• 

In the dynamic world of business, companies often face unexpected challenges that require adaptive strategies. One such situation arises when considering outsourcing customer support to a country like Ukraine, which is currently experiencing a complex geopolitical situation. Despite the ongoing challenges, there are important considerations and potential benefits that come with outsourcing customer support to Ukraine during times of conflict. So ultimately should you take the risk and outsource to Ukraine or look for other options. Let’s dive into the subject.

1. Ukrainian Talent

Amidst uncertain times, outsourcing customer support to Ukraine allows companies to tap into its vast talent pool, benefiting from the country’s strong educational foundation and skilled workforce.

2. Empathy and Understanding

Outsourcing customer support to Ukraine during times of conflict can foster a unique sense of empathy and understanding among customer support representatives. Many Ukrainians have personal experiences with adversity, making them adept at providing compassionate and patient assistance to customers facing challenges of their own. This shared empathy can lead to more meaningful and supportive interactions between support teams and customers.

3. Cost-Effective Solution

While geopolitical challenges may lead to concerns about stability, it’s important to note that Ukraine remains a cost-effective outsourcing destination. The cost differentials can enable businesses to maintain or improve their customer support operations while managing financial constraints that may arise due to the ongoing situation.

4. Time Zone Advantage

Ukraine’s advantageous time zone, which spans across Europe and beyond, allows businesses to provide extended customer support hours. Outsourcing to Ukraine can provide a 24/7 support model, ensuring that customer queries are addressed promptly and effectively, even during off-hours in other parts of the world.

5. Utilizing Technology for Communication

In the digital age, advanced communication technologies enable seamless interactions regardless of geographical barriers. Outsourcing customer support to Ukraine leverages these technologies, ensuring that support teams can efficiently collaborate with customers and internal teams, regardless of the ongoing conflict situation.

6. Supporting Local Economies

Outsourcing customer support to Ukraine during times of conflict can contribute to local economies by providing job opportunities and financial stability to professionals in the region. This support can have a positive ripple effect on communities, promoting resilience and fostering a sense of unity.

7. Business Continuity and resilience

LimTC as a company, and Ukraine as a whole has learned and is prepared to provide business continuity regardless of the situation. With power outages being prominent in the winter of 2023, Ukraine has adapted to continue to provide service. On company level, LimTC has installed in its office uninterrupted power supply batteries, generator and Ecoflow batteries. Several landline internet connections and satellite internet connection via Starlink. At country level, internet service provides have installed generators for reserve power supply to provide for landline internet during interruptions of power. There have been many cafe’s and points with power availability created and operating to provide locals a place to continue working from.

Outsourcing customer support to Ukraine during times of conflict is a decision that requires careful consideration and planning. While challenges exist, the potential benefits, including a skilled and resilient workforce, empathy-driven interactions, cost-effective solutions, and technological capabilities to provide service even in the toughest of times, can make this option a strategic move for businesses. By partnering with Ukrainian professionals and navigating the situation with sensitivity and awareness, companies can uphold their commitment to customer satisfaction while contributing to the growth and stability of an important global workforce.

It is up for you to decide however LimTC has proven that Ukraine can and will provide the best service regardless of the circumstances.

We say Yay.

Customer service is when you assist someone with an issue they are having. Customer support is all of the services that make it easier for customers to do business with your company. Customer service problems are when your customers want something done but can’t or don’t know how to ask for it. There are several customer support problems that can be solved by artificial intelligence and help you to provide outstanding service with reduced cost.

Customer Service Problems Solved By AI Customer service problems include answering questions, resolving complaints, and helping customers feel heard. Customer support problems include return policies, billing issues, shipping information, and logistics troubleshooting/resolution. Below we have listed ways that Artificial Intelligence programs solve these common customer service problems:

Conversational Customer Service by AI Chat Bots;

Customer service agents respond to the same questions over and over again (how do I get started? how do I log in?). Customer service chatbots ease that burden by providing answers to common questions. Your agents are freed up to solve more difficult customer issues knowing that they have assisted the majority of customers.

The most effective customer service programs use natural language input. Customer service chatbots and applications can recognize and understand human speech and convert it into text, perfect for customer support. AI customer service program has the ability to recognize language patterns and trends in what your customers say. Customer service programs constantly learn from past interactions and become better at interpreting ever-changing slang, vernacular, dialects, and phrases. In 2021 customer service chatbots are capable of much more advanced interactions using natural language processing.

Provide In-Context Guidance for Customer support;

There are times when Customer service chatbots can help with customer issues but it’s not the right time to do so. Customer support programs provide in-context guidance instead of forcing customers to leave your website or app, which is easier for the user and your company. Customer support chatbots ask questions that determine what kind of issue the customer has and offer help to get the best customer service possible. Customer support chatbots can answer simple questions, provide relevant FAQs, recommend solutions, and even list alternative search results for what a customer is looking for. Customer support chatbots can also direct customers to other resources like Customer support phone numbers or email addresses if necessary.

Repetitive Task Automation;

Customer service tools are able to perform repetitive tasks that are currently being done by Customer Service agents. You can automate the process of contacting customers who haven’t made a payment in several months, emailing receipts to customers, or processing returns and credits for support agents. These tools can also handle things like updating customer information or sending them loyalty perks. Customer service programs are able to communicate with customers across various customer service mediums like the website, email, phone, or social media. AI software can collect information about how customers interact with your company before sending follow-up emails or other messages to customers who haven’t made a purchase in several months.

Customer service can be an expensive endeavor for a company that does not have the resources, tools, or technologies needed. Customer service requests take your time and effort which you could be spending on more important tasks like running your business. Customer service programs provide in-context guidance instead of forcing customers to leave your website or app, which is easier for the customer and saves you time. Customer service chatbots ask questions that determine what kind of issue the customer has and offer help to get the best customer service possible. Customer Service chatbots can answer simple questions, provide relevant FAQs, recommend solutions, and even list alternative search results for what a customer is looking for. Customer service chatbots can also direct customers to other resources like customer service phone numbers or email addresses if necessary.

