How Does Customer Support Affect Your Bottom Line?
A lot of organizations see their customer support teams as more of a cost center instead of an opportunity to increase customer loyalty and lifetime value. There are many reasons why you should view your support team as a revenue generator instead of just another cost. First of all, businesses can grow revenues between 4% and 8% above their market when they prioritize better customer service experiences. Also, since we mentioned customer loyalty, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by between 25% and 95%. This is just some of the many data that show the effect of customer support on your bottom line. With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the ways customer support affects your revenue.
1. Customers Remember You By Your Support
Imagine the following situation: the customer’s subscription for your product or service is about to expire and they are thinking about whether or not to renew. There are many other products on the market similar to yours, so it’s easy for them to take their business elsewhere. The customer support interactions you had with the customer will be one of the crucial factors for their decision. They remember how well (or not) you treated them and appreciate such service because it is hard to find. Remember, 70% of the customer’s journey is based on how the customer feels they are being treated. If you can nail this aspect, you can start improving conversion rates and increasing revenue.
It is also worth pointing out that customers will reward your top-quality support by giving you referrals. A good customer service experience heavily impacts recommendations. Consumers who rate a company’s service as “good” are 38% more likely to recommend that company.
2. Customer Support is a Reflection on Your Business
When an agent is speaking with a customer, they are the face and voice of your business in the eyes of that particular customer. If the agent is not friendly, they cannot empathize with the customer, or have many other poor customer support skills, the customer will get the impression that everyone in your company is the same way. Research from Zendesk shows that about 50% of customers say they would switch to a new brand after one bad experience. Therefore, if you don’t want to see a mass exodus of customers, start making customer support a priority.
3. When You Invest in Your Customers, They Invest in You as Well
When we say investing in your customer we mean putting in the time and effort to treat them with genuine courtesy and respect. However, all of this will pay off in the long run since they will appreciate all of your efforts and will be more inclined to offer to upsell opportunities. In fact, nearly 90% of consumers trust a company whose service they’ve rated as “very good” to take care of their needs. Also, 89% of companies with “significantly above average” customer experiences perform better financially than their competitors. These two statistics show the correlation between customer satisfaction and revenue. When you take care of your customers’ needs and win their trust, they are more likely to buy from you which leads to revenue increases.
4. Resolve Problems Right at the Source
Take a moment to think about the chain reaction caused by a poor customer experience. When the customer is not happy, the agent is not either. In turn, the agent might need to ask for help from another agent or escalate the issue to the team lead. Based on the severity of the situation, they might need to get other departments involved to offer the customer a discount or a rebate to calm them down. In a worst-case scenario, the customer might decide to shift over to a competitor’s product or service, which causes headaches on the C-suite. In fact, a customer is four times more likely to switch to a competitor if the problem they’re having is service-based. All of this can be avoided by offering high-quality support in the first place.
5. Enhance Your Marketing Activities With Quality Customer Support
Your marketing got your customers in the door, but did your service keep them there? Did it create loyalty and dedication to doing business with you on an ongoing basis? Customer service is really the simplest component in this equation. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. It stems from basic interpersonal skills. Be kind. Be attentive. Put your customer first and make sure they know they are first. Although a business needs to constantly attract and capture new customers, the focus and priority should be on pleasing and keeping your existing customer base. Companies that neglect to nurture and retain their customer base ultimately fail.
Marketing brings a customer in, and customer service keeps them coming back.