Customers are the lifeblood of any business, and providing them with excellent service is crucial for success. Not only will it help keep them happy and coming back, but it also helps to drive up sales. In fact, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.
Providing exceptional service, however, can come at a cost. Running a customer support team can be expensive, especially for small businesses. In this post, we’ll explore various strategies to help reduce customer service costs without compromising on quality. With these tips, businesses can provide top-notch service while keeping their bottom line in check.
The cost of customer support varies depending on a variety of factors but can be broken down into three categories, including:
- Cost per support ticket
- Cost of support per order
- Cost per revenue
To learn more about calculating customer support costs, check out this article: The Real Costs and ROI of Customer Support.
8 ways to reduce customer support costs
Now that we've covered the basics, let's explore some strategies to help reduce customer service costs:
- Cut customer support costs by using the right technology
- Cut customer support costs by keeping your website and app user-friendly
- Cut customer support costs by investing in self-service and creating an FAQ page
- Cut customer support costs by making use of live chat
- Cut customer support costs by automating simple customer service tasks
- Cut customer support costs by making support easy to access
- Cut customer support costs by using data analytics
- Cut customer support costs by implementing omni-channel support
- Cut customer support costs by investing in training
Using the right technology
Using the right tech is one of the best ways to save on costs and improve the efficiency of your customer support operation. Software like Fullview, for example, can be an effective tool to make the support process faster and easier for agents.
With Fullview, there's no need for back-and-forth chats or emails to understand customer issues. You can start a cobrowsing session to take control of a user's screen with Fullview and resolve the problem. You can record user sessions in your app and watch them back for more context into user behavior and product issues. Fullview even displays console logs during replays and cobrowsing for more efficient troubleshooting. Simply pull up a recording of what a user did in your app in seconds — Fullview automatically detects user sessions with bugs or signs of user frustration like rage clicks and alerts you, so you can spring into action by intiating a cobrowsing call for proactive support.
With Fullview, support teams can accomplish more with fewer agents and resources. Plus, Fullview integrates seamlessly with primary support or helpdesk software such as Intercom, Zendesk, and Salesforce Service Cloud for enhanced convenience. Start solving customer issues quickly and effortlessly straight from the software you already use every day.
Read our post about the best customer support software to find other platforms that can take your customer support to the next level while helping you save on costs.
Keep your website and app user-friendly
Having a user-friendly website and app is an important factor in reducing the number of support inquiries a business receives. When customers find it difficult to navigate or understand a website or app, they are more likely to reach out for help. This can result in increased workload and additional expenses for the business, while also leading to a less satisfactory experience for the customer.
By ensuring that your website and app are user-friendly, you can minimize these issues and improve the overall customer experience. This can be achieved through various means, such as simplifying the design and layout, providing clear and concise instructions, offering helpful prompts and reminders throughout the user journey, and ensuring that the site or app is optimized for different devices and screen sizes.
Create an FAQ page
Providing detailed product information is crucial for reducing customer support inquiries and improving customer satisfaction. By addressing frequently asked questions and providing comprehensive information about your products, customers can easily find the answers they need without having to reach out to customer support.
This not only saves time and resources for your business but also empowers customers to self-serve and have a positive experience with your brand. Detailed product information should include features, benefits, specifications, reviews, and any other necessary information that can help customers make informed purchasing decisions.
Make use of live chat
Live chat is a great tool to provide customers with quick and efficient support. It enables customers to get their inquiries answered in real-time without having to wait on the phone or send an email. Plus, it allows businesses to offer personalized service and ensure that each customer gets the help they need.
Live chat also helps reduce customer service costs by allowing multiple agents to manage inquiries at the same time. Plus, customers can easily browse the website while they are chatting instead of having to wait on hold or in a queue.
Automate simple customer service tasks
Automating simple customer service tasks can help streamline your operations and reduce overall costs. This could include using chatbots on your website or app to answer basic questions, setting up automated emails for frequently asked inquiries, or utilizing machine learning algorithms to personalize customer interactions.
By leveraging automation tools and technologies, businesses can minimize the cost of support tickets and free up resources that can be allocated elsewhere.
Make support easy to access
Ensure customers can easily find and access support. If support is hard to find, or inaccessible, customers might be more likely to seek support elsewhere or give up altogether.
This could include prominently displaying contact information on your website or app, providing easy-to-follow instructions, and offering multiple channels for customer communication (e.g., phone, email, live chat, etc.).
Use data analytics
Analyzing customer support data can help you identify patterns, allowing you to proactively address issues before they become widespread. This reduces the need for reactive support and helps you to prioritize and optimize support channels.
For example, data analytics can help you identify the most common inquiries and problems that customers are facing so that you can update product information or training materials accordingly. Data analytics also allows you to track customer satisfaction levels and spot any potential trends in customer feedback.
Implement omni-channel support
By offering a variety of support options, such as email, chat, phone and social media, you can allow customers to choose the channel that suits them best, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing the need for follow-up inquiries.
Invest in training
One of the most sure-fire ways to cut customer support costs and keep them low is to invest in training your support agents so they know how to react to different situations that are likely to arise. Making comprehensive training manuals that include things like ticket escalation guidelines and scripts for live chat and email can go a long way towards ensuring agents save time, thus saving you money.
Wrapping things up
When it comes to reducing costs, customer service can be a tricky area. You need to make sure that you're providing excellent service while minimizing expenses as much as possible. Fortunately, it is possible to strike the right balance between cost and quality with the right strategies. By following the tips above, businesses can provide customers with an outstanding experience while cutting back on customer service costs.
.png)
.svg)
.webp)
%201.svg)
-min.png)
.webp)
