How Businesses Can Provide Proactive Customer Service
In order to provide a better overall customer experience, it is essential for businesses to proactively engage and interact with customers. It is important to anticipate the needs of the customers which indicate to them that your business cares and helps you in creating customer loyalty. Some of the ways in which businesses can provide proactive customer service are as follows:
Proactive Advance Notifications
If a business makes a mistake, it should proactively inform customers about the issue instead of waiting for the customer to notice and complain. Let your customer know in advance of any problem with an assurance that your company is working towards fixing the issue. This builds credibility and trust for the business. Moreover, in case of failure or mistake, the customers’ annoyance is subsided through early notification. Informing customers about a potential failure would allow customers to make alternative arrangement in time to avoid major problems.
Follow up with Customers
Following up and staying in touch with a customer is an integral part of building long-term relationships with them. After a customer has purchased a product, a service representative from the company should call and follow-up to check with the customer and see if he or she has any concerns. Ask the customers what they think of the product and if they are facing any problem with it. Another example of proactively providing customer service is when an order has been placed and the product is being shipped. In such a scenario, a company should follow-up and inform the customer about delivery status which includes time and day of delivery. Always keep your customers well informed and in the loop.
Provide Live Chat Support
An effective way to instantly interact with customers and ask them if they need any help is the addition of live chat support on websites. This service enables representatives from the company to proactively communicate with online customers on the website offering them support and assistance with all their needs. The real-time nature of live chat enables interaction instantaneously without any delays. Live chat agents can also communicate and exchange technical information about the product and service being offered.
Social Media Interactions
Keep a note of what your customers are saying about you on social media platforms. Engage and interact in conversations with them to understand their needs. It is important to constantly communicate and stay in touch with these customers and provide them with the latest updates regarding your company. Finding out what the customers have to say about the company will provide insight into how customers perceive the quality of goods and services being offered. This would help the company determine the latest trends and needs of customers. Public interaction will help other customers too and build goodwill for the company since it reflects company’s keenness to assist customers.