Customer service is the support you offer your customers, from the moment they first contact your business and beyond. Providing great customer service means being a trusted partner to your customers - it's about helping them use and make informed decisions about your product, as well as helping them solve problems.
The customer service journey is different for everyone. However, good customer service is about making the most of every interaction, with the aim of developing long-term relationships with your customers.
Some of the most popular customer service channels include:
- Phone calls
- Mobile messaging services
- Social media
- Chatbots
- Video
- Self-service
Self-service includes resources such as knowledge bases and forums that allow customers to find answers to their own questions.
Whatever channels you use, it's important to deliver great customer service and create a seamless communication journey for your customers.
4 examples of good customer service
Here are some everyday examples of great customer service:
1. Offer a quick first-time response
76% of customers say they expect an immediate response when they contact a company to rate customer service as good. The more you can reduce first-time response time, the better you can improve the customer experience. Even if you can't resolve an issue immediately, make sure to respond to customers as soon as possible within an expected timeframe.
Example: Udacity implemented a chat feature that gives customers a quick response via self-service, helping the company reduce its first-time response rate and increase customer satisfaction. Read the full story here.
2. Meet customers where they are
Customers contact businesses in the same channels they use to talk to friends and family. Being able to help a customer in their preferred support channel is one of the best ways to create a great customer service experience.
The preferred support channel can vary based on the type of issue and customer needs. Zendesk's CX Trends report showed that 73 per cent of customers want the ability to start a conversation in one channel and pick it up in another. This is why omnichannel customer service is so important.
Example: WATCHA implemented an omnichannel customer service experience, which allows support agents to communicate with customers in their favourite channels and continue those conversations across channels. Read the full story here.
3. Help customers help themselves
Customers don't always want to talk to someone, especially if their query is simple. Zendesk's report revealed that 83% of customers will spend more money with companies that allow them to find answers online without contacting anyone.
Empowering customers gives agents more time to work on more complex issues.
4. Be proactive
Reactive support used to be the standard: you wait for a customer to contact you with a question or issue, and then you respond accordingly. Now, companies must also provide proactive support - this is about anticipating customer challenges and dealing with them before customers are aware of them or need to contact you for help.
A good tip is to create a comprehensive overview of all the different inquiries that may come in. This way, you can figure out what to focus on and fix problems before they arise.
Turn great customer service into a competitive advantage
Customer service is essential to drive and sustain business growth. To make great customer service a competitive advantage, you need to put customers first and deliver fast, thorough and helpful customer service.
50 per cent of consumers will switch to a competitor after just one bad experience, according to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023. A customer service software, like Zendesk, can help ensure you consistently provide the support your customers want and deserve.