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Brands that communicate effectively with their customers are not only able to retain a loyal consumer base but also offer much faster issue resolution. Consumers need solutions for their problems but not every brand listens in. Knowing what your clients want and how they want to communicate can help you address many of their problems effectively, enhancing your brand value multi-fold.
Prevailing channels of communication
Amid growing popularity of various digital support channels, voice support continues to be a popular support channel. A Dimension Data research in 2015 revealed that voice customer support was preferred by 65 percent of all contact center interactions. With technological advances, bots may begin to replace humans in providing customer support, but voice support is likely to continue as one of the preferred support channels.
Chat and email support are also convenient channels for consumers to reach out to for issue resolution. While industry estimates show that nearly 91% of consumers prefer email as their go-to tool for support, successful brands like Uber and Pizza Hut are also using chatbots for bookings. Increasing use of social media platforms for issue resolution means that brands are using social media as their go-to tool to talk to consumers. Consumers admittedly have a positive customer service experience through social media.
Where brands may go wrong
Customer service channels that involve talking to a bot or use of web FAQs do not allow for a personalized experience. As a result, consumers may feel less wanted or special, which may lead to a high churn rate. When it comes to voice support, the need to make multiple calls for problem resolution or perceived risk to personal data can drive consumers to lose confidence in a brand. Brands may also go wrong by ignoring the need for omnichannel integration or adoption of advanced technology, further derailing their channel strategy.
Technology and tools that can help retain customers
With rising innovation, there are various technological advances that businesses can leverage on and deploy for greater channel ROI. Using smarter tools like Speech Analytics, for example, provides organizations with deeper and actionable insights into customer interactions and behavior. Enterprises can thus devise Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of complaints, driving up First Call Resolution rate. Speech analytics tools also automate and keep call categorization as per the disposed outcome which organizations can then use to improve their customer support services.
Brands wanting to communicate more effectively with consumers must ensure precise and proactive problem resolution. Support channels enabled by new age technology can help enterprises achieve that.
To know how customer facing organizations can strike a balance between trending and conventional customer support channels, read Customer Support Techniques: The Classic Versus The Cutting Edge