Customer care is one of the most important building blocks of a loyal customer base and unshakable brand image. Let’s delve deep into what customer care is and how can you bring it to your customers.
What is customer care?
The term customer care points to a company’s overall customer-centric approach. Customer care deals with long-term relationships with a business’ customers, keeping them happy and satisfied. Customer care teams are focused on building emotional connections with clients, ensuring they have the best customer experience possible.
Customer care vs. customer service
Although both terms may sound contextually similar, they are far from the same. Customer service somewhat falls under the customer care umbrella. It focuses on providing advice and answers, and addressing customer issues.
For example, if a customer reaches out to your company asking about some of your products, they talk with customer service representatives who offer professional advice and answer customer questions. Customer service teams are usually the first line of communication between customers and the company.
On the other hand, the customer care department focuses on building long-lasting customer relationships and promoting loyalty.
Customer care vs. customer experience
Other often confused terms are customer care and customer experience. So, what is the difference between the two?
As we have already discussed, customer care is an approach aiming to build loyal relationships with customers. Customer experience (CX) is a broader concept encompassing the entire customer journey, from the first point of contact to long-term engagement. CX includes all the interactions, emotions, perceptions, and touchpoints that a customer encounters when engaging with a company’s products, services, and brand.
Why is customer care important?
Did you know that American Express research shows that up to a third of consumers say they would consider switching companies after just one instance of bad customer service? In the world of customer-centricity, businesses can’t afford negative experiences leading to unhappy customers.
Now that we’ve discussed the direct impact bad experiences can have on your business, let’s talk about the importance of implementing a proactive approach to customer care.
Enhancing brand image
Brand image is how customers perceive and interact with a business, as well as their emotions toward it. Facilitating excellent customer care by making your clients feel heard and understood can improve your brand image in various ways, including higher retention rates, improved customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage.
Building customer trust
Customer loyalty is a delicate subject. Building trust and long-lasting relationships between companies and their customers is a complex process where customer care plays a crucial role. Despite offering high-quality product experiences, your customer care strategy can make or break your relationship-building efforts.
Lowering churn
For most people, once they’ve had a positive experience with a business, they tend to come back. When you provide exceptional customer care to every single customer, it’s almost inevitable that your churn rates will decrease. On top of that, satisfied customers make the best brand advocates, so chances are that you’ll get some new customers through word-of-mouth marketing.
5 examples of outstanding customer care
1. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is one of the most popular help desk solutions in the market. Designed to help customers deliver the best service, LiveAgent prides itself on providing excellent customer care. Besides the omnichannel approach, more than 40 languages, and 24/7 customer service, LiveAgent makes sure their customers always feel appreciated.
Being one of the most affordable comprehensive help desk solutions out there, LiveAgent often offers discounts and promos, so even businesses with the tightest budgets can afford to provide great customer support to their clients.
2. Zappos
Zappos is an online shoe and clothing store that prides itself on a personalized approach to customer messages. Rather than sending generic automated out-of-office messages, Zappos’ team takes time to address the customer and even gives tours of their headquarters to show their loyal customers what goes on behind the scenes.
3. Comme Ça Skincare
Continuing the topic of personalization, Comme Ça Skincare sends hand-written cards with their orders. This practice may feel antiquated, but it’s still a great way to make your customers feel valued and appreciated.
4. Starbucks
We couldn’t omit Starbucks from the list of brands that know how to make customers feel appreciated. In this particular case, Starbucks’ team was responsive to customer feedback and recommendations, reassuring them that their opinions and ideas mattered.
5. Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is great at making their loyal customers feel appreciated. They offer various perks and organize events and special occasions for their loyal customer base.
Best practices for customer care
To ensure your staff always provides the best customer care possible, we’ve compiled a short list of best practices you can implement in your business.
Training your team for a personal approach
Offering professional and personalized service is no longer a requirement, it’s a must. To prepare your team to handle all types of customer interactions professionally and with the right attitude, conduct regular training sessions or hold seminars. This way your customer care teams are equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge and skills they can implement in their jobs to receive the best agent ranking every time.
Of course, hiring an expert to lead a training session is not the only option. There are various ways, you can train your staff in-house. Resources such as an internal knowledge base are invaluable not only for newcomers but for everyone seeking specific information in a hurry.
Implementing CRM
Tools, such as CRM, can help you quickly gather relevant information even in the midst of a customer conversation. LiveAgent’s CRM integration lets you pull up customer data including their contact, orders, and other information that can aid your agents in providing personalized service.
Understanding your product
When you’re providing customer care, you have to be an expert in your field first. You can’t promptly answer customer questions and resolve their issues without detailed knowledge of your company’s products and services.
To ensure all your customer-facing employees know the ins and outs of your products, you can conduct internal training sessions and provide them with high-quality learning materials.
Gathering data to pinpoint customer issues
Data-driven approach is your best bet at providing outstanding customer care. Details found in call recordings or live chat transcripts can prove invaluable in pinpointing issues and providing proactive support.
