Did you know that 76% of customers are frustrated by the lack of personalization in company interactions?
Customer’s expectations of broadband and telecom providers are higher than ever. With 96% of customers willing to leave after one bad service experience, personalized customer service is a must for differentiating your business in the increasingly crowded telecom and broadband industries.
But what exactly is personalized customer service? And how can your company benefit from creating more customized experiences? Below, we go over some examples of personalization in customer service, how companies can implement personalization and the benefits for your broadband or telecom business.
What is personalized customer service?
Personalized customer service refers to service that is tailored to the individual customer’s needs. Traditionally, companies might have sent a mass email blast on trouble-shooting tips for the new iPhone. However, this email isn’t relevant to customers who are avid Android users.
With personalization, you can send self-service resources to someone based not only on whether they use an Android or iPhone but also on their specific device version and previous tech support interactions. And that can have a powerful impact on the customer experience and your business.
What are some examples of personalized customer service?
Personalization goes beyond just using the customer’s name in an email or over the phone. Some examples of personalization include:
- Offering tech support in the customer’s preferred language
- Suggesting compatible accessories for a customer’s new Google Pixel phone
- Tailoring tech support to the customer’s specific device and concerns
- Contact center agents responding to the individual conversation versus using scripts
- Offering customer support via the customer’s preferred communication channels
How can companies implement personalized customer service?
Tailoring customer service interactions can provide numerous benefits for your business. But how can you personalize each interaction when you have thousands or millions of customers? Below are a few methods you can use to implement personalized customer service.
Use friendly, approachable language
A key low-tech way to provide more personalized service is to ditch the robotic, technical language in FAQs, contact center agent prompts and tutorials. Keep your language friendly and conversational. In other words, make sure your contact center agents treat customers like a friend or neighbor.
This might seem like a small step, but it can profoundly impact your company’s customer service experience. According to the National Customer Rage survey, nearly 70% of customers crave interactions with more compassion and kindness. Showing empathy and using conversational language can go a long way to creating a more personalized tech support experience.
Consider using artificial intelligence
One way is through the adoption of artificial intelligence or AI. The right AI tech stack can help your contact center agents personalize customer service at scale. It can analyze previous interactions to make appropriate suggestions and recommendations to customers. Additionally, you can use that data to automate customer journeys, tailoring each touch point based on data gathered in previous interactions.
Create a strong contact center agent training program
Personalization isn’t just about AI technology. You can also implement personalized customer service through contact center agent onboarding and training. Train agents well so they’re confident enough to ditch pre-scripted responses and tailor the conversation to the individual.
Consider using tools like virtualization, also known as virtualized tech support. Virtual devices simulate all the functionality of a physical device. However, unlike physical devices, agents can learn about updated features and switch between multiple versions of the same device. This allows contact center agents to deliver a more tailored tech support experience.
The advantages of personalizing customer service
Personalized customer service offers numerous benefits to both your customers and your business. Below, we review some of the advantages of implementing personalized customer service.
Improved customer satisfaction
Personalized customer service improves the customer experience, which leads to higher customer satisfaction. Research has shown that businesses that use personalization increase customer satisfaction by 20%.
This is because when companies use personalization, customers feel as if businesses are trying to understand their needs as individuals. And that little bit of effort can go a long way. Higher customer satisfaction improves your company’s net promoter score (NPS), a critical pulse on the health of your business.
Increased profitability
Personalization also benefits your company's bottom line. Businesses that tailor messaging to the individual customer increase the likelihood of that customer making a purchase. Personalizing messaging and customer recommendations makes customers feel like the company understands their unique needs.
This extra effort has its rewards. Research by McKinsey found that companies that use personalization increase revenue by as much as 40%. Additionally, the same study found that 78% of customers are likely to make additional purchases from brands that use personalization for customer interactions. Strategically using personalized customer service can help your business tap into unique upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
Improved brand loyalty
As mentioned previously, personalized customer service can increase customer satisfaction. Businesses that are committed to keeping customers happy can build brand loyalty and turn customers into brand advocates.
Focusing on building customer loyalty is vital, considering it costs up to seven times more to acquire new customers than to retain current customers. And a great way to build that loyalty is by using personalization in customer service interactions. That's because personalization increases brand trust, increasing customers' likelihood of doing business with you.
In turn, customers who trust your company become brand evangelists. Word of mouth is still a powerful tool for reaching new customers, even in our increasingly digital era. A study by McKinsey found that 78% of customers will recommend a business to friends and family if it creates personalized customer experiences.
Streamlined business processes
Personalized customer service also can save your company valuable time and money by streamlining business processes. Tools like conversational AI can help your contact center deliver personalization at scale by remembering a customer’s preferences.
Additionally, personalization cuts customer acquisition costs (CAC) in half. AI can also help automate customer communications without sacrificing personalization. For example, it can use customer data to follow up on previous tech support inquiries to ensure customer satisfaction. It can also provide timely and relevant communication on topics related to previous service requests.
Personalization can also help your agents do their jobs better. Agents can use your customer’s data to provide a more streamlined tech support experience, using insights into previous service interactions and customer preferences.
Take customer service to the next level with personalization
Customer demands are higher than ever, and the majority of them don’t want to be treated as another number. They want companies to acknowledge their individuality. This means that companies must personalize customer service interactions to reap benefits such as increased revenue, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.
To do this, companies need to combine technology and human touchpoints to create personalized customer service. Businesses that adapt to the growing demand for personalization will create better customer experiences that benefit customers and the company’s bottom line.
Does your broadband or telecom business want to create an exceptional customer support experience? As a leader in omnichannel tech support, Ozmo is trusted by Google Fi, Verizon, TELUS and more. Learn more about the future of tech support today!
