What are the Major Problems in Customer Service?

The 21st century is the age of the customer. Businesses are not just concerned, but obsessed with their customers. This is reasonable because it takes only a single terrible experience for the customer to shun your business. But similarly, one exceptional experience can transform them into loyal customers and brand ambassadors. So what is the solution to this? An improved support service or online customer service.

Customers may never remember a product or the staff of a company, but they will remember the direct interaction with the business. And the customer service team is at the fore of this direct interaction.

The support service team is the face of a company. Thus a strong company will always look to harness the strengths of online customer service or support service to develop good customer relationship management.

But there are certain issues in customer service which company must keep in mind so they can overcome such challenges and work on customer relationship management. Here are the major problems that a company's customer service may face.

1. Long Response Time

The customer nowadays expects communication to be instant. People these days want quick solutions to all their issues. This is one of the top issues in customer service that needs to be dealt with. This issue may arise if the company doesn't set a standard set of practices to address the responses. This may also happen if the agents are not trained to handle multiple complaints. The company on its part can ensure that the agents are aware of their duties and responsibilities and to whom they are liable if there is any problem in the service.

2. When the Customer Complaints are not listened to carefully

In online customer services due importance is given to listening. Listening properly is an important factor that is sometimes overlooked. Unless one gives his/her complete attention to the things said by the customer, it will be difficult for the support service to understand the problem and offer a solution. This issue may arise when the customer may find difficulty in explaining the problem due to a lack of knowledge about technical terms. This issue may also arise if the product or service didn't meet the expectation. The solution to this is that the business support service must understand the issue properly and must check the problem multiple times if necessary. If there is no solution then the agent must admit it immediately.

3. When the Online Customer Service Representatives are Rude

One cannot deny that this is the toughest and the worst situation for a business when a business support service agent is rude to a customer. The online customer service agent cannot be rude regardless of how much the customer is irritated or loud. This usually happens when the client constantly tries to question the agent while he is trying his best to provide suitable solutions to his issues. This issue may also happen if the customer service representative has some personal issue which he/she could neglect at the time of attending to the customers. One can easily hire agents with a more positive attitude instead of hiring people just based on experience. One must also put time and effort to level up the skill of the representative team by enrolling them in training programs.

4. When the Customers get Transferred from one Representative to Another

When a customer is transferred from one department or representative to another, the customer makes sure that he will never return to your business again. Along with that, they won't suggest your business to their peers and family. This problem occurs when there is no immediate solution to the customer's grievances. This may also happen if the representative is not appropriate to offer a solution to the problem. If the representative feels that a superior is required to offer a better solution to the issue then this situation may happen. The solution to this problem is that the agent must inform the client of the reason why he needs to transfer the call to someone else. He/she must request permission before transferring the call to a superior agent. The agent must wait for the customer to give affirmation and then he must transfer the call.

5. When There is no Live Human Being to Address the Issues

The way of support service may have been modernised but still, the people prefer a human being to talk about their problems. This cannot be provided by live chat tools or technology that have automated the processes of customer service considerably. The reason for this problem may be that the business is looking to decrease the wait time of the customer. Another reason may be that the company is trying to reduce the resource cost by automating some of the tasks. The solution to this is picking the right repetitive tasks whose automation is necessary. One must use automation only as a support for the human representative team not as an alternative. The agents must always ask for feedback to work according to the opinions of the customers.

6. When the Representatives Cannot Offer a Solution to the Customer

There may be times when the representative may not have the appropriate solution to offer. In that case, it may be difficult for the agent if the customer is already furious. This problem may arise if the business has not experienced such a problem or issue and it's their very first time and there are no specific guidelines for the agent which he can follow. It may also happen if the agent didn't keep himself updated on all the pertinent information. In this case, the agent can refer to a more skilled colleague if there is no such guideline available. The agent must also invest time in understanding the company and its products and services more deeply.

7. When a wrong product is pushed

This problem arises when the customer has a query related to a specific product or service or maybe he is sceptical about which size or variant may fit him. This problem may result from the lack of understanding of the agent about the products and services. Another reason for the issue is that the representative doesn't have any idea about the products and services that might interest the customer. The solution to this issue is that the agent should always listen to the requirements of the customer and then suggest an appropriate product to the customer. The agent must keep himself updated about the trending product and services and also know about the features characteristics, benefits, and prices of the products.

8. When the support service is not aligned with the customer journey.

A terrible experience with the company at any point in time in the customer journey can damage the relationship between the customer and company forever. Having a good representative team is not enough; they should also learn about customer relationship management. Therefore the support service should be aligned with the needs and wants of the clients throughout the lifecycle. The reason can be that the business fails to realise the importance of tracing the journey of the customer. It may also happen if the administration is unaware of how the customer journey can boost the growth of the business.

So these were some major issues that usually arise when a company offers customer service. The customers of a company may interact with the company pretty much every day. Therefore it is apparent that customer service will confront various challenges. A person who is thinking of starting a new support service can go through this article for a better understanding of the possible problems and their solutions.

Also Read:

1) Who Are The Target Audience For A Small Business? How to target them?
2) Lead Generation Strategies for Small Businesses
3) Business Tips: How to Effectively Target a Teen Audience?
4) 5 Proven Tactics to Build a Killer Targeted Email List from Scratch
5) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

FAQs

Q. What can a company do to ensure a short response time?

Ans. The agent must be aware of his roles and responsibilities so that there is no delay in response.

Q. What reason should a company representative give when a customer call is transferred from one representative to another?

Ans. A support service agent must always state that the call is transferred to someone who can understand them better and offer a solution to the grievances.

Q. What can a company do so that customer complaints are listened to carefully?

Ans. A company can ensure that the support representatives go through proper training so that the customer complaints are heard carefully and an appropriate solution is provided.

Q. What should be done when there is repetitive work?

Ans. A company or business should go for automation of repetitive tasks but never use it as an alternative to human help.

Q. What should a company representative do to ensure a wrong product is not pushed?

Ans. The customer service agent must understand the product and service of the company and every fact related to it such as the price, quality and characteristics.