This blog is written to help you to build or improve your customer support teams today without investing too much and for more on improving customer experience, check out this blog post. https://limtc.com/2021/09/01/10-customer-service-tips-for-delivering-a-5-star-experience/

As customer service software is combined with customer service solutions, customer experience becomes streamlined.

While customer support is difficult, it’s important to keep in mind that what one customer group wants or needs may be different from what another customer group wants or needs. This means finding ways to deliver customer service can be complicated by the sheer number of tools available for companies to use.

There’s no doubt about it – optimizing your customer support tools is a winning game plan for both your business and your clients! While customer service software can make customer care easier, customer experience will only be improved if the customer support tools are used correctly and timely.

Here at LimTC, we’ve learned through direct hands-on experience exactly what to do to optimize our own customer support tools. We want to share some of our tips so you can learn how to get the best out of yours.

Customer Service Software And Tools

Here at LimTC, we believe in providing tools that fit customer needs to be effective when they are used by customer service teams that have customer data at their fingertips.

For example, customer service chatbots – or customer bots – are great for customer service teams that need to automate common customer queries. We’ve found customer bots to be very effective at simplifying repetitive tasks and reducing average ticket times by up to 50%! But they aren’t the right tools for every team.

What you need will depend on your industry, the size of your customer base, and the type of customer care that best suits you. What works for a B2B business might not work for a retail customer service team and vice versa.

To deliver customer service that truly enhances customer experience, customer support teams must be able to prioritize tasks based on customer needs and preferences. Having a wealth of customer support tools is pointless if customer support staff are unaware of the time or date when a customer requires assistance, or can’t properly interact with customers due to outdated technology.

Customer service software can be a great way to save time and money for your business if it’s used with customer data in mind.

How To Optimize Your Tools

To get the best out of customer support tools, customer data needs to first be collected and analyzed. The right customer support tools will depend on the type of customer support your business provides.

Customer data is invaluable in helping customer service teams prioritize customer requests. If a customer prefers a particular type of communication or requires assistance at a specific time of day, customer support tools should be prioritized accordingly.

Customer data can also help you determine which customer support tools are most effective for your customer support team. A customer service chatbot that’s automated to answer frequently asked questions may not be as successful as one that can review customer complaints and issue refunds. Even an advanced customer chatbot will still require customer service staff with customer data to make sure customer needs are met.

Methods for Optimizing your tools

Customer Data

Customer information must be analyzed and used to determine customer service needs, customer preferences, and customer activities.

Customer Feedback

Customers should be surveyed regularly to ensure customer support tools are meeting customer needs.

Manage Customer Support Tools

Make sure your customer support team has access to the right data at the right time in order to manage customer support tools effectively.

Customer Data

Customer data can be obtained from customer surveys, customer tickets, customer communications, and even customer profile information.

Using customer feedback tools will help you determine which customer support tools are most effective for your customer support team. If a chatbot regularly receives the same customer request that could be completed by a human customer service agent, customer support software should be prioritized accordingly.

Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is a great way for customer support teams to determine customer needs and customer preferences, allowing customer support staff to prioritize customer requests.

Manage Customer Tools

Make sure your customer service team has access to the right data at the right time in order to manage customer support tools effectively.

At LimTC, customer care is at the heart of what we do. We help companies find their customer data and use it to deliver an outstanding customer experience. To learn more about how our customer support teams choose and optimize tools according to every specific business needs to boost customer care, stay tuned get in touch.

Leaders play a critical role in ensuring that their workforce is motivated and engaged. Driving results through your team members will help you accomplish your company objectives and stay ahead of the competition. However, do you know why some of your employees are disengaged or unhappy? It might have to do with how they are managed or because they’re not happy about what’s expected from them at work.

In the previous blog, we touched base on a very underestimated subject as burnout specifically in customer support teams. Companies understand that customer experience is a competitive edge but very often underestimate the power of customer support teams.

In fact, organizations with good customer service enjoy up to 20% higher profits.

Customers who have a bad experience when they contact support are known to reduce their spending by 75%. They also tell around 9 to 15 people about it on social media or other review websites. In addition, 56% of unhappy customers will never buy from you again and 66% will stop repurchasing the same product category.

That’s why we see more and more companies using the right tools, processes, and leadership for providing great support and rapid feedback loops to improve collaboration and alignment between marketing, development, and support. But what if all these efforts aren’t enough? What can leaders do before losing talented people?

In this article, we’ll explore some ways to stop attrition rates among customer support teams by focusing leadership on internal vs external factors which affect job satisfaction for this type of workforce.

We believe the first step might be understanding why customer support teams and specifically yours experiencing high churn rates.

As mentioned previously, customer support is a very demanding job. It requires constant shifts between different types of work (tickets, chat, emails, etc), uncertain compensation (depending on company structure and location), strong emotional involvement (with customers or between team members), lack of transparency into the bigger picture, and little recognition for what’s done well.

While there are many things that could contribute to high attrition rates in this field, we can distinguish two broad categories: the internal factors (behaviors of managers/leaders) and external factors (behaviors of upper management toward employees).

Internal Factors

This includes various issues managers might face when leading customer support teams. Let’s break them down!

Poor work-life balance

Support team members live to serve their users 24/7. While it sounds like a noble goal that should be rewarded rather than criticized, in practice, it’s inefficient for your business.

Frequent shifts make it difficult to build a work-life balance outside of their working hours. People who are used to working long hours might be inclined to stay longer once they’re there. In the end, this has a negative impact on productivity. It also impacts personal life as it triggers feelings of guilt from not being present at home or with friends and family.

In addition, few companies allow remote work or flexible schedules that bring additional challenges for team members trying to find a good balance between their professional and private lives.

For example, some teams don’t have email access after a certain time which makes it hard to communicate last-minute urgent matters or requests from users (especially when an issue is occurring).

Low transparency

This issue comes from a lack of communication and understanding of the bigger picture. For example, support staff doesn’t have access to real-time information such as sales numbers, user growth, product usage metrics, etc. This makes it difficult for them to understand what’s expected of their performance and how they contribute to the organization’s success.

When that happens, team members feel like just another cog in the machine with no direct impact on the company’s overall well-doing. They also start feeling less committed and willing to go the extra mile for your customers because they don’t see its value or purpose.

