Redeveloping ways on how you can incorporate post-pandemic changes on your business operations is undeniably crucial now more than ever.
As the world grapples with the business impacts of the pandemic, the ball is in the customers’ court. This is why companies need to adapt their customer experience strategies post-pandemic.
In this article, we’re going to give you best practices on how you can uphold remarkable customer service during – and after – this global health crisis.
Customer experience pre-pandemic
Providing excellent customer experience has always been mandatory for many organizations.
Pre-pandemic, consumers have the option to not wait in long call queues and go to the store themselves to ask for assistance. This makes things convenient and more practical for them.
Even before, customers get easily frustrated for having to wait long just to reach a representative. Customers who aren’t satisfied with their purchase will typically give dissatisfied feedback.
May it be via phone, email, or face-to-face support, your clients would want their needs resolved the best way possible. But even with the rise of digital media, delivering a satisfying customer experience was still disrupted by the world’s crisis.
Customer experience post-pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic brought massive turns in service availability, and a huge bulk of users lining up for support created a congested situation in call customer service centers.
Whether clients were trying to cancel booked flights, process credit card or loan payments, or track parcels—everything took us by panic and chaos. We are talking about never-before-seen holding time, bottleneck emails that would take days before you’ll get a response.
To manage requests, companies tried new approaches in customer service. Organizations are now initiating self-service systems, omnichannel services, and many more.
In incorporating all of these new tactics and approaches, how can businesses ensure that their service will not only suffice but exceed customer expectations?
Four best practices in delivering the best post-pandemic customer experience
In this section, we’ve listed down ways on how businesses can provide the best post-pandemic customer experience.
Prioritize customers’ health and safety concerns
Make health and safety policies a priority in your marketing strategy. In the past year, companies have tried to innovate ways on how they can promote health and safety protocols in delivering customer service.
Airline companies have exhibited how sanitations are done on every flight. They showed how personnel keep the seats and cabins clean after every flight, or how the air filtration system works. Hotels started to publicly promote and encourage people to have a safe stay with their health protocols.
Restaurants and cafes started to allow takeout and dine-in services with strict implementation of physical distancing. Most establishments have mandatory “no face mask, no entry” rules.
Along with these mandates, it’s also important that employees should also strictly follow and practice their own establishments’ orders.
Provide communication channels for your customers
Small to medium-sized businesses have started using “chatbots” during the pandemic. Chatbots help answer basic customer questions that don’t necessarily need live assistance.
However, some chatbots that need to provide a more personalized service would only work with live agents. Chatbots are effective in delivering time-sensitive responses and assistance for users.
If you have a website or social media page, it’s best to consider installing chatbot assistance to give your customers the option to resolve their issues urgently. This will also give your support team a big relief when the number of requests is reduced to a more manageable count.
Make your support available 24/7
When your customers are browsing on your website and suddenly they need urgent assistance, it’s best to have reliable support available to their needs 24/7.
No matter where they are or what they are doing, the fact that there’s a specific time on their hand that made them go to your website, means they need real-time support. This lowers their waiting time and increases customer support experience
If your support team is ready to take their requests especially when they need them the most, it will significantly improve their buying experience.
Engage with employees
Handling post-pandemic changes in your customer service department wouldn’t be possible without your employees. They are at the forefront of your brand’s name, and they are the first line of support for your clients.
Engaging with them would help you in detecting spots for improvement. You can do this by rewarding them with incentives, workplace team building, or simply calling them out for coaching sessions.
Employees who feel that they are valued and appreciated can perform better on their tasks. Hence, they can serve your clients better.
Embracing the new normal in delivering customer experience
Redeveloping ways on how you can incorporate post-pandemic changes on your business operations is undeniably crucial now more than ever.
These best practices have been effectively performed by many businesses now, and have made major changes on how they treat and manage customer experience post-pandemic.
Embracing the new normal is challenging for all industries, but if your ultimate goal is to deliver the best customer experience, new practices and approaches should be explored to adapt to these changes.
