10 rules for the organization of effective customer support
Build a really high-quality customer support is very difficult. You must determine exactly how user requests are taken into account and how priorities are determined for processing their requests. It is also necessary to understand how the performers are determined and how the support staff will take into account closed tasks and report on the work done. The formulated rules are actually formal procedures that implement individual business processes in your company. They can be described by text, in the form of diagrams or in any other graphical representation. If the business processes in your company are complex, then each process can be divided into modules, and each such module should be detailed.
However, the described business processes of your company do not mean that your customer service will work. Its employees need to master the necessary level of knowledge and learn the mass of techniques for working with users. And, of course, they need to put in their hands the tool with which they will communicate with users.
Any customer support service must follow the rules that have been carved on the stone by the tears of generations of their predecessors. They experienced how to do, and how not to.
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If people choose your product or use your service and pay money for it, then they are entitled to get an answer to any, even the most stupid question. Even if the client is mistaken and his claims are not substantiated, this only means that you need to explain to him his mistake. Any decision to refuse an “inadequate client” should be taken by the company’s management and only after a positive closing of the application.
Whatever communication channel you use, you should always have an automatic answering service configured, which will automatically send a message that the user's request has been received for processing. This way your client will know that he will be helped soon.
Of course, you must solve the problems of absolutely any client. But you should always understand that if a client loses money right now because of problems on your side, but his application must be solved immediately. A simple user question about whether you can insert a picture with a cat in a block of your service, you can leave for later. Even if the application with the cat arrived earlier. And this leads us to the following rules.
If you can’t immediately fulfill the user's request, or if you have a more urgent matter, then always report your response time. The client will know that they are working on his problem, and soon everything will be fixed.
Regardless of your workload or the urgency of the application, the answer to it should be no later than 24 hours. Exceptions may be, perhaps, only holidays, as in our time, many companies often work on weekends.
Do not make him guess about it or spend time trying to repeat the action that led to the error. Nothing but irritation, it does not cause.
It is important for users to know that their problems have been solved, and to obtain information on how to prevent the repetition of errors. At the same time try to avoid the official style and are always looking for points of contact. Get sympathy from your client and you will receive a positive communication and excellent feedback in the form of feedback and recommendations.
Nothing spoils the image of a company like a spelling mistake in an official letter. Especially if it's funny. Remember that any such situation can lead to the fact that a screenshot of the support service error appears on social networks.
The client must say for sure that his problem has been solved, and he has no questions for you. Any understatement will be treated as your incompetence and will have a negative impact on the entire company. Always thank customers for the message and time they spend on it. Remember that they bring you money in the same way that your service or services help them earn.
Most customers will write to customer support only as a last resort. They will search your entire site in search of an answer to their questions and, without finding them, will write annoyed letters. Any customer requests and closed applications should be analyzed, and if their repetition is possible, write an instruction or a short note in the FAQ. So you can anticipate a lot of problems and remove most of the burden from your employees.
These rules may seem obvious, but in real work almost every company that organizes customer support services does not follow them all. Which leads to very unpleasant problems out of the blue. If, however, initially approve a similar instruction for employees and train them to constantly check with it so that it reaches automatism, then you will avoid many mistakes.
It remains only to figure out what tool customer support will use in their work. This is very important and there are many options. Most large companies use CRM services with integrated application accounting modules, in which all applications received from users are entered. Responsible persons are also appointed there, all applications are processed, tracked and closed.
This is very convenient for monitoring customer service staff, but it is rather difficult to integrate into the company structure. CRM implementation is a multi-step process that includes analysis of the company's needs, development and implementation of services, as well as testing and licensing. Also, you will need to train all employees and organize support for users of the service itself. And, of course, such systems are quite expensive at the initial stage of implementation and require constant maintenance.
Most startups cannot afford such powerful systems, and therefore they have to use different programs to handle applications. Or even turn to the simplest web project management services. We at Deskun decided not to go the usual way and developed our own tool for customer support based on Gmail mail. As a result, we have a service that can be deployed to work in just 5 minutes . Training of employees is very fast, as Deskun is organically integrated into the already familiar interface of the mail service.
