Have you ever stopped using a grocery delivery app after receiving rotten vegetables? Or felt frustrated waiting for a response from customer support for a refund of your canceled flight ticket? Consider how negative reviews from friends have influenced your purchasing decisions.
For a customer, the goal is to buy the best available product, which also offers services that make them feel valued. For a seller, the motive is to be able to sell their product and have their customers keep coming back for more. Customer retention, or keeping them coming back to the product, is vital for creating business value.
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2. Improved Brand Reputation and Perception
3. Increased Customer Lifetime Value
4. Drive Product and Service Improvements
5. Boost Employee Morale and Engagement
According to a study conducted by Forbes, data indicates that a 5% increase in customer retention can result in substantial growth in a company’s profits, ranging from 25% to approximately 95% over a given timeframe.
Leveraging Customer Support for Business Success
What does it take to have an enhanced customer experience? The simple answer is that the customer should feel heard. A popular demand from the sophisticated customers of today for businesses across is to give them their money’s worth. While selling the right product to the right customer is important, it is equally important to guarantee a satisfied customer experience to ensure the growth and profitability of a business. Research shows that a large portion, up to 49%, of the leads generated for any business come from existing customers.
The role of customer support comes into play here. The common assumption is that customer support focuses solely on addressing customer inquiries and resolving issues. However, the impact of quality support extends far beyond solving individual problems—it has a ripple effect that permeates every aspect of the business, contributing to its overall success.
Let’s delve deeper to uncover the role of customer support in enhancing business value.
1. Loyalty and Advocacy
Higher levels of customer satisfaction are the result of quality support, which offers prompt assistance, individualized solutions, and sympathetic interactions. Customers who are happy with the brand are more inclined to stick with it and recommend it to others, which boosts retention rates and encourages good word-of-mouth advertising.
For instance, when a customer purchases a shoe with a long lifespan and encounters a store that both promises and fulfills commitments regarding after-sales service, they are more likely to return to that brand and recommend it to their circle.
2. Improved Brand Reputation and Perception
Positive brand perception is bolstered by exceptional support experiences, which let customers know that the business respects their needs and is dedicated to offering top-notch assistance. A well-established brand reputation draws in new customers, encourages trust, and sets the company apart from rivals.
From the customer’s perspective, understanding that a brand is prioritizing their needs and striving to ensure a positive experience fosters trust in the brand, eliminating the need to consider alternatives.
3. Increased Customer Lifetime Value
Strong relationships and recurring business are fostered by providing quality assistance, which is essential to optimizing customer lifetime value. Customers that are happy with a company’s services are more inclined to recommend it to others, upgrade to premium options, and make more purchases, all of which increase the account’s overall worth.
Going back to the example of a quality shoe purchase and the exceptional experience, the brand can be confident that customers will return to them for any footwear needs and also encourage their friends and family to do so.
4. Drive Product and Service Improvements
Product and service enhancements can greatly benefit from customer feedback and insights obtained through support contacts. Companies may improve their services and remain ahead of changing market trends by paying attention to what customers need, figuring out the pain points, and taking proactive measures to fix problems.
5. Boost Employee Morale and Engagement
A sense of pride and pleasure is experienced by support teams that are enabled to provide great client experiences. Employee satisfaction and retention rates rise when their efforts are acknowledged and rewarded, which also helps to create a customer-centric culture within the company.
Conclusion
The impact of exceptional customer support goes beyond resolving individual customer issues; it influences every aspect of the business. Organizations that take specific steps, such as investing in customer support training or implementing the right support technologies, like an internal ticketing system, to improve their own business practices can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted benefits of customer support. It will enable them to make strategic investments that drive long-term success and sustainability by building a healthy relationship with their customers.
Gartner, Rethink Your Elusive Quest for Business Value, Rita Sallam, et al, 18 October, 2022
Gartner, Implementing Customer Experience Initiatives to Drive Retention and Growth as a Tech CEO, Maria Marino, Michael Maziarka, June 23, 2023
Disclaimer:
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
