If delivering extraordinary digital customer service were as simple as following a formula, everyone would be doing it. But not everyone is. In fact, 89% of tweets from customers to businesses still go unanswered, and poor customer service is one of the main reasons for customer churn.
Clearly there’s plenty of room for improvement in customer service. Let’s make it simple: Great digital customer service depends on a combination of the best software and the right soft skills. It’s all about a combination investment into software and into employees.
Delivering exemplary digital customer service — which increases loyalty, sales, and ROI — means integrating trusted, powerful digital customer service software and then training your staff to take full advantage of the technology.
The right software is a key asset...
Today’s digital customers are more impatient than ever, so customer service on social media must move at the speed of now. When most customers are expecting a response in under an hour, agents really must be on point. This is where digital customer service software comes in. Trying to maintain an active brand presence on social media without the right software is like trying to build a house without nails.
Businesses know digital customer service integration is a necessity, but don’t always understand what they’re looking for in a software solution. There are plenty of options to consider, so it helps to do some research first.
It's also very important to define exactly what your needs and expectations are. A solution that can quickly scale along with peak usage times and company growth will be invaluable over the long term.
No matter how big your business, there are fundamental points you should identify before committing to a vendor. Here are some of the key features for any digital customer service software:
- Powerful CRM: The right CRM tool will tell you more about each customer, gathering valuable information from across digital channels into a constantly growing database. With more info about each customer, agents can offer more tailored service.
- Intelligent Routing: Routing each customer to the best agent based on the nature of the query and previously collected CRM data helps agents create human connections while providing more efficient service over the long term. Set the parameters that best suit your needs and get started.
- Chatbot Builder: Customers are increasingly demanding chatbots. Why not give the people what they want? The best digital customer service software provides a simple-to-use chatbot solution that you easily can build according to your specifications.
Once you’ve got the best digital customer service software for the size of your company and the needs of your customers, there’s an important second step to take. You’ve got to make sure your agents are properly trained on the new software, so they can take full advantage of its capabilities to serve customers with greater efficiency and with greater results.
...but soft skills are invaluable
Bearing in mind the essential soft skills for customer service agents will help you hire the best agents for the job and then train them more effectively. Here are some of the key skills that all customer service agents should have. Any customer service agent training should focus first on these:
- Empathy: This trait is invaluable in customer service. Great service is empathetic because it values each customer as an individual, making them feel appreciated, which in turn inspires loyalty.
- Knowing how to humanize communication: Customers want to talk to humans, not robots. This means that all customer communication should be human-centric. Make use of the spontaneity and quirks of real communication — things that chatbots just can’t replicate.
- Using data to provide better service: Powerful CRM gives agents invaluable data about each customer, and it’s important that they are properly trained to make the best use of it. Personalize service by knowing more about each customer and using this data to make real connections.
We believe that the future of customer service is powered by humans helped by call center software.
To learn more on how the digital age is changing customer demands, watch our webinar, Digital – First Customer Service: The Future is Here Today.
