Hints and Tips | | Published May 04, 2012

Spring Cleaning for Your Customer Support

It’s that wonderful time of year, time for some spring cleaning! While you’re rearranging your bookshelves, putting away all the winter gear, and cleaning underneath all the couch cushions, make sure to take time to do some spring cleaning around the office, too.

Your customer support probably needs some organizing and sprucing up just like anything else. Like dust bunnies multiplying under the bed, unnecessary dust can accumulate on your customer support over time, causing you to sneeze…well, metaphorically speaking anyway. Knock out those proverbial dust bunnies by making a few changes or upgrades.

Find Out What’s Holding You Back

No matter how good you are or how well-oiled a machine your team has become over the years, there is always room for improvement. Maybe it’s taking a little too much time responding to emails here, or figuring out what customers want there; whatever the case may be, that small pinhole could eventually stretch into a larger problem. The good news is no matter what your issue is, it can be mended. If you take the time to stitch up those small holes now, your customer support will keep looking good and fresh.

Perhaps the time spent answering emails could be sped up with an improvement to the email system. It could be the problem with figuring out more quickly your customers’ needs simply involves rewording the FAQ on your website. For nearly any issue, there’s often a simple, elegant solution.

Updating the Website

Be honest: when’s the last time you looked at your website? I mean really looked at it? No fibbing – I see that “Copyright 2006” on the bottom of your FAQ. Don’t you think it’s time to make sure everything’s in 2012?

Go over every page on your website with a fine-toothed comb in order to weed out any problem areas. You may find not only is your copyright page off by a few years but much of your information is as well. Since pages like a Customer Support Q&A are aimed to help customers, pages filled with outdated info could actually hinder.

Reorganize

Try not to assume anything about your customer service. You may assume your website is intuitive or the process customers must go through to get to a live human is quick and simple. Ask your end users or customers and you may find out differently when they respond. The truth might hurt, but ultimately it can help you heal your help desk woes and make for stronger and healthier customer support!

Don’t just wait for customer feedback – nip the problems in the bud before they strike. Get a focus group together so you can get instant, honest, and in-depth feedback. What they reveal may come as a surprise to you. When the truth comes, accept it, embrace it and try to use it to institute some positive changes.

This reorganization might also uncover causes of some of the other issues listed above. Maybe the website itself is what’s been holding you back from achieving the quick email responses you desire? When spring cleaning your customer support, try to look in every nook and cranny, but always look towards the ultimate goal; making your customers happier than they were when they woke up that day.