Customer service is the provision of service to customers, before, during, and after a purchase. It is the service that is provided by a company to its customers to support them during their visit and to help them buy the exact product they want to purchase. This helps a company gain the trust of its customers and winning their trust means getting them to return whenever they need a similar service or product. In this sense, a company that spends more in their customer service department and trains its employees to offer the perfect user experience may able to succeed more and generate more income and revenue than the others.

Importance of customer service

Customer service is important since it’s the direct experience customers’ face when they shop in your store or online. Good customer service can help a company:

• Increase customer retention
• Decrease cost in customer acquisition
• Gaining customers loyalty
• Acquire insights about company profile
• Provide a source of marketing
• Achieve growth in customer lifetime value
• Build a competitive advantage than other companies

According to various surveys, an increase in customer retention by 5% can increase a company’s sales profit by 25%. Moreover, 50% of customers increase their purchasing with a brand after a positive customer service experience. Also, 86% of customers are willing to pay 25% more to get a better customer service experience. In addition, 60% of customers stop doing business with the brand after one poor customer service experience.

Importance of customer service during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, by leading to work-at-home policies for most businesses, had a significant impact customer service departments.

Ironically, during a pandemic consumers need a great service experience, one that is rich in meeting their emotional, safety and security needs. Let’s look at some factors that show the importance of good customer service during this pandemic:

High emotional levels during COVID-19: The coronavirus has affected millions of people, which leads to intense emotions as are forced to stay at home. Considering this, companies need to please their customers and provide emotional support. Customer support representatives have to be more polite and more cooperative and provide an honest review of the specific product a customer is looking for. Send emails regularly to show your support for them in their time of need.

Financial Distress of Customers

According to a survey, 40% of average-income Americans lost their job due to the pandemic. This is an alarming situation for businesses since they’re in danger of losing their customers due to financial distress. Customer service can play a great role here—companies can provide financial assistance to its long-term customers, they can extend a free trial period or extend pre-existing subscriptions. Doing this companies can build long-term relationships with their customers and provide them with useful resources.

Security and Safety Issues

The contagion of the coronavirus makes people more insecure when dealing with other people and their day-to-day tasks. To help, businesses should build a reliable, safe process of delivering goods to people and make sure its customers trust the product they are getting is safe to use. It’s the customer service department’s job to ensure this by providing complete details about the precautions taken to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

These factors show the importance of customer service in the time of the great pandemic. Many companies are providing their customers with a user-friendly experience they’ve never experienced before, dealing with them according to their needs and problems. The businesses that support their customers and win their trust, the ones that invest their time and money to provide their customers with the most reliable experience are going to be the most successful.