Britain’s cost-of-living crisis is worsening. Many consumers are left wondering how they will manage soaring bills as the cold months draw closer.
Earlier this month, the UK’s Big Six energy firms urged customers to contact them ahead of the winter. This would be to discuss support packages for easing the burden of price hikes to their energy bills. However, this approach could alienate customers who may be too busy or even too worried to reach out.
The onus should be on businesses to provide proactive support to struggling customers. This is rather than placing the burden on customers to come forward.
Customers are continuing to feel the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis. Companies need to be making the first move when it comes to customer service. By prioritising proactive customer service, businesses can make sure that vulnerable customers can promptly get the support they need.
Why do we need proactive customer service?
This year, customer service complaints hit their highest record on level. Furthermore, businesses across the nation have reported a worrying rise in abusive behaviour directed towards staff. This ends up taking a huge toll on employees. 95% of contact centre agents say work-related mental wellbeing problems are making them less productive. This is costing the industry nearly £1bn every year.
Waiting for customers to reach out (which is often once they’ve hit a breaking point after months of stress and anxiety) is coined as reactive customer service. The businesses that solely rely on this are going to be the worst hit. With reactive customer service, agents need to be always on hand. This can lead to teams being stretched as they battle the surge of distressing and upsetting calls.
Meanwhile, a more proactive approach allows companies to identify common issues and resolve them before they become real problems. This means less repetitive tickets and more time for contact centre teams to focus on meaningful interactions. In turn, this will create happier, more satisfied customers.
Reactive customer service also has a huge impact on customers themselves. It can leave those who are vulnerable to suffer in silence. For example, those juggling a packed schedule with work and personal obligations may be unable wait on hold to get support. Additionally, those who are struggling to keep up with the pressure of mounting costs may be too afraid to reach out.
Now more than ever, it’s important that businesses are proactive, empathetic and human-focused in their customer service approach. Not only will they be able to assist struggling customers, but in difficult circumstances, outstanding service can help. Even after encountering issues, 78% of consumers would continue to do business with a company if they received excellent service.
Delivering proactive customer service
The most important starting point when implementing a proactive approach is by getting to know your customers. When businesses know the issues customers face, the better prepared they are for proactive communications.
Consumer feedback is crucial to improving customer service. Surveys can gather vital insights from customers about aspects of the business that can be improved. Additionally, businesses can get ahead of customer conversations by paying attention to social media and the queries they receive. Analyse common customer complaints to identify frequent problem areas leading to more frequent calls. This will provide you with a starting point to tackle the root of the problem.
When problems arise, proactively informing customers and keeping them updated on the progress towards a solution is the best way to eliminate confusion and diffuse anger.
How technology can help
Proactive customer service can boost customer satisfaction and reduce churn. But it’s difficult to do so without investing in smart technology. From speech analytics to measuring and tracking customer sentiment, leveraging technology will allow businesses to tackle common patterns. They will be able to act quickly if satisfaction drops.
For example, by using technology to identify meaningful words and phrases that have positive and negative connotations, businesses can detect the subtle messages that are hidden in otherwise mundane conversations. As a result, they can determine the emotional character of a customer based on words spoken and speech characteristics such as intonation, pitch, articulation and speech rates. By tracking customer emotion, agents can pinpoint unhappy customers before they walk away. This will ensure that customers are getting the support they need and reducing complaints by up to 25%.
Businesses can even monitor the data around wait times or first call resolution. Then, use that to send an apology or email gift if a customer has received sub-standard service. This will ensure that customers feel valued and appreciated.
Anticipate customer needs and actively reach out with a solution. Work to support them through these increasingly turbulent times. Then, businesses can prove to customers that they truly care about them.