10 Facts About Customer Service Every Company Needs to Know [Infographic]
There’s only two ways you can improve the operations of your business, increase sales or decrease costs. While outsourcing is a proven way to decrease costs, but did you know that it’s proven to increase sales?
Customers are the lifeblood of any business and far too often companies become laser focused on customer acquisition while paying less attention to individuals who already have already demonstrated interest in their offerings. Every time a customer reaches out to your support team, an opportunity is created. Now days, most companies understand they need to support their customers, but what many fail to do is energize their customers by creating an overwhelmingly positive experience.
As the saying goes “it takes years to build a reputation but just moments to ruin it.” If you think about this for a moment, you’ll understand just how one bad experience can cost your company enormously in the long run.
If your company isn’t focusing on its customers, soon you won’t have any to focus on. The reality now days is customers have a voice in the success of your business and they can very quickly change the direction your company is moving in.
Here’s some facts about customer services every manager needs to know.
4 Reasons Why Outsourcing Sales Is The Winning Formula For Startups
If you’re running a start-up, you know there’s not a lot of room for error. In the early stages of the game, resources are limited and a failure to maximize what you have could put your new company in dire straights in short order.
The unfortunate reality is 80% of all new businesses fail within the first 18 months.
Why do they fail? VisualCapitalist cites cash flow problems as the number one reason business reach an early demise.
Or simply put, they had more money going out than they had coming in.
Most of the time founders and their teams spend the vast majority of their time and internal resources with their offering, not fully realizing possible cash flow problem until it’s too late.
So the question is, how do you make the most of your internal resources and still work towards sustained growth?
The answer, outsourcing.
Regardless of what you’ve been lead to believe, angel investors and early stage VC’s fund less than 1% of all startups. Fact is, 57% are funded by credit cards and personal loans. Another 38% of startups ask for small loans from family and friends.
If you’re one of these types of business, your objectives are simple
- Launch your product and/or service as soon as possible
- Bring in revenue as quickly as possible.
- Reduce overhead and maximizing profits as much as possible
Grow Revenue and Reduce Overhead by Outsourcing Sales
Growth is the primary objective of every company. Regardless of its revenue growth or sales growth, growth needs to be your main objective from the beginning. But many times cash-strapped companies don’t have the cash they need to build a fully managed sales team. That’s where sales outsourcing can truly be a game-changer.
For start-ups, outsourcing sales simply makes good sense for the following reasons:
- Timing – For startups or established businesses looking to test new products and markets, outsourcing allows for a very quick transition to a fully trained, experienced and cohesive sales team.
- Recruitment – With unemployment at an all time low, it’s becoming more and more expensive to locate and compensate the outstanding talent you need to grow your business. Additionally, with recruitment for good salespeople at an all-time high, companies are constantly in danger of losing qualified talent. Sales Outsourcing Organizations are not only much more cost-effective, they are not as susceptible to recruitment from the competition, which allows you to build a more experienced and stable workforce.
- Costs – It goes without saying that outsourcing reduces spending, it’s the number one reason companies outsource. In fact, a recent study found that companies save an astonishing 60% annually by outsourcing.
- Management – Sales Outsourcing Organizations come to the table with a number of successful sales models. Included in these models are clearly defined quotas and KPI’s which are reported to you on a regular basis giving you a very clear understanding of how they are performing and where improvements need to be made. They manage everything in that process including recruitment, hiring, benefits, workspaces, internet and more.
Outsourcing your sales simply makes good business sense. Outside of reducing overhead and improving cash-flow, it benefits start-up companies by allowing them to scale at will and prospect into new and potentially profitable markets without spending a lot of money.
Ready to accelerate your growth though outsourced sales? Click here for a free quote.
Drive more eCommerce sales with 24/7 live chat
44% of online shoppers state that the ability to ask questions to a person questions via live chat is one of the most important feature an online store can offer.
As you may have heard, Customer demands are changing dramatically. Offering limited channels for your customers questions will result in dissatisfied customers, which leads to bad reviews and lost sales. Now days, offering only email support complemented by limited phone support hours just isn’t going to cut it anymore.
Hello merchants, and welcome to our new service-based economy.
Lucky for us, live chat is here to help us save the day. And our business.
