Does your technology enable you to offer the best customer service?

Businesses have been urged to consider a one-track approach to handling multiple customer service channels to improve consumer satisfaction.

Nick Peart, marketing director EMEA at Zendesk has urged companies to think about branding and having clients at the core of business when tackling customer communication over email, phone and social media.

Speaking to Travel Daily in Zendesk’s Silicon Valley-style office in London, Peart said tools and in-house communication should be used to iron out overlaps in customer service and ensure brands offer one voice throughout a conversation.

“Customers feel frustration when they speak to a brand as it is often one person for each channel,” he explained. “Customer service is a hard job and nearly always starts as a negative. It’s easy to deal with the 5% portion that is positive but others are hard. And companies are making it more difficult for themselves, especially if teams are different and do not share what has previously happened.”

Tools like Zendesk allow businesses to see emails, social media interaction, IM messages and recorded calls in one place for each customer. While not all companies will be looking to take on technology like this, the solution and Peart’s words make a strong case that technology will be the biggest help in boosting customer satisfaction.

However, the ethos of the company has to come first. More businesses are making the point that they put their customers first (didn’t they always?) but can miss the mark when it comes to looking after them when things go wrong.

“Customer service departments sometimes forget that at the other end is a customer who wants to talk to someone. They [consumers] use the first communication vehicle to hand and do not see the difference, just the brand as the same company,” explained Peart.

This brand approach is the main reason why online agency trivago has recently signed up to use Zendesk. The company wanted to extend its brand across all points of contact to add more personality and consistency, while also retaining clients.

“More short breaks are being booked so companies need to continuously win over clients. trivago is now looking at its customer service as brand consistency so it has structure but also the flexibility to respond as it wants,” said Peart. “A customer service agent has contact with the customer but really everyone in the company should be what we call a ‘light agent’ as everyone is able to see feedback, comment and where the issues are. It’s about putting customer happiness at the heart.”

Businesses also need to overcome the perception of the speed of their initial response to the customer. And this does not include the initial automated email, but the first human contact. This will be particularly crucial as companies look to offer the technology that enables to make sales happen, but offer that personal touch. Independent research by eDigitalResearch recently found only 44% of customers hear back from companies within 24 hours and another 12% said it took more than a week to be contacted.

“Customer service directors should prioritise getting a hold of the first proper response time, as our research has shown that the quicker a company replies, the better the customer satisfaction is,” said Peart.

And ultimately, a happy customer is what everyone wants to be.

Setting the benchmark: London 2012’s Games Makers
Peart highlighted the London 2012 Games Makers as a benchmark in customer service to summarise what companies should aim to achieve.

He explained: “I believe the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games that is yet to materialise is the Games Makers. Clearly these guys made the games and encompassed the experience for those who went to watch events. They were highly motivated with a single goal, were well trained and were allowed to use their own personality in their job. They showed information can be delivered in a light-hearted way and that is the legacy of the games.”