Blend sales and service for the perfect CX cocktail

Customer experience is the new buzzword in customer service. Almost every article on customer service focuses on creating a better experience for customers. Companies are stepping up their customer service game by emphasizing the experience. You get the feeling that all’s well in customer service, but there’s a lot hiding under the surface.

Customer service still remains a point of contention for many companies that strive to improve the customer experience. According to a NewVoice report, 29% of customers switch because they’re annoyed by the poor knowledge of customer support staff. Limited access to data stifles customer service, and that means the first step to better customer experiences can be a stumbling block for the agents.

Picture this. A customer contacts you regarding an issue with a product. The first step you take after asking for the customer’s name is to look up the customer’s purchase history, past interactions with the company, and other specifics. You have three ways to go about this:

• Contacting the sales team for the details.

• Scouring the sales software yourself.

• Finally, resort to asking the customer for all these details.

Either way, you end up spending considerable time and effort, testing the customer’s patience in the process. In the long run, you get exasperated when you undertake the same set of steps every time you encounter a customer. But don’t worry, because the solution lies closer home, with the sales team. You just have to integrate the sales software with your help desk to save yourself from all these setbacks. Here’s how situations play out when you perfectly blend customer information into your help desk software:

• On having customer information within reach, you can get to the issue immediately without bothering customers with too many questions. By adapting to each customer type, you can convert prospects into customers and customers into evangelists, just by providing excellent customer service.

• You can handle more tickets in an effective manner. Instead of spending time scouting for customer information, you can focus on improving the quality of customer service. Eventually, you’ll end up happier, and so will your customers and managers.

• While interacting with a customer, you can update customer information, all from the comfort of your help desk. When the sync is two-way, it means you’ll be up to speed with new information from the sales department.

While all these steps will improve your customer service immensely, you may wonder how it translates to a great customer experience. Well, customer experience is the entirety of all the interactions that a customer has with a company. With your customer service working like a well-oiled machine, your team is free to focus on the finer aspects of the experience: understanding and empathizing with customers. Having all that customer information at your fingertips will empower you to go the extra mile without breaking a sweat. Team up with sales, and become a memorable brand to your customers.