How to improve customer service with technology

7 min readDec 2, 2020

Due to the 2020 crisis, many businesses suffered or were closed. However, many survivors caught the wave and went online. Other companies have been presented online for a long time, now looking to improve their services since customers have a much wider choice. If they don’t like something on your platform, they will leave to find better options.

This critically increases the importance of customer service and experience. This article will give you some recommendations on how to improve customer service within your platform.

How to improve communication

Think of the ways how customers can reach out to your customer service team. There are many options to consider: phone calls, emails, contact forms, chatbots, etc. Ideally, it is nice to have all of them integrated into your platform. Because each group of customers may prefer different means of communication, let’s take a quick look at each of those means.

1. Phone calls

There are multiple ways how you can provide your customers with the opportunity to contact by phone. First, make sure you have all the contact information on your website. Usually, it is placed in the footer section or on a separate web page. This way, the customer can copy the number and make a call.

The second option is to place the call button right in your app or website. When the user pushes the button, the number is opened in the phone app, and they can call or save the number straight away.

The third way is to integrate the call booking system. Customers can choose from available dates and time slots, describe the issue to be discussed, and book a phone call with a manager just in a few clicks.

2. Contact forms

The main rule for contact forms — they should be visible and simple. Place them in the most visible sections or even on a separate page. It’s nice if you have a small but noticeable pop-up that leads to the contact form. Don’t forget to make sure that they are not annoying because most users hate huge pop-ups or ones that distract from the content.

Which concerns forms’ size — the fewer fields, the better. Don’t make your clients spend much time filling out the form. They won’t like it, especially if they have some urgent issues.

We also recommend you set up prompt notifications on new inquiries, not to miss anything, and answer right away if possible.

3. Emails

This point is similar to the one connected with phone calls. First, make sure you have all the contact information on the website or in the app; second, you can integrate the email button, so when the user clicks it, the mailing service opens with the already entered email address.

4. Chatbots

Do you still reply to clients’ messages from 9 to 5? That is an odd approach that doesn’t work anymore. If the users do not get the answers promptly, they will go and find them somewhere else. A chatbot is a great tool to answer all frequently asked questions 24/7 based on the sets of trigger words. If a customer requests something specific, a chatbot can redirect them to the human manager or reference the needed information.

Chatbots are usually placed at the bottom of the screen and can be folded or closed, not to interrupt the website or application content.

There are also voice bots. They work pretty much the same way, but on the phones. If somebody calls to get the frequently asked advice, a voice bot can answer autonomously. However, if there is something specific, the bot redirects the call to a customer service manager.

How to improve payment

Payment is the last and probably most crucial stage of the order formation and the customer’s last chance to change their mind. Here, everything must be as clear and convenient as possible. Below we’ll discuss the essential points to keep in mind.

1. Payment Methods

This is hard to imagine today’s world without electronic payments. The payment methods vary from one platform to another. Let’s look through the major existing options:

Payment by debit/credit card;
Digital wallets (PayPal, Skrill, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.);
Cash payments (customers pay in cash when they get the goods at the delivery point);
Payments via telecom operators (when the price is withdrawn from the buyer’s mobile balance);
Bitcoin payment services (BitPay, Circle Pay, etc.).

The best situation is when your platform supports all the mentioned methods. However, if you are a small online shop, the first two methods would be enough.

2. Mind the target locations

If your platform is aimed at some particular locations, make sure that all the prices are set with their local currency, so the users clearly understand what fee they will pay for the desired goods or services. In case the country has local payment services, it is advisable to use them as well. Also, it would be great to consult the local legislation when setting Payment Policies.

Availability and Accessibility

Availability is one of the critical factors when thinking of customers’ comfort. Your shop should be available on all devices. Ideally, It’s nice to have a website optimized for various types of devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, and bigger screens), but it also would be great if you’ve had mobile applications for iOS and Android.

However, if you are a small shop, it can wait. Until that, you still have to build a strong mobile presence anywhere else. Many shops sell their products and services on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram is mostly used on mobile devices. So, having a well-optimized website and Instagram account would be enough for the beginning.

If you are a medium developing shop, it’s probably time to think about your mobile app.

And do not forget about accessibility. Make your platforms usable for people with visual and hearing impairments. Especially if your products or services are related to such people and can help them solve daily challenges.

If you want to learn more about what it is and how it works, you are welcome to read our article on accessibility testing.

How to increase additional sales

There is a couple of tricks you can implement to your application or website to increase additional sales:

Discount systems — users get a discount when purchasing a particular number of items or spending a specific amount of money. For example, initially, the customer wouldn’t buy three items, but when they see they can buy two and get a 50 or 80% discount for the third, it will most likely work. Or let them spend $200 to get a 20% discount.
Referral programs — let your customers invite their friends to your webshop or mobile application for some bonuses.
Recommendation systems — you can offer your customers related products. Let’s say your client ordered paint, so why not offer him a brush? Or you can also integrate the feature to analyze the most searched or viewed goods by the user and provide them with the best offers of that category.

How to improve customer care

Most CRM systems provide the following benefits:

Detailed contacts and clients’ databases;
Analytics on the new contacts, customers’ activities, new sales, and deals;
Automotive reporting based on collected data;
Improved communication (messaging, calls);
Prompt notifications on recent changes;
Simplified collaboration between departments involved in customer service.

Moreover, the CRM system may help marketers to build a contact list for the email distribution of valuable information related to your product. If you are planning to start email campaigns, you’ll also need an emailing system. Such systems send emails to all contacts or groups of contacts and provide detailed analytics on open rates, click-through rates, and other vital metrics.

CRM, together with an emailing system and analytics tools integrated into your website, will help you to unbelievably improve customer experience, as you’ll get access to almost unlimited customer insights. For example, you’ll learn where the client found out about your company, what they like, what they don’t, how often they purchase, and what pages they visit before that, or what makes them change their mind, etc.

Summing up

In today’s competitive world, it is not enough to develop a service or a webshop. Businesses have to pay more attention to their development and improve customer service and experience. There are many tools that can be implemented into your platform to raise customer satisfaction, increase loyalty, and boost your profits.

If you have any questions about your web or mobile application or need development assistance, contact us for a free consultation. We can help!

Originally published at https://intexsoft.com on December 2, 2020.