This is a guest contribution by Simon Lidzén, CEO & Co-founder FAST TRACK. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.
What if I would tell you that customers who engage with customer support and are satisfied with the help they receive, are far more likely to recommend your brand to a friend or colleague? In this article I am looking to explain why customer service is your key to sustainable growth.
I was once told a great story that compared BMW and Toyota. Toyota had far less problems with their cars compared to BMW, yet more customers were likely to recommend BMW to a friend or colleague. How can this be? Well… any customer that visited a BMW service center was treated so well, that they did not fear having future problems with their car, and as a result they were far more likely to recommend the brand.
No one is perfect and your customers will experience problems whilst using your site no matter how much you invest in quality assurance or engage with usability experts to design the best user flows. It is simply impossible to get away from. When your players experience problems, whether it be caused by poor usability or site bugs, you can either fly or fall with your customer service depending on your approach.
Nail your customer service strategy with 5 key initiatives
1. Build your customer support team with real people
Self resolution systems such as FAQ and knowledge bases are great as a reference point or as a complimentary service, but never to replace the human to human interaction. Use every opportunity to speak with your customer. When looking at a problem from the customer’s perspective you will discover ways to further improve your site and get a better understanding of the true source of the problem. Additionally, you will be able to ensure this specific customer leaves the conversation in a satisfied manner and ready to continue spend money with your brand.
2. Be available everywhere and respond quickly
Live chat, telephone support and e-mail. Do it all and dare to offer a commitment to the customer. To stay competitive you need to answer live chat within 30 seconds, a phone call within 60 seconds and an e-mail within 60 minutes.
Keep priority on live chat, this is by far your most cost efficient tool. Your agents can help multiple customers at once, and it is easy to use on mobile.
3. Focus on first contact resolution
Provide a clear framework for your customer service staff and allow them to spend the time necessary to truly understand your products and promotions in to the details. Empower your staff, not only in viewing the customer account but to resolve issues on first contact and be ready to offer good will gestures where required. First contact resolution will drive down your cost and drive up loyalty.
4. Monitor the state of your site
Give your customer service team a seat at the table when discussing tech, product and operational improvements. Make sure you have a clear overview of all issues raised by your customers and maintain a backlog of tech and operational improvements needed to get to the source of the problem. This list should take priority on new features, the current offering needs to work before you release new stuff.
You will get additional bonus points if you also let the customer know that the feedback received has led to an improvement.
5. Measure your performance with Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score is easy to use and a super efficient tool to gain insight on the state of your brand. It’s measured on a 10 grade scale on based on a simple question “how likely your customer is to recommend your brand to a friend or a colleague?”. 0-6 are detractors, 7-8 are passives and the 9-10 are promoters. Ask this question was part of closing the ticket.
Conclusion, do everything you can to get your customer to recommend your brand
Whether your customer will recommend your brand or not is your key to securing sustainable growth, and talking to the customers is your best chance to understand how you get there.
Raised Net Promoter Score (NPS) leads to improved business performance and in turn higher revenues. Your promoters are less price sensitive, they spend more and they will stay with your site for longer. This Key Performance Indicator will grow in parallel to your revenues.
Whilst the actual points you score of this is important, more so is the importance of how you are tracking compared to your competitors and if you have a positive or negative trend.
Simon has over 10 years in iGaming, the former Head of Mobile & Innovation for Betsson Group. He recently founded FAST TRACK, a gaming technology & service provider that specialises in delivering a one-stop shop for anyone looking to build an online casino.
