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Q&A: Tactics to optimize the mobile customer support experience (Includes interview)

Not that long ago the computer was the portal to communications. If your customers needed to reach a business, they would most likely sit down in front of their computer. Today, it is more likely the customer will searching for information using a mobile device like smartphones, tablets and wearable devices.

According to the 2019 State of Service by Salesforce survey, 82 percent of customers are using mobile apps as a communications channel compared to 51 percent of support teams. It also stands that around two-thirds of millennials identified mobile apps as their preferred channel when communicating with companies.

These findings mean that in order to truly provide the best mobile experience, customer support must be an essential part of the optimization process. Customers expect the same, if not a better experience when reaching out via their devices, and the stakes are high. according to Anand Janefalkar, Founder and CEO of UJET.

Digital Journal spoke with Janefalkar about the impact of customer support and provides recommendations for how companies can move at the pace of their customers so they’re not only optimizing the mobile site or app with customer support in mind.

Digital Journal: How important is ensuring a good customer experience for businesses?

Anand Janefalkar: Consumers are emphasizing customer experience more than ever before. There are numerous reports coming out everyday saying that customers are now valuing the experience they have with a company just as much as the products themselves. At the same time, social media has made it easier for customers to share their experiences with friends, family, and more. The combination of these two means that customer experience is and will continue being a significant driver in not only keeping customers coming back, but also in capturing new customers as well.

DJ: How has the way customers interact with businesses changed in recent years?

Janefalkar: Customers today communicate both visually and contextually and are more likely to interact with each other via their smartphones than any other device. What we’ve seen in recent years is that customers want to take that same experience in how they interact with each other, and bring it into how they communicate with businesses. This means not only being able to call a support number, but being able to leverage mobile channels such as text, photos, and videos. This not only provides a better experience for customers, but it also empowers support agents by giving them more context around why customers are reaching out and helps them solve customer issues faster.

DJ: Are customers turning more towards mobile devices to interact with sites?

Janefalkar:The adoption of smartphones, IoT-enabled devices, wearables and more have put the internet at our fingertips, allowing customers to access businesses websites or apps from almost anywhere. Mobile devices have made it effortless for customers to connect and interact with an organization when they want, and how they want. We’re seeing more and more that customers want to be met on their preferred channels of choice. And those channels are increasingly becoming mobile devices.

DJ: Why is the mobile element of the customer experience often overlooked?

Janefalkar:In the past, customer service has been seen as expensive, fragmented from the rest of the organization, and typically an afterthought. At the same time, it hasn’t been until recently that customers have begun to see their experience with a product or company as a significant aspect of the purchase process. However, today, with the growing emphasis on customer experience, companies are investing in mobile at a record rate, optimizing their websites and mobile apps in order to meet customers where they are in order to provide a unique and one-of-a-kind experience that keeps customers happy and coming back.

DJ: How should businesses be responding?

Janefalkar:Businesses need to look at the customer journey they are providing. What and where can it be improved in order to make it as seamless as possible for customers to connect with you and have their issues resolved in a timely manner. It is also important for businesses to recognize that customer support is part of a much larger ecosystem of tools and applications and that the best support centers not only efficiently connect customers to support agents, but can connect data across the larger organization.

DJ: How important is maintaining a consistent multichannel experience?

Janefalkar:A critical part of creating a great customer experience is not only meeting customers where they are and empowering agents with more context, customers today expect to seamlessly maneuver from channel to channel without having to readjust how they are connecting and interacting with a brand. Creating an experience that allows customers to flow between channels with ease can be the difference between a good and great experience.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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