Did you know that 96% of customers will leave you due to bad customer service, according to Forbes?
Everyone knows that customers are the backbone of any successful business, which is why it’s so important to provide excellent customer service at all times.
One of the many reasons why customers may choose another business over yours is if you have a complicated or time-consuming customer journey.
So, how can you reduce customer effort for your business? That’s what we’ll be talking about in today's blog.
What is Customer Effort?
Simply put, customer effort refers to the amount of work a customer has to go through to get something resolved, like a question or issue. Customers use their efforts in different parts of the customer journey, including:
- Account creation
- Subscription
- Contacting customer service
- Making a purchase or return
- Using your website
If a business has high customer effort, they are more likely to lose potential customers and struggle to retain existing ones. So, how do you know if your business has a high or low customer effort?
This all depends on your customer effort score (CES), which is a metric used to measure how straightforward it is for customers to interact with your business. Check out our blog on how to measure your customer effort score.
What is a High Customer Effort Score?
Did you know that reducing your customer effort score can lower costs by 37 per cent? A high customer effort score means that customers feel they have to put a lot of effort into using your services. Whether that be getting help, speaking with an agent, or resolving a problem.
If you’re unsure as to whether or not your company has a high customer effort score, here are some things for you to look out for:
- A long wait time when customers try to contact you
- A complicated sign-up or checkout process
- Limited contact options
- Complex website
- Bad communication
A high customer effort score can have a negative impact on your business and can significantly impact customer satisfaction and retention.
How to Reduce Customer Effort Score?
Reducing customer effort is key to improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. If you feel as though you have a high customer effort score, don’t worry because there are a few ways you can lower your score. Keep reading to find out how.
1- Simplify Your Processes
The first step to improving your customer effort score is by simplifying your processes. You should make each interaction as straightforward as possible. From signing up to making a purchase or submitting a query, every step should be as easy as possible for the customer.
You should also consider simplifying your customer support process to make sure all callers are connected to an available agent as quickly as possible. Here are some ways you can simplify your processes:
Make signing up easy for your customers: If customers feel as though signing up is too complex, they may click off and look for another solution.Make purchasing straightforward: Make it easy for customers to navigate through your website and check out in as few steps as possible.
Make it easy for customers to contact you: You can do this by ensuring employees are on hand to answer calls or customer enquiries at all times.
2- Optimise Your Website For Mobile
People are using smartphones now more than ever, which is why it’s important to make sure your website is optimised for mobile. If it isn’t, users will struggle to navigate or complete actions on your website.
Make sure that your website loads quickly and that your content fits on the screen. This will reduce customer effort.
3- Make Sure You Have an FAQ Section to Answer Common Questions
If a customer has a question but doesn’t want to ring to find the answer, an FAQ section can save them time and frustration.
FAQs allow users to find answers to common questions rather than calling the business and waiting for someone to answer. This also benefits your business because it can lower the number of phone calls you receive.
4- Gather Customer Feedback
Gathering feedback from customers is a great way to reduce customer effort. It allows you to identify what you’re doing well and what you can improve on. You can do this through surveys, emails or feedback forms.
5- Offer Omnichannel Support
Omnichannel solution integrates voice, web chat, email, conversational SMS, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp within the same platform.
It allows your customers to contact you through multiple platforms, depending on what suits them best. This means that your customers can connect with you on the channel they prefer, offering them convenience, simplicity, and a consistent experience.
How to Measure Customer Effort Score?
You can measure your customer effort score in a range of different ways, such as through surveys. Some examples include:
- Email surveys
- Anonymous surveys
- SMS surveys
Doing this will provide you with the feedback you need to identify what you’re doing well and areas that need improvement.
Reduce Customer Effort With MaxContact
Here at MaxContact, we offer a wide range of services, such as our Omnichannel Solutions, to reduce customer effort and improve your customer satisfaction score.
Our Omnichannel Software provides all businesses with a consistent customer experience across all channels, such as online, in-store and mobile.
So, if you’re looking to reduce customer effort in your workplace and improve customer service, we are here to help. For more information on the services we offer, don’t hesitate to contact us today. We look forward to improving your customer journeys!
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