There is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now. As the spread of COVID-19 grows each day, more and more Americans are practicing social distancing. Stay at home orders from local governments have mandated the closure of many non-essential businesses. Retailers, restaurants, and service providers everywhere are feeling the pinch. While it’s easy to feel frustrated by the current climate, savvy companies are using this opportunity to rethink their customer service strategies.
Evolving your customer service during social distancing doesn’t have to be difficult. If anything, your organization has a rare opportunity to connect with your customers in times when they need you most. By finding new, inventive ways to serve your customers, you’ll emerge from the COVID-19 experience with a newfound reputation for quality, transparency, and consistency. People will no doubt remember how your business treats them while all this is going on. Use our tips to see your organization through this trying time.
Boost Your Existing Customer Service Offerings
Maybe you already have a stellar customer service department. Maybe your team of receptionists and administrative assistants have risen to the occasion while working remotely. Maybe you’re handling an influx of customer calls better than expected. No matter your situation, there’s always room for improvement. Customer service during social distancing must evolve, simply because we’re in uncharted territory and yesterday’s norm is no longer sufficient.
Perhaps your employees are used to taking calls during traditional business hours. With people working from home, those business hours are becoming blurry. If your team logs off at five, who is answering the phones during the evening hours? A 24 hour call center can help cover the periods during which your customer service team is relaxing, recovering, and spending time with their families. It’s a simple solution to one of the most common customer service challenges.
Curate Effective Solutions
Knowledge management systems are incredibly effective tools. They help keep customer service departments on the same page by sharing information about certain callers, policies, and procedures. Unfortunately, though, the act of collecting these details can fall by the wayside during periods of high call volume.
With highly-trained virtual receptionists covering your phone lines, you’ll never have to worry about this challenge again. With a call center for business continuity, savvy representatives provide the same exceptional customer service during social distancing while also ensuring everybody is kept in the loop. In turn, this helps customer service departments in curating effective solutions to the most common issues.
Minimize Disruptions
With your carefully curated solutions in place, you can help minimize the disruptions your customers may experience because of COVID-19. Look at trends for guidance on what to anticipate and when. Are you seeing an uptick in the number of late night online orders? Place an extra employee on duty to handle the crunch or establish a virtual receptionist service for overflow calls. Perhaps you’re experiencing a delay in your supply chain and must alert customers of the issue. By leveraging data effectively, you can alert customers to potential delays.
Customer service during social distancing isn’t about denying the challenges that lie before us. Instead, it’s about honest conversations with customers and admitting the hurdles we must overcome to provide services and goods with fidelity. Be honest with your customers about interruptions in your supply chain and let them decide whether or not to place an order. Transparency and communication is everything in the time of COVID-19!
Prioritize Safety for Your Team and Customers
You, your employees and your customers all want the same thing: to stay safe and healthy during these uncertain times. When your motivations are aligned in this way, it’s easy to get everyone on the same page. Be prepared to answer questions relating to safety, risks, and how your organization is addressing the pandemic. Customers may request information about how your brand is keeping employees safe, sanitizing packaging, and delivering goods without sacrificing quality. In the age of COVID-19, it’s all about minimizing risk, and customer service during social distancing should address this with honesty.
As mentioned, communication is key. Maintain an open dialogue with each of your customers during each step of the relationship. This will strengthen your ties with them while also delivering on their expectations of social distancing customer service. Don’t focus solely on what your brand hopes to communicate during this trying time. Also consider the kinds of questions your customers will have about your response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Put MAP Communications to Work for You
During these uncertain times, your customers deserve consistency. There’s no better way to deliver consistent, transparent and helpful customer service than with MAP Communications outsourced customer service. Our call centers, virtual receptionists and live answering service make it easy to bridge the gap between your existing customer service department and the kind of support you’ve always dreamed of offering. With so many unknown factors to try and account for, customer service during social distancing will be more important than ever before.
If you’re curious about our offerings, contact us today. We will be happy to listen to what you are trying to accomplish and provide some great options for solutions.
Here are some related articles you might be interested in:
How Your Business Can Communicate with Clients During Coronavirus
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Why Right Now is the Perfect Time to Use a Virtual Receptionist
