Customer Support Is Simple

Recently I called in to a healthcare company with a question. I was immediately put on hold by a robot and subjected to an annoying three-second-long music loop repeated over and over. A recorded voice told me,“Your call is important to us. Your estimated wait time will be ten minutes.” I vowed never to call them again and griped about it on social media. 

Just now, though, I had a delightful phone call with my insurance provider. There was no hold time — a person answered right away. The agent made it clear that she'd solve my problem, then made some pleasant small talk while my account loaded, and then she did solve my problem. My loyalty to that company is now intense and I will tell everyone I know to use them.

I'm a longtime customer support and technology professional — I've been doing tech support in particular for five years now, and I've worked in tech for well over a decade. So I take these interactions seriously. But everyone knows these two stories, because we've all been on terrible calls and on wonderful calls, and the difference directly affects how we spend our money.

Providing the kind of customer support that makes customers loyal, dedicated and vocal about their good experience with a product or service isn't tricky — it requires no esoteric doctrines, hidden techniques or advanced degrees. It requires only that we want customers to be treated well, and then act accordingly. That's pretty simple. But not necessarily easy.

There's no secret trick to providing top-notch, stunningly successful customer support. We don't have to “delight” customers; we don't have to figure out how to talk in some secret jargon, or surprise our customers with special prizes. We don't even have to constantly try to exceed expectations. In fact, in my experience, when we meet our customers needs, we automatically exceed their expectations. 

Doing this right does, however, require an investment in staffing and time, and a genuine commitment to customer success. Companies that are notorious for customer hostility have decided not to do this, and companies that are beloved by their customers have decided that it's a priority. That's pretty much the whole story. It's either a priority or it's not. It's simple. 

The basics of providing customer support are as follows:

• Hire enough customer support staff
• Hire good customer support staff
• Make sure your customer support staff have training and support

That's all there is.

It's worth it. Customer service means customer retention. And, after all, customers are people. Customers care about their interaction with the product. We ought to care about them too.

____

Questions? Arguments? I'd love to hear them! Let me know how you feel about this topic.

Be sure to check out my other posts:
Practical Tips for Customer Support by Email
Practical Tips for Customer Support by Phone
The Five Qualities of Great Customer Support Staff