According to Adobe’s Future of Marketing Research Series, more than half (54%) of UK consumers say they stopped purchasing from a brand in 2021 after a breach in trust, and 90% of Americans use customer service as a factor in deciding whether or not to do business with a company (Microsoft’s Global State of Customer Service report).
That’s why utilising your customer experience team to build faith in your brand, and in turn customer loyalty, is essential. Here, we explore five techniques that put trust at the heart of your engagement strategies.
Prioritise consistent levels of service
It shouldn’t matter who a customer is speaking to, what time of day or via which channel – the same level of service should be delivered no matter what.
To achieve this, businesses must prioritise team training. Utilising whisper coaching on calls – where managers listen in and provide real-time guidance – can help ensure positive outcomes by guiding agents to perform at their best in every scenario.
Incorporating AI-powered sentiment analysis into your contact centre can also help provide managers with a holistic view of satisfaction levels on calls. This enables team leads to make data-driven decisions if sentiment levels are seen to be dropping – ensuring customer satisfaction levels are upheld as best as possible.
Embrace omnichanne
Customer needs and desires are ever-evolving, and so too are their preferences when it comes to contacting brands. That’s why it’s essential current and prospective customers can get in touch with your business via any route they see fit.
Omnichannel engagement is vital for this. Understanding what your customers want and making a variety of contact routes as easy and accessible as possible can ensure a positive customer experience from the outset.
Be transparent in any crisis
Crises can feel chaotic for businesses and customers alike, and to build trust at these times, transparency and honesty is essential. Customer engagement teams can often be the first to hear about crises or issues via customer complaints, and therefore teams must be well-versed in how to handle issues and the correct messaging to provide.
The customer team is the voice of the brand in these situations so regularly providing scenario training, and prioritising whisper coaching to guide agents through interactions can help build essential levels of trust during difficult times.
Ask for feedback – and welcome it
There’s always room for improvement, and the idea should be welcomed when it comes to customer satisfaction. Listening to customer feedback is essential for learning, development, and growth, therefore setting up automatic end of call feedback requests via integrations shows that your businesses truly values customer thoughts and recommendations.
Empathise and take action
Make your customers feel heard and valued when speaking to them. If a customer is contacting your team, they’re giving up valuable time in their day to do so, therefore empathising with their situation is essential.
Implementing automatic customer callback software can be the difference between an irritated and happy customer. By offering customers the option to request a callback if no agent is available or they’d prefer to chat at a later time, you’ll remove the annoyance of long queues that can add to dissatisfaction levels.
Callback features show you value customer’s time and that their convenience is your top priority, however, the most important thing in building trust is sticking to your word, so make sure team leads are double checking all callback customers have been contacted before a day comes to a close.
Building customer trust is a vital part of any successful business. To learn more about how Connex One is helping our clients to overhaul their customer journeys, get in touch with our team at hello@connexone.ng or request a free demo of our platform here.
