How B2B customers buy and what they expect from their suppliers continues to evolve.
Self-service expectations, feedback on tickets and issues, the ability to purchase under contracted conditions and a readily available curated knowledge base all create customer service challenges.
According to a recent Gartner survey, 83% of B2B Buyers prefer to order and pay through digital eCommerce for a great customer experience. This highlights the importance of exceptional service in retaining and growing B2B customers.
Customer support is more than just a department - it's the heart of any successful business. Ensuring quality in your customer support team can enhance customer satisfaction, boost retention rates and ultimately drive business growth.
Before jumping into any changes, assess your current customer service processes by examining interactions, interpreting data, and collecting insights from staff and customers.
Understand if the CS team has the correct information to effectively Triage customer enquiries or if each enquiry triggers an internal search for information, status updates, or pricing. Often, a single customer email enquiry can trigger up to 11 different internal communication follow-ups, simply due to a lack of accessible information in delivery systems and teams.
Identify areas where customers encounter frustration or dissatisfaction. Evaluate assessment data and collect feedback to address issues like long wait times or inconsistent support.
In their 2024 Customer Satisfaction Survey, the Institute of Customer Service found that over 34% of respondents wanted a better digital experience, and another 33% wanted more availability.
Regularly obtain feedback through surveys, feedback forms, and social media monitoring. Ensure surveys are concise and open-ended to promote detailed responses. Proactively seek feedback during key points in the customer journey.
If your issue is a lack of data to analyse, then implementing an easy-to-use help desk is a priority. The average time to onboard a HubSpot help desk is less than three weeks.
Use key performance indicators (KPIs) such as customer satisfaction scores and first-contact resolution rates to monitor progress and pinpoint areas that need enhancement. Combine quantitative data with qualitative feedback to gain a comprehensive understanding of customer needs and preferences.
Perform a detailed assessment, pinpoint areas of frustration, collect feedback and evaluate data to gain valuable insights into your current customer service, setting the stage for significant improvements. Defining clear objectives for customer service is crucial for cultivating a customer-focused culture. Here, we outline a number of actions aimed at improving customer satisfaction.
Establishing SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals is crucial for steering customer service enhancement. Every goal must be well-defined, measurable, achievable within a reasonable timeframe, aligned with objectives, and have a set deadline.
Key goals for the CS team can include time to respond or acknowledge, time to triage, time to resolve, time to engage sales or any element of the service or desired outcome.
Ensure that your customer service objectives align with your overall goals.
Consider how improving customer service can impact KPIs like up-sell and cross-sell, inventory levels, product obsolescence and customer loyalty.
Focus on setting customer service goals according to their influence on customer experience and how well they align with your priorities. Determine which goals will most effectively enhance customer satisfaction or contribute directly to crucial results.
You should start at the beginning of the customer buying process and focus on one or two key areas to improve.
An example could be to implement an automated email acknowledging receipt of the email or the creation of the ticket. This is especially valuable for B2B Buyers with multiple suppliers as they receive immediate feedback the issue is being dealt with.
Finding the right talent is crucial. Look for individuals who are not only skilled but also empathetic and patient. These qualities are essential for understanding and resolving customer issues effectively.
Ensuring the CS team has the right information to triage and help customers is critical to keeping CS staff and reducing customer churn.
Investing in the training and development of customer service and support staff is essential for building a skilled and knowledgeable team. Comprehensive training programs should cover product knowledge, communication skills, and problem-solving techniques.
Training shouldn’t end after onboarding. Continuous learning opportunities help your team stay updated on the latest tools and techniques, ensuring they can handle any situation with ease.
Ongoing development opportunities, such as workshops and e-learning courses, help keep the support team updated with the latest industry trends and best practices.
A customer service strategy links Sales, Delivery, and Customer Service and is designed to break down internal barriers to growth along the Customer Journey.
In this strategy, you define exemplary service and detail the actions needed to achieve it. It's more than just a broad ambition to improve customer relations; it's a plan that can be measured and refined.
The first step in developing a customer service strategy is to unify delivery and sales around a shared understanding of customers' needs and how they expect them to be met.
Key considerations to include in your plan-
Today's B2B buyers expect service across various channels—be it self-service, phone, email, chat, or social media. Offering multi-channel support ensures you meet customers where they are, providing convenience and flexibility when they need it.
Personalisation goes a long way in customer service. Use customer data to tailor interactions, making each customer feel valued and understood. Each new ticket should include all relevant customer transactional information, such as orders, quotes, deals, and invoices.
