How to provide 24/7 customer service easily

Here’s some clever tools to help you provide 24/7 customer service.

In the digital world, your shop is always open. That can make you feel like you always need to be online, ready to answer customer queries.

But, as customers become more demanding, you’re at risk of burning out.
There are some steps you can take that will help make sure your customers get the attention they deserve and answers they need, without you and your team working day and night.

Maximising your social platforms

Social media is a vital part of the puzzle and a tool many consumers use to find out more about brands. In fact, 83% of people who use Instagram discover new brands on the channel.

Before taking to social platforms, you should create an appropriate tone of voice for your business and identify the channels that your audience use.

Once you’re set up, tools like Hootsuite, Sprinklr and Oktopost can help with planning social content. For example, you can schedule social copy ahead of time, staying one step ahead.

Personal offers

When a customer first lands on your website, you want to instantly engage with them, but sometimes they just want to browse.

One way to encourage them to purchase, or at least come back another day, is with a pop-up message offering a discount on their first shop in exchange for signing up to your newsletter. Just be clear with them about the use of their data and make sure you get consent as per GDPR guidelines.

Rapid response

If online shoppers can’t find an answer to their query easily on your website, they’ll shop with another retailer who provides the information upfront.

The first rule of customer service is making it easy for them to serve themselves. It saves you time and money so you can focus on other areas of your business, while the customers handle themselves.

So they can do this, make sure your ecommerce site has obvious signposting to direct them to relevant information such as opening times and a detailed FAQ page. Don’t forget to provide information like delivery costs early on in the shopping journey to avoid basket abandonment.

For those more complicated queries, make it clear how they can get in touch with you via email or phone and manage expectations for your reply with automated responses.
Chat bots can create an ‘always on’ effect and support your customer team. While the technology can’t answer every query, it’s great for simple queries and can act as a starting point for more advanced questions – making sure the customer is taken care of instantly and pointed to the right team to help them further.

Learn and adapt

Customer care is an evolving practice – new technologies emerge every day that could help you improve. Try to listen to your customers’ feedback and react accordingly.

For instance, the week before Christmas, shoppers are likely to want to know how quickly you can deliver, so put that information right at the top of your site’s home page.

Likewise, shoppers might be concerned about visiting your physical space at the moment, so create a dedicated page to answer their concerns.

Think of customer service as an effective self-service check-out with a helpful colleague nearby should you have any questions.

Explore V-Hub by Vodafone Business where you can speak to an adviser or find out more.