Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

Against the backdrop of the novel coronavirus pandemic, different business operations have adopted a new style of working (work-from-home) and have started functioning remotely to maintain business continuity. Customer support teams too have started supporting customers from the safety of their homes. Amidst the uncertain times, as Jack Ma said, you have to adopt new practices, change existing processes, and do it quickly.

Customer Experience (CX) is increasingly becoming the single most important factor which can sway customer loyalty. That means that even if you have a better product, you can lose market share to your competitor, who provides a better experience to the customer at every touchpoint through the customer lifecycle. That includes during trial, purchase, support, renewals, or product usage. With digital transformation shaping businesses in the last decade, our reliance on IT is accelerating.

For decades, outsourced customer support was considered an easy way for businesses to increase support bandwidth at a reduced cost. But in too many cases, the quality of service suffered as a result. As recently as 2018, a survey by Gladly found that 61% of customers felt like they were treated as nothing more than a case number.

Founded in 2010, Freshworks is a global SaaS firm that provides customer engagement solutions for organizations of all sizes. The firm entered India’s unicorn club (start-ups valued at or above USD 1 billion) in July 2018. The firm has grown from a 6 member team in 2010 to a 2500+ member strong company and has a dozen products under the Freshworks brand.

With the new year setting in, you might have already identified new leaves to turn, and set your customer service objectives accordingly. Along with the goals that you have already framed, here are five questions that can help you reflect on your current support setup, ensure that you are on the right track, and fine-tune your objectives for the year.

When you’re a part of a customer-facing team, it is easy to feel bogged down by the sheer volume of customer queries or complaints you need to resolve. C-level executives who head customer experience and customer service functions feel similar heat too, when customer ratings drop. On such days, you might have needed that extra bit of motivation to really drive you… and that’s completely normal! A shot of espresso could work one day, a pizza can do the trick on another.

Did you think you would see a day when brands would use WhatsApp to have service conversations with customers? Or that customers would actually prefer not speaking to human agents? The unpredictable nature of technology means that you should always be on the lookout for emerging trends, or you’ll face the risks of dealing with obsolete processes.

The ever-rising demand for digital-first engagement has made customer experience a major brand differentiator in 2020. This demand for customer experience has encouraged an ‘influencer’ culture, which has CX leaders from various industries share best practices and innovative thoughts. Customer experience influencers like Neil Patel, Shep Hyken, and Jeanne Bliss are looked up to for guidance by companies and individuals wanting to provide to their customers moments of delight.

As you embark on a new decade, you might want to take some of these apps along in your quest to wow your customers. These apps will not only ease your workflow to let you focus on what matters the most — customer experience — but also help you get more efficient at your job.

Every growing support team needs a standardized customer service process. Without proper guidelines in place, your agents would be left in the dark, not knowing how to approach an issue – leading to duplication in effort and a delayed response time for customers. While using a ticketing system can help automate certain actions, it is unlikely to solve your team’s productivity unless your agents follow a documented customer service process as well.