Coming out of the crisis with stronger customer relationships
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a massive shift in our world—in our personal lives, in our business lives, in how we run our business and in how we go to market to deliver for our clients. Over the last couple of months, businesses large and small have had to deal with transitioning to working from home, pivoting priorities, and making fast decisions in response to the virus.
As the world starts to resume operations, thoughts and actions need to focus on the safety of employees and supporting our clients through this transition. It has always been true, but now, more than ever, providing excellent customer service can influence customer loyalty, retention and engagement.
- Keeping customers front and center is more important than ever. Companies that lead with empathy and genuinely address customer needs have a greater chance to strengthen relationships. What are their needs today? How can I truly be of service at this moment? Throughout shutdown and post-crisis, a business’s needs may change. Be sensitive to the current state of your client’s needs. Is their focus on safety? Convenience? Security? Stabilization? Pragmatic financial concerns? Meet them where they are and be sure that your client facing teams have tools, techniques and procedures that can help reduce any frustrations.
- Connect with customers across multiple channels. Whether it’s mail, email, phone or social media it’s important to stay reachable and treat customers with care and consistency across all channels. Combining physical and digital options for clients along their recovery and return to office journey will provide opportunity for engagement. Consider video customer service to help deepen relationships, build trust, and connect on a human level. An omnichannel strategy for your customer service team can make the biggest difference in customer experience during a crisis.
- Tell customers what your company has done and can do to help right now. This may mean you have revamped, revisited your offerings or the delivery methods for your goods or services—or will need to remarket the offerings to meet new requirements. Be the source of inspiration and support—show you truly care.
For example, Pitney Bowes prides itself on keeping our clients first, whether by providing leading edge mailing and shipping technology to meet the ever-changing, dynamic needs of businesses today or providing world class technical assistance and support when needed most. Recently, during the crisis, Pitney Bowes was recognized by J.D. Power for providing “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience” for its Assisted Technical Support.*
*The J.D. Power 2020 Certified Assisted Technical Support Program was developed in conjunction with TSIA. Based on successful completion of an audit and exceeding a customer satisfaction benchmark for assisted support operations. For more information, visit www.jdpower.com or www.tsia.com.