March 3, 2024
Higher CSAT with no extra investment
Boost customer satisfaction (CSAT) without increasing costs by optimizing agents, processes, and technology. Discover strategies to enhance customer experience and drive loyalty, from effective CSAT metrics to scalable processes and seamless tech integration.
Suman Saurabh
CX Specialist
Customer Experience
4 Min Read
It's clear that providing exceptional customer service can make a big difference in retaining customers and maintaining a positive reputation. According to studies, just one bad experience is enough to cause more than 61% of customers to switch to a different company. This makes it crucial for businesses to invest in their support teams and find ways to improve their customer service.
However, managing customer support can be challenging, especially when it comes to prioritizing tickets and dealing with upset customers. No team is perfect, and there is always room for improvement. That's why it's important for businesses to constantly look for ways to improve their customer service and provide the best possible experience for their customers.
The role of CSAT as a metric in customer service
Customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys allow businesses to measure how satisfied their customers are with the support they have received. These surveys typically ask customers to rate their experience as good, neutral, or bad. A good track of satisfied customer interactions leads to customers turning into brand advocates.
In one study, it was found that the strongest brand advocates spend 15% more than non-advocates, and they also visit the brand more often. This shows the value of creating experiences that earn the loyalty of these important customers and keep them coming back.
How to change the slope of the curve?
The way we work and do business has changed dramatically in recent years, leading to a rapid increase in digital adoption. Many companies are undergoing digital transformation to keep up with these changes. In fact, 64% of companies expect to increase their investment in customer experience (CX) next year.
It is commonly believed that improving customer satisfaction (CSAT) can be achieved by increasing investments. This relationship can be represented by a line on a graph as shown below.
However, innovative companies and leaders are always looking for ways to change the slope of this line, finding new and creative ways to improve CSAT without necessarily increasing investment.
Improving CSAT without necessarily increasing investment is primarily driven be the following key factors - agents, processes, and tools being used to drive the customer experience.
Agents
When customers have a good or bad experience, they don't typically think about what's happening behind the scenes. Instead, their lasting impression is often shaped by the agent who helped them. This puts a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of agents, who are a direct representation of the company and ultimately affect how people feel about the brand. Hiring the right people and providing them with the right incentive structure and work environment is crucial for retaining talented agents.
Processes
are also important for driving a truly delightful experience for all customer interactions. This includes not only standard operating procedures (SOPs), but also internal processes for hiring, training, and maintaining quality. Companies are spending a lot of time developing the right processes and making them scalable and trainable across all departments. Success in this area will depend on how well companies are able to drive delightful experiences at scale and replicate them across all touch-points.
Technology
Finally, technology has become a crucial driver of customer support in recent years. Companies have found significant cost savings through the use of tools that manage routing of tasks and calls, self-service FAQs, and bots. However, the best technology should be seamless and invisible, like a light winter jacket that protects you from the cold without feeling heavy or cumbersome. The market is flooded with tools that try to do small jobs, but using too many tools can create barriers and slow down. So, making the right choice of tools and products, by keeping in mind their scalability, and impact is going to be a very significant driver of success of the companies for the companies