The Reno Gazette-Journal released a news brief recently that discusses the culture of customer service.
In addition to maintaining customer service software, Jon Edmondo, general manager of iGraphics Precision Printing, suggests in the brief that businesses should strive to solve their customers' problems with proactive solutions, such as calling them to ask if they are happy with their most recent purchases. From there, if customers are unsatisfied, businesses can strive to make things right. They should work to make things right not just because it is the right thing to do but because it can positively affect their brands in the future.
Regarding the overarching theme of positivity and customer feedback, Edmondo notes, a recent inContact news release states that almost three-quarters of people inContact surveyed who had a positive experience with their chosen brands also had positive changes in their perceptions of those brands. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of those same respondents indicated that they took action as a result of their positive experiences.
In other words, employees who go out of the way to help customers will often see rewards for their actions. As a result of their experiences, customers may turn around and purchase more products. They may tell friends about their positive encounters. In any case, many of these people are acting upon the proactive customer culture of which they were a part, and it is paying such businesses back. A simple smile is taking them a long way.
The themes Edmondo discusses do no stand alone. The connection between customer service and revenue long ignored, modern call centers are beginning to realize the inherent connection between the two.
Managers now know that customers are demanding enhanced relationships with their customer service agents. They want access to instant messaging, email, video chat, voice chat, and social media so agents can meet them where they are. People want a direct connection to customer service agents through mediums of their own choosing, and businesses are learning that customers are rewarding them for providing those mediums.
Their rewards come both in increased brand loyalty and advocacy. People who have positive experiences, as Edmondo notes, are acting on those experiences. They are purchasing products from those vendors; they are telling their friends about their positive interactions. So pervasive are the technologies that drive interaction, businesses cannot afford to provide poor customer experiences because their competition has equal access to those technologies. It is imperative that managers, employees, and customer service agents work toward developing a culture of positivity.
Edited by Alisen Downey