Poor remuneration policy

Your employees might not be able to afford to live in an expensive city where your company is located. This issue has a direct impact on the happiness, dedication, and retention rates of your team members outside of work.

External Factors

On the other hand, there are factors that leaders don’t have any control over but might still contribute to high attrition rates in customer support teams. These include poor company culture, unfair wage differences between departments/positions, micromanagement practices, lack of career advancement opportunities for technical-oriented employees, etc.

To better understand why your people become unhappy or disengaged at work you need to ask them about their concerns and find out what they expect from their leader or manager during their next performance review. That way you can try to address these issues before it’s too late!

If not, you might face the unpleasant scenario of having to go through a round of layoffs in order to restructure your team.

To prevent high attrition rates in customer support teams start by focusing on the internal factors first. The external ones are much harder for you to have an impact on since they depend largely on company leadership’s vision and practices. For that reason, it’s important how managers communicate with their team members about their performance. They should also work actively to build trust-based relationships among employees so that people feel comfortable voicing concerns without being labeled as “complainers”.

Tips for leaders that are easy to begin with, but will have a huge impact:

Offer more transparency:

Open and frequent communication is key to improvement. Make sure your leaders and managers share crucial information with your customer support team members (sales figures, product usage metrics, etc) so that they can understand how what they do contributes to the company’s overall well-being.

Provide career advancement opportunities: show your support staff other paths within the organization for them to explore instead of putting all their eggs in one basket by staying in a role where they don’t have any room for growth or exploration.

Avoid micromanagement practices:

Trust should be at the core of every team member’s experience while working for you. If there are constant requests coming from the top it makes people like they lack autonomy and control over their tasks. That’s a deal-breaker!

Introduce a fair compensation policy:

What you pay for is what you get. And more often than not, people don’t leave jobs because of the salary, but more because they feel undervalued and think it’s time to move on from their current position to something better suited for them.

Don’t expect them to act like robots:

The customer success team represents your business in front of people who require help, but they’re also people with feelings and emotions. If you keep treating them like numbers because it’s easier that way, then you could face major issues down the road.

Treat your staff as individuals instead of generic resources and you’ll be much more successful at retaining them for longer!

As a leader, it’s critical to be aware of internal and external factors that might affect the retention rate of your customer support team. Once you come up with an action plan that addresses these concerns it will be much easier to focus on what really counts: bringing home more customers!

We all know how important it is for a business to provide great customer service, which can help us maintain healthy relationships with existing customers and attract new ones as well. But take a closer look at any decent-sized organization and you’ll find lots of other people working behind the scenes to keep it going – from salespeople and marketers trying to bring in new leads or close deals, to engineers building products that solve customers’ problems, to customer support staff providing help and assistance. Because they’re less visible to the general public, many of these people aren’t as well-recognized for their contributions or rewarded with corporate kudos, but make no mistake about it: Their efforts are absolutely critical to the success of any company.

In this article, we’ll talk specifically about one group of unsung heroes – customer support teams – who can often find themselves overworked and underappreciated despite the fact that they’re on the front lines every day helping customers solve problems. Hopefully, by reading this you’ll not only discover how to recognize your own best employees before it’s too late but learn how to keep them from burning out and leaving your organization.

To start, let’s take a closer look at the problem with customer support teams specifically. As you know, your front-line team members are most likely to have daily contact with customers – including direct interactions via phone or email as well as indirect interactions through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. They also tend to be closest to the action when it comes to new product development, software updates, and other changes that might impact the quality of their work environment. So they’re arguably more aware than pretty much anyone (except maybe executive leadership) of what’s changing and how those changes might impact them personally down the road. And if you’ve employed less experienced people who don’t yet understand that changes need to be made, they’re also more likely than senior leaders to be the first ones to complain about problems with your products or services.

All of which is why it’s absolutely critical for organizations to make sure their customer support teams are as happy and fulfilled as possible from start to finish. From their hiring process all the way through career advancement opportunities. That’s easier said than done, of course, because many companies don’t invest enough time or money in training their teams properly before sending them out into the field. Then once customers start complaining, those same companies often fail to recognize the importance of listening carefully and acting on that feedback, leading overworked CSRs down a path toward burnout.

How to recognize if there is a burnout problem in your organization

If you’re not sure whether or not there’s a problem, ask yourself these questions:

• Are your customer support teams complaining often about the work they do?
• Do they routinely feel overworked and underappreciated? 
• Are they always the first to complain about a new development or changes at your organization?
• Do you struggle to retain good employees for any length of time, regardless of how much you pay them?

If you answered yes to more than one of these questions, it’s likely that there are some problems with your customer support teams. And if those problems aren’t addressed soon, many of the people on those teams will eventually burn out and leave for other jobs. Let’s now take a look at why that happens so often in today’s businesses …

How to prevent burnout before it starts

The simplest way to avoid this kind of employee burnout is simply by hiring people who love what they do for a living. Of course, that’s easier said than done when you’re looking at resumes from dozens or even hundreds of job candidates with similar skills and experience levels. 

So as a first step, try to narrow the list of candidates down by comparing their qualifications against some of the following points.

First, look for people who have a history of being good listeners. These are the people who ask a lot of questions and pay close attention not just to what you’re saying but also to how you’re saying it. This is important because it demonstrates that they care about more than just getting answers or fixing problems. It is typically an indicator that they also care about keeping customers happy and making sure everyone has fun along the way (at least whenever possible).

The second thing to consider is whether your prospective employees already enjoy talking with other types of customers in different industries. For example, would they be excited if their only choice was selling car parts and talking to car enthusiasts all day long? Or do they prefer complex products that require a lot of explanation and allow them to showcase their problem-solving skills?

If you’re not sure, ask candidates how much they enjoy being pushed in different directions. Someone who’s looking for stability in every job he or she takes is probably going to want something very familiar at your company which could ultimately cause problems down the line when the next big thing rolls around. That person might be less eager to experiment with new software or take on new training classes if they don’t feel comfortable expanding their horizons beyond what’s already familiar.

