Customer Service Process: Definition, Importance & How To Improve It

Having a good customer service flow takes more than setting up E-Commerce tools and software for your brand – it really means creating clear, straightforward customer service processes that allow your agents to respond to and resolve inquiries quickly. Customer service processes don’t have to be challenging to implement, either. When you sit down with your agents to map out the steps of common ticket requests and brainstorm ideas for improving customer service, building clear customer service procedures becomes as simple as documenting them and sharing them with the rest of your team.
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Why Customer Service Processes Are Necessary For E-Commerce Businesses

In a highly-competitive marketplace, E-Commerce brands must have a standardized customer service process in place to set themselves apart from the crowd. Though offering a unique and high-quality product or service is crucial, of course, it’s not enough to stop customers from leaving for a competitor if customer service is poor. In fact, in 2022, it was found that 61% of customers would defect to a competitor after just one bad experience – that’s right, ONE. If they stay long enough to risk a second bad experience, that figure jumps to 76% of customers who will be out the door. Think about it from the customer’s perspective – if you’re mulling over purchasing a new heated mug from Brand A or Brand B, you’re likely making your decision based on the style, colors, and reviews of the product itself first. However, if for some reason you experience an issue with your product from Brand A that customer service struggles to help you troubleshoot (or easily process a return or exchange), are you sticking around to make another purchase or heading to Brand B to give them a shot instead? Here’s the truth – though a Forbes study found that the #1 reason why 66% of customers will trust a brand is the quality of the product, the other two top reasons they discovered are personal experience with the brand (53%) and consistency (32%). Having clear customer service steps for handling inquiries matters, because a solid customer service process directly affects the quality and consistency of your customer experience and, therefore, your revenue.
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Top Ways To Easily Make Customer Service Process Improvements In Your Business

When improving your processes, consider this question: what actually makes good customer service systems and processes? To effectively answer this question with solid solutions for making customer service process improvements, we recommend these top tips:

1. Automate your customer service processes where possible

A helpdesk software is the most essential and versatile tool at your disposal as an E-Commerce business, especially when streamlining your customer service processes. To provide a better customer experience (and make life easier for your agents), identify where you can fit automation into each process with your helpdesk. Automations not only increase your team's bandwidth and eliminate unnecessary oversight over tedious & repetitive tasks, but they also help you to master procedures and achieve consistency.

2. Empower your agents to adapt and practice flexibility

Not every customer service ticket or inquiry is going to be straightforward. Occasionally, your agents may encounter unique situations that force them to deviate from your standard operating procedures. To ensure they feel equipped to handle these off-the-wall tickets or requests, empower them with the training and confidence needed to resolve them through alternative methods. Typically, this is where flowcharts may come in handy, so if the primary resolution to a problem doesn’t work, your agents still have a reference for additional ways to solve the issue.

3. Monitor effectiveness with customer satisfaction surveys

The task of improving customer service processes doesn’t end once they’re in place. To ensure your updates work as they should to improve the customer experience, you must regularly measure customer satisfaction by sending out surveys for crucial metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES). The resulting scores from each will offer deeper, actionable insight into where your team can continually improve to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.

4. Keep your customers top of mind

Your customers are the backbone of your business. Keeping them happy is your main priority, so understanding their thoughts as they interact with various parts of your business is critical. Though we mentioned above that you should ask directly for feedback via surveys, we also advise putting yourself in their shoes. On a monthly or quarterly basis – whichever works best for your business – assess your customer service processes by running through them together as a team. Reviewing them regularly and listening to feedback from customer service agents who handle tickets every day will allow you to track where changes can be made to improve processes further.

Improve Your Customer Service Processes And Partner With TalentPop Agents To Increase Customer Satisfaction

Customer service operations management can be a hefty task to handle alone. Still, when you work with your team to improve customer service processes, you’ll set your business up for success. At TalentPop, we help our clients establish better processes and provide highly qualified customer service agents who are adept at handling various tasks, tickets, and inquiries. Since 2020, we’ve worked with over 500+ E-Commerce brands that have experienced considerable growth and success with our help, and we’re ready to do the same for you. Schedule a call with our team today to get started and learn more about increasing satisfaction and achieving consistency with your customer experience.