Customer Service Trends to Grow Your Small Business in 2023

If you want to win over customers and keep them loyal to your small business this 2023, you need to provide them with the ultimate customer service experience paired with top-notch digital marketing in Miami.  

Yep, you read that right. Your business’ success has less to do with the products and services you’re offering, and more to do with putting service at the heart of your customer experience.  

From discovery to checkout, to last-mile delivery and post-purchase communications, you want to provide your customers with fast resolutions to their issues at every stage and meet their expectations.

In this article, we are going to share with you five customer service trends you want to focus on to keep your customers happy which will generate repeat purchases, more referrals, and grow your business in no time.  

Link Between Customer Service and Revenue

Many businesses see customer service as an expense rather than an opportunity to create more revenue. However, providing your customers with exceptional customer service can lead to:

• Boost in conversion rate – By answering pre-sales questions promptly, you can help potential customers make a purchase decision faster.  

• More referrals – Happy customers will rave about you online and to their friends and family even if you don’t ask them to.  
• Increase in loyalty – When people are satisfied with your service, especially during the post-purchase stage, they're more likely to remain loyal and purchase from you again.  

Keeping your customers happy and satisfied is just as important as keeping them engaged with your digital marketing gimmicks in Miami. It’s the key to keeping them loyal to your business and buying your products.  

But why are loyal customers so valuable to your small business? Because although returning customers make up only 21% of a business's customers, they generate 41% of orders and 44% of overall revenue.  

According to Emplifi, one in six customers will leave a company after a single negative customer service experience, while 86% of customers will completely abandon a business after two negative customer care interactions.  

Better customer service and a robust digital marketing strategy in Miami can be huge differentiators for your brand, especially when you consider how they can help convert one-time buyers to repeat customers.  

Top 5 Customer Service Trends of 2023

1. Mobile is The Preferred Customer Service Channel

People are now spending more time doing things online through their mobile devices. In fact, out of the 4.66 billion people who are active internet users, 92.6% accessd the web via mobile.  

Moreover, when it comes to customer service, 50% of customers prefer to use their phones to contact customer support, making mobile the most preferred channel for providing customer service.  

With these data, it's clear that optimizing your customer service for mobile should be non-negotiable. It's how you can reach more customers.  

Here are some ideas on how you can optimize your customer service for mobile:

• Optimize your website for mobile to ensure your FAQs page will display and run smoothly on smaller screens.  
• Make sure the contact number on your site is clickable and allows users to call you right away.  
• Improve your website loading speed.  

• The contents of your website should be the same on desktop and mobile.  
• Avoid using pop-ups and other intrusive ads that block a visitor’s activity on your site.  
• Provide closed captions for your video tutorials.  

Aside from optimizing your digital marketing efforts in Miami for mobile, your customer service should also be easily accessible to mobile users.  

2. Omnichannel Customer Service is a Must

From your customer’s perspective, every interaction with your business should be a part of a singular experience, including customer service.  

70% of consumers say that connected processes, such as contextualized engagement based on past interactions, are very important to win them over.  

More than 80% of customers are also willing to give a business their relevant personal information in exchange for seamless online and in-person experiences.  

When your online and offline channels and interactions work together smoothly, your customers’ needs are met quickly and efficiently.  

And, this results in a positive customer service experience that convinces 91% of customers to make purchases again.  

78% of people also said that they’re more likely to forgive a company for a mistake after receiving outstanding service.  

This is why having a real-time, integrated omnichannel system for your customer service is important. It allows you to reply to customer support requests across multiple channels from a single platform.  

It also allows you to create continuity and consistency in experience from one channel to another. As a result, your response time is quicker and your customers are happier.  

3. Self-Service Options

Self-service options allow you to provide customers with online support without requiring any interaction from your customer support team.  

The most common types of customer self-service include online discussion forums, knowledge bases, and FAQs.  

Self-service has become an essential part of creating a positive customer experience. 70% of people expect company websites to have a self-service option.

40% of consumers also prefer self-service over making a phone call to reach a customer support team. This proves that when a customer encounters a problem with your product or service, their first instinct is to look for answers online themselves.  

Unfortunately, 55% of users find web self-service portals difficult to use. If your self-service options aren’t accessible to your customers, they won’t use them.  

And if they won’t use them, then you’re more likely going to need more people on your customer service team to provide the prompt service your customers need.  

Here are some tips on how you can improve your customer self-service portal:

• Feature your most popular FAQs on your self-service homepage.  
• Use screenshots for your how-to guides, videos for your tutorials, and audio wherever possible. This will make it easier for customers to understand your instructions.  
• Update your knowledge base and FAQ content regularly.  

• Optimize your self-service portal so it’s easy to use. Keep navigations simple, use a clean layout, and provide a search box.  
• Make your self-service portal mobile-friendly.  
• Optimize for mobile users.  

Example of customer self-service options you can provide:

• FAQ page
• Community forum
• Mobile app
• Knowledge base or Help center
• Mobile app

• AI-powered  

4. Social Media Customer Support

A lot of people prefer reaching out on social media for customer support because it's intuitive and more convenient than sending an email or call. Plus, they also tend to get faster responses on these communication channels.  

If you’re not using social media, specifically messaging, to provide prompt customer service, you’re missing out on opportunities to win new customers and keep your existing ones loyal.  

When customers message you on social, 32% expect a reply within 30 minutes, 42% expect a response within 60 minutes, and 57% expect you to provide the same immediate replies at night and on weekends as weekday business hours.  

Modern consumers have indeed become demanding. But don't worry, some tools can help you keep up.  

Many social media platforms offer immediate replies. Quick replies are automated responses that you can set up in advance to answer common queries about your products and services.  

What’s amazing about using this feature is that it equips your business to do the following:

• Provide faster response time.  

• Open 24/7.  
• Respond to hundreds of queries at the same time.  
• Give consistent and accurate responses to each question.  
• Interactions feel more personal.  

5. AI-Powered Chatbots Are a Must

To provide top-notch customer service, AI-powered chatbots are a must!

Adding chatbots to your site allows you to provide customer service 24/7 and cater to hundreds of visitors at the same time.  

What’s amazing about chatbots is that they can provide an immediate response to almost all standard questions.  

You can also use them to segment leads from those who aren't quite ready to buy, and push potential customers to take action.  

This allows you to scale your customer support operations and free up your live agents to handle cases that need their attention.  

Here are some best practices when using chatbots for customer support:

• Design your chatbot's voice in a way that would echo your brand's existing personality.  
• Find a balance between adding a human touch to your chatbots without making your audience think that they’re talking to a human.  
• Don’t expect your chatbots to solve every query. Therefore, make sure there’s a live chat agent that can handle things from there.  

• Use the appropriate messaging format to help you effectively get your message across. This means using videos and images when necessary.  
• Integrate your chatbots with messaging channels that your customers use, like WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and many more.  

A Robust Digital Marketing in Miami and Outstanding Customer Service are The Keys to Success this 2023!

Aside from investing in a robust digital marketing strategy in Miami, make sure you take your customer service experience to the next level this 2023!

Keeping your customers happy is the key to keeping them coming back for more and getting them to refer you to others.  

Happy customers are one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have today. They're natural brand advocates that can bring you tons of new business.  

Wondering how you can make your customers happy? At Digital Resource, our team of digital marketing experts will work with you to uncover what makes your customers tick and create a custom strategy that will win them over and keep them loyal to your business.  

Contact us today to get started!  

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