What Is the Role of Customer Service in An Online Store?

Tips for Effective Customer Service

In India, online stores have found a high degree of acceptance among. Online shopping has become part of popular culture and is no longer restricted to major cities. Even tier-2 and tier-3 cities are also catching up and are adopting online shopping in a big way.

One of the factors that have been central to the success of online stores is customer service. With customer service, e-commerce companies can provide up-to-date information and educate the customers on the product. This kind of effective customer service helps in mitigating the nagging doubts of a customer while buying online.

The customer can always have second thoughts as they cannot “touch and feel” the product before purchasing. Hence it becomes imperative that online companies offer easily accessible communication channels for clearing any doubts about the product being bought.

This blog is an attempt to engage readers on the critical role of customer service. It is meant for entrepreneurs who want to venture into e-commerce and seek knowledge on significant components of the business operation.

Role of Customer Service in Online Stores  

Now let’s focus on the role of customer service, one-by-one:

• Improves Revenue by a Large Margin: Companies sustain themselves by being profitable, and one of the principal ways to remain profitable is to reduce the customer acquisition cost. Besides, acquiring new customers, they should emphasise on retaining customers. This is because repeat customers are known to spend more on a brand they stick with. Incidentally, the customer acquisition cost (CAC) is more for a company that does not invest in customer service. Overall, effective customer service can reduce the churn rate, which decreases the amount you spend on acquiring new customers.
• Enhances Reputation and Brand Image: As a business owner, you may have a clear idea about what the brand represents. This perception, most of the time, tends to be hazy on the part of the customer. This image can be crystallised in the customer’s mind through exemplary customer service. When customer service agents interact with the customer, they are speaking on the brand’s behalf. And if the agents are successful in offering a courteous and to-the-point resolution of queries and concerns, they directly impact the brand image. Through consistent customer service, a brand can create a positive picture of the brand that would remain in the customer’s mind for a long time.
• Good for Referrals: When a brand provides good customer service consistently, it creates a positive narrative. This narrative would have a direct role in spreading positive word-of-mouth about the brand. Happy customers are likely to bring up the topic of the brand during their conversations with their friends and neighbors. This one of the most inexpensive means of getting marketing done. Moreover, when the good word about the brand comes from a known person, the impact is most likely to translate into a possible sale. This can cause a chain reaction to occur, where a lot of people are likely to adopt the brand in a quick time.
• Customers Pay More: According to the latest market research, 67% of customers would pay more if offered better customer service. This is a clear indication of the fact that customer service does make a huge difference. Any company that believes in a contrarian view is likely to pay the heavy price concerning the sustenance of the brand. Some MNCs sell at premium prices but command a high degree of loyalty. Primarily, it is due to the top-notch customer service they offer during the pre-and-post sales period. Overall, the brand can create a solid perception that they truly value the sensitivities and concerns of their customers. And the customers return the favor through brand loyalty

• Offers Deep Insights on Customers: Understanding the mind of customers is a big challenge. As a business owner, you may position the brand differently, but the customer doesn’t need to have the same perspective associated with the brand. Such anomalies can be dealt with by leveraging the knowledge of the customer service team. They can offer deep insights into how the customers relate to the brand. Besides, you can avoid an elaborate exercise like market research if customer service agents start asking direct market-related questions to the customer. Any individual will not mind answering a few questions if the customer service agents provide pertinent answers to their concerns and resolve their complaints on time.  
• Improves Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This represents the total revenue you can expect from a single customer. Growing this value means that shopping frequency has increased and consumers are spending more. Effective customer service is a perfect way to improve CLV. When a company offers a great shopping experience, the customer is more likely to shop again. And with customer loyalty firmly in place, it provides the brand with opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell additional products with the least friction. This way, when you recommend new products, customers are less likely to have second thoughts or doubts.
• Creates New Opportunities: Most companies offer reactive customer service, wherein an event occurs, and the customer service team is seen resolving the issue. Instead, proactive customer service identifies anomalies in the product or service even before they come across the problem. This could be something related to improving and making the buying experience more pleasurable and so on. When a brand begins to operate at such a level, it directly translates to improved trust. In such a situation, a customer really would not mind being sold a newly launched product as the brand is seen standing by them as a well-wisher.

Tips for Effective Customer Service

Now that we have understood the role of customer service in an online store let’s focus on tips for effective customer service. Here they are:

• Clarity in Communication: One of the pre-requisites for good customer service is clarity in communication. An agent cannot afford to be ambiguous or get overpowered by their emotions. Their primary role is to help the customer, and to do that; they must actively listen to the problem. And, if possible, offer resolution on the first call itself.
• Stick with Positive Tone: Keeping the tone and language positive helps create a conducive environment where the chances of conflict or miscommunication drop to a minimum. Even when customers are upset, a positive attitude from the agent makes the customer eager enough about listening to the company’s point of view.
• Slowing Down Offers Better Results: It might be good for productivity, but customer service speed is generally seen as impolite. Give the customer the time to air their grievances and, following that, propose a solution. Avoid jumping-the-gun, even when you know what the problem is, remain empathetic to their concerns.
• Provide Right Tools to the Team: You must offer the customer service team the right tools and training. This will allow them to perform to their optimum levels and give you the best productivity figures. In the absence of the right tech tools, they are likely to struggle, and it will directly reflect on the credibility of the brand.

Conclusion

We may have spoken at length about customer service, but one thing you should not forget is that customer service is not an additional expense (cost center) on the company. Rather it can be the differentiator for the company in the long run. Offering high-quality customer service can certainly boost the business prospects and give the all-important competitive edge for the company in the market. Overall, it is all about your level of conviction about customer service as a business activity.

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5) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

FAQs

Q. Is it necessary to outsource customer service?

Ans. It completely depends on the level that you operate on. If you receive a substantial volume of calls daily, you can think about outsourcing it to professional agencies. Alternatively, if the operation is small, you can ask your in-house sales team to handle customer care calls.

Q. What happens when there is a need for escalation?

Ans. In such cases, you are required to provide a point of contact from your company that is conversant with the product or service. The agent must be experienced enough to keep the customer in a positive frame of mind even when the call gets transferred to a different person.

Q. What happens when there is a business interruption?

Ans. During a business interruption, there can be a barrage of calls likely to be directed at the call center. In such cases, the company’s leadership must brief the customer service team about the actual situation. Also, the agents must be briefed about utilising other channels like social media, chats, and even Twitter to keep the situation under control.