Be Proactive In Customer Service

Customer service is one thing when a customer reaches out with a problem, and the support team reacts. That’s known as Reactive Customer Service. But it’s another thing entirely when customer service is ahead of the game, reacting ahead of a customer needing any support. Let’s see how being proactive in customer service can assist your business.

What is Proactive Customer Service?

If you’re a proactive customer service team, you know to contact your customers and offer help before they even request it. Proactive customer service doesn’t mean waiting for a problem to arise and the customer to request assistance; that's Reactive Customer Service. Being proactive involves using live chat to act the moment you notice something could become a problem.

Great customer service involves you responding the moment a customer reaches out to you with an issue; proactive customer service sets customers minds at rest before they have even contacted you about a problem.

Let’s say a customer buys a product from you, and the delivery has been delayed. Instead of waiting for the customer to complain about the late delivery, you contact them first, giving them an update about the delivery and apologising for its lateness. You also provide the customer with a new delivery date, so they know when to expect the product.

That’s taking ownership of the problem and sorting it out before the customer has a chance to complain, or ask for details.

Now let’s get one thing straight; reactive support from a team isn’t a bad thing, but being proactive shows you care that little bit more about keeping your customers happy. It also stops problems becoming big issues before they occur, and the customers are grateful for this support.

Exceptional Service Matters

Currently, customer support is essential to keep customers and make them return instead of looking for better service elsewhere. No matter how good your products and services, the more proactive you are in assisting your customers, the more loyal they will become. Forbes Magazine gave some fascinating statistics on the matter; in a recent article, it stated that a 5% customer retention figure may raise a business’s profits by 25 to 95%.

So remember, acting first, and fast, can stop an issue turning into a lost customer. Proactive customer service can make customers trust your brand better and keep them returning to purchase. You’re also lessening the number of queries your team receives.

How to Become More Proactive

If you don’t know who your customers are, you won’t be able to assist them. So ensure you do the following:

1.    Know Your Customers

If you don’t know who your customers are, and what they want, you won’t know how to give them great service.

2.    Access Correct Info

Again, your customers’ behaviour will tell you what to do proactively. Know how they buy something, when they buy, what they buy, and what they complain about. Watch how they react to price increases or delivery changes. Take note of the questions they ask repetitively. Know them so well you can react before they have a chance to.

3.    Train the Team

Remember, being proactive in customer service involves more than support on its own; include other teams and find out about what they know about your customers, so that you have a complete idea of the customer from a marketing, advertising and purchasing perspective. It’s being aware of the bigger picture that makes all the difference.

5 Great Strategies for Proactive Customer Service

1.  Let Them Help Themselves

If you provide plenty of content, FAQs and how-to blogs that explain everything about your products and services, customers can first look at these before asking for assistance. It’s much easier for many to look up something than contact customer support and wait for a response. 

Ensure you give clear, concise, simple blogs that answer the questions your customers ask most often. Regularly update these so they are topical and current.

A FAQ section that includes simple Q’s and A’s for queries like “Where is my order?” or “When will my order arrive?” will stop you receiving so many questions. Take the most common questions you’re asked and include these in your FAQs, including delivery timelines, step-by-step tracking help, etc.

2.  Regularly Notify & Update

Tell your customers what’s happening before they have a chance to ask. This prevents panic, repetitive queries and frustration. This is especially important regarding delivery delays, if your site perhaps goes down suddenly, or your e-commerce store isn’t working properly.

By knowing your customers’ behaviour, how they purchase, and what they have requested information about in the past, you can anticipate what they will have trouble with in the future. A big plus is personalising your answers so that the customer knows you care.

3.  Collect Feedback & Act On It

Wherever you can, ask for feedback, whether it’s through a survey, or after customer service has solved a problem for the customer. Regular feedback will provide answers on how you can improve the customer experience (CX). By acting on this feedback, customers know you’re listening to what they have to say and aren’t ignoring them. When you solve a problem for them in customer support, tell them you’ve sorted the problem, and ask them if there’s anything else you can assist with. This not only tells them you've sorted the issue; it also makes them feel cared for.

4.  Train Your Team to Spot Issues Before They Escalate

By training your customer support team to spot issues before they become bigger problems, you’ll notice that the team may pick up patterns in customer behaviour, and will be able to spot an issue early, and fix it before it becomes insurmountable. Use AI chat to assist your teams in covering more queries more quickly and offering personalised service.

5.  Use Live Chat to Engage Visitors at the Right Moment

If you use live chat proactively, you can chat to the customer the moment you think a problem is about to arise. Perhaps they keep on placing products in the basket but never actually get to checkout. Ask them what the matter is? Perhaps their hesitance is because of the payment system. The moment they do hesitate, ask if you can assist through the live AI chatbot. Asking them if they need assistance with shipping or payment can save a sale or prevent another question arriving in the customer support inbox.