5 Most Effective Channels for Customer Support

 

5 Most Effective Channels for Customer Support

 

There are several channels through which you can provide support to your customers. As a customer, which one should you pick?

 

The need to provide good customer experiences has never been greater than in today's consumer-driven environment.

 

Given how much effort and money you invested in gaining these clients in the first place, ensuring they receive excellent assistance when they require it should be at the top of your priority list.

 

Companies that provide exceptional customer service do it through channels where their consumers are present.

 

If your consumers are heavy email users, you'll need to give excellent email assistance to keep them satisfied. You'll need to be available to them on Twitter if they're more active there.

 

The same is true for each channel. And there are more channels than you realize.

 

But don't worry. Below, we’ll explore the most popular customer service channels you should consider for your customer support.

What Are Customer Service Channels?

Customer service channels are the communication media that customers use to reach out during their customer journey. While traditional channels such as phone support and email have always been a top priority, digital channels such as live chat, social media and chatbots are also gaining popularity because it’s easy to use and have better device compatibility.

5 Most Effective Channels for Customer Support

We've put together a comprehensive list of five types of customer service that you can include to provide helpful support. Let's take a look at them.

1. Email

The fact that 61% of consumers prefer to be reached by businesses via email is fantastic news for your company.

 

Many people place greater emphasis on the written word than on verbal communication. What's the reason? There is a psychological component to it since customers believe that their concerns will be addressed more seriously when they contact a company via email. Email provides a more professional approach than other channels and aids in keeping every support interaction well-documented.

 

Let's take a brief look at some more advantages of the email support channel.

 

●       Email is a low-cost consumer communication method that does not require significant investments.

●       Customers can attach anything ranging from simple photographs to large films.

●       Your support personnel can swiftly reply to typical client requests using stored email templates.

●       Surveys may be quickly distributed through email to get customer feedback.

●       Email threads improve the documentation of support discussions from the start.

2. Social Media

Social media has grown over time into a place for customers to connect with companies and seek assistance. Social media is a very effective instrument. We say this because almost every social post has the potential to reach countless individuals, including potential customers.

 

Swiggy is excellent in terms of social media support. Here's an example of Swiggy responding quickly to a customer's tweet.

 

 

The following are the advantages of adopting social media as a customer care channel:

 

●       It makes you appear to be a reputable brand that is not afraid to address client complaints in public.

●       You can reach thousands of prospects by using good word of mouth.

●       It does not necessitate a large investment; all you need is an active social media presence.

●       You can provide customers with assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of their location.

3. Live chat

Live chat assistance is regarded as the present-day support channel with significant promise for the future. Why are clients so fond of chat support? It’s because they no longer have to wait days for a response or listen to that 'annoying melody' while on hold over the phone.

 

But, what distinguishes live chat as the "fastest assistance channel"?

 

Aside from real-time interactions, live chat allows you to send links, attach photos, gather information, and preserve the whole chat history for future reference. This may all happen in a couple of seconds.

 

The advantages of integrating live chat in your toolkit of support channels are:

 

●       Live chat is quick and allows you to interact with consumers in real-time.

●       Because numerous chats may be handled simultaneously, live chat enhances agent efficiency.

●       Chat enhances the opportunity to upsell with suitable bargains and offers.

●       Customers appreciate chat assistance because it is personable and does not need them to be too serious.

4. Self-Service

Customers can use a self-service portal or knowledge base to get answers to frequent issues, check the progress of their orders, send support requests, read self-help guides, and much more.

 

Why are businesses increasingly investing in a knowledge base?

 

A specialized knowledge base can aid with ticket deflection, allowing you to limit your ticket traffic and require fewer workers to manage the same number of consumers. A single how-to video, for example, on your self-service portal can help you minimize a large number of support tickets over time.

 

Let's look at some of the most common advantages of a self-service knowledge base.

 

●       Even if your business is closed, the self-service portal provides client support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

●       Reduce the amount of ticket volume by a large percentage.

●       Gives your customer service representatives more time to focus on other critical responsibilities.

●       Creating a useful and SEO-friendly knowledge base takes less time and money.

5. Chatbot

 

We have all, intentionally or unintentionally, engaged with a chatbot. Consider the last time you needed to check if a product was in stock or confirm an appointment’s specifics.

 

A chatbot is a software application that can mimic human-like conversations. You may quickly design and deploy chatbots on your website, help center pages, or even apps.

 

Why are chatbots becoming so popular among businesses?

 

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have resulted in substantial gains in chatbot technology during the last several years. Chatbots are no longer viewed as intermediaries between consumers and human representatives. In reality, they have evolved into strong tools to assist clients with basic needs.

 

The following are the advantages of installing customer support chatbots on your website:

 

●       Chatbots allow you to provide help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even when your workforce is unavailable.

●       Chatbots help you save money on customer care since they can serve a huge number of consumers at the same time.

●       Bots can assist you to create leads and increase revenue in addition to customer service.

●       Customers do not have to wait in lines and can receive an immediate answer.

 

Pro Tip: If you have a large audience base that is more likely to engage with your business via different channels, you should consider using an omnichannel customer service platform. You can manage all your customer interactions from different channels (social platforms, email, chat, etc) in one inbox - saves agent time and improves productivity.

Conclusion

Customers, in reality, are ordinary people who want the same thing you do. They expect their queries to be answered and their issues to be handled in the channel that is convenient for them.

 

When it comes to selecting the best customer care channels, the demands of your consumers should define the assistance options you provide. To become a customer service powerhouse, you must provide your clients with options and provide consistent and dependable service across all channels.

 

To know more, visit: https://simplify360.com/ or call on +91 11410 91911 or +91 9667559647.