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If an individual has a satisfying experience, they are more likely to become or remain my customer. Conversely, a disappointing customer experience can lead a client or prospect to turn to competitors.
Calls received by Contact Centers represent a significant expense, ranging from €5 to €10 per call. This cost includes payroll and the expenses associated with essential tools like IVR systems. Reducing these costs often means reducing reachability, which can negatively impact the customer experience. The right approach is to offer alternative and autonomous solutions to phone calls.
These alternatives, such as chatbots, FAQs, or forms, still need to be promoted to encourage their use. Too often, customers are unaware of their existence and naturally turn to the traditional phone channel. Encouraging customers to adopt digital tools instead of using the phone is what we call digital transformation.
Customer relationship performance directly impacts the company's results. To increase profits, customer service can leverage two levers: increasing the number of customers and aiding in their loyalty.
Providing the right response at the right time to a prospect significantly increases the chances of converting them into a customer. Without a response, a customer will not hesitate to turn to the competition. It is up to customer service to be accessible and provide the right answer from the first contact.
While acquiring new customers is important, retaining them is doubly so: the resources needed for loyalty are less compared to acquisition costs. When the cost of sales decreases, the margin increases.
E-reputation and customer review platforms, such as Trustpilot or Avis Vérifiés, are now crucial in purchasing decisions. They (more or less accurately) reflect customer satisfaction and either encourage or deter potential clients from choosing a company. A customer will opt for a business with positive reviews, confident that in case of an issue, it will provide support. Ultimately, it’s all about differentiation.
Telephony is the most traditional channel. In case of a problem with a product, a contract, a subscription, or a delivery, customers have been accustomed for decades to search for and dial the customer service (ASS). The team handling these calls consists of advisors, with the number expressed in terms of "positions". A 15-position service denotes a team of 15 advisors. Many companies, noticing a high volume of incoming calls, have set up a Customer Relationship Center (CRC) or Contact Center to monitor the activity of these teams, equip them with processes and tools like IVR. Other companies prefer to outsource the management of incoming calls. CRCs can also handle outbound calls for prospecting or commercial follow-up.
Digital experience is now at the heart of Customer Relationship Management. Satisfaction relies on efficient digital channels managed by specialized teams. With responsive websites, social media, and chatbots, accessibility improves, providing customers with responses tailored to their communication preferences.
Digital is shaping consumer habits. For example, 15-24-year-olds favor WhatsApp as their primary contact channel. Aware of this shift, customer service teams are accelerating their digital transformation. Some train their employees in digital tools, others create dedicated teams, while some integrate this role into existing Marketing or Digital departments.
These teams play a crucial role in selecting and managing digital contact channels, ensuring a seamless and effective experience. They oversee self-care tools such as chatbots, FAQs, and customer portals while managing human-assisted interactions through chat, forms, or call-back services.
Sales teams play a central role in customer relationship management. They support clients in using products, ensure their satisfaction, and contribute to customer loyalty. However, they are also responsible for making outbound calls, a challenging task when inbound call volumes are high.
Primarily based in agencies, often structured in networks, such as in the banking or real estate sectors, they must balance prospecting with customer service. To manage peaks in demand, many networks implement a Customer Relationship Center (CRC), ensuring efficient and optimized request handling.
Customer service can be managed in-house or outsourced, each with its advantages and disadvantages. In-house management allows the company to maintain full control over interactions, but it requires expertise, tools, and dedicated resources, which can be challenging for teams handling other tasks, such as sales teams. Outsourcing enables businesses to delegate requests to specialized professionals, freeing internal teams for higher-value tasks, but it raises concerns about service quality. A hybrid solution involves outsourcing simple requests while handling complex cases in-house through an escalation process, ensuring efficiency and control over customer relations.
Advisor teams can be specialized or generalist, depending on the company's needs. Do they handle all requests or only specific categories? For example, a bank may structure its customer service into two distinct units: one dedicated to banking services and the other to insurance. In contrast, a retailer may rely on agents capable of managing all types of inquiries, including order tracking, refunds, purchase assistance, and more. A well-structured organization helps optimize customer service efficiency and enhance the user experience.
Channel specialization often presents a challenge. Customer service organizations typically distinguish between two main areas: synchronous flows (phone, chat) and asynchronous flows (emails, letters). The former requires an almost immediate response, while the latter can be too slow. Some versatile contact centers handle both types of flows, while other companies have separate teams dedicated to each type of communication.
In every area of business, measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential. For customer relations, these KPIs help assess the service's impact, manage operations, and plan necessary improvements. Here is a simplified and organized overview of the main KPIs to track.
Evaluating customer satisfaction is essential to assess service quality. Key indicators include:
Retention is a key objective for enhancing customer relationships. Relevant KPIs include:
Customer service directly contributes to the company's revenue, a shared goal across the organization, by:
Tracking incoming request volume helps organize resources and tools effectively:
These KPIs measure service efficiency in terms of speed and problem resolution:
Customer relations are a strategic lever for retaining, satisfying, and acquiring customers. An efficient organization, combined with digital tools and relevant KPIs, enhances the customer experience while optimizing costs. By meeting customer expectations, it becomes a key asset for business performance and growth.
