Is it enough to simply measure customer satisfaction?
You will get the best outcome if you focus on measuring not just the customer’s needs, but also ensuring that you are maintaining a high level of employee satisfaction and company satisfaction. By regularly measuring these three parameters and following up on the results, you can ensure that your company maintains a well-functioning customer service team.
Each parameter should be measured in a way that is the most effective for that item. For example, you may choose to evaluate customer satisfaction by having your customers rate their interactions with your customer service team using the classic thumbs-up or thumbs-down method. Or you could go into greater depth by carrying out an NPS survey where you ask your customers, for example, whether they would recommend the company or product to friends and family. It is important to put customer satisfaction in the right context and to continuously measure it over time. This allows you to have a better idea as to whether you are providing the customer with good customer service or if there is room for improvement.
Satisfaction with the company and among employees
When measuring the level of satisfaction within your own company, other parameters come into play. Here, it is important to check parameters such as the cost of customer service in relation to revenue and to look at the number of interactions with customer service vis-à-vis your customer base. Is this service as efficient and profitable as it should be? And don’t forget to measure the perceptions of your employees. After all, it is the people sitting on the other end of the phone day in and day out that are the most in tune with your customer’s opinions.
It is also very important to consider employee morale and the overall atmosphere in the workplace. Morale and atmosphere in the workplace are good indicators of whether you have a customer service team that is not only functioning well today, but one that has the potential to do so tomorrow and in the years ahead. If the work environment is poor, it will quickly be reflected in the quality of service. A poor work environment can have other negative consequences, including increased sick leave and higher staff turnover, which will contribute to increased costs.
Every new staff member that you need to bring on board and train equals more money and also impacts your quality of service. In general, a new employee does not perform as well as one who has worked with the company for a year or longer, and this impacts the experience your customers will have. Satisfied employees generally equate to satisfied customers – and greater profitability for the company. So, in order to ensure that you have an optimally functioning customer service team, it is important to measure these three areas. Customer, staff and company – all three need to be satisfied if it is going to work.
Proactive customer service
What are the indicators of good customer service? It is important that your company can work proactively and reactively in relation to your customer’s needs. Your customer service team needs to understand the uniqueness of every customer interaction and adapt their response accordingly. A highly-skilled customer service employee understands the entire customer journey – from the purchase of the product or service to the time a problem is encountered and the customer ultimately seeks assistance.
Many people forget that customer service is more than just being available and coming up with solutions when problems arise. It is also a hygiene factor, in that a customer needs to be able to actually use the product or service. The majority of times a customer needs help should not require direct contact with the customer service team. Rather, most issues should be able to be resolved in a more proactive manner. By keeping track of common problems the customer may encounter, you can develop features that solve the problem before it needs to go all the way to the customer service team.
Are you unsure of whether you have fully optimized your customer service? Perhaps there are additional tools you can use to lift customer satisfaction, the work environment and company profitability to the next level. Outsourcing your customer service can be one way for you to streamline processes, reduce staff turnover and ensure that the customer experience is a good one.