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Customer experience is king. According to one source, “91 % of marketing leaders believe that in two years they will be competing primarily on the basis of the customer experience.” The focus of customer experience is about the customer; this may sound redundant to explain, but the point is that the focus needs to be on current customers, not new ones. Here are a few statistics that make the case for concentrating on customer retention:

• When companies increase retention by 2 %, it will have the same impact as decreasing expenses by 10 %.
• Retaining your current customers and keeping them happy saves you five times more than obtaining new customers.
• Profits rise 75 % when retention increases by a mere 5 %.

Companies that invest in customer retention stand to increase their profits. The question becomes how do companies retain customers. One way to make sure your customers stick around and even bring new customers on board is to create enthusiastic fans of your brand. It’s one thing to have customers who are satisfied and quite another to have emotionally connected customers.

Harvard Business Review conducted research and found that customers do connect to companies on an emotional level. They identified four levels of connectedness. Level one was the lowest level of interest and level four was the fully connected experience, which is best described as loyalists to the brand. The researchers discovered a much greater profitability when customers moved from level three to four versus movement from any of the other levels. What this tells us is that companies would be wiser spending resources finding ways to bump customers into level four, the enthusiastic loyal zone, than moving a somewhat unhappy customer (level one) up to the next level (level two).

Another study, which was similar, came from Telefaction Data Research. The results stated that “customers who rate you 5 on a scale from 1 to 5 are six times more likely to buy from you again, compared to ‘only’ giving you a score of 4.8.”  The research seems to point to just how important excellent customer service truly is.  Even that fraction of a point made a difference in purchases.

So, how can companies provide excellent customer service? Using customer service software is an important first step in achieving this goal. In order to understand why customers are not enthusiastic, you have to identify their pain points and see how the software provides a solution.

Poor Customer Service Experiences

One study revealed that a full 59 % of people in the U.S. would be willing to switch to another company if they could guarantee a better customer service experience. That reflects on how important customer service is to people. In addition, people do not leave companies over the price or product as much as they leave over poor customer service. Poor customer service can be anything from the rudeness of an employee to a bad experience with a product. Whatever the case may be, it only intensifies if the customer cannot resolve the problem readily.

Customer Service Software Solution:

Customer service software ensures customers receive a timely response to their issue. All customer conversations, including those from email, telephone, web portal, twitter, facebook, and chat, are consolidated. Messages are then organized according to type to ensure maximum efficiency. Priority levels are established based on the content of the messages further establishing effective customer service. People appreciate it if they feel their problems are addressed and dealt with properly.

Inability to Reach the Appropriate Person

It is quite frustrating if you are a customer with a pressing problem but can’t get through to the right person. Maybe you reached out to the company but went around in circles trying to get to the bottom of your situation. Each time you get transferred or receive a reply, there are only more questions for you; you end up telling your whole “story” over again. There is nothing like getting more frustrated than having to repeat the entire problem multiple times.

Customer Service Software Solution:

Customer service software such as Vision Helpdesk promptly connects the customer with the appropriate person. The helpdesk software not only organizes all the customer communications but goes a step further and ensures it goes directly to the person in charge of that particular situation. Customers are happier when feedback is routed to the right person.

Can’t Access Company From Platform of Choice

People today are able to access companies at home, in their car, in the store, or out to eat. Wherever they are, they can get through to a company with a few swipes of the phone or taps of the computer keyboard. It used to be that people would contact companies by telephone or mail, but not any longer. Companies that do not provide for an “omni-channel” experience are certainly missing some customer feedback. Customers are unhappy if they cannot access companies conveniently in whatever way they chose Omni-channel refers to multiple channels whereby customers contact the company.

Customer Service Software Solution:

Customers want options, and the Vision helpdesk software gives them just that. The versatile system allows customers to connect on whatever platform they chose. Customers can use their smart phone to connect via twitter or they can use the computer to access the web portal. They can send emails or reach someone through the chat line. The helpdesk’s integration provides a streamlined customer experience instead of a disjointed one by ensuring everyone is on the same page even though they may be on a different platform.