Let’s now look at two potential solutions for tackling workplace burnout once it starts to become a problem.

The first is to simply invest in better training for your customer support teams. This obviously requires more initial capital upfront but will pay off in the long run by reducing turnover, increasing morale, and improving the overall quality of work. It’s also possible to use some of these newfound efficiencies to reduce the number of hours each person works while still getting all their regular tasks completed on time, if not early.

When you’re figuring out just how much money you’re willing to invest in the people behind your company, consider asking yourself what would happen if one team member walked away tomorrow. Could you replace that employee today without breaking stride? If that answer isn’t yes, then it’s likely time to put aside some extra cash for your training improvements.

The second option for tackling customer support burnout is to simply begin having fun again. Remember that your employees are people too, which means they’re going to get tired of doing the same work day in and day out without any chance for a break or change of scenery. So it’s important to create some kind of reward system for when they do go above and beyond the call of duty, whatever that may be.

Perhaps you already have rewards but haven’t been communicating them effectively because there hasn’t been much reason to celebrate lately. Or maybe you just need to think outside the box more about how to give credit where credit is due so that everyone feels appreciated each time one team member helps another with something technically challenging.

As long as the work is still getting done, then you should always feel free to experiment with different ways of recognizing your people. After all, these are the reasons they signed up for this job in the first place so it’s important not to take them for granted or treat them like robots. You can’t beat problems down into submission; sometimes you need human beings to solve human problems.

So consider making some changes today by investing in your customer support training and rewarding everyone whenever possible, even if those rewards are somewhat small and don’t cost very much at all. The next article in this series will discuss how leaders can combat customer support team churn.

You’ll learn what types of leadership styles work best with different personality types and why hiring for cultural fit can be more important than hiring solely based on technical or relevant skills.

Customer support teams know their product or service in and out because they use it every day to help customers to solve problems. Because they’re in close contact with users, they’re able to gather information about what kinds of issues a user might have with a given solution and how that problem can be resolved. This is a differentiator that can be used in many verticals, but the most successful implementations we’ve seen have been when customer support teams are responsible for gathering this information and creating/delivering the solution by communicating with internal teams.

There are several areas of the business where customer support teams can play a crucial role in boosting demand generation efforts. They have access to valuable information about existing customers that salespeople don’t always see. They’re already on the front lines dealing with customer problems, their perspectives provide an ideal starting point for expanding your reach to new prospects. And third, when you give them the autonomy to work across different departments and get involved in new initiatives, they can go above and beyond simply distributing knowledge to create actual demand.

The power of customer support teams is in their ability to turn their access to customers into something more valuable for the organization. Here are three examples of what our clients have done with customer support teams’ demand generation capabilities:

     Retention campaigns

Customer retention campaigns are usually heavily reliant on data about past behavior, which means they can be difficult to develop and optimize across multiple user segments. Customer support team members know what problems users run into while using your product or service, what types of content might be useful in resolving those issues, how previous ones were resolved (and by whom), and whether there’s a pattern that emerges when you look at all these data points together. This information can give them a leg up on creating high-performance retentions campaigns.

Customer success teams

Customer support teams know your customers and what they need most from you, so they can be an ideal resource for customer success team members who want to better understand their account value and risk level. If a team member has questions about the best way to reach out to a specific user or how data should be segmented, their teammates in customer support can provide that context and help them use the data more effectively.

Internal collaboration

On some occasions, gathering information about existing customers is as simple as having conversations with other people on your team (especially those inside sales reps selling similar solutions). But effective demand generation requires collaboration between multiple teams, from sales and services to management. So it’s important to establish communication channels that can be used to exchange ideas and plan tactics. Customer support teams should serve as a bridge between their organization’s various demand generation efforts, and if they’re encouraged to help create and run campaigns internally (with all the resources needed), they’ll likely become more invested in the company’s growth and success.

     You can’t be everywhere at once

The demand generation process is an ongoing one that requires significant resources to implement properly. Customer support has access to valuable information about current customers, but simply distributing existing knowledge doesn’t create new demand (a strategy only good for maintaining the status quo). To make your demand generation truly successful, you need people who are passionate about growing your customer base and will go the extra mile to help do it.

The customer support team might not have all the tools and the data they need to be successful demand generators. However, once you invest in a process that enables everyone on your team to work collaboratively, cross-functional teams can find creative ways to take advantage of existing assets. When done right, this process will lead to better results for current customers as well as generate new revenue from prospects who may have been overlooked by other demand generation teams.

The question remains: how much effort does it require?

It’s possible to take advantage of existing assets without investing too much time or money into creating new tools or processes. Instead of viewing customer support as a burden, recognize that they’re already helping to educate your customers and resolve their problems. Think of them as an internal consulting team whose knowledge can help your company develop the skills needed for effective demand generation.

How and where to start?

As with any team-based initiative, expect some challenges when you first try to equip everyone with the tools they need to become demand generators. If customer support is doing a good job serving existing customers, their primary focus will be on processes related to managing those accounts—helping you prioritize which tasks should receive more attention than others.

Don’t expect them to know how these activities relate to growing revenue or achieving other goals that might be outside their current responsibilities. It’s important to create healthy dialogue and convey the bigger picture for demand generation so that everyone can understand what you’re trying to accomplish and why it matters.

Reaching out directly to users is usually the most effective way of acquiring new customers, but in some instances, this is not possible or even an option:

• When you need more insight than your existing sources can provide
• When you want to establish a dialogue with your target audience
• When you need information about the people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services

     Because this process will require more collaboration among separate teams, it’s important to establish communication channels that can facilitate collaborative efforts enabling everyone on-board. You can start by asking customer support what types of data they currently have access to, which could help uncover resources previously overlooked. Then ask them how they would use existing assets if demand generation was part of their responsibilities. This should give you an idea about how much time and effort (resources) is required for this change in focus to become successful. Once you’ve figured out where demand generation fits into existing processes, it’s time to build a new one.

The process you implement won’t be the same for every company, but there are some common steps that can help you get started:

    Step 1: Define the goal.

Your first step is to define your end goal for this initiative. What are you trying to accomplish? How will it help customers, your existing customers, or your company as a whole?

