Read Time: 9 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
In recent years, tech has given rise to a new ability for customer service teams. Instead of waiting for customers to experience issues, many companies are making efforts to accurately anticipate customer needs, allowing for problem-solving in the earlier stages, before things get out of hand. Not only is this a win for customers, improving satisfaction and brand loyalty, but it also provides smoother workflows and less expensive operations for companies who provide proactive customer service. Let’s take a look at why many companies are choosing customer support outsourcing partners with the tools and skills necessary for proactive customer service.
Key takeaways
- Proactive customer service reduces operational costs and improves efficiency: By addressing issues before they escalate, proactive service is an excellent way to reduce ticket volume, minimizes escalations, and avoid repetitive and unfruitful contacts, which cuts back on wasted time and resources and reduces frustration for all parties.
- Outsourcing enhances the impact of proactive service: The right outsourcing partner can further enhance proactive service through the application of specialized tech, training, and infrastructure, all while providing scalability and cost savings.
- Technology, training, and data are critical to success: Effective outsourced proactive service is dependent on a variety of resources, from a robust tech stack (including tools like AI, automation, social listening, and others), anticipatory training, and predictive data analytics. Correctly aligned with brand voice and smoothly integrated with internal systems, tech, training, and data go a long way towards maintaining consistency and security.
What is proactive customer service?
Proactive customer service is an approach to customer service that entails anticipating customer needs and addressing problems before they escalate to full-blown complaints. Instead of reactive problem-solving, proactive customer service provides a supportive environment with seamless customer experience, fostering trust and preventing customer churn.
Why businesses are shifting towards proactive approaches
Consumers today expect quicker resolutions with customized care. As those expectations evolve and grow, the typical reactive customer service models become less and less effective. Businesses are becoming more aware that waiting around for issues to be reported is costly, not just financially, but also to your operations and reputation.
By providing proactive service, companies can vastly improve the customer experience while streamlining internal operations, cutting back on escalations, reducing the amount of contacts it takes to resolve issues, and allocating resources more effectively. This realization has led countless companies to adopt more proactive customer service strategies, and — even more effectively — outsource them to partners with access to the tools and expertise needed to carry out those strategies at scale.
Understanding proactive customer service
There are significant differences between proactive customer service and reactive support. For one, reactive service merely responds to the issues that customers bring forward, forcing agents to address problems when they’ve already developed to a point worth complaining about, whereas proactive service can nip developing problems in the bud, sometimes before the customer even notices that something has gone wrong.
How outsourcing proactive customer service reduces operational costs
More traditional models of customer service come with high costs, since they bring with them repetitive tickets, clunky workflows, and limited availability for support. Reaching out repeatedly in an attempt to solve the same issue is a frustrating experience for both customers and customer service, becoming a waste of time and money that erodes customer trust. Proactive outreach, on the other hand, prevents waste and frustration, resolving issues early on and minimizing the amount of escalations while reducing overall ticket volume.
Outsourcing only increases the benefit of proactive service, leaning on the customer service partner’s experience, tools, and infrastructure that a dedicated partner can provide, allowing companies to scale their operations efficiently with proactive care.
Proactive customer service in action
Global Response worked with a major footwear retailer which had surging popularity on social media, but was lacking the proper resources to manage the growing volume of customer conversations that were pouring in.
To tackle these conversations more efficiently, the company turned to Global Response, where the strategy shifted from merely handling inbound calls and messages as they came into a fully proactive, multi-channel support model. Global Response took careful stock of the company’s social media mentions, even when those mentions were not by name, and was able to respond in a timely manner, 24/7/365. Global Response used specialized escalation protocols, structured training, and a fully unified Brand Care team to prevent crises for the footwear company and continue to build brand loyalty.
Through this strategy, Global Response was able to achieve 84% cost savings on social media monitoring, as well as a 110% increase in coverage hours, earning the footwear retailer stronger customer relationships through continuous, proactive brand engagement, highlighting the power of outsourcing proactive service to both cut costs and elevate brand image and value.
