In a fast-paced world in which every company is striving to gain as many satisfied customers as possible, it is simply not enough to rely on good marketing and sales. A drastic increase in the number of companies and start-ups has led to a wide range of services where even with the best plan, you won’t make it to the top. That is why in the last years, more and more companies have been working on building an honest and trusting relationships with their clients. These relationships largely rely on customer success.
A couple of years ago, at one of the seminars regarding sales, I heard one short and sweet saying, ‘‘You (your company) are only as good as your clients’’. This sentence has made such an impression on me that even years later, my best advice is still passing on this sentence. As simple as it seems at the first glance, it carries quite a hard task within.
So the first step is to ask ourselves – What can a business do in order to succeed? – Invest in your customers, in their experience and satisfaction. Let the customers’ needs lead the way to your success.
Customer Success represents a strategy that ensures customers achieve their goals. In the meantime, their brand loyalty increases, and the customers become brand advocates. Customer success management is always customer-oriented. When done right, it lowers customer churn rates and leads to multiple beneficial outcomes.
Finding the right outsourcing company that will help you with this vital business aspect is often the best choice.
Now, let’s look at this problem more closely and find efficient customer success solutions.
In the last few years, more companies started relying on BPO companies to provide first contact with customers. Outsourcing has taken the world of business to the next level. Customer service outsourcing lets you hire third-party workers with a contract instead of hiring full-time staff. This will save your company time and money and reduce the expenses of training your inner staff. Call centers are the way to do it all. However, it is crucial to master some essential practices when outsourcing to reach the ultimate customer success goals.
Customers are used to one way of talking and that should always remain the same. All of your employees, whether internal support, or not, need to use the same vocabulary and follow the same guidelines. Run through specific scenarios with your staff and define what they should and shouldn’t say during a call.
You should spend some time researching different types of call centers to find which best suits your business needs. Some focus on resolving in-depth problems, while others are trained in dealing with fast-paced customers and multiple inbound calls at once.
Before letting an outsourcing company enter your business world, it is important to go over its risks and challenges. Look carefully into your clients’ confidentiality matters and information with your legal team. Make sure it is someone you can trust and bear in mind that you need to keep your client’s information secure at all times (this is one of the great ways to earn their trust).
When working with an outsourcing company, it is important to keep a good line of communication. Staying in touch and being responsive, within a team and between clients and the company is one of the best ways of ensuring that your clients and their needs are a top priority. Investing in these collaborations affects customer success positively.
Even though it can be time-consuming, especially in the beginning, passing on knowledge through training is the best way to ensure that all of your employees know how to handle any situation or client.
Call centers are a great way to provide excellent customer service within the shortest period of time possible. Training your representatives to handle any situation while talking to the client is the best way to gain the client’s trust. This is far better than using email as a primary communication tool because the client doesn’t have to wait for an answer, and it is much easier to come to a solution while talking.
When working with third party support teams it is your top priority to make your customers feel heard. That is why, in the last few years, companies have started implementing new ways to provide better services and investing in customer success. It is said to be the most cost-efficient way to run a business while ensuring that your clients have the best experience with your product.
As a provider your goal is to provide a service and solution when a problem arises. Here is where we can define the difference between customer support and customer success. While customer support focuses on dealing with a problem reactively on the front line, customer success takes it one step further.
Simply put – customer success builds a partnership between your company and the client. It builds on a positive experience and drives the customer to come back and work with you again. This way, the customer becomes your advocate and promoter. There is no better marketing than word of mouth.
Customer success is simply anticipating customer problems and proactively finding a solution prior to the problem. Knowing how to solve a problem straight away makes the client feel secure and well taken care of. This will help you gain the trust of your customers and create a partnership that will last.
It is only natural that the client will run into some problems when coming in contact with your product and/or company. Close communication and feedback that you get from your customers is also great way of finding a better way to utilize your services. Bear in mind that each staff member is a reflection of your company, and each should be adequately trained in dealing with customers. Knowledge and customer care are the way for you to build your reputation and name.
While customer support focuses on the immediate solution, customer success identifies the problem and puts the client’s goal as the goal of the company.
Both customer support and customer success are closely intertwined and critical for your business. It is always good to keep in mind that they depend on one another, and the best results come out of working closely together.
Make time to get brief feedback from your customer in order to better your customer relations. People like to be heard, and this will only boost your product revenue and create a bond that will last longer than the initial purchase. By keeping each other in the loop, these departments are able to make better decisions that will lead to better outcomes for your customers and your company.
Even though customer success is a relatively new concept, it has proven as an excellent way upon which you can build your company. Every team has the client’s happiness as a goal, and customer success is the best way to reach it. Furthermore, if you are looking into expanding and growing your business, this might be the way for you to get new customers who will stay and become your advocates. A good word can reach far. People tend to trust this way of marketing a lot more. Bring all of your departments together and communicate to find the best way to optimize your services and build a long-lasting partnership with your clients.
Don’t forget the line that sums up customer success – ‘‘you are only as good as your customers’’.
