What does proactive customer service mean?
Companies such as Netflix and Amazon have delivered delightful proactive support experiences that customers recollect as wow customer support stories. “Proactive customer service” has been thrown around quite often in the customer support world.
It is a relatively simple approach to adopt and implement. Some brands make their customers feel special. But what do these brands do differently than the rest? Do they shower their customers with discounts and offers? Or do they extend customer subscription plans by a month for free? It involves a shift in how they approach customer service, the shift from reactive customer service to proactive customer service.
What is Proactive Customer Service?
Proactive customer service is when you take steps to help your customers resolve issues before they occur. It’s about troubleshooting potential issues and resolving them at the very first sign of trouble. Proactive support is a methodology or approach to customer service in which businesses take the initiative to help customers before customers reach out for help. That is, you address a customer’s problem even before they run into one, by spotting or anticipating the issue in advance and extending support to resolve it. Instead of waiting for customers to reach out to ask about their delayed deliveries, they let the customer know what the new delivery date will be.
For instance, Amazon anticipates questions on delivery dates and times. Suppose the customer is an Amazon Prime subscriber, and a problem happens. In that case, Amazon will sometimes even credit them one free month of the service for this inconvenience, all without the customer ever making an inquiry. This contrasts with reactive customer support, wherein a customer gets in touch with your support team only after they encounter an issue. At that point, customers usually have a problem that isn’t easy to fix without direction, so they have to wait for your help.
How to implement this service in your organisation
Implementing proactive customer service is a combined effort that involves your team, your customers, and the company. Here are three prerequisites that you need to be mindful of before getting started:
Know your customers
It would help if you spent some time getting to know your customers. If you don’t know who they are, what they need, or what issues they experience, then you’ll never be able to support them proactively.
Form the right support team.
The true power of proactive customer service solutions will work best with a solid team behind it. That means you will need to focus on building a team with a good mix of people from different functions in your organization. Build a content library, FAQs, forums, and self-help portals are awesome proactive support tools, but only if you populate them with helpful, engaging, and easy to follow content.
How do I take a proactive approach to customer service?
Reward customer loyalty with discounts and offers. Include a live chat option on your website. Pay attention to what customers are saying online. Ask customers for feedback. Announce mistakes before customers find out. Create content that answers common customer questions. If you follow these steps, then you can have a proactive approach to customer service.
How can I be proactive?
8 Ways To Be More Proactive. Seek out proactive people. Do not sweat about things you cannot control. Take back control. The first step is to take responsibility for your actions. Do not give in to the negative gremlins. Accept that mistakes are inevitable. Do not sit on the sidelines. Be solution-oriented. Celebrate your successes.
Our team hopes that you now know how to have a more proactive customer service. Be sure to follow all our tips to help out your company and if you want to read more about this, then make sure to read our articles: Katrium