Is Your Customer Service Like Night of the Living Dead?

It’s the zombie apocalypse in the world of customer service.
Your customer is in a dark room, her heart racing and body trembling. A cold sweat drips from her brow. Her fists clench tightly to the phone. Frightened of what she might find on the other end of the line, she bravely dials the number. One ring, another and then the phone picks up.

“Hello! Thank you for calling Acme No Service Company. Press 1 for English; Press 2 for Spanish; Press 3 for Martian; Press a combination of your birth date and social security numbers to reach our next menu…” She screams out, but no one is around to hear her. She’s just been attacked by zombie customer service.

Increasingly, companies are using automated services to interact with their customers. From phone answering to social media, engagement with a company’s customers is becoming less of a priority. While this can save a company time and money, it’s incensing for a customer who would prefer to speak to a live person.
You need an antidote to avoid becoming a drooling, leg dragging customer service zombie. Here’s how to create an engaging customer experience – big or small budgets alike.

Do Not Automate

Automation is one of the greatest customer service hindrances of all time. It’s like watching a zombie walk toward you; you are fully aware it’s coming and it has be dealt with, but you simply don’t have the wherewithal to fight it off. The more more steps it takes for a customer to reach a person, the less likely you are to keep them.
In fact, 75% of consumers will still choose to interact with a real person even as the technology for automated solutions improves (PwC) and a report by Khoros found that 65% of consumers have switched provider due to poor customer service.

How are your customers supposed to think you care if you can’t even hire people to speak with them and provide the information they need when they need it? The answer is clear: the less automated service you provide, the better. PATLive provides person-to-person customer service solutions for businesses of all sizes, so we know what we’re talking about.

Imagine your customers notice your Facebook page or Twitter account is relatively active, posting relevant and interesting content. They will automatically assume someone will respond to their questions or complaints. But what happens when they get no response? The chances of you losing one or more customers increases greatly.
Don’t just take our word for it: churn rate can increase by 15% if organizations fail to respond to customers on social media.

Make sure you are taking advantage of the unique opportunity to connect with your customer more intimately by engaging with them on your social accounts.

Customer Success Teams

If you want your customers to think you don’t belong to the undead, creating a new customer onboarding program can increase customer satisfaction. Where do you begin? Put your flesh hunting aside and start by creating customer success teams. These teams can follow up on a group of customers and assist them as they start out. Another component could include documents detailing product use and set-up, or emails with frequently asked questions.

Making sure your customer is starting off on the right foot is a high touch service method that will definitely turn your skin from gray to rosy-cheeked. Zombies are cool as long as they stay within the confines of the T.V. or movie screen. What you don’t want is to create a customer experience that makes your company seem as if it’s being run by a bunch of mindless ghouls. Create an engaging experience for your customers and you are sure to ward off the monsters for good.