The 5 Best Things About Customer Service Speed

Providing solutions to customer’s problems and answering their questions is a priority in ensuring customer satisfaction. However, the speed at which you offer those services matters most because customers hate waiting. By the time a customer approaches your business for assistance, he/she needs it quickly.

Imagine inquiring about a product you want to buy urgently and you receive feedback after like 24hours later. It irritates and chances are high that you might have moved on to another business with quicker responses.

Look at this:

According to research findings from Sitel, after surveying over 1000 UK consumers aged between 16 and 64 who were asked to give their preferred channel of accessing customer service. Respondents said they choose customer service channels that provide them with the fastest response.

Furthermore, it revealed that 6% of UK consumers more than the previous year chose live chat, as well as 34% of the high-income earners, also chose chat.

What does this mean? You should be in a position to provide quick help to your customers whenever they ask for it using the fastest channel.

Here’s why you need to optimize your customer service speed:

1. Raises Your Competitive Advantage

A quick customer service helps your business to stand out in your industry. Why? Because most businesses take long to respond to their customers’ inquiries. And if your customer service is faster than theirs, then most customers have to run to your business for assistance.

For example:

According to a research by Havard Business Review, with data collected after auditing 2,241 US companies in measuring how long each company takes to respond to customers. The following was found out:

· 37% of companies responded in an hour,

· 16% replied within one and 24 hours,

· 24% replied within 24 hours,

· 23% never replied.

Thus, on average, companies that responded within 30 days had a response time of 42 hours, which is too slow.

Customers hate waiting and offering them a quick service sets your bar high from your competitors. This establishes a long-term, positive brand reputation for your business in the market which is key to dominating your industry.

2. Wins Repeat Customers

Customers always come back to a business where they had the best experience. So, providing them with a high customer service speed attracts them back to your business. It impresses your customers and sticks them to your business such that they don’t have to look elsewhere as their issues are solved on time.

Best of all, these customers also refer your business to others due to the great experience they have had with your business. Guess what? This drives more sales to your business as the referred customers don’t even take long in your sales funnel. Wondering why? Their trust has already been built by your referrals.

Look: A study by Temkin Group shows that 86% of customers who encounter a great experience with your business are likely to repurchase. Furthermore, 77% are also more likely to recommend it.

3. Shortens Your Sales Funnel

If you answer your customers’ questions and solve their issues on time while in the sales funnel, a sale can quickly be made. Because you help your customers/leads to overcome objections on time before they lose interest and become dormant. It also helps in keeping your customers engaged with your business at every stage in your sales funnel. And it doesn’t give them an opportunity to move on to your competitors or leak out of your funnel until a sale is closed.

For example, according to studies by Inside Sales, it’s revealed that from 35% to 50% of most of the sales go to sales agents who make the first contact with customers. Here’s what it means: contacting your leads first gives you the golden opportunity of establishing a first impression with customers, wins you a sale and shortens your sales funnel.

4. Enhances Customer Satisfaction

A consistent customer support speed is one of the golden ways you can enhance customer satisfaction. How? By collecting your customer’s feedback fast and solving their issues quickly, you give them a memorable customer experience. It’s always most business’ dream to satisfy their customers as it comes with various benefits. And is the reason for your business’s long-term survival in the highly competitive marketplace. Because if customers aren’t satisfied with your services/products, then no one will convert to buying from you. Remember, customers, are also more than ready to pay more for a satisfying experience with your business.

As a matter of fact, according to Kolsky, 55% of customers are ready to pay more for a guaranteed better customer experience.

5. Establishes Customer Trust

Speed in customer support establishes trust among your customers that your business is reliable. Here’s why: they are guaranteed to accessing help on time. Customers need assistance on time 24/7 and when you provide it to them; they will always trust your business.

Wondering how to achieve this? With a live messaging software, agents are available to serve your customers on time. More so, you can set up boots to friendly handle your customers when the live agent is away because boots are 24/7 active.

Want to know the best part? According to a study by Accenture, 80% of customer engagements today can be handled by bots. This gives you a great opportunity to serve your customers fast every time they engage.

The Bottom Line

Customer service speed is essential in handling customers’ issues, however, it shouldn’t compromise on the quality of the service delivered. Let me explain: you should give your customers relevant answers/ information to their inquiries and not just for the sake of responding quickly. Because if you deliver a faster but poor quality service, then you would have destroyed the purpose of the fast service.

But with a live messaging service, customer service speed is enhanced through the various features that enable first customer approach through the different customer convenient channels. By the way, 79% of customers reveal that they prefer live chat to other communication channels due to its immediate response.