However, the described business processes of your company do not mean that your customer service will work. Its employees need to master the necessary level of knowledge and learn the mass of techniques for working with users. And, of course, they need to put in their hands the tool with which they will communicate with users.
Customer Support Rules
Any customer support service must follow the rules that have been carved on the stone by the tears of generations of their predecessors. They experienced how to do, and how not to.
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1. The customer is always right!
If people choose your product or use your service and pay money for it, then they are entitled to get an answer to any, even the most stupid question. Even if the client is mistaken and his claims are not substantiated, this only means that you need to explain to him his mistake. Any decision to refuse an “inadequate client” should be taken by the company’s management and only after a positive closing of the application.
2. Always notify customers of receipt of the application.
Whatever communication channel you use, you should always have an automatic answering service configured, which will automatically send a message that the user's request has been received for processing. This way your client will know that he will be helped soon.
3. Learn to determine the urgency of incoming tasks
Of course, you must solve the problems of absolutely any client. But you should always understand that if a client loses money right now because of problems on your side, but his application must be solved immediately. A simple user question about whether you can insert a picture with a cat in a block of your service, you can leave for later. Even if the application with the cat arrived earlier. And this leads us to the following rules.
4. Inform the client about the timing of solving his problem.
If you can’t immediately fulfill the user's request, or if you have a more urgent matter, then always report your response time. The client will know that they are working on his problem, and soon everything will be fixed.
5. Reply within 24 hours
Regardless of your workload or the urgency of the application, the answer to it should be no later than 24 hours. Exceptions may be, perhaps, only holidays, as in our time, many companies often work on weekends.
6. And, of course, immediately inform the client about solving the problem.
Do not make him guess about it or spend time trying to repeat the action that led to the error. Nothing but irritation, it does not cause.
7. Answers to users' questions should be concise and without unnecessary details.
It is important for users to know that their problems have been solved, and to obtain information on how to prevent the repetition of errors. At the same time try to avoid the official style and are always looking for points of contact. Get sympathy from your client and you will receive a positive communication and excellent feedback in the form of feedback and recommendations.
8. Responses to applications must be literate.
Nothing spoils the image of a company like a spelling mistake in an official letter. Especially if it's funny. Remember that any such situation can lead to the fact that a screenshot of the support service error appears on social networks.
9. Always complete the conversation.
The client must say for sure that his problem has been solved, and he has no questions for you. Any understatement will be treated as your incompetence and will have a negative impact on the entire company. Always thank customers for the message and time they spend on it. Remember that they bring you money in the same way that your service or services help them earn.
10. Build a knowledge base
Most customers will write to customer support only as a last resort. They will search your entire site in search of an answer to their questions and, without finding them, will write annoyed letters. Any customer requests and closed applications should be analyzed, and if their repetition is possible, write an instruction or a short note in the FAQ. So you can anticipate a lot of problems and remove most of the burden from your employees.
These rules may seem obvious, but in real work almost every company that organizes customer support services does not follow them all. Which leads to very unpleasant problems out of the blue. If, however, initially approve a similar instruction for employees and train them to constantly check with it so that it reaches automatism, then you will avoid many mistakes.
It remains only to figure out what tool customer support will use in their work. This is very important and there are many options. Most large companies use CRM services with integrated application accounting modules, in which all applications received from users are entered. Responsible persons are also appointed there, all applications are processed, tracked and closed.
This is very convenient for monitoring customer service staff, but it is rather difficult to integrate into the company structure. CRM implementation is a multi-step process that includes analysis of the company's needs, development and implementation of services, as well as testing and licensing. Also, you will need to train all employees and organize support for users of the service itself. And, of course, such systems are quite expensive at the initial stage of implementation and require constant maintenance.
Most startups cannot afford such powerful systems, and therefore they have to use different programs to handle applications. Or even turn to the simplest web project management services. We at Deskun decided not to go the usual way and developed our own tool for customer support based on Gmail mail. As a result, we have a service that can be deployed to work in just 5 minutes . Training of employees is very fast, as Deskun is organically integrated into the already familiar interface of the mail service.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/330454/
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