The Sameness of Customer Service
Trapped in the Mire of Customer Queries
While small businesses love to hear from their customers, sometimes, it can be overwhelming. Let’s imagine that you are a small business owner in Chicago supplying hand-crafted dolls. The business has grown and the team now has four employees, who among them, stitch the dolls, take in orders and answer queries too.
Yes, for now, there are dozens of queries and you and your team spends a good part of the day answering them. And, this is what really gets to you: almost all the questions are about the same four or five things!
Repetition: A Waste of Company Resources
Many businesses find that 40 to 50% of customer queries revolve around the same things. For instance, the doll-supplier we looked at might receive these questions repeatedly:
- What credentials do you have to show that your dolls are safe for young children?
- Do you ship outside the U.S.A? To which countries?
- What if I want a different color option from the ones on your website?
- Do I get a discount if I order in bulk?
Most small business owners often end up frustrated due to a poor customer service program that takes up all their time on repetitive tasks.
Lost Time and Lost Opportunities
Even larger businesses find that they are wasting time on the same questions again and again. Worse, it annoys customers who can’t get an instant response to their problems.
And of course, for businesses of all kinds, this is valuable time being lost – time that can be spent on building the business by improving product design, raising funding, widening marketing efforts or optimizing costs.
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