Enhance responsiveness by streamlining response times across all communication channels. Introduce automated response systems, set up service level agreements (SLAs), and consistently track response times to guarantee prompt resolution of customer inquiries and complaints.
As an example the HubSpot Help Desk has automated workflows including keeping the customer informed of progress and resolution so they don't need to chase for an update.
Keeping up with B2B Buyers' digital expectations means you need an automated self-service platform to automate tickets and routing around your business's departments.
Communication platforms like Email and WhatsApp will automate the process, but they do not provide monitoring or management tools to track customer enquiries, creating rework and unnecessary repeated internal communications.
Technology plays a vital role in enhancing customer support services. Implementing advanced tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, chatbots, and AI-driven analytics can streamline support processes and improve response times.
Read our article- How can a CRM help my business to get up to speed with the latest features on Smart CRMs.
AI and chatbots can handle routine queries, freeing up your team to focus on more complex issues. This not only improves efficiency but also enhances the customer experience by providing faster responses.
Chatbots can help with a regular sequence of questions, and when the sequence is exhausted, they can automatically create a ticket for the CS team.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems help track customer interactions, providing valuable insights into customer needs and preferences. This information can be used to improve service and build stronger relationships.
Leveraging technology also enables businesses to provide omni-channel support, allowing customers to reach out through their preferred communication channels.
By integrating multiple communication channels into a single platform, Service Hub streamlines customer interactions, ensuring that queries are addressed swiftly and effectively.
Tickets can be created from Forms, Chatbots, Emails or Conversations.
Tickets are automatically populated with the last 30 days of account data, as well as any orders, deals, quotes, tickets, and conversations.
This centralised system not only boosts the productivity of the Helpdesk team by reducing response times but also enhances the overall customer experience.
Additionally, Service Hub's robust reporting and data analytics capabilities provide valuable insights into customer behaviour and service performance, enabling teams to make informed decisions. With features such as shared inboxes, collaborative tools, and knowledge bases, Service Hub ensures that information flows effortlessly between departments, fostering a collaborative environment where teams can resolve issues and improve service quality.
This interconnected approach empowers employees with the tools they need to succeed and aligns teams towards a common goal of customer satisfaction, for more information on Service Hub and how it can help your customers read our article here.
At its core, quality customer support is about meeting and exceeding customer expectations. It's the difference between a one-time transaction and a lifelong relationship. Customers remember how they were treated, and this impression can make or break their loyalty to your brand.
Quality customer support can significantly impact your bottom line. Satisfied customers are more likely to return, spend more, and refer others. Conversely, poor service can lead to negative reviews and lost sales.
Quality assurance in customer service is crucial for maintaining high standards and ensuring customer satisfaction. It involves regular monitoring and evaluation of support interactions to identify areas for improvement.
At its core, quality customer support is about meeting and exceeding customer expectations. It's the difference between a one-time transaction and a lifelong relationship. Customers remember how they were treated, and this impression can make or break their loyalty to your brand.
Measuring support quality involves tracking various metrics such as First Response Time (FRT), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Net Promoter Score (NPS). These metrics provide valuable insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of the support team.
Regular analysis of these metrics helps in identifying bottlenecks in the support process, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential for measuring success. Common KPIs in customer support include response time, average resolution time, ticket volume, customer retention rate and customer satisfaction scores.
Regularly reviewing these KPIs helps in evaluating the performance of the support team and identifying areas that require improvement, ensuring that customer support remains efficient and effective.
Regular feedback from customers provides insights into your support quality. Use surveys, reviews, and direct feedback to identify areas for improvement.
Difficult customers can be challenging, but with the right training and mindset your team can handle these situations effectively, turning potential conflicts into opportunities for improvement.
Customer expectations are constantly evolving. Stay ahead by continuously gathering feedback and adapting your strategies to meet these changing needs.
Empower your support team by giving them the authority to make decisions and solve problems. This not only boosts morale but also enhances the customer experience by providing quicker resolutions.
A positive work environment leads to happier employees, which translates to better service, driving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Encourage open communication, collaboration, and recognise and reward outstanding performance.
Continuous improvement in customer support is driven by actively listening to customer feedback. Gathering feedback through surveys, social media, and direct interactions helps in understanding customer needs and expectations.
By analysing feedback and implementing necessary changes, businesses can enhance their support services and build stronger relationships with their customers.
Ensuring quality in customer service is an ongoing process that requires commitment, strategy, and the right tools. By investing in your team, leveraging technology, and creating a customer-centric culture, you can provide exceptional service that not only meets but exceeds customer expectations.