Until few years ago, enterprises would make decisions for customers. It was more like a one-way communication. The businesses had the hold on customer’s needs. But now, there has been a power shift. Today, customers are well informed and can take decision for themselves. They have that kind of independence and information available today which makes it easier for customers. This is what is called as customer empowerment.
Businesses who have aligned themselves with customer empowerment have gained customer loyalty and retention rates have increased for their businesses as well. Research shows that when businesses help customers in making choices, they develop a stronger affinity with their users. This kind of empowerment is what customers of today are rooting for.
Let us look into the factors that determine customer service empowerment.
- Customer Self-Service
- Social Media/ Customer reviews
- Customer Feedback Collection
- Customer Onboarding
Queries related to product/services and technical issues are the most common factors for the customers to reach out the support team. Every user would want their issue to be resolved quickly and smoothly. A faster and seamless query resolution might not always be possible. Today customers are comfortable with self-service to solve their problems.
Self-service tools are the new age resources/implements where customers can resolve queries on their own without any external help.
AI-enabled chatbots, community forums and knowledge base are few examples of self-service tools. Knowledge base is one of the most commonly used self-service tools today.
Knowledge bases are support articles which has all the description about troubleshooting common or simple problems. The objective is here is to solve customer queries before transferring it to the support team. This model saves the time of both customers and your support team.
Social media has become a powerful tool for companies and customers. It is one of the major factors contributing to customer empowerment. Customers can now comment, share, exchange information, and voice out their opinion freely.
Companies should listen to their customers and engage in social listening to know their pulse. Companies should take on social media customer service.
Did you know that over a billion messages are exchanged between users and companies every month. About 60% of customers prefer messaging over a customer service call. It is a must now for companies to use social media service tools to improve customer relationships and loyalty.
Apart from social media, customers can share their thoughts and review the service and product of any company through customer review sites. Google, Yelp and Bing etc. are third-party websites that are used by customers extensively. Good or bad reviews have direct effect on your brand.
Irrespective of the nature of the feedback, always try to reach out to customers, reply and engage with them. This can change their perspective about your brand.
Feedback collection is one of the effective ways to empower customers by enterprises. This should be done proactively by asking customers to take part in surveys and inviting them to share their experiences with their peers. Tools like NPS and Customer Effort Score are used these days to see the customer satisfaction rate associated with your company.
Follow up with users and if it is a positive feedback, check with them if they can share it as a testimonial. In case of negative feedback, look at it as an opportunity to rectify the errors and failures and fix it better and sooner.
Customer onboarding is a service which happens post-purchase where customers are educated on using your products. If users find your product to be complex or take time get a hold on it then it is better to go with an onboarding process on how to use it. This saves time for customers and goes a long way w.r.t customer journey.
It is better when there a resource associated with customer account. They will be empowered with information and can make informed decisions for themselves. A substandard onboarding process can end up in cancellations and refunds. Companies should go with a good subscription-based service provider.
Conclusion
There should always be a direct relationship between customers and brands. Businesses should be open to adapt to new trends in customer service and implement them quickly in their workflows to thrive in the market today. Customer empowerment is a subset of customer service. Loyalty is what we aim to achieve with customer empowerment.
To make the best use of customer empowerment in your businesses, you need to associate with a provider who has been delivering best results consistently. Freshdesk is one such feature of Freshworks who is an expert in all forms in customer service department. We at Embitel, as a registered Freshworks partner are here to help you in accomplishing your objectives and deliver best results.
