How to integrate customer service into your customer engagement strategies

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Customer engagement strategies create positive brand experiences that keep customers connected to your business. Customer engagement can turn prospects into buyers and buyers into loyal customers — maybe even brand advocates. But, what role does customer support play? By integrating customer service with your customer engagement strategies you can build loyalty and enhance satisfaction to boost brand engagement. This article discusses the importance of ensuring that your customer service strategy is included in your broader customer engagement strategy, and how to integrate the two effectively.

Why integrating customer service into customer engagement strategies is important

Customer engagement is an important component of business success in the modern commercial environment. Selling a product or service in a one-off transaction is no longer the goal. Rather, businesses want to cultivate long-term relationships with loyal customers. That takes customer engagement.

In Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report, "80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.” Plus, their expectations were on the rise. Salesforce also found, “80% say customer experiences should be better considering all the data companies collect.”

Customer service is one area where companies can provide positive customer experiences that influence customer engagement. When customers feel valued and supported, they are more likely to trust your business and to return to your brand again.

Service interactions directly impact customer retention. When customer support efficiently resolves issues and accurately answers questions, the overall experience is enhanced. This, in turn, encourages customer engagement. 

Plus, satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your business and provide positive word-of-mouth, which can boost engagement with existing and new customers. If your business is known for excellent customer service, it can help to differentiate you from competitors. A commitment to service may become a unique experiential value proposition that works to engage customers in your products and services.

Overall, demonstrating that your business is focused on addressing customer concerns and improving their experience can significantly enhance engagement. That makes customer service more than a supporting function. It becomes an important component of customer engagement strategy and long-term business success.

Tactics to integrate customer service and customer engagement strategies

Enhancing customer service can drive engagement. Here are several ways you can provide a higher level of service to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction. 

Understand customer expectations

The better you know your customers, the better you can meet — even exceed — their expectations. Taking a structured approach to learning about customer behavior, preferences, and challenges, can improve the customer service you offer.

A common tactic is to conduct surveys and regularly collect user feedback through forms. By asking customers about their experiences, expectations, and areas for improvement in these ways that are easy to complete, the brand demonstrates that it cares about the customers’ opinions - and it allows the company to gain actionable insights.

In conjunction with collecting data, your team can look at purchase history, interaction patterns, and service inquiries, plus any qualitative input from direct conversations with customers, to really flesh out understanding of customer attitudes and frustrations. 

Another useful strategy is monitoring social media and online reviews to learn what prompts people to share either positive or negative feelings about the company. By keeping an eye on what customers are saying publicly, you gain important input related to their needs and expectations.

The important thing is to train customer service teams using customer intelligence. Being able to map out a customer’s journey and pinpoint their pain points at different points on that journey can drive service representatives' empathy.

Trying to understand overall customer sentiment can help you identify areas of improvement in customer engagement and customer service. In encouraging customers to share their observations and experiences, you nurture a relationship between that brand and customer that extends beyond the transaction.

Empower your customer service team

Giving your customer service team the training and skills to deliver exceptional service as well as the autonomy to be flexible in any given situation can improve both customer experience and engagement. 

Along with training your support teams in product knowledge, communication skills, and problem-solving techniques, you can also provide them with real-time access to relevant customer information. 

Being able to turn to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, for instance, can help service agents resolve customer issues more efficiently. When you’ve trained them in what you understand about customer expectations, they may use some of that data to personalize the customer’s experience, which promotes engagement.

Encouraging agents to suggest and try new processes to address customer complaints can evolve service to better suit customer needs. At the same time, agents stay motivated, which can improve their interactions with customers and performance over time. 

With all that empowerment boosting customer service agent morale while streamlining customer service interactions, the quality of customer support may increase which benefits customer engagement as well.

Offer seamless multichannel support

Just as an effective customer engagement strategy needs to have a multi-pronged approach, customer service should be multichannel. By offering support across many channels (e.g., phone, email, chat, and social media), you provide new and existing customers with a seamless experience across various platforms.

To effectively implement the kind of multichannel support that positively impacts customer engagement, you’ll want to:

• Identify customer preferences using surveys, customer feedback, and analytics to determine which channels your customers prefer. 
• Select the most relevant channels for your audience.
• Ensure that these channels align with your business goals and the type of customer interactions you expect.
• Integrate your systems to allow for a centralized view of customer interactions and ensure seamless handoff between channels.
• Give service team members access to the data they need (e.g., through a CRM) to manage interactions on any channel and provide consistent service.
• Maintain a consistent brand voice and tone across all channels to reinforce your brand identity and create a cohesive customer experience.
• Train customer service agents in how to use each channel effectively. You might provide templates for different channels and common issues, but always allow for flexibility to empower the team.

Promoting self-service options can also see customer engagement gains. Some individuals will appreciate being able to find answers to common questions in an online knowledge base or FAQ without having to contact support. Others will be happy to quickly resolve their concern by working with a virtual assistant or chatbot instead of holding for half an hour listening to tinny muzak and repetitive recorded messages. 

This multichannel support helps enhance customer relationships, meeting customers where they are, when they want, which is essential to a successful customer engagement strategy.

Support proactive communication

Your understanding of customers can help you to anticipate their needs and issues. Doing so, you might improve customer service, and by association customer engagement, by reaching out before concerns arise.

With customer journey mapping and analysis of your customer data you can proactively reach out to send reminders or answer common questions. For instance, you might reach out to existing customers with reminders about a service renewal in a timely fashion. 

