When I started a reconditioning software company in 2010, I just knew that any success we might achieve would depend on a long-term, committed promise to excel in customer support and experience as much as the benefits delivered.
My years developing high-value solutions for OEMs ground into me several key takeaways: People use and run technology, but they always have people needs that only excellent customer service can address:
• People want what they want (or need), and they want it now.
• Support must be immediate, personable and live; these desires will never disappear. Even robots will learn to expect the same.
• As a consumer of automotive-related technologies for your business, don’t you expect nothing but the best from those tools’ support teams? Of course you do. Time is money, remember?
Partnering with a software provider is a marriage of sorts: It is not the romance that nurtures a long-term relationship but the consistent demonstration of you-first submission, good listening skills, the rare gift of knowing when to ask the right questions — and trust that each has the other’s back.
It’s incredible how poor customer support will damage buyer satisfaction and retention. On average, support data tells us that satisfaction drops by 15% every time a customer calls back about the same issue. It’s bad for business to make people wait.
Surveys by customer service platform provider SQM note that the industry average first call resolution rate is 70%, and 80% is considered “world-class.” These data pertain to call centers of all sizes across various industries. Where do your technology vendors fall within these ranges for the support they provide? What is their first-call resolution, which for software providers is often referred to as fixed first time or fixed first call rate? When you have questions, how many are answered by a live support agent rather than going to voice mail?
“You quickly find out what’s true about a vendor’s support services because we’re all looking for instant gratification, and an automated reply to keep the customer quiet isn’t,” said Jennifer Moore, our director of customer support. She was a warranty administrator and master service advisor for a Jaguar-Land Rover dealership. As you consider technology solutions to improve business operations, don’t short-change the reality that software and user-related problems will arise, some serious. You need them resolved — and now! When they happen, have confidence that you have a solid communication bridge to the prompt resolution you trust.
