If delivering excellent digital customer service were as simple as following a formula, all companies would use it. But it’s not like that. In fact, 89% of user tweets to companies do not receive a response, and this bad service is one of the main reasons for the loss of customers.
According to experts, good digital customer service depends on a combination of the best software and the appropriate social or interpersonal skills of employees. Therefore, it is a double investment in software and agents.
Offering an exemplary digital customer service, which increases loyalty, sales and ROI, means integrating reliable software and training staff to take full advantage of technology.
Why Is Software A Key Asset?
Today’s users are digital and seek an instant response to their queries, so customer service on social networks has to meet their expectations. When most users wait for an answer in less than an hour, agents must be prepared. This is where good software comes into play. It is not possible to maintain an active brand presence in social networks without the right software.
Companies know that the integration of digital customer service is a necessity, but they do not always understand what they are looking for in a software solution. There are many options to consider, so it is useful to investigate first.
It is also very important to define exactly what the needs and expectations of the organization are. A solution that can be rapidly scaled along with peak usage times and the company’s growth will be very valuable in the long term.
In this sense, no matter what the size of the company, there are common fundamental points that everyone must identify before committing to a supplier.
These are some of the key features for any digital customer service software:
- Powerful CRM: the right CRM tool will give the company more information about each user, collecting valuable data from all digital channels in a system that will be constantly growing. With more information about each user, agents can offer a more personalized service.
- Intelligent routing: routing each user to the best agent based on the nature of the query and the previously collected CRM data, helps agents create more human connections while providing a more efficient long-term service.
- Chatbots: users are increasingly demanding chatbots. Why not give them what they want? The best digital customer service software provides an easy-to-use chatbot solution that can be created simply according to the specifications of each company.
Once the organization has the best digital customer service software, adapted to the size of the company and the needs of the users, a second step must be ensured. Agents must be trained to use the software and thus be able to take full advantage of its functionalities, offering a more efficient user service with better results.
What Role Do Social Skills Play?
By knowing what the essential social skills are for customer service agents, companies can hire the right people for the job and then train them more effectively.
These are some of the key skills that all customer service agents must have:
- Empathy: this feature is invaluable in customer service. A great service is empathetic because it values each user as an individual, making them feel appreciated, which in turn inspires loyalty.
- Humanize communication: users want to talk to humans, not robots. This means that all communication with them must be centered on the human being, taking advantage of the spontaneity and peculiarities of real communication, things that chatbots cannot replicate.
- Use of data to provide a better service: CRM offers agents valuable data about each user. Therefore it is important that they are trained to make the most of this information and thus personalize the service.
Various studies indicate that the future of customer service will be driven by humans helped by software adapted to the needs of the call center.