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Customer care is one of the most important building blocks of a loyal customer base and unshakable brand image. Let’s delve deep into what customer care is and how can you bring it to your customers.

Customer care vs. customer service

Although both terms may sound contextually similar, they are far from the same. Customer service somewhat falls under the customer care umbrella. It focuses on providing advice and answers, and addressing customer issues.

For example, if a customer reaches out to your company asking about some of your products, they talk with customer service representatives who offer professional advice and answer customer questions. Customer service teams are usually the first line of communication between customers and the company.

On the other hand, the customer care department focuses on building long-lasting customer relationships and promoting loyalty.

Customer care vs. customer experience

Other often confused terms are customer care and customer experience. So, what is the difference between the two?

As we have already discussed, customer care is an approach aiming to build loyal relationships with customers. Customer experience (CX) is a broader concept encompassing the entire customer journey, from the first point of contact to long-term engagement. CX includes all the interactions, emotions, perceptions, and touchpoints that a customer encounters when engaging with a company’s products, services, and brand.

Why is customer care important?

Did you know that American Express research shows that up to a third of consumers say they would consider switching companies after just one instance of bad customer service? In the world of customer-centricity, businesses can’t afford negative experiences leading to unhappy customers.

Now that we’ve discussed the direct impact bad experiences can have on your business, let’s talk about the importance of implementing a proactive approach to customer care.

Enhancing brand image

Brand image is how customers perceive and interact with a business, as well as their emotions toward it. Facilitating excellent customer care by making your clients feel heard and understood can improve your brand image in various ways, including higher retention rates, improved customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage.

Building customer trust

Customer loyalty is a delicate subject. Building trust and long-lasting relationships between companies and their customers is a complex process where customer care plays a crucial role. Despite offering high-quality product experiences, your customer care strategy can make or break your relationship-building efforts.

Lowering churn

For most people, once they’ve had a positive experience with a business, they tend to come back. When you provide exceptional customer care to every single customer, it’s almost inevitable that your churn rates will decrease. On top of that, satisfied customers make the best brand advocates, so chances are that you’ll get some new customers through word-of-mouth marketing.

5 examples of outstanding customer care

1. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is one of the most popular help desk solutions in the market. Designed to help customers deliver the best service, LiveAgent prides itself on providing excellent customer care. Besides the omnichannel approach, more than 40 languages, and 24/7 customer service, LiveAgent makes sure their customers always feel appreciated.

Being one of the most affordable comprehensive help desk solutions out there, LiveAgent often offers discounts and promos, so even businesses with the tightest budgets can afford to provide great customer support to their clients.

2. Zappos

Zappos is an online shoe and clothing store that prides itself on a personalized approach to customer messages. Rather than sending generic automated out-of-office messages, Zappos’ team takes time to address the customer and even gives tours of their headquarters to show their loyal customers what goes on behind the scenes.

3. Comme Ça Skincare

Continuing the topic of personalization, Comme Ça Skincare sends hand-written cards with their orders. This practice may feel antiquated, but it’s still a great way to make your customers feel valued and appreciated.

4. Starbucks

We couldn’t omit Starbucks from the list of brands that know how to make customers feel appreciated. In this particular case, Starbucks’ team was responsive to customer feedback and recommendations, reassuring them that their opinions and ideas mattered.

5. Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is great at making their loyal customers feel appreciated. They offer various perks and organize events and special occasions for their loyal customer base.

Best practices for customer care

To ensure your staff always provides the best customer care possible, we’ve compiled a short list of best practices you can implement in your business.

Training your team for a personal approach

Offering professional and personalized service is no longer a requirement, it’s a must. To prepare your team to handle all types of customer interactions professionally and with the right attitude, conduct regular training sessions or hold seminars. This way your customer care teams are equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge and skills they can implement in their jobs to receive the best agent ranking every time.

Of course, hiring an expert to lead a training session is not the only option. There are various ways, you can train your staff in-house. Resources such as an internal knowledge base are invaluable not only for newcomers but for everyone seeking specific information in a hurry.

Implementing CRM

Tools, such as CRM, can help you quickly gather relevant information even in the midst of a customer conversation. LiveAgent’s CRM integration lets you pull up customer data including their contact, orders, and other information that can aid your agents in providing personalized service.

Understanding your product

When you’re providing customer care, you have to be an expert in your field first. You can’t promptly answer customer questions and resolve their issues without detailed knowledge of your company’s products and services.

To ensure all your customer-facing employees know the ins and outs of your products, you can conduct internal training sessions and provide them with high-quality learning materials.

Gathering data to pinpoint customer issues

Data-driven approach is your best bet at providing outstanding customer care. Details found in call recordings or live chat transcripts can prove invaluable in pinpointing issues and providing proactive support.

You should also study your analytics to better understand customer behavior, pain points, and other significant data. The Analytics overview is a great tool to help you easily recognize important data patterns.

How LiveAgent can help you maintain great customer care

LiveAgent is an industry-leading help desk software with the sole purpose of helping you provide the best care for your customers. It offers a wide range of communication tools including social media channels, email, and live chat to help you stay on top of your customer communication at all times.

Additionally, LiveAgent’s ticketing system converts all your incoming customer requests into support tickets, helping you navigate all the interactions even during peak days or hours. Of course, LiveAgent doesn’t forget about your agents either. It offers features such as a self-service support portal, an external knowledge base, and predefined answers to take some of the load off your agents’ shoulders and help them focus their efforts on more demanding tasks.

Having a reliable help desk system, such as LiveAgent, can help you automate many menial tasks while staying organized and connected to your customer base. When you’re not scrambling just to answer incoming tickets, you can focus on providing truly personalized and outstanding customer care.

Conclusion

In the world of digitalized communication, your business success depends on providing exceptional customer service online. Customer expectations keep rising, and if you want to avoid heated customer interactions, customer care should be your business priority. Maintaining happy customers requires taking time and thinking about their feelings and emotions first.

Providing exceptional customer care is vital for your business to grow. Replying to an email once in a while is no longer enough. To always stay on top of your customer requests, you can sign up for LiveAgent’s 30-day free trial and watch your satisfaction scores grow. Remember, customers need to feel heard, appreciated, and connected to your brand in order to become a part of your loyal customer base.