In recent years, technological development has been changing the consumer’s profile, the way he buys and, mainly, how he comes into contact with your brand. This profile change requires, among other things, special care with the quality of service from the company.
Although the purchase journey is much more autonomous, that is, the consumer, most of the time, only needs the seller after he has already made the decision to purchase the product or service, the service channels still play an essential role.
After all, the more digital the consumer experience is, the more he will demand from your service when he needs an answer that he could not find on his own.
But how do you know if quality of service that you deliver to your customers live up to their expectations?
In this text, we are going to talk about five situations that must be analyzed to understand the reality of your company and decide whether it is possible to continue as it is or it is necessary to think about improvements.
The new consumer
To understand whether the quality of your company’s service meets your customer’s needs, it is important, before the internal analysis of your performance, to get to know this new consumer and why it is essential to pay attention to the interactions between him and his employees.
Welcome, Internet!
Exactly! The pattern of consumer behavior has undergone – and still undergoes – significant changes from the expansion of the internet.
Attention to detail: we are not talking about the emergence, but expansion, popularization of the network, reaching, in Brazil, between 70% and 80% of the population.
In the early 2000s, when the word ‘internet’ began to be part of our vocabulary, its use was practically restricted to the corporate world and educational institutions, that is, a specific portion of people – those between 25 and 35 years old – had access to and used it periodically, usually for work.
The turn of smartphones
More or less a decade later, when smartphones started to appear more frequently, more people had the possibility of accessing the internet, because it was no longer necessary to have a computer or notebook to consult emails and information in general.
And it was from there that the consumer realized the power he had in his hands. With access to all kinds of information regarding the purchase decision, the customer no longer depended on the salesperson’s recommendation.
He himself started looking for the product or service he wanted, comparing opinions from other users and deciding, by himself, which one to buy. In the beginning, in most cases, it was still necessary to go to the store or company to close the deal – a mere bureaucracy.
The era of e-commerce
From one stage to another, it was a snap. One day we would go to the restaurant for lunch or dinner and the next day we started to receive the food at home, after checking the menu, price, delivery time and also paying the bill. All this with just a few clicks on your smartphone screen.
And food is just one example. Currently, we can buy practically everything on our cell phones, without leaving home, without talking to anyone.
It is true that the pandemic accelerated this process a little, but the intensification of everyday life in digital mode was just a matter of time.
But if the consumer has achieved so much autonomy, you must be wondering where does the importance of quality of service fit in?
Precisely, in autonomy. People are already used to solving problems without talking to people and, more importantly, they are getting quick and assertive responses through digital means.
That is, any contact with your brand that offers less than that will be seen as a flawed service, which leaves something to be desired and to which the consumer no longer wants to submit.
Do you know why? Because there are huge chances that he will find the same product or service with another supplier and not need you anymore. And just to remind you, your competition is no longer limited to your city or region.
Time to evaluate the quality of care
Now, with the internet, smartphone, e-commerce and a super connected consumer, with few exceptions, your competitor can be anywhere in the world.
And what can you offer differently, to generate a positive experience for the customer, to the point that he buys – and buys again – from your company? That’s right – the quality of care.
So pay attention to the five situations you should consider before rethinking your company’s service flow.
1 – Number of service requests
Try to see your company’s customer service as an outsider. What is the service like over the phone, or via email, or WhatsApp, or when support is called.
As for the telephone, you can evaluate it by calling the company and going through the service flow, from the person receiving the call to reaching the person or sector you requested.
Consult some emails received from customers, or even WhatsApp messages, to see how long it takes for someone to respond and how effective the response is. With support, same thing – how long it takes to resolve the customer request.
This way you will have an idea of the number of requests and the quality of service. If the number of calls is beyond your team’s capacity to handle, it’s time to think of another way to do this, to reduce the delay in responses and resolutions, in order to increase customer satisfaction.
2 – Delay in service or delay in responding to the customer
On the other hand, if the team can handle the demand, but even so the returns are slow or ineffective, perhaps it is the case to review the method used.
The quality of service depends on several factors, but the good news is that there are many ways to speed up contact with customers, ensuring that the information is really useful and resolving.
As for ways to ensure agility and efficiency, the best certainly have to do with technology.
3 – Calls outside office hours
The company works during business hours and therefore the service is also carried out from 8am to 18pm. Right? Not always!
Do you remember that the customer has autonomy and that the patience to wait for an answer is decreasing more and more?
So, evaluate the number of calls, especially via WhatsApp and social networks – but if you can measure phone calls, even better -, that the company receives after 18 pm, on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
If this number is significant, start thinking about deploying digital care. Even being served by a robot, the customer will be more satisfied than having to wait until the next business day.
Still, depending on your market niche, many demands can be resolved by automated service, without going through the attendant.
4 – Service transfers
In the first item, we talk about evaluating the number of phone calls. The tendency is for this form of contact to progressively decrease, as there are more agile ways to solve a problem.
However, we still cannot ignore this communication channel in companies.
Watch the flow. How many people does your client need to talk to before reaching someone who can really help you? And when passing through these people, how many times does he have to repeat the reason for the call?
This is common in companies that, despite having several points of contact with the customer, do not have integrated systems. That is, there is no communication between one sector and another. So, with each transfer, the customer starts their journey all over again. And that definitely doesn’t please anyone.
5 – Knowing and knowing how to measure the quality of care
What we pointed out in the four previous items are key points to reach this last one: knowing the quality of service, with measurable data, to identify where the failures are, the bottlenecks, which compromise your customer’s satisfaction.
Is everything working fine? Perfect. Life goes on. Did you identify problems? Good too – now you’ve gathered enough data to implement really needed changes that will impact the bottom line.
Quality of service with technology
And, finally, we come to the best part: pointing out solutions for those who are having problems with the quality of care.
In many companies, digital service is already a reality. There are cases, depending on the segment, in which the humanized service is activated very rarely, as most requests are resolved with pre-defined responses, which an automated system delivers to the customer, whatever the communication channel.
These systems, among which the omnichannel platforms stand out, receive calls, record the demands and the evolution of the service, until the request is answered. And if the customer contacts you again, the service will be more agile, because the history is consulted and the service continues where it left off – without the customer having to start their journey all over again.
Do you want to know more about how an omnichannel platform can contribute to improving the quality of service in your company? Contact us.
The ¡Hola! Suite is a complete solution, which integrates the main communication channels and guarantees absolute control of all your customers’ interactions with your company.