“Customers are gravitating more towards live chat as their preferred channel”, as per the senior manager of data and analytics at Zendesk says. Chat tool has been building more confidence in a user’s experience simply because it added a sense of human touch. The hyper-connected society just needs someone to be always there when they need to have information.
42% of consumers say that they prefer live chat functions because they don’t have to wait on hold.
Now days potential customers want instant answers. They want instant communication, and they want your company to be available when they want to talk, which isn’t always during typical work hours.
Adding 24/7 live chat will increase sales.
Not only does it result in increased customer satisfaction, it has a direct impact on sales. One company, Paleo Treats estimates that as much as 20% of their sales occur after a live chat conversion.
Why? Engagement is important to customers. As an owner of a business, or a person responsible for bringing sales into a company, you need to take advantage of every engagement opportunity a customer gives you. Engage, Engage, Engage! Yes, the human touch still matters.
Even today, 83% of online shoppers need support to complete a purchase. And if they don’t get that help, they’ll abandon the online purchase and find another company who will give them quick answers to their questions.
Keeping the customers happy with your products and services is always non-negotiable. Adding live chat to your eCommerce store gives you the opportunity to create an exceptional customer experience.
63% of customers said they were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat as opposed to one that doesn’t.
Getting Started with Live Chat
Finding a cost-effective live chat solution for your businesses isn’t incredibility difficult. A simple Google search for “live chat software” will produce hundreds of results from companies like livechat Inc, LivePerson and more. Most of these companies price their software on a per-seat or per-agent basis. Prices range from $14.95 per seat and up.
Many live chat services want to charge you for additional features and engagements beyond what’s included in their standard packages. Therefore it’s important to thoroughly research each one to insure you don’t get unexpected charges at the end of the month.
Also review the features they provide and make the platform you select aligns with the needs of your business.
92% customers feel satisfied when they use the live chat feature
Adding 24/7 Live Chat
Live chat is only effective if someone is on the other end of the chat answering customers questions. Nothing is more frustrating then seeing a live chat button and clicking on it, only to discover they live chat system wants you to “Leave a message” so someone can get back to you later.
End result of that exchange? No sale.
The good news is adding 24/7 live chat isn’t nearly as difficult as you might think. Companies like OnSource.co specialize in building impactful customer engagements that drive sales 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can build entire omni-channel support teams, or complement your existing team through cost-effective staff augmentations. So now, you can have someone answer your calls and responding to your live chats.
Conclusion
As competition in business is increasing every day, there is no wrong on staying ahead of your competitors. This isn’t just applicable to big companies but business of all sizes. Clearly, the live chat tool gives importance of providing real-time customer service and selling in an upturn. All business minded just want to be one step ahead of the competition.
It can be a huge factor in the growth of your business and the live chat option is definitely a good idea.
Let us know what you think about adding the live chat tool to your eCommerce business. We’d love to hear from you.
Lead Generation: A Beginner’s Guide to Outsourcing Lead Gen
Lead Generation is the process of acquiring and fostering highly qualified leads for your business. Although you may not have considered it before, moving your lead generation to an organisation that has the tools to effectively do it, guarantees and increase contact and conversion rates. It means that you are giving the responsibility to experts in the field who have access to the right knowledge and tools. The leads they deliver to you are likely to have a better chance of converting to contracts and sales.
How though, do you outsource your lead generation? In the following article we will highlight 5 key tips for doing this the right way.
Find the Best Partner
The best way to find the right lead generation company, like any other outsourced partner, is through word-of-mouth recommendations from business contacts and associates. There are quite a few websites that aim to connect outsourcing agencies with businesses. When determining if a partner is right for you, look at their background and ask them for some samples of the work they carried out for previous or existing clients.
Draft a Detailed Contract
In order to ensure your partnership works, make sure that you draft a detailed contract that outlines the specifics of what you expect from the lead generation agency. Include everything from the cost and scope of the work, to the management and disengagement plan. Misunderstandings can arise as a result of failing to provide all the necessary details and instructions. At OnSource, we separate out lead generation into do different segments. Lead prospecting and lead fostering. Lead prospecting brings highly-targeted leads to your inside sales reps to manage, while lead fostering establishes the initial contact, finds the decision maker and prequalifies them. The later is sometimes referred to as “Appointment Setting”.
