How to Improve Online Customer Service

How to Improve Online Customer Service: 9 Tips#

 Learning how to improve online customers can bring several benefits to your company. When customers feel well-assisted they tend to come back and, another very important thing, recommend your online store to others. 

It's necessary to consider your audience main needs, and how you can facilitate solving their main demands. Pay attention to what your clients have to say, and counting on a team to be able to empathize with your customers is a prerequisite. 

The universe of online stores is very competitive, all the client needs to do is close your website and look for another if they aren't satisfied. When you provide high-quality customer service, you give them reasons to stay and make more purchases. 

What is Online Customer Service?#

As the name suggests, online customer service is the assistance your company provides to your clients using digital channels, such as email, messages apps, social media platforms, chatbots, and  live chat. 

The main purpose is to provide help as efficiently as possible through the online communication channel the client prefers. Unlike going to a physical store, the customer saves time by asking for assistance online, and can get their problem solved quickly. Besides, they don’t have to wait in line until someone is available to help.

Calling could be a solution, and it must be available, but it also consumes more time than just sending a message online or talking to an assistant via live chat.

5 Online Customer Service Benefits#

1. 24/7 Availability#

Different from physical stores, or calls, you can enable 24/7 customer service with online tools. The customer can use your chatbot feature to solve simple questions, send an e-mail, comment on one of your social media profiles, or use self-help tools such as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages, and tutorials on your website. 

2. Reduce Response Time#

Assisting customers online takes considerably less time than talking in-person or through phone calls. In those two cases, you can't assist more than one person at the same time, while that's possible with a chatbot. 

You can let the chatbot deal with less complicated issues, and focus your time on solving more delicate ones. Therefore, enhancing productivity and reducing the response time. 

3. Increase Customer Satisfaction#

Improving online customer service means more satisfied customers since they will feel their demand is prioritized and taken care of without any issue. This enhances your brand credibility, and encourages customers to become loyal ones. 

4. Personalized Service#

You can offer a more personalized customer service  online because you will be able to check customer previous interactions such as message history, and last purchases. This avoids problems such as asking questions the customer has answered before. Besides, showing you know they have a relationship with the company emphasizes to them how  they matter to your brand. 

5. Gather Customer Insights#

Online customer service enables you to get to know more about your customers’ behavior by gathering data that informs you the main issues they have with your website, or products. You can identify what your weak and strong points are to keep improving service. 

7 Tips to Improve Online Customer Service#

1. Know Your Target Audience#

Knowing your target audience is a key factor to provide efficient online customer service. You need to understand what communication channels they like the most, if they prefer having someone assisting them, or reading tutorials, for instance. Another fundamental aspect is identifying their main demands and how your company can solve them. 

2. Train Your Customer Service Team#

Prepare your customer service team on how to deal with clients, even in online channels, such as email or message apps, they must know how to address your customers. The way to approach them should be aligned with your brand tone of voice, and be true to your company values. 

3. Add a Live Chat and a Chatbot#

Adding a live chat along with a chatbot is no longer a differential when it comes to good online customer service, but a must. Both tools complement each other, and enhance user experience considerably. 

If the client has any doubt, they can click on the live chat button, explaining their issues and get in contact with a live agent in a few seconds, No need for call or emails. The chatbot can act as a complement in cases where the question is simple and there is no need to talk to a person to solve it, which will make the process even faster. 

4. Provide Personalized Assistance#

Regardless of the online channel of choice, make sure to offer personalized assistance. Address the customer by their name, research their previous history with the company, check if there were any other interactions and if there is any unresolved issue. Acknowledge you know who you are talking to. This makes customers feel appreciated. 

5. Include a FAQ Section#

Sometimes, the question a customer wants to ask has been already answered several times. Gather the most common questions, answer them, and create a FAQ page on your website. This way the customers can help themselves, saving yours and their time.

6. Enable Customers to Choose how They Prefer to Communicate#

Provide more than an online channel of communication to enable  customers to choose how they prefer to be assisted by you. This is an efficient strategy to avoid losing clients over bad customer service. 

7. Ask for Feedback#

Every time you assist a customer, or make a sale, ask them to rate their experience. You can send an email with a complete feedback form, for example. This will help you understand where you can improve.

Enjoy JivoChat to Improve Customer Service#

JivoChat allows you to improve online customer service by offering the best live chat solution for your website. With just a few clicks, you can install it, along with a chatbot, on your pages, and personalize the message and design to match your brand's identity. Enjoy the analytics tools to keep track of your results and send messages proactively based on your customers actions.