As previously noted, taking a multichannel approach for this is beneficial. You might send SMS notifications for time-sensitive communications (e.g. appointment reminders or security alerts) while using social media to provide updates about new features. 

Automation does make these notifications easier, but be wary of relying entirely on trigger-based communications. To ensure your customer service interactions are timely and relevant, you’ll want to maintain a human touch.

Resolve issues effectively

Things will happen. Yet customer service can serve customer engagement when you resolve issues that arise quickly and effectively. By turning negative experiences into positive ones you can enhance customer retention and strengthen their relationship with your brand. A good time to invite someone to a customer loyalty program is direclty after resolving their concern.

Some strategies to prevent frustration and enhance overall customer engagement include:

• Address issues as quickly as possible — without sacrificing effectiveness.
• Provide clear and concise explanations about the issue and the steps taken to resolve it.
• Empower customer service agents with authority to make decisions and resolve issues without needing excessive approvals.
• Equip your team with the necessary training and resources to handle a wide range of issues. 
• Customize your resolution based on the specific issue and the customer’s history. 
• Follow up with the customer to ensure they are satisfied with the resolution and to see if they need any further assistance, which can boost customer loyalty.
• Review customer feedback to identify trends and areas for improvement. Use this data to refine your processes and prevent similar issues in the future.

By approaching each issue with reliable processes and the intention of fostering a positive experience, you can demonstrate a genuine desire to help, which often boost customer engagement. When the customer’s frustrations are taken seriously, and resolution meets or exceeds their expectations, you have a chance to build a stronger relationship. That’s essential to an effective customer engagement strategy.

Personalize customer interactions

Personalization is key to customer engagement. It is essential to effective customer engagement strategies but can also play a critical role in customer service. By addressing customers by name, customizing responses, and offering tailored solutions and recommendations, you can make interactions more relevant and meaningful.

Personalizing customer service can positively impact customer engagement marketing in several ways, including:

• Enhances customer experience to customize interactions based on customer preferences, history, and behavior. 
• Builds stronger relationships by fostering a connection and nurturing brand loyalty.
• Demonstrates alignment with customer’s interests and behaviors by providing relevant content and personalized outreach.
• Increases customer base by anticipating issues and offering proactive support to reach quicker and more effective resolutions.
• Supports offering relevant and timely discounts and rewards that prompt people to join a customer loyalty program.
• Enables targeted follow-up to address a customer’s specific situation, showing that you value their input and are genuinely interested in their experience.

Align customer service with brand values

Training customer service teams in brand values is crucial for creating a cohesive and authentic experience. When customer service and support reflect your core values, customers get a stronger sense of your brand identity. This feeling that they know what to expect of your brand builds trust, which plays a key role in customer engagement. 

Reflecting brand voice and values in service interactions also helps prospects and customers to recognize and relate to your core principles. If they share similar values, they are more likely to continue a long-term relationship with your brand. 

This alignment also differentiates your business from competitors, which can further entice people to want to join your brand community. Satisfied customers, who see how your values have played out in the positive service experience, may also become brand advocates, actively promoting the brand and defending it against negative feedback.

Relevant customer engagement metrics

Tracking key metrics can help you to measure customer service effectiveness in the context of your customer engagement strategies. To assess how well your customer service strategy contributes to engaging customers, consider the following:

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) — Measures how satisfied customers are with a particular interaction or overall service.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) — Gauges customer loyalty and the likelihood of customers recommending your brand to others.
• Customer Effort Score (CES) — Examines the ease of customer interactions and issue resolution.
• First Contact Resolution (FCR) — Measures the percentage of customer issues resolved on the first contact.
• Average Handle Time (AHT) — Tracks the average time taken to resolve a customer interaction, including both talk time and after-call work.
• Customer retention rate — Captures the percentage of engaged customers who continue to do business with you over a specific period.

Customer engagement examples

Let’s look at a few examples of brands that excel at integrating customer service with customer engagement to drive business growth. 

Zappos, an online shoe, clothing, and accessories retailer, stands out for its excellent customer service and personalized interactions. The company offers 24/7 access to customer service to make the brand accessible whenever customers need it. Plus, their support agents are encouraged to engage authentically and empowered to make decisions on their own, rather than following a script or needing managerial approval. 

The company also personalizes interactions and recommendations using customer data and by reaching out to customers to ensure satisfaction and gather feedback. Their core values, such as “Deliver WOW Through Service” and “Create Fun and A Little Weirdness,” are evident in how they interact with customers. They even use good customer service experiences in their marketing efforts, to showcase their commitment to customer satisfaction as part of their customer engagement strategy.

Nordstrom offers another example. Their famous “no questions asked” return policy clearly prioritizes customer satisfaction. The retailers’ sales associates are also encouraged to personalize service in-store and online. They might use customer data to make tailored recommendations, follow up on purchases, and even reach out to customers when new items they might like arrive in stock.

Sephora is another brand that integrates customer service and customer engagement strategies by offering personalized rewards, early access to products, and tailored recommendations based on individual purchase history. The beauty company’s Virtual Artist further blends customer service with an interactive experience to offer old and new customers a way to try on products virtually on the Sephora app.

Customer engagement strategy & A Little Bird

Better customer engagement begins with awareness that customer service can play an essential role. By understanding customer objectives, empowering your customer service team, offering multichannel support, supporting proactive communication, resolving issues effectively, personalizing interactions, and aligning business values with service, you can increase customer satisfaction and nurture consistent customer experience. This benefits your customer engagement strategies and can drive business growth.

Find out more about A Little Bird and the role our agency can play in your customer engagement approach. Contact us today.