Ensure They Will Provide You With End-To-End Solutions
There needs to be a full end-to-end solution for outsourcing to ensure that all tasks are completed. This also allows for the biggest amount of outputs to be used for the lowest cost, because it decreases the number of employees required.
Consider how valuable a longer-term approach to nurturing leads will be for your business. Also, look into the number of a prospective lead generation company’s clients that have closed deals in the last phase that were based on leads that were outsourced.
Manage Your Expectations
You need to develop practical expectations when it comes to the return on investment you are looking for. Remember, the expectations are determined by the kind of leads you opt for. While you wait a long time for the ROI on the top funnel leads, you can establish a way to gain and give feedback about the quality and value of the leads you receive. Bear in mind also, that even if the ROI is negative or low, it doesn’t mean you should immediately drop outsourcing as a form of lead generation.
Analyse the Results
Always make sure that the levels of your service are outlined in business terms. Evaluate new opportunities, ideas and initiatives with partners with a fixed basis in mind. Identify by how much your relationship with an outsourcing agency has increased the time-to-market, quality and efficiency of your business.
Also, measure and fully describe the lead generation and relationship processes. Always update the company on how good or bad the lead they generated was. Both the positive and negative feedback can help the company provide you with better leads in future.
Looking to generate more leads for your business? We can help. Contact us for a 10 minute business evaluation.
The 3 Primary Reasons Companies Chose to Outsource
Outsourcing has been customary for most growing companies and a familiar concept to many entrepreneurs. The fact is, outsourcing ( when done correctly ) is a very effective way to grow a business while decreasing overhead.
Here are 3 reasons why you should outsource your eCommerce business.
Whether you are starting out, or managing a company managing 1MM a month in sales, outsourcing gives you the ability to scale and grow without compromise.
Here are 3 ways outsourcing can help your business grow:
Cost Optimization
One of the most obvious reasons companies look to outsourcing is reduced overhead. As an organization, becoming more cost-effective is the most crucial factor to improve the balance sheet of a company. Of course, companies want this cost-savings without reducing the quality of work. This is the primary challenge with outsourcing. How do I make my outsourced workforce more cost-effective while increasing ( or at least, maintain ) the quality of work?
Want to learn how we help companies increase sales and profitability? Click here
Stay Focused
Outsourcing (we like to call it “OnSourcing”) allows you to stay focused on your core competencies, like the strategic growth your business. Think of the tasks that you and/or your team is doing right now. Now grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle, on one side put the tasks that are repetitive and can be safely managed through a process and on the other side, list tasks that require strategic thought and forward thinking. Did you notice the repetitive task list is quite long compared to the strategic? The truth is, over 70% of an employee work days spend on tasks that could be outsourced.
Outsourcing allows you and your team to stay focused on your businesses primary objective, increasing revenue.
Access to Experts
Outsourcing gives you immediate access to a variety of expertise, instantly. Once again, I invite you to look at your current team and the tasks they are doing. You may notice you’re asking some employees to stretch themselves into areas they have little or no experience in. This could be simply because your company doesn’t have the financial resources, or you’re trying to hire for these roles but not coming across any qualified candidates.
Whatever the reason, outsourcing gives you access to the cost-effective resources your company needs to grow.
When you outsource, don’t have to worry about training, recruitment, and other HR related expenses. You simply need to focus on creating the processes and procedures that allow the outsourcing company to operate effectively and efficiently.
CONCLUSION
Outsourcing certain business processes slash overhead, enabling enterprises to optimize revenue. Achieving cost-effective and sustainable growth is an absolute requirement for every company, regardless of its size. Nowadays, companies on a sustainable growth trajectory understand that the best way to achieve this is by accessing a global, on-demand workforce.
eCommerce companies face even more challenges, as building, maintaining and marketing online requires technical expertise not typically required by traditional “brick and mortar” type businesses.
Now more than ever, companies are looking outside their geographic “comfort zone” to grow. Don’t wait, now is the time to build the solid outsourcing foundation your company requires needs to reach its objectives and compete on a global scale.
Is your company ready for rapid growth? Click here
We’d love to hear your thoughts, share your opinions on this one.