For example, let’s say you’re interested in acquiring more leads and getting them qualified earlier in the process so that they can turn into paying customers more quickly. Your goal might be: To increase the number of leads that our sales team qualifies before they even reach out to prospects. This means they’ll spend more time talking with people who are already familiar with our brand and products instead of wasting time on tire-kickers who aren’t likely to pay full price for anything we offer.

Step 2: Identify the current process.

Now that you know what your goal is, it’s time to map out the steps involved in achieving it. Who needs to do what? How often? Why? What happens if there are roadblocks or setbacks along the way? Who owns each step and how could they make it easier (or harder)? Keeping track of different people’s responsibilities helps ensure that everyone knows (and agrees) who has which role and that no one person becomes a bottleneck for progress.

    Step 3: Determine where demand generation fits into this process and why?

Once you’ve mapped out all of your current activities, look for places where demand generation can be inserted without getting in anyone’s way. If you’re not sure, try using a simple process map to visualize how different tasks connect to each other and why they matter.

    Step 4: Change the process.

Now that you have a good idea of where demand generation fits into your current processes and why it’s necessary, it’s time to come up with a new strategy based on what makes sense for your business and customers. For example, maybe now is the right time to start generating more leads from social media or upgrading your blog from a simple web page to a full-fledged content marketing platform. It could also make sense for customer support representatives to offer assistance as part of their service rather than waiting for users to ask directly if they need help with something related to your product.

    Step 5: Measure and communicate results.

As you implement your new process, it’s important to be sure that everyone knows what success looks like and how they can contribute to achieving it. Some of the most common metrics used for measuring demand generation include email click-through rates, lead volume, website traffic, social media engagement numbers, and more. These stats should help everyone feel as if their hard work is paying off. And once you’ve achieved those goals or even before, make sure to update your processes so that the next group of people will have an easier time following in your footsteps.   

    Step 6: Repeat with a new goal.

Once you’ve made your changes and achieved the success you were hoping for, it’s time to plan ahead for the next step in demand generation. What kinds of leads do you want to focus on? Where are they coming from? How will this help everyone in your company achieve their goals?

and more…

Demand generation is a process in which companies use various tactics to generate demand for their products or services by targeting potential customers over time. You can start with your existing customers by customer support teams.

Hope this blog will help you to think out of the box about demand generation and how it can be a core competence for your customer support team.

   In the past few years, there has been an explosion of companies looking into their customers’ journeys through digital services or products that they offer. And for good reason – understanding your customers’ journeys allows you to really get a handle on why people come to you, what problems they have that they’re trying to solve, and what keeps them coming back. The more thoroughly you understand these things as marketers and as product designers, the better equipped you become as business professionals with valuable insights into user behavior. If you’ve done any research into customer journey mapping, you might have seen blog posts from companies that provide clear steps to creating an effective customer journey map. While these guides are useful for getting the idea of a customer journey fresh in your mind, they don’t go into enough detail about how you can apply them specifically to your own needs.

There is no “right” way of going through each of these steps – they’re simply tools that help you brainstorm, organize, and discuss the different aspects of your audience’s individual journeys. Rather than assuming that one particular guide or tool is the correct method for everyone, we recommend taking a step back from anyone’s thought-stopping idea surrounding customer journey analysis and looking at it objectively so you can come up with an approach that works best for your own business. What this means is not being afraid to discard ideas if they don’t work well for you.

What is a Customer Journey?

We all know that customers need to be engaged and entertained, but we often forget the importance of engaging and entertaining them throughout their entire journey with us. The entire customer life cycle has the goal of keeping the user coming back to you for more interactions, whether it be to buy something or otherwise.

Customer journeys are maps that plot out your users’ experiences with your business across digital platforms (and sometimes even physical ones like brick-and-mortar stores). While there’s no “right” way of mapping this journey, but there are six steps to go through:

Customer Journey Mapping: How To Do It Right

1- Customer Journey Data Collection

          Whether you’re doing it digitally or in person, the customer journey begins with data collection. This is where you gather information about your users’ habits and answer questions like: Are there any notable patterns in their behavior? What are the most common paths they take through each part of the journey? What are the obstacles that prevent them from progressing?

2- Identifying Problems & Opportunities

             After collecting this data, you’ll need to begin making sense of what it all means by using your findings to identify problems and opportunities. For example, if there’s a specific part in the user journey that shows that people often abandon after “Step 2,” then maybe that’s an opportunity for creating content that educates users better. This stage of the process is perhaps the most crucial since it’s where you begin to learn how your business can actually solve problems for users.

3- Create a New Customer Journey Map

                 With this knowledge in hand, you can create a new customer journey map that organizes and visualizes all of the data collected earlier in preparation for creating content. This part is generally more straightforward since you’ll be drawing out different paths for each step in the journey. For example, one path might feature an “unaware” state while another features an “aware” state.

 4-  Map your customer journey using your data

Once you have your blueprint laid out, then you’re able to move onto creating the actual customer journey map. This is where you begin identifying which actions should be included in each step, but also the content that should go along with them to help users get through their journey successfully.

5- Develop Content based on your data

                  Once you have your customer journey mapped out, then it’s time to start creating content that relates back to what you’ve learned by using it during the process of mapping. You’ll need to figure out how this new content can help users get through specific steps in their journeys without tripping up while they’re at it.

6- Monitor Your Customers’ Journeys

               The final step in this process is to monitor how these changes are affecting your users. You can do this by simply testing the new content, but also analyzing any quantitative data that you’ve collected (or trust!) about your customers. If you’re able to identify or create a pattern here, then you’ll be able to make better strategic decisions regarding future products and iterations of the customer journey map.

By mapping out your customer journey, you can learn more about how to keep users engaged with your product. Studies have shown that most people abandon a website after roughly 6 seconds of being on it, making that initial “engagement” all the more important. By following these six steps, then you’ll be able to identify opportunities for improving this engagement and keeping users coming back for more!

Thank you very much for reading and please share this article with your friends if you find it helpful.

As we move into 2022, we will no doubt see an increasing number of businesses look to exploit the potential that blockchain technology offers and use it to enhance their customer experience (CX).

