On any given day, a startup owner might wear a dozen hats, taking on the role of a business analyst, marketer, human resources personnel, inventory clerk, warehouse manager, and customer service agent, among other things. With so many priorities competing for attention, it can be daunting to ensure your customers receive top-grade service without detracting from an already strained budget and timetable.
For many larger businesses, it can often be difficult to keep up with the flood of support tickets and customer issues that flood in – even with a powerful helpdesk. Often, the proposed solution is to hire more support staff to alleviate the extra work, but that’s not always a great solution. For instance, you’ll have to be able to afford the extra staff. That may not always be a possibility.
Growing a successful business requires a strong understanding of your target audience. Beyond knowing the basic demographic information of the ideal customer, marketers also need to be familiar with their needs, interests, and decision-making process. After all, earning loyal customers doesn’t just mean getting your brand in front of a specific group of people.
Measuring and analyzing customer support performance can be challenging. The quality of a customer’s experience with your team is a bit more subjective than, say, the ROI of a marketing campaign, or the sales of a new product.
When people think of “customer service” sometimes they think of call centers. Sometimes they think of the people they get on the chat with when their internet or credit card stops working. Maybe they think about being at an automated machine that’s not working and calling the hotline number they found on the peeling sticker on the machine.
At the end of every year, managers and executives alike need to look into the future to plan their next steps. What new technology do you need to budget for? What are customers asking for now? What new skills do your agents need to develop – or do you need to hire for? The top trends in customer support can help illuminate a path forward.
When it comes down to it, each employee at your company is working towards the same overarching goal: to serve your customers. However, because the roles they play in reaching that goal are extremely different, it’s easy for individual teams to feel disconnected from one another. This isn’t ideal.
Freshworks had a rocking year in 2018, and we are taking a moment to look back at what happened in a year that was filled with so much activity. There were product launches: Freshconnect and Freshping came alive this year, to much fanfare and excitement. Freshconnect is going to play a crucial role in our Freshworks 360 platform, and Freshping will help organisations prove their credibility to their customers free of cost.
