Don’t offer 24/7 customer support?
The Scenario
Today’s demanding customers want things their way and when it’s convenient for them 24/7. If any aspect of an overall “customer experience” falls below expectations, then customers are on the move to the next company, in the blink of an eye. The world has indeed changed.This is especially true for customer support itself. Think about it. Nobody wants to be involved with customer support anyway. People only contact customer support when something goes significantly wrong, satisfaction is low, and frustrations are high. This support flashpoint is a critical situation for any company. Handle it wrong and it is likely that you have lost a customer forever. And, if your company only offers support during bankers-hours, then there is a good chance you have already lost the game.
However, if you handle the support experience really well, and when it’s convenient, then you get to keep your customer, perhaps for life.
- Americans are telling an average of 15 people about service experiences both below and above their expectations [American Express]
- 93% of customers make repeat purchases with companies that provide a great customer service experience. [HubSpot]
Common sense, right?
59%
91%
If 24/7 live customer
support...
The answer is very simple. Unrealistic Budgets and low service volumes.In order for a company with business-hours only customer operations to make the leap to 24/7 with live support, they must add a minimum of 5-7 agents. This will add approx. $250k+/year1 to your support budget for agents alone before a single contact is received.
• Does your company have sufficient after-hours service volumes to justify this spend? Think like 2000 contacts during nights and weekends before this begins to pencil out.
• Could you make the case to your c-level bosses that $250k+ is warranted for your commitment to customer service? What if you only had 10 after-hours contacts per month?
Only companies with significant after-hours service requests can afford to do the right thing with their customers via 24/7 live support. Everyone else either does not offer 24/7 or they (historically) are stuck with workarounds that quickly fall apart and can actually make things worse for your customers. Examples of such workarounds might include:
• The use of On-call agents for critical calls during the night and weekends
• Self-help / technology-based solutions alone
• Outsourcing your entire support operations to get more affordable access to nights and weekend coverage
• Use of answering service vendors (affordable = yes, quality = no)
Questions
What is the solution for companies that need 24/7 live support and have low after-hours service volumes?
The great news is that specialty companies now exist. The key is finding the right service partner that is simply not dumbing down a full-stack solution that offers neither affordable or quality support at lower scale. Here are the top qualities to look for in an after-hours specialty service partner:
• Exclusive focus for after-hours, supplemental customer support solutions for low volume environments ie> optimized for this exact solution
• Long-term expertise with service model design, best practices and service delivery
• Enterprise technologies for leading capabilities and seamless integrations
• Advanced process, knowledge and workflow engineering
• Effective “shared desk” service team(s) with great CX skills
• Low risk business terms and service trial opportunities
• Affordable, pay-as-you-go “capability” pricing
• Leadership for great strategies today and tomorrow
Summary
The key is finding the right service partner that offers both affordability and quality supplemental after-hours support services in today’s crazy world. The good news is that they are finally out there for the rest of us.