How to Make a Support Team More Approachable

Quality of customer service is a defining brands’ feature for 95% of customers. The better the customer support team is working, the more likely your customers are to return — 89% of customers will make a repeat purchase after a good first experience.

Making a support team more approachable and friendly is the key to a high customer return rate. To understand what customers need, a good support team not only gathers and analyzes customer service statistics and data, but looks for ways to improve the quality of service. 

61% of buyers make at least one referral after a good experience with a brand. The link between a good customer service and a growing revenue is easy to see.

As a Support as a Service company, SupportYourApp always improves and grows. How do we make our support teams more approachable? 

Improving the Service — SupportYourApp Techniques

1. Call customers by their name

Using a customer’s name makes a service seem personal and a support team more approachable. A customer is not just a number or CRM-assigned ID. They are a person, and they require immediate assistance here and now. 

⭐  SupportYourApp expertise. Using a user’s name while resolving their issues is good. But gathering private information such as full name, date of birth, and so on is a tricky process that must be executed mindfully and with adherence to all security measures. 

I am talking about such regulations as GDPR or CCPA. Rules that regulate and enhance consumers’ privacy rights: gathering, storing and managing the information that can in any way or form identify a consumer must be done with their consent. 

Compliance with the acts and different security certifications like PCI DSS or ISO are SupportYourApp priorities. We pay great attention to our handling of the customers’ data and always check our team’s level of knowledge on the subject. 

2. Provide omnichannel support

73% of online customers use more than one channel of communication before making a purchase. 90% of those who connected with a business via 3 or more communication channels are likely to make a repeat purchase. Companies adopting an omnichannel approach retain about 90% of their entire customer base.

⭐ SupportYourApp expertise. Our support teams have adopted an omnichannel customer service a long time ago. We can integrate with any customer communication software, used by our clients. We have experience resolving customers’ issues over: 

• Email.
• Phone.
• Chat.
• Social media.
• Review platforms (App Store and Google Play Store). 

In addition to integrating with different CRM systems we have also developed our in-house solution — QCRM. Its single-window intuitive interface allows us to communicate with customers quickly and efficiently. 

QCRM also gives customers the possibility to send their feedback on the product and the quality of support services directly to our clients. This makes our services more transparent and more reliable. 

3. Use positive language

Words like ‘no’, ‘can’t’, and ‘don’t’ have a negative influence. A support team has to remember — too many negative words in communication and a customer is more likely to churn than come back. 

⭐ SupportYourApp expertise. Our team has established the value of positive customer communication a long time ago. Seeing the influence positive language and substitutes had on our clients’ customers, we decided to include the initial training right into newcomers’ onboarding. This way those joining our team instantly get the idea about our communication with the customers. 

The training doesn’t stop there — we do what we preach and not only use positive language while communicating with the customers, but within the team as well. 

4. Go the extra mile

52% of customers make an additional or repeat purchase from a brand that provides a great customer service. At the same time, a 5% increase in retention can add up to 25% in revenue growth. 

Once again — providing great customer experience, making the team more approachable, and going the extra mile will result in more revenue. 

⭐ SupportYourApp expertise. Our support teams always aim to provide the highest quality of service for any customer. Even if they are not one of our client’s. 

Once we got a call from a gentleman who had a technical issue with a product and wanted to talk to a brand’s representative. He contacted our support team instead of the brand’s by accident. Even though we weren’t able to resolve his issue, our support consultants just couldn’t let him go without any help. The team found the brand’s phone number and provided the information to the customer. 

Even though we couldn’t resolve his technical issue, we managed to go the extra mile and help a customer the way we could. 

5. Maintain a friendly tone

73% of users claim a friendly and approachable support consultant is what plays a pivotal role in their experience. Support representatives could be the only ones customers communicate with from the entire business structure. This makes them a perfect tool to channel your company voice and tone. 

The more approachable they are, the more likeable your brand seems. 

⭐  SupportYourApp expertise. A constant QA process helps our teams hold and raise a certain level of service quality. Once a month, or as often as our clients require, a dedicated QA manager analyzes random chat, email and phone iterations of every support consultant. Any faults or miscommunications are processed and talked over with the team. This way our management constantly follows the performance of the support teams. 

6. Implement active listening techniques

50% of customers believe modern businesses lack empathy. Approachability stems from the support team’s ability to implement active listening. With it customers understand they are heard and support consultants understand customers’ issues better and resolve them quicker. 

⭐  SupportYourApp expertise. Empathy and active listening are the two cornerstones of our skills. Having provided customer support for hundreds of businesses from different industries, we know how to listen to different types of customers and how to resolve their issues. 

Any customer needs: 

• Reassuring.
• Understanding and calm tone.
• Empathy.
• Some time to vent after which the resolution process can begin.
• Deep understanding of their issues by the support representative.
• Respectful attitude.
• Fast resolution of their issues. 

Making sure your customers know they are heard will help them come back to your support team again and again, if needed. And that is the real approachability. 

7. Create a supportive team atmosphere

73% of professionals say teamwork is an essential part of their productivity. 86% of professionals and their managers name the lack of collaboration a reason for their failures at a workplace. 

Creating a collaborative and supportive team atmosphere is one of the keys to making a support team as approachable as it can be. 

⭐  SupportYourApp expertise. Openness is one of eight core values of SupportYourApp. We encourage open and honest communication, promoting a healthy approach to each other. Our teams communicate not only during working hours, but outside the office as well. We love gathering for picnics, celebrations and general get-togethers. 

Our Service Delivery Managers conduct team building exercises and do everything possible to prevent burnouts among our support consultants. We create a ground for our teams to make friends, communicate with each other freely, and be at their most productive non-stop. 

Results

These guidelines, among many others, help us always maintain a friendly attitude towards our customers and each other. We know that we can always approach a teammate and ask for advice. As a result, we are at 100% efficiency 100% of the time.  

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