Key strategies and tools used by outsourced proactive customer service providers
Outsourcers of proactive customer service are able to bring a unique blend of people, processes, and technology to the table, allowing businesses like yours to anticipate and proactively address customer needs before they escalate to something more serious. Here are some of the most powerful tools and strategies that outsourcers can use to vastly improve your customer experience.
Leveraging AI, chatbots, and automation
AI and chatbot tech play a significant role in both analyzing and addressing customer problems proactively and in a manner that is scalable. These tools are able to analyze mountains of customer data quickly to uncover hidden patterns and bring potential issues to the foreground. And all of this before the customer even knows that a problem is emerging.
Specialized training for anticipatory communication
Tech is only one piece of the puzzle, and is only useful and effective when the right people are driving it. That’s why it’s extremely important for outsourcing partners to go all-in on training agents with strong proactive communication practices that are in sync with each particular brand’s voice, employing methods like scenario-based training, tone calibration, and escalation playbooks that give agents the tools and empowerment to act quickly before problems develop.
Using data analytics to predict customer needs
Without data, it’s impossible to provide truly proactive service. Through analysis of customer behaviors, the trends that emerge from it, and the feedback pouring in from various channels, an outsourced customer service provider can anticipate issues in the future and take action ahead of time.
Want to scale your business?
Global Response has a long track record of success in outsourcing customer service and call center operations. See what our team can do for you!
Technology stack for proactive service execution
To execute on your proactive service strategies, an outsourcing provider should be fully outfitted with a well-integrated tech stack. It’s important that your partner use a healthy combination of digital platforms to manage all aspects of the process, from CRM systems (such as Salesforce) which track customer history and allow automated ticket routing, to social listening tools for monitoring online conversations about your brand, to communication platforms that enable agents to follow up with your customers in a timely manner.
Challenges and how to overcome them
There are huge upsides to outsourcing proactive customer service, but it’s also important to thoughtfully consider the potential challenges involved, and whether your partner of choice is equipped to handle them.
System integration
It’s important for any outsourced team that you work with to have a thorough understanding of your tools and workflows, and the capability and wherewithal to work within your existing framework. If a partner is not capable of integrating properly with your existing system, your efficiency can suffer massively. The right outsourcing provider will start working with you early on to ensure that their services can integrate smoothly with your workflow from the very beginning.
Brand voice consistency
Tone consistency across all communication channels allows your organization to present a cohesive customer experience, regardless of where the conversation is happening. The wrong partner can easily break that consistency, creating a customer experience that feels fractured or off-brand. The best partners will put in the effort of tailored training and QA programs, working with your team to develop a comprehensive brand playbook, allowing outsourced agents to effectively mirror your voice and values.
Data security and compliance
It is imperative that customer data is well-protected and that data security and industry compliance are kept a top priority. This can be a tricky prospect when working with the wrong partner. A trusted outsourcing partner will build security into each part of their services, using everything from VPN access and encryption, to compliance with relevant government or industry regulations, such as PCI DSS and GDPR.
Cross-functional coordination
Proactive customer service isn’t limited to just one department of your organization. From marketing and PR to customer care and leadership, all departments need clear communication to prevent gaps from emerging. Ultimately, an outsourced partner can help you to stay aligned and responsive by establishing robust escalation paths, in addition to shared data reporting and regular communication between the outsourcing partner and your internal teams, ensuring that all parties stay aligned on goals.
Conclusion
When you partner with the right proactive customer service outsourcing provider, you can gain significant benefits, including reduced ticket volumes, less customer churn, and customer experiences that foster long-term loyalty.
Consider an outsourcing partner like Global Response, with the tech, expertise, and the easy scalability that your brand needs to provide effective and proactive customer service without breaking the bank.
Learn more about your options and ask Global Response representative about our proactive customer service outsourcing. We can develop a tailored and scalable solution that meets your precise needs.
