No matter what kind of business you are in, good customer service is the key to success — whether it involves answering questions about products or services, clarifying information about delivery and shipping, or resolving disputes. However, superlative customer service can be more challenging for online businesses because there is no face-to-face interaction between the merchant and the customer. In addition, there are the added complexities of shipments, deliveries and online payments to deal with.
A Help Center can streamline all of these customer service issues, making the workload easier for you and your staff.
Cost-Effective Customer Service
User-friendly FAQ and self-help pages make it possible for customers to find answers to the most common questions without having to contact support. This translates into big savings for your business.
In a recent report from Forrester , a leading research and advisory firm, an analysis of the costs for each of the most common customer service channels makes it clear that help center id the best and cheapest choice to resolve basic issues:
- Self-Service Help Center Problem Resolution: $0.10 or less per customer contact
- Email with Customer Service Agent: $2.50 - $5.00 per customer contact
- Web Chat with Customer Service Agent: $5.00 or more per customer contact
- Telephone Conversation with Call Center Customer Service Agent: $6.00 or more per customer contact.
Improved Customer Experience
The fact is that customers don’t want to call a customer service representative. The vast majority prefer a quick online search so they can resolve their issue independently. In fact, most customers consider a phone call the option of last resort, and research shows that 53 percent of online shoppers will simply abandon their purchase if they cannot solve their problem through the Help Center feature.
Increased Efficiencies within the Business
As customer use of your Help Center increases, the number of open service tickets goes down. Customer Service Agents have a reduced caseload, and their time is spent on more complex issues. The benefits to your business are two-fold. First, customers facing problems that can’t be solved through the Help Center get faster service, improving the overall customer experience.
Second, Customer Service Agents enjoy more interesting work, and they are not as overwhelmed by high volumes of basic service requests. This improves their levels of engagement, increasing productivity. Overall, the customer service department experiences greater levels of efficiency, which ultimately boosts the bottom line.
Whether you’re running an e-commerce business or providing a specific product or service through your website, you’ll find that a Help Center streamlines your workload and provides faster solutions for your customers, resulting in greater satisfaction.
