Newsletter: Growth Hack - Customer Support

Hi there. Ernesto here.

Let’s talk customer support.

Imagine you bought something online and realized that the items were damaged upon delivery. You tried to return it, but there was no available contact. You tried to lodge a complaint, but there was no response.

Hence, you became stranded with the damaged product. When next your friend wants to buy a similar product - would you recommend that he patronize that same brand? No! Why? Because you were not treated right the first time by their Customer support, and it has cast an aspersion on the company as a whole.

Let's get to it - Customer support is the link between a company and its customers. If the customer support is quick and responsive, the company is perceived to be faster-acting and prompt.

Today, I'll take a quick dive into why your customer support is essential for growth and why you, as startup founders or marketing leads, should be more intentional about customer support.

1. Insight

It matters less how you think about your brand - it matters more how customers think of you. If your customers think of your company as rude and condescending, it’s mostly because of