Blockchain is most commonly associated with cryptocurrency, but in recent months there have been a number of announcements from major companies looking at how blockchain can be used in different areas of the business. The technology offers the ability to share information via a distributed ledger, meaning it’s trusted by members of the network without the need for any middlemen – once information is on there, it cannot be altered or changed.

Blockchain Applications And Implications For CX:

As such, implementing blockchain technology into a company’s processes means the data it uses is more trustworthy. As well as this, because of its decentralized nature, it can enable customers to take control of their own data rather than remain at the mercy of companies that hold their data. For example, Walmart is using blockchain technology in order to improve food tracking and safety by making use of tamper-proof and transparent ledgers so customers can see where their food has come from. This allows people to choose whether or not they want to purchase certain products based on this information – so if you were worried about pesticide residues in your product, you might be concerned to learn that a product was handled by a supplier that experienced a breach in their food safety management system.

This gives more of an incentive for companies to protect customer data and make it transparent – if the data is already on a decentralized network, extensive security measures cannot be taken to keep the information away from prying eyes as this would render the whole concept useless.

It also allows customers to take control of their data and choose if they want certain information shared – for instance, it may be advantageous for some people to share some health data in order to receive tailored medical advice.

Companies can also use blockchain technology to create new types of loyalty programs that give the power back to the customer. With an increasing number of businesses experimenting with cryptocurrency, consumers could soon have a wide range of ways in which they can be rewarded for their spending habits, such as receiving discounts when shopping at different stores or earning coins by taking part in market research surveys or interacting with companies on social media. A company could even reward customers with coins based on how long they’ve been a member of the brand’s community – this would allow customers to accumulate their coins over time, before using them to pay for a product or service once its value had grown. Customers could even potentially exchange these cryptocurrencies with each other or use them in different ways outside of the brand’s ecosystem, depending on how creative companies are willing to get.

Advantages Of Using Blockchain For CX:

Blockchain offers a number of advantages when it comes to customer experience, such as:

• Full Transparency – companies are able to provide more transparency, as it’s easier for them to make their data trustworthy via blockchain technology.

• Stable Security – because of its decentralized nature, companies are better equipped against cyberattacks and there is no one point of failure with blockchain technology.

• Reduced Costs – using a distributed ledger means that the need for intermediaries is reduced or even eliminated altogether, which can potentially save businesses money in terms of transaction fees. This also has an impact on customer service, as staff may be able to deal with issues more quickly without having to wait on hold.

• Greater Convenience – customers have access to their own data so they can control how much information they want to share with brands, thus increasing the convenience of shopping online.

• New Forms Of Incentives – customers are rewarded for interacting with companies, which encourages them to remain loyal to brands that they trust and believe in. It also gives them more of an incentive to share their personal information.

• More Creativity – because blockchain technology enables greater interoperability within ecosystems, companies are able to create more creative products that can be used by multiple different stakeholders. For example, a customer might be able to use coins earned through one company on another brand’s platform or give these coins as gifts to friends or family members.

• Greater Insights – because blockchain allows for a more detailed audit trail, businesses are able to obtain better data about their customers and how they use their products or services.

• Easier Sharing Of information – it’s easier for companies to share information when there is a decentralized network behind them, as blockchain makes it easier to trust the data being shared by different stakeholders.

• Better Customer Service – having access to decentralized and accurate records means that staff can resolve issues quickly and efficiently and customers can go about their day without having to wait on hold for extended periods of time.

• More Personalization – the interoperability of blockchain makes it easier for brands to create products that are able to interconnect with other platforms, resulting in a better customer experience.

• New Business Models  – businesses have access to cheaper transaction fees due to reduced intermediaries, which can enable new types of business models. Reduced costs allow companies to find ways around the “one size fits all” approach and offer more tailored services as a result.

• More Innovation  – companies have the opportunity to create new business models that can unlock new markets. Because of this, they are able to experiment more with different ways of delivering their products and services which help them stay ahead of the competition.

Disadvantages Of Using Blockchain For CX:

On the other hand, there are some potential disadvantages in regard to the customer experience when companies utilize blockchain technology. For example:

• More Complex – the fact that blockchain is a relatively new and ambitious technology means that it can add complexity to businesses and make it harder for them to truly understand how this tech works. Another downside is that there aren’t many experts in this area when compared with something like artificial intelligence (AI) or robotics. This means that most employees won’t have much knowledge about what they’re selling and may not be able to explain anything beyond simple facts and figures.

• Scalability Issues  – just like cryptocurrencies, there is a huge issue with scalability that needs to be addressed. Blockchain is not currently able to handle the number of transactions that companies like Visa and Mastercard can process on a daily basis, therefore making it difficult for them to use this technology as their main service delivery platform.

• High energy Consumption – by operating on a decentralized network, blockchain technology can cause high levels of electricity consumption which has an impact not only on the environment but also cost due to increased expenses. It will take some time before there are any breakthroughs in terms of increasing efficiency or finding alternative sources of energy for this form of tech.

• Lack of Regulation  – because this is still a relatively new area of technology there are no industry tests or guidelines in place to protect consumers when utilizing blockchain’s capabilities. Even though there are some self-regulatory mechanisms currently in place (e.g. KYC), people should still remain wary when making financial decisions due to the uncertainty surrounding where their coins will end up if something happens to them (e.g. if they lose their password).

Industries Set To Benefit From The Blockchain:

There are numerous industries that could potentially benefit from utilizing blockchain technology such as:

Banking, Healthcare, Education, Retail, Real Estate, Entertainment, Gaming, Transportation, Energy, and Manufacturing.

A few businesses that already utilize blockchain technology:

There are a number of companies, both big and small, who have been leveraging blockchain to improve their business offering. These include Microsoft, Samsung, IBM, Maersk, Alibaba, Overstock.com, Walmart, Red Bull Media House.

How can digital service providers leverage blockchain technology to enhance their customer experience?  

Some companies have even gone as far as using Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens within their platform which allows them to create their own currency. This makes it possible for people to trade supplies, products, and services on one platform and easily exchange currencies with each other without having to go through an exchange.

There are also decentralized hedge funds that use the Ethereum network which gives investors more options in terms of where they put their money.

As you can see, blockchain is a very versatile form of technology and it has the power to make almost anything more efficient, secure, and streamlined. This is why experts believe that when fully implemented across society, it could be the foundation for a new model of economic and social organization.

It is still an emerging technology and it will take some time before we see the full potential of this incredible innovation. However, regardless of if companies use “private chains” or opt to utilize other decentralized peers to peer (P2P) systems like Ripple, it’s clear that this is the direction that companies are heading when it comes to their digital service offerings.

As A Business Process Outsourcing Company, Why Should We Care?

In short, blockchain is something that any kind of business that interacts with consumers should consider implementing into their service delivery model. This includes outsourcing companies who are looking to enhance their customer service experience by making it efficient, trustworthy, and quick.

Most companies will not be able to afford to develop or maintain their own Customer Support, or Back-Office teams which is why outsourcing their needs to a company like ours makes the most sense. We have extensive knowledge of industry standards as well as business process management methodologies that can help your company quickly integrate new forms of technology into your business model.

What are your thoughts on how blockchain can change the customer experience? Do you think that companies will adopt the technology in the near future or is it something that will take some time to develop? Let us know in the comments below.

This article was written collaboratively by Paul Pokotylo and Burak Turk from the Marketing and Business Development teams on behalf of LimTC.

Our mission is to provide you with the information you need on trending topics that we see will have an impact on Customer Experience with a focus on the technology involved. To stay up to date on subjects that interest you, follow us on social media and check out our blog.

At the end of the day, customer experience is king. What does that mean? It means that a company’s ability to connect with its customers in a meaningful way will determine whether they’re successful or not. In this blog post, we’ll discuss how Customer Support can be an omnichannel service – meaning it spans all channels from web chat to social media and more. 

The best companies know this and invest in customer support by providing multiple ways for people to contact them—from phone call centers to live chat on websites. In order to provide excellent customer support across all channels, companies need a unified view into these interactions so they can proactively resolve issues before they escalate into bigger problems. This blog post discusses why customer support needs a unified view and how Customer Support can be an omnichannel service.

What is omnichannel?

Omnichannel is the idea of using multiple channels to provide customer service and support. Customer service should be available anytime, anywhere through social media, email, chatbots, phone lines – anything you can think of! Customer Support Softwares helped companies adopt omnichannel strategies with their customer service departments by providing them with all the tools needed to offer excellent customer service 24/hours without having to worry about which channel their customers are on when they reach out.

The term “omnichannel” refers to a business model where consumers engage and interact with brands across different platforms (such as mobile phones or tablets) and devices (for example an app vs a website). This means that there needs to be balanced coordination of resources, platforms, and channels to ensure that the customer journey is smooth across all touchpoints.

Omnichannel Customer service is an approach where businesses communicate with consumers on multiple different communication channels simultaneously in order to offer support whenever it’s needed without difficulty switching between them. For example: if someone calls into your business while checking out your website then talking about what they’re looking into buying in real-time.

How does it affect customer service?

Customer service has changed a lot over the years. When we think of customer support, Software companies offer an automated way to manage all your social media accounts and even chatbots! This means that you can now provide excellent support for customers without worrying about which channel they’re on when reaching out.

Omnichannel Customer Service is defined as providing personalized interactions across different channels simultaneously with the goal of improving conversion rates while preserving brand loyalty. Omnichannel Customer Service provides unique opportunities for brands to go beyond traditional CSM strategies by leveraging technological advancements in order to deliver consistent experiences throughout their entire organization. By using multiple communication channels at once, businesses are able to better serve users who may need help immediately (for example customers who are having an issue with their product) while still keeping customers happy and engaged.

Why are some companies hesitant to adopt it?

Some companies are still hesitant to adopt omnichannel Customer Service.  Customer service is already an area where Customer Experience (CX) plays a huge role. However, with the adoption of omnichannel Customer Service, it can become even more difficult to ensure that your company meets all customer needs without losing sight of what’s most important – quality control.

Omnichannel Customer Service requires companies to adopt new strategies and implement new technologies in order for them to achieve their goals properly. Organizations must also be willing to integrate these efforts into existing products or services as well as internal processes which means that you will need buy-in from everyone involved including management, marketing, sales, support, etc.

In fact, there are many challenges that come along with this approach such as technology integration issues; getting everyone on board; integration issues between multiple platforms/channels; not being able to ensure quality control or consistency across all channels; etc.

The most common challenge that comes with omnichannel Customer Service is that you can’t achieve the same level of quality control across all channels. Having a support chat on your website which allows you to look up at someone’s account history, for example, may not be as effective when it only takes one customer service agent per day to respond back in order to maintain consistency and ensure high-quality responses.

As such, some brands are hesitant about adopting this approach because they don’t want their brand positioning or product differentiation strategies being undermined by poor Customer Experience (CX).

On the other hand, however, there are increasing numbers of companies who have started implementing an omnichannel strategy in their Customer Support department in order to improve Customer Experience (CX) while also providing more personalized experiences to their customers.

How to overcome these challenges?

There are several strategies that can be applied in order to overcome the challenges associated with omnichannel Customer Service:

– Customer service training and development on different channels;

– Organizational alignment across all departments;

– Technology integration (for example, Salesforce’s Customer Success Platform which allows companies to manage every customer interaction through a single platform); etc.

If your company wants to implement an Omnichannel Customer Service strategy but doesn’t know where or how they should start,  Customer Success Platforms (CSP) is a great option to consider as they allow organizations to manage Customer Experience (CX) easily and effectively.

Using CSP, companies can collect data from different channels such as social media; email marketing software; etc., in order to provide a better Customer Experience across all of them so that each customer feels heard no matter what communication channel they use.

In addition, omnichannel Customer Service also creates an opportunity for businesses who want to expand their brands or develop new products by providing users with consistent service experiences wherever it might be least expected. 

In the end, Customer Experience (CX) is key to any business’s success and omnichannel Customer Service can help companies create a Better Customer Experience in order for them to maintain customer loyalty while also increasing brand awareness. 

The benefits of adopting an omnichannel approach for customer support:

– Customer Experience (CX) is improved;

– Customer Loyalty and Brand Awareness are increased;

– Customers’ overall satisfaction with your products or services will increase.

Final Thoughts on why more companies should consider implementing an omnichannel strategy for their customer service department It is estimated that up to 40% of the Customer Service inquiries are coming from mobile devices which means that there is a high demand and need for brands to have Customer Support channels available via these platforms. So, if you were hesitant about adopting this approach in order to improve your Customer Experience (CX), now may be a good time as any! If not, don’t worry because it’s never too late either – just take note of what problems or challenges might arise from doing so then go from there.

We’re still early on in our omnichannel Customer Service journey, there’s no doubt that we’ll see a lot of growth with time due to its ability to provide a better Customer Experience (CX), improved business-to-customer relationships, and expand brands into new markets where the company may not have had access before – all by simply providing users with consistent service experiences wherever they might be least expected.

Your company is only as good as the customers it serves. A customer service department that isn’t on its toes can be a significant drag on your bottom line. If you want to deliver a 5-star experience, then you need to know these 10 tips for success. 

Here are some quick pointers on how to make every phone call count:   

1) Listen carefully and determine what your customer needs are. 

Don’t make assumptions about what your customer wants. Always listen carefully and determine what your customer needs are. By getting to the root of the problem, you can solve issues faster without disrupting your normal workflow.  

Don’t put other customers on hold while servicing a current client: If you’re helping one customer, treat that customer like your only customer. If you have multiple people in the queue, get everyone taken care of as quickly and efficiently as possible. (I know it seems obvious – but this is actually one of the most common mistakes.)

2) Let them talk.

Never interrupt the person who called in with questions or concerns. It can be frustrating when you’re talking to someone on the phone and they keep cutting you off or don’t let you fully explain your concerns. If a customer is rambling about an issue, resist the urge to interject with clarifying questions because this will just slow down the process. Give them a chance to fully explain the issue first. 

3) Avoid using jargon 

Even though you may be in the right, it’s important to acknowledge your customer’s experience.

If you lose your composure when speaking with a client and use words or sounds that they don’t understand, then you can create an even bigger problem for yourself. Don’t use jargon or technical terms unless absolutely necessary (and if you do, explain them in layman’s terms). Also, be patient with the customer because they may not understand all the details of your company’s products or services. 

4) Offer solutions if possible, but don’t promise anything beyond your control 

Let the customer know that you’re going to do everything in your power to fix their issue or resolve their problem. If you have a solution, then let them know. If not, then express empathy towards their situation and commit to researching an answer as soon as possible. However, try not to overpromise because it can lead to significant issues later on if you can’t deliver what you’ve promised. If there was a major mistake on your end that caused this current situation, then it’s best to admit that. The customer will appreciate your honesty and may forgive you for any missteps. If the customer makes a request that doesn’t align with your company goals or policies, then clearly explain why it can’t be done.

Let the customer know that you’ve taken steps to prevent similar problems from occurring in the future.

5) Keep track of key points in case there is a follow-up 

A customer’s opinion of your brand is based on the entire experience. Not just the interaction with one employee, but rather the collective interactions throughout a particular problem.  In order to keep improving your service, you should write down key information in case there is a follow-up call. This will make it easier for everyone involved. 

You’ll want to make sure that both of your notes are consistent in order to avoid additional mistakes. If there is a sequence of events or certain details that were mentioned, then speak them back so the person on the other line knows that you fully understand the issue. You’ll also want to be concise when documenting a customer’s issue because it can save them time and headaches in the future if they have to retell their story for your company’s records.

6) Measure And Reward The Right Things

The key to effective customer service is being able to measure what works and what doesn’t.  This includes measuring how long it takes your customers to reach a representative, whether or not they return if there’s another problem, or if you’re able to fix their issue the first time.   Make sure you’re focusing your customer service efforts on the metrics that will improve your business such as a low number of return interactions or faster-than-normal problem resolution.  You also want to look at the positive effects, such as customers who come back even when there are no issues.

Doing this will ensure that you’re rewarding the right things and address performance problems before they become commonplace.

7) Be emphatic, not sympathetic 

Saying “that sounds like it must have been really hard for you” can come across as unsympathetic while saying “I totally understand how frustrating that must have been for you,” conveys empathy.  If the solution was something out of their control, then avoid phrases like “there was nothing we could do,” and instead say something along the lines of “we’re sorry we couldn’t resolve this issue.”

Express empathy towards the problem at hand, not just with words, but also the tone of voice. Let them know that you are genuinely trying to help them.

8) Fix problems as quickly as possible

Speed is key when it comes to customer service.  Problems can quickly escalate into a PR disaster for your company, especially if you have a large audience and even more so when reporters are involved.  It’s good practice to follow up with customers who’ve had problems within 24-48 hours, but try to fix the issue as quickly as possible.  If it was something you could have controlled or done better, then show the customer that you’re taking their experience into consideration and going to make changes where appropriate.

9) Be sincere in your desire to help.

Your tone when speaking with a customer can make or break the entire interaction.  Avoid sounding boring, disinterested, or robotic, and keep it sincere.  In other words, don’t just look at what you’re saying from a logistical standpoint, but rather think about how your words are going to be interpreted by the other party.  If you convey that your goal is to help the customer, then they’re more likely to return if there are future problems or they may even recommend your company to their friends and family.

10) Lead by example

If you want your company to be known for having good customer service, then you’re going to need to lead by example.  There’s no way around it.  The result of outstanding leadership is outstanding performance! Show leadership by example. Possess excellent attitude, self-awareness, and respect. Establish clear communication, instructions, and boundaries for the business. Streamline operational success through consistent training, fair pay, and fair treatment for all staff members.

Great customer service is just one way to improve your company’s brand.  Additionally, it typically grows a company’s revenue and overall profits because it encourages customers to return for more business.  However, putting good customer service into practice can be difficult without the proper training or tools so it might make sense to hire some partner who specializes in this field and already invested in the latest tools that can improve your brand’s online reputation.