If we consider the current market scenario, it is easy to see the importance of promoting a consumer experience, which leads us to the topic of this article: humanized customer service.
Faced with the high degree of competitiveness between companies, the one that develops good communication with the customer, so that a solid bond is created between them, has the advantage. technological tools of online service can be of great help, however, if misused, they can backfire.
That said, it is essential to make efforts towards the humanization of customer service.
That's why we at ZapSign have prepared this article with everything you need to know about it. Throughout the reading, we will talk about the concept, the advantages of its application and we will present seven valuable tips on how to implement it in your company. Good reading!
What is humanized customer service?
Humanized customer service is a strategy adopted by companies that seek to transcend the robotic standard, increasingly common in the market.. This concept involves establishing direct, careful and empathetic communication, prioritizing the resolution of problems and questions from consumers.
In this context, the company adopts a welcoming and exclusive approach, valuing the customer as an individual, not just as a buyer. The goal is to fully satisfy the consumer, meeting their needs with success and empathy, ensuring a truly personalized and human service experience.
Organizations that embrace humanized customer service understand that mechanical and impersonal communication is tremendously harmful to the consumer.
After all, when the customer often ends up frustrated for not being able to solve their problems, this is bad for the company that drives the public away from itself, for not treating their needs as relevant or important.
Therefore, humanized customer service goes against these rigid and limited practices, based on the understanding that consumer issues may contain subjectivities that computer algorithms could hardly contemplate.
By offering empathic and careful listening, the company improves customer service by treating you as a relevant person and not just another number. And, at the end of the day, any good manager knows that what the customer most wants is to be treated as someone special – something essential to create a relationship of trust, strengthening the bond between the consumer and the brand.
The importance and benefits of humanized customer service
Certainly, all people have gone through the heartbreak of trying to get in touch with a particular company in order to make some kind of complaint, request support or ask any questions, and simply not be able to be answered satisfactorily.
One of the main reasons for this to happen is in robotic and inefficient services – either because of the excessive use of bots, to the detriment of real attendants; by the long waiting times between calls and extension transfers; or even by assistance provided by people trained to perform their functions mechanically and without empathy, flexibility or creativity.
To give you an idea, it is estimated that 67% of customers, when faced with a service performed by bots, just give up and hang up the phone. And, as might be expected, most of these customers migrate to a competitor that makes a human being available to listen to them.
Of course, it must be understood that the digital age has brought us countless transformations and technological resources to help us solve our problems quickly and practically. Of course, apps, FAQs, smart systems, service by whatsapp, and other solutions are important and valid features.
However, there are circumstances in which these alternatives will not be able to provide the necessary answers, and, in these situations, the customer will have to resort to the good old telephone. Hence the importance of implementing humanized customer service in call centers, focusing on dialogue, understanding, personalization and empathy.
Talking to the consumer in an open and direct way, as if you were facing each other, increases the customer's trust in the brand.
By basing service more on dialogue, listening and understanding, and less on plastered scripts and pre-programmed questions and answers, the customer feels that the company is not their enemy and that their problems are also yours.
In this way, the consumer will normally act in accordance with the service, and the entire conversation will take place with patience, understanding and lightness, respecting the company's procedures and the customer's needs, and moving towards the best solution for each problem presented. .
On the other hand, an extremely mechanized service, even if performed by real professionals, can have disastrous effects on the customer's perception of the brand, not only driving them away, but also turning them into a true enemy.
Last (but not least), one should never underestimate the negative potential of one – or several – dissatisfied customers.
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7 tips on how to implement humanized customer service in your company
Now that the importance of proper communication, based on concepts of cordiality, respect and empathy, is very clear, it's time to put these fundamentals into practice.
Below, we will present a list listing the main tips on how to implement humanized customer service in your company.
Empathy with the customer
We have already said that empathy is essential for good humanized customer service, and now we are going to elaborate on this very important concept.
Empathy is nothing more than the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. Therefore, an essential quality when dealing with another person's wants and needs, especially if we think that only 8% of consumers say they are satisfied in their communication experiences with the most varied companies.
By making efforts to observe and understand the customer, the brand makes them feel special and welcomed, making it special for them, and making them come back more often.
Experience customization
In line with the previous item, when understanding the customer's desires and needs, it is also necessary to deepen the practice of approaching them.
It may seem redundant at first, but humanizing service means understanding that customers are human beings, therefore, different individuals, with different realities and expectations, even though they may be part of the same profile.
Therefore, it is important that the conversation between the company and the consumer is less mechanical and more personalized, identifying the context in which the customer and their problems fit.
It is also essential to raise the quality of the dialogue in favor of an experience that prioritizes exclusive treatment and solutions according to the expectations of the client as an individual.
Invest in your team
It is simply impossible to think about promoting humanized customer service without understanding that humanization begins with your own team.
Investing in good training, aiming at proactivity and constant improvement of the customer service experience is as important as knowing your staff, keeping an eye on the needs and desires of your customers.
Have a good dialogue with your employees, as satisfaction in the internal work environment is essential for everyone to perform their duties fully and with high levels of performance.
constant feedback
Always be open to customer feedback. Satisfaction surveys, space for suggestions and other measures in this sense show that the company cares about what its public thinks or feels in relation to its services.
Customer feedback is one of the clearest and most expressive ways of evaluating the relationship between the consumer and the brand.
Pay Attention to the Buying Journey
Knowing which stage of the purchase journey your customer is currently in is essential for the humanized service process. This prevents the experience from becoming tiring and redundant, both for the consumer and for the attendant.
After all, everything flows in a more objective and pleasant way when the same questions do not need to be repeated several times.
omnichannel service
This is a concept that is simply indispensable for the good implementation of humanized customer service. offer service omnichannel it means ensuring that all service channels are well integrated, retaining information and streamlining solutions.
It's no use you offering support on several different channels (chat through the website, whatsapp, phone, Zoom, social networks, etc.), if it is not possible to analyze your customer relationship history.
Omnichannel service presents itself as a good solution in this sense, since, with it, it is possible to map all customer requests, questions and complaints over the time they have been communicating with the company, which makes communication closer, faster and more objective – and the resolution of problems, much more efficient.
Respect customer time
As we have already pointed out above, when faced with a plastered and time-consuming service, most customers simply give up halfway.
Nowadays, time is golden, and this is no different for consumers, who have more to do than spend hours on the phone at the mercy of endless waits and successive transfers between one extension and another.
Therefore, all the practices highlighted above are essential to ensure a service that prioritizes the good use of the client's time and that does not make him feel disrespected. Remember that, when feeling outraged by the company, the customer will not think twice about leaving.
Now that you understand the importance of humanized customer service, we invite you to delve a little deeper into the subject. Check it out here an article that we prepared pointing out the main mistakes made by companies during the service process!
