Customer Support and the Impact of Automation
Customer support is basically the provision of support to clients prior, during, and even after a sale. The perception of successful customer relations depends largely on how employees “can adjust themselves to the customer’s personality.” In this regard, some sales people are able to become skilled in reading a client’s mood or persona and can anticipate their needs. Others are much luckier in their ability to know when a client is having a bad day and can thus simply give them a “break” or “lighten the load a bit.” Unfortunately, many sales people have neither the skill nor the desire to effectively treat clients in such a fashion.
A great customer support person, in other words, is someone who is able to anticipate the client’s mood changes, even when the customer has already indicated that they need help. Great customer support personnel are also adept at managing the exigencies of trying to juggle several clients simultaneously. In this regard, it is not uncommon for many sales individuals to be extremely detail oriented. This means that they are excellent at keeping track of all customer information – both positive and negative – and are usually good at communicating the appropriate customer support needs to all departments.
In addition, great customer support personnel are great at anticipating the problems that customers may encounter when interacting with the business or organization. Such employees are good at handling customers who are technologically savvy or who work with remote employees. For example, suppose you were working with a customer who had purchased a printer for their home office and then realized that the printer did not work with the operating system they used on their laptop. If you offer your assistance by ensuring that the customer receives an additional warranty on their defective printer, the company will likely feel less inclined to charge the customer for a new printer.
Perhaps the best measure of customer support is simply how customers perceive the employee. It’s been found that many customers report feeling more satisfied with companies that make an effort to genuinely listen to their concerns. In addition, customers appreciate companies that address their concerns with sensitivity and patience. When dealing with a customer, a good attitude is invaluable. However, to truly foster customer satisfaction, a business must make an effort to:
Automation has afforded companies and organizations access to a never-ending list of people who are knowledgeable about everything there is to know about customers. These experts can provide businesses with the resources they need to ensure that they are meeting all of their customer support needs. In fact, automation allows companies to take care of all aspects of customer support from advising them on how to best handle customer questions to handling their specific needs in a timely manner. By allowing businesses to eliminate much of the repetitive process associated with customer support, automated systems allow businesses to reduce the amount of time that is spent on call center management.
The ultimate goal of customer support is providing a positive customer experience. If an organization can’t create that positive experience, then it simply will not be successful. Automating your customer service process allows you to focus on what really matters. In fact, it allows you to avoid much of the repetitive aspects of customer support that can lead to customer dissatisfaction.
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