Quality customer service is crucial for a business to succeed as it is an effective way of keeping customers happy. They may have queries regarding products and services that a company offers, and such issues should be sorted out to retain customer loyalty.
Those companies that dedicate their efforts towards effective customer service build their reputation as businesses that are consumer-centric. This projects a reliable and credible image to consumers, thereby contributing to consumer interest in them.
Take a look at Burlington as an example; it’s a renowned retail company that offers a wide range of products, including garments, footwear, accessories, home décor, and more. To enhance customer experience, they have developed an app that enables shoppers to get in touch with the Burlington team if they need assistance or recommendations with products.
But even though customer service still matters, businesses have an incentive to reduce costs, and consumers have to know they are getting value. Even in industries that were considered prime for customers to rely on, such as tech, it pays to slash your costs in ways that still provide the value consumers need. So how do you cut costs on customer service without upsetting consumers?
AI Customer Service
For one, pay your customer support staff less by using AI customer service! An AI call center means there is less staff to pay and “paying” an AI customer service bot simply means investing money in its operation as opposed to a salary. At the point that most businesses today are going to call it a day, there are going to be multiple employees, and there is going to be some overlap. Still, to give the illusion of having less customer service staff, pay them less.
Consider having several people working to provide customer service. Paying someone a fixed salary to work on customer service in a call center or in front of a desk may seem to make sense. However, it actually leads to worse customer service. As a consumer, I may know that someone is going to answer and it is going to be expensive. However, I know I am not going to get any help unless the person that answers has sufficient knowledge to answer.
To a customer, it seems like they only have one person to rely on. The customer may get frustrated, and the employee may get frustrated that the customer is not getting through to him or her. Furthermore, if you try to keep an employee in the back of the line to answer, you can never guarantee that they will actually be able to respond to a customer. So maybe it’s better not to cut costs here and outsource customer service to a call center. This is because apart from the huge manpower, many call centers may also have access to solutions like SIP trunking and hypernetwork, which can be used to take inbound calls even in the event of a network outage. This helps resolve customer issues in a seamless manner.
Avoid giving customers the option of placing an order, particularly when the business knows it has too many orders. Cutting costs on customer service is not always about cutting costs. It is about working to create an environment where consumers have less incentive to ask for service because the system seems less likely to provide it.
Consider using a kiosk machine that can do the job of an employee for you. Kiosk machines allow your customers to access your services from anywhere you install a kiosk. Usually, they’re located in shopping centres or within shops themselves and can provide your customers with various quick and convenient options.
Cut costs on customer service by taking the customer’s word. If a consumer does not like what they receive, they will have no reason to go back. In fact, going back will be the easiest thing to do. If you can avoid cutting costs on customer service that way, you can avoid falling into the customer’s trap.
Create an environment where cutting costs on customer service is a risk, not an expected cost of doing business.
More than One Way to Cut Costs on Customer Service
It is easy to understand how cutting customer service costs can save companies money. You can hire fewer people and cut costs.
But what if you can also cut costs while still giving customers the service they need?
If you can provide the same service using fewer people, you can lower costs. And if you are adding technology, you can reduce costs.
But if you can provide the service using technology, you can reduce costs as well. If you have a virtual assistant or an automated response system, you can create an environment where consumers have fewer options and you can reduce your cost of providing customer service.
From the perspective of a customer, it is important to provide the information they need quickly.
