding the right person to represent you in front of your customers can be hard and impossible sometimes. Attracting the top talent can be difficult, but what can be even more difficult is establishing whether the right candidate is in front of you or not. However, there are a few questions which can help you to determine this during your interview.
The first thing that you should test during the interview is if the candidate knows anything about your product and service. Ideally, your candidate has already tested your product, or researched your company online. Investigative skills are a very important characteristic of an ideal customer service representative.
On that note, you should also ask your candidate a question that they cannot provide an answer to. Simply ask them about a specific feature of your product, or even about the department in charge of some aspect of your service. The trick is to observe your candidate in a position when he, or she, does not know the answer. The manner in which they will reply to an inquiry that they do not know an answer for is vital for reliable customer service.
The last trickery that you will have to use is to flat out tell them that you are not impressed. If there is anything that you can point out specifically why you are not satisfied with them – don’t hesitate to use it. Of course, the real reason why you want to do this is because you need to observe your candidate in an uncomfortable position. The way they handle discontent is something that you simply have to be aware of.
All of the above stated questions will help you to narrow down your list to a selected few. Be aware that all of these characteristics are vital for a reliable customer service representative.
Utilizing your working force
Customers are simply not fond of human-less services. Rarely few of them will read the FAQ section before they decide to reach out to your representatives. Furthermore, the great majority of your clients couldn’t care less about digitalized services. In fact, 80% of them would rather speak to an actual person.
This is why it would be a smart decision to utilize your working force and automate all repetitive tasks that you possibly can. Additionally, implementing a CRM system is simply a mandatory element of every respectable business nowadays.
Tools like Salesforce can help you to track your sales, remind you about your prospects and clients across all phases of a sale, send automatic follow-ups and enable coworkers to collaborate via platform. With implementation of a CRM system, you are not just empowering your customer service team – you are also gaining a transparent insight about the state of your company’s overall performance and sales in real time updates, which is a vital insight for further optimization of your sales funnel.
CRM tools, like the abovementioned example, are also capable of handling such API integrations like adding social media profiles to your clients’ records. You can also send customized email messages or even send text messages directly to your customer’s mobile devices. Not to mention that this application is also accessible via mobile device, so if you are supporting a BYOD policy in your company you can count on the fact that your customer service representatives will be constantly updated about your prospects and clients.
The right person, with the right tools, is all that you need to get the job done. But make sure that your team is properly introduced to your CRM platform. Some companies even provide training through webinars, so make sure that your representative attends at least the basic training. After that, you can concentrate on further optimization of your sales funnel, knowing that the vital factor is well equipped and ready for work.