You should also study your analytics to better understand customer behavior, pain points, and other significant data. The Analytics overview is a great tool to help you easily recognize important data patterns.
How LiveAgent can help you maintain great customer care
LiveAgent is an industry-leading help desk software with the sole purpose of helping you provide the best care for your customers. It offers a wide range of communication tools including social media channels, email, and live chat to help you stay on top of your customer communication at all times.
Additionally, LiveAgent’s ticketing system converts all your incoming customer requests into support tickets, helping you navigate all the interactions even during peak days or hours. Of course, LiveAgent doesn’t forget about your agents either. It offers features such as a self-service support portal, an external knowledge base, and predefined answers to take some of the load off your agents’ shoulders and help them focus their efforts on more demanding tasks.
Having a reliable help desk system, such as LiveAgent, can help you automate many menial tasks while staying organized and connected to your customer base. When you’re not scrambling just to answer incoming tickets, you can focus on providing truly personalized and outstanding customer care.
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Conclusion
In the world of digitalized communication, your business success depends on providing exceptional customer service online. Customer expectations keep rising, and if you want to avoid heated customer interactions, customer care should be your business priority. Maintaining happy customers requires taking time and thinking about their feelings and emotions first.
Providing exceptional customer care is vital for your business to grow. Replying to an email once in a while is no longer enough. To always stay on top of your customer requests, you can sign up for LiveAgent’s 30-day free trial and watch your satisfaction scores grow. Remember, customers need to feel heard, appreciated, and connected to your brand in order to become a part of your loyal customer base.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the term customer care mean?
Customer care is the work of taking care of the customer's needs and expectations, as well as giving more than they expect. The customer service team is primarily responsible for this.
Can I start my own customer service business?
Before considering starting your own customer service business, it's important to assess the market demand, competition, and potential challenges. Research the industry, identify the target audience, and understand the specific needs and preferences of potential clients. Consider the resources required, such as technology, personnel, and infrastructure, and evaluate the financial feasibility of the venture. It's also important to develop a comprehensive business plan that outlines the services offered, pricing strategy, marketing approach, and operational processes. Additionally, consider the ethical implications of customer service, such as privacy, data security, and fair treatment of customers. As with any business endeavor, starting a customer service business requires careful consideration and planning to ensure success.
Are customer care and customer service the same thing?
No, customer service and customer care are terms pointing to different concepts. Customer service focuses on answering customer questions, resolving issues, and providing guidance, whereas customer care is a holistic approach focused on building strong, long-lasting relationships, and emotional connections.
What is the difference between customer care and customer experience?
Customer care refers to the assistance provided by a company to address the needs and concerns of its customers. This can include services such as resolving complaints, providing technical support, or offering guidance on product usage. On the other hand, customer experience encompasses the overall customer perception of a company, including every touchpoint from initial awareness to post-purchase engagement. It is a broader view of the customer's relationship with the company, encompassing aspects such as branding, marketing, product quality, and overall satisfaction.
Why is customer care important?
Customer service is one of the most important areas in the sales process. Thanks to this, the brand builds lasting relationships with the client, it can get to know their problems and expectations in detail. Customer service is also the first point of contact with the customer, so it has a chance to quickly respond to their needs.
What is the role of customer care?
In any business or industry, customer care is crucial, as it involves a wide range of activities and responsibilities aimed at creating a positive customer experience, developing strong relationships with customers, and ensuring their satisfaction.
What are 3 principles of customer care?
The first and foremost principle is that customer service must listen to the customer. Thanks to this, the company can be up to date with whether it meets customer needs and receives feedback on what it can improve in the functioning of the entire brand. The second rule is an individual approach to the client. The client must feel that he is being treated as a specific entity and not as one of many. The third principle is being empathetic. Customer service should try to understand why the customer is behaving the way they do.
How should I handle an angry customer?
Not every customer service experience is a pleasant one. Frustrated customers can be sometimes quick to lose their cool, which makes it difficult to communicate effectively. The most important thing is to stay calm. Empathize with your angry customers, acknowledge their feelings, apologize, and offer the best possible solution for their situation. If you feel overwhelmed after such an interaction, take a few minutes for yourself, go on a short walk, and drink a glass of water to calm down.
How is customer churn related to customer care?
When customers don’t feel valued and appreciated, they tend to take their business elsewhere. The lack of customer care and bad customer experiences are often the reasons companies struggle to build a loyal customer base.
What tools can you use to train your agents for a personal approach?
There are various tools and ways to help you set up customer service training. One such tool is LiveAgent. You can combine a wealth of resources your agents can refer to in an internal knowledge base, accessible to all your employees.
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Expert’s note
Expert’s noteEffective customer care goes beyond resolving issues. It's about building trust and lasting relationships with your customers by providing personalized experiences and going above and beyond their expectations.
Andrej Saxon Sales manager
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