What you need to know about proactive customer issue monitoring

Taking a proactive approach to customer service issues is not just smart, it can greatly improve the profitability of a company. Proactivity comes when there is an initiative taken by the service provider to offer help to the customer before the customer ever thinks to reach out. Responding to customer questions as they send their requests via chat, email, or phone comes under reactive approach. Proactive customer service works in identifying the potential problems and resolving them before customers ever encounter them. By being proactive, customers support may increase customer retention and decrease the need for support via phone, email, or chat.

Proactive Support Includes:

Communicating with Customers (on everything!)

Always be in touch with customers. Inform customers about any planned upgrades or changes and even if there is any server downtime that occurs before the customer realizes it. Ask the customers for any suggestions on issue feature or change request and implement them by giving prior intimation to customers.   

Maintaining a Solid Knowledgebase

Maintaining a knowledge base (KB) that has relevant and up-to-date knowledge articles are incredibly valuable. They can save customers time and headaches, improving their overall experience and their perception of your company.  The articles in the knowledgebase should answer at least most of the common customer queries. They can also dramatically reduce the number of calls into your customer support center.

Engaging through Live Chat

Provide a Live Chat option for customers so they can raise issues or concerns and ask questions through live chat support. The support representatives may solve the issue on chat or follow up with the customers and work with them in resolving their issues. Often, the chat option is a convenient way for customers to have their issues addressed without picking up the phone.

Implementing and Responding to Feedback Surveys

For every support request, a Feedback Survey is critical because it aids in understanding the customer’s point of view. It tells you how effective they thought their service was how and lets them know you care about improving your customer support. Of course, it’s also necessary to listen to their feedback and make any applicable changes.

Customer Conversation Monitoring in Social Media

Companies can monitor customer views through social media to learn what the market truly thinks and perceives about a company. Although a customer may give positive or negative feedback, the support team should be aware of the possibility of both and work to address the feedback either way. In the case of a negative post or comment, the support team should acknowledge it and work to provide a satisfying resolution to that customer. There is also need to acknowledge the positive feedback given a thank them for their appreciation. 

Maintaining Reports for Support Ticket Trends

Customers report issues to support teams, and these are tracked in the form of tickets. When using ticket reports, these tickets can be filtered by type so service teams can get more visibility into what types of issues customers are more likely to face and discover solutions to prevent these types of issues from arising, in the first place. You can identify trends and work to prevent future issues.  Also, service managers can arm representatives with better information to provide customers with a solution quickly and accurately.

Overall, transitioning from a reactive to a proactive service desk improves the customer experience and customers' willingness to buy again and/or refer their friends to your company. Becoming proactive in customer support is an opportunity for better profitability that companies should not miss.