Creating a solid business case for customer service initiatives has been difficult in the past. There’s still a mindset in the workplace that customer service is a “necessary cost” and that’s it. You need customers to have a business, and they require customer service to stick around. That’s the way the relationship has been viewed for decades.
But, over the last ten years, the dynamic has changed. Why? Because as technology has evolved, so has the way businesses maintain relationships with customers. One method, the customer service system, can provide the ideal foundation for great customer relationships. However, not all systems are created equal, and proving the ROI of the right system to company leadership is critical to getting the correct foundation in place.
With all of this said, let’s look at the two key factors in proving the value and ROI of a customer service system – how it saves time and how it saves money.
How a customer service system saves time
– Faster customer communication – Modern customer service is more than just phone and email. Live chat is powered by the right customer service system and saves time for both customers and employees. With so many channels, simple questions are often asked over chat instead of clogging up the ticket queue. This means agents focusing on tickets don’t need to sift through simple requests to locate the issues that require immediate attention.
– Efficient internal collaboration – The right customer service system makes it easy to work with colleagues on complex issues and solve them quickly. Private actions are a great benefit and can be made directly within tickets using the system. This lets internal conversations stay in the ticket area (but customers can’t see them). In addition, sophisticated reporting provides visibility into what agents work the fastest with specific customers while also keeping them happy.
– Tracks products and inventory – Improved collaboration is great, but sometimes agents have routine product info requests that slow down their day because they take hours instead of minutes to complete. Within an optimal customer service system, product and inventory information is stored in real-time so agents can get the information they need right away.
How a customer service system saves money
– Decrease in total ticket volume – A modern customer service system enables companies to provide 24/7 digital solutions including self-service and wikis so customers can answer their own questions. This tactic is ideal for improving ticket deflection rates (reducing the total number of tickets your team receives). This means fewer agents are needed to work tickets.
– Automatic ticket routing – Many customer service teams have a “gatekeeper”, or someone who reviews every ticket that comes in and manually assigns them to the right agent. With a customer service system, the primarily responsibilities of this role can be accomplished through ticket automation. This means the resource allocated to assigning tickets can be transitioned to another, more productive, role in the company.
– Improved customer understanding – With all of the capabilities and information stored in a customer service system, your business can learn more about customers to reduce churn. Built-in solutions monitor real-time customer distress and sentiment based on multiple factors (ticket tone, ticket close times, etc.) to let you know when that extra effort needs to be made with an at-risk customer to save the relationship.
In short, proving the value and ROI of a customer service system is easier than ever before. The system saves time and money in multiple ways, ensuring it will have an immediate impact on a business.