A customer who gets his problem solved will tell to 4-6 people about his experience, while a dissatisfied customer will tell about 9-15 people*, the sale of products and services is completely linked to the consumer's experience, however, finalizing the sale is not the end of the journey, there is the most important step in the consumer experience: support.
What is customer support?
To begin to understand customer support, we must first define what a customer is:
A client is any person, institution, or company that even without knowing it requires one or more products and services. Where on many occasions, the client needs to learn to use it and make the most of the benefits of the product or service purchased.
It is at this point where there is a group of people with a high level of knowledge, who offers information, helps to guide, advise, answer questions and who are capable of training and solving the problems that customers are facing in handling the product or service purchased.
Therefore, customer support: It is an inter-functional team that has the knowledge to meet all the needs of our customers, in an assertive and effective way in the management of the product or service.
This can be in person or online, all in order to provide the best support service to customers in the event of vicissitudes that the user presents, whether they are issues, doubts, among other things that arise related to the product or service is given.
How to structure a customer support service?
1. You must form a multifunctional support team with the appropriate attitudes
Courtesy to the client
The support team must be courteous and respectful at all times when providing customer support, in addition to using vocabulary that is consistent with the personality of the brand.
Organization
The support team must have sufficient organization to respond to any of the channels through which support is provided (messages, emails, calls, etc.) and support the client in the service hours established by the company, with the aim of not leaving a customer without an answer, if done correctly, it has a positive impact on their satisfaction.
Planning
Planning is a fundamental part of the support team, since their job consists of maintaining an order of the questions and requests for support from the clients, as well as their resolution and the times used in it. In order to be able to show a report to the company and to be able to analyze the work that the team has executed.
Empathy when dealing with the client
The support team will be in constant communication with the client, however, it is understood that no client will be the same, some will have very different doubts that tend to demand much broader attention from the support team.
Decision-making for problem-solving
Customer service representatives must make important decisions when it comes to solving a problem, therefore they must have logical thinking that allows them to keep a calm head so that when making decisions they can analyze the situation and offer the most efficient solution.
Knowledge management
The support team must have the ability to absorb essential information about the company (its policies, its processes, the voice and personality of the brand, etc.) in order to send a clear message to the client.
2. Definition of roles and responsibilities within the support team
Customer Service / Support Associate
They are the first line of contact of your organization and a key piece within your team. Their responsibilities range from handling day-to-day complaints, managing different channels, and channeling high-priority issues to the right partner.
Customer Support Consultant
He is the team specialist, this collaborator will be able to deal with both technical and complex problems that require more time and experience to search for errors and solve problems.
Customer Support Leader
Monitors the work that the support team members are doing, while intervening on critical issues as needed.
3. Follow the protocol
Have and carry out a check list
It guarantees us that nothing is going to escape in the process of solving the tickets, this translates into saving time and greater effectiveness when it comes to giving answers to the client.
Have assertive and unambiguous communication
It allows being clear with what is said to the client and that he always feels cared for. Make it clear to your team that starting a response with: "Perhaps it's ...", "Maybe it's about ...", "Could be ..." do not help the client, are ambiguous, and do not solve any problem.
Correct recording of times
Another important point is that each member correctly charges their time, it is the way in which you will be able to know how much has been invested in the resolution of the ticket and be able to bill for the services provided.
4. We are all support
Not only team members within the support department are part of support, but each member of the company must also be part of support and handle appropriate communication to the customer, since bad information can cause a bigger issue. By working all in a coerced way, an improvement is achieved every day in what is done. Remember that to achieve this, you must generate an internal communication campaign where the roles and operation of customer support are specified so that your collaborators understand that #weareallsupport.
5. Measure the results
You must establish KPI's within your support team, to know whether you are going the right way and if not, you can plan changes in your plan and be able to obtain the results you want.
How to design a support strategy?
1. Know the strengths of each member of the support:
Expertise in the area.
Communication.
Commitment.
2. Invest time in the learning and coaching of each team member
Create a learning plan so that your team can continue to get to know the product better, as they progress, your team will be more efficient in solving problems.
3. Follow up on each case in daily meetings
Follow up on cases so that all team members can be aware, this is a good practice, as it can help other members to learn from the experiences of other members, also if any of the collaborators have any concerns and are detained, get help or ideas from the rest of the team.
Tips for continuous improvement of the support service
1. Wellness meetings
Implement meetings called "Wellness Meetings" whose main purpose is to get to know each other as people and open up to better internal communication. As they get to know each other and create a climate of high confidence in the team, the higher the level of functioning.
2. Always be learning
Do not stop studying and learning about the product, the tools, and the market, which is a priority for the team, with the aim of being updated and being able to provide a better service.
Odoo Helpdesk and its relationship with the support team and customers
Odoo Helpdesk is a very powerful tool that allows us to effectively manage customer requirements and has all the elements that allow us to keep track of each case, relying on documents, images, internal and external communication.
Allows the customer to create tickets through multiple channels
Customers can easily generate support tickets via email, live chat, website forms.
Creation of different support teams
You can generate different teams to assign support tickets to and originate an email address for each of them.
Monitor the time taken to resolve a ticket
You can use the timer to record the exact time, with the possibility of having several users recording their hours at the same time on the same task or ticket. In addition to being able to analyze the time used by each of your collaborators in solving tickets.
Your customers will be able to close the tickets once the problem is solved
Once the difficulty is solved, your customers will be able to close their tickets from their portal, thus reducing the probability that the ticket will be closed before the customer considers it finished.
Self-service tools
You can use tools such as help forums, e-learning among others so that your clients can seek help without having to open a ticket.
Generating a good support strategy that impacts the consumer experience essentially consists of keeping channels open and facilitating processes for the customer, supporting this with a team that is always up-to-date, a well-structured support protocol, and a support tool with the appropriate functions you can achieve much higher customer retention that helps your company to be a leader in the market.