Building customer trust is always important, and good customer service is a must. Some businesses do better than others because they change how they handle customer service from being reactive to being proactive. Big companies like Amazon and Slack have done a great job of providing proactive support.
People all over the world now use and know about proactive customer service. At first, it may seem like a lot, but it’s really not that hard to adopt and use. Using omnichannel customer service tools like DelightChat, you can handle customer questions from emails, Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp from a single dashboard, making it easier and more efficient.
Customers have higher expectations than ever, and if their needs aren’t met, it’s easy for them to go elsewhere. So, it’s more important than ever for sellers to offer proactive customer service that goes above and beyond what customers expect.
What is proactive customer service, and how do you do it? The purpose of this article is to teach you the basics of proactive customer service and give you some tips on how to use it.
What Is Proactive Customer Service
Proactive service means going the extra mile to avoid problems before they even happen. Proactive customer service is when a problem is seen or expected ahead of time and help is given to solve it.
This can mean offering customers new products or services they might be interested in, letting them know about mistakes as they happen, or just making the customer’s experience better.
A waiter who fills a customer’s glass before it’s empty is an example, as is a seller who tells a customer that their goods are delayed and gives them a new delivery date.
Proactive vs. Reactive
If you want to get vaccinated, think about proactive customer service. It can protect you from viruses that could hurt you later. Customer service that is proactive finds solutions to problems before they happen.
Proactive customer service is the opposite of reactive customer service. It’s like going to the hospital when you have the flu. In this situation, the customer has a problem that is hard to fix without your help, so they have to wait for you.
To put it simply, who moves first makes all the difference. Reactive customer service is when a customer takes the initiative to solve a problem. You take the lead when you have proactive support.
Why Proactive Customer Service Is Important
Now that we’ve talked about how the two methods are different, let’s talk about why you should take a proactive approach to customer service.
Customers’ expectations are higher than ever, so when they use a service, they always want to feel like they’re getting something extra. Also, personalization is so important in business that brands that put their customers at the center of everything do better.
Being proactive is one way to show customers that your business cares about them and wants to give them the best experience possible. Since the focus is on what your business can do for customers, this makes them feel special.
According to a study by inContact, consumers generally like proactive service. 87% of the people who answered the survey were happy when businesses reached out to them about possible customer service problems. If you don’t take an active role in customer service, you could be losing out.
Benefits
Higher customer loyalty
Now that there are so many options, it’s harder than ever for people to stay loyal. When you keep customers interested, you’re more likely to keep them as customers. A report by Enkata says that proactive customer service can increase retention rates by 3-5%, which in turn increases customer loyalty.
“Retention rates go up by 3-5% when customer service is proactive.”
Statistics from customer service show that loyal customers are five times more likely to buy from the brand again and four times more likely to tell their friends about it. Also, keeping customers is better for your business and cheaper than getting new ones. Because of this, the increased customer loyalty can lead to a huge rise in sales.
Save customers time and free your team
When you contact a customer before they even know they have a problem, you save them time and money. In other words, it’s easier for them to see how valuable your business is.
Also, the Enkata report found that proactive customer service can cut the number of calls by up to 30%. When a proactive customer service model is put into place, the service team usually has more time to work on more important tasks.
How to Implement Proactive Customer Service
There are some ways to put the proactive approach to work for your business, which will be helpful.
Know Your Customers
You can’t give proactive support if you don’t know anything about your customer. Before you approach them, you should take some time to get to know them. You can start by looking at how customers act and maybe doing some research on their feedback and reviews.
Monitoring Your Social Media
Listen to what people say about your brand on social media. No matter how good or bad the situation is, look into the most common complaints and problems the customer service department has to deal with.
For example, if a customer tweets about how upset they are that their package hasn’t arrived yet, you can respond quickly and offer a solution.
Create a Knowledge Base
Customers are interested in articles, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and video tutorials that tell them about a company. It’s another way to try to predict problems and give customers the information they’ll need to fix them before they happen.
