Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing.

Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal. 

When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 

 

A telephone conversation helps those customers who don't have an active internet connection reach out to you, and guarantees an immediate response. Phonecalls are also suitable when you need to pacify an irked or angry customer, because it allows for aspects of communication that don't come across through text, like voice and tone. However, if your support staff is not well-trained for phone conversations, or if there is a language barrier, telephone calls are bound to do more harm than good.

Unless you want your customers to broadcast any issues they face to the whole online world, social media channels are best avoided. When you successfully solve an issue, or decide to compliment your customer, though, social media channels are the way to go. If you already have a social media channel, it's best to address the complaints privately on social media rather than diverting them to another channel like chat, phone or email. 

When the customer is new to the product, or if they feel that their issue is too small to raise a ticket over, they can just view your knowledge base and try to help themselves. The FAQs or solutions published there can help reduce your ticket traffic, too.

Know your customers, understand their needs, and enable the right communication channels to create happy customer experiences!

For more information on support channels, check this link: 

Setting up your email channel.

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• Chinmayee Mishra

  

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• Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

  Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal.  When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 

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