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Understanding What B2B Customers Want in a Support Experience

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Understanding What B2B Customers Want in a Support Experience

 
November 07, 2014

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  By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor
 


There is a lot of effort focused on the quality of customer support that consumers are receiving. It’s critical: consumers today are picky, have high expectations, require multiple channels and want easy resolution of their issues in one transaction. Less attention, however, is focused on the quality of customer support offered in the business-to-business (B2B) realm.


Since all business-to-business customers are also consumers, they carry over many of these expectations from the consumer world into the B2B world. They use the same browsers and social media to research. They want a good price, good service and a strong relationship with a company. They expect anytime support via any channel they want it. Often, B2B customers are spending significantly more than consumers are in the b-to-c world, so it’s vital that companies focus their efforts on improving relationships with these customers.  This often starts by asking customers to identify gaps in your customer support process, according to a recent blog post by collaborative customer support solutions provider TeamSupport.

“Even if you have all the right tools in place, there could be small gaps in your process that look like big gaping holes to your customers,” according to the company. “The easiest way to find areas to improve upon is to ask!  By asking your customers how their experience is, opportunities will emerge to refine and perfect your customer support system.”

This may involve using a customer support solution that allows customers to provide feedback after each transaction. Allow them to make it as specific as possible and don’t herd them into making limited choices with a rigid Web form or IVR menu choices. You need to hear the customer’s voice.

Once you’ve identified the gaps, it’s important to make sure you’re filling those gaps. Reporting can help ensure that companies are following best practices and that no customers are slipping through the cracks.

“Reports are a valuable tool within your customer support software,” wrote TeamSupport. “Taking a regular look at reports gives you a clear view of your support process and how it’s working for your customers and agents. You can also view all open tickets, tickets by severity or group, [and] the date when tickets were created, how many were created, and how long it took to solve them.”

In this way, B2B companies can improve their processes and match them to customers’ expectations. By doing so, these organizations can save money, and induce their customers to keep coming back. 




Edited by Alisen Downey
Customer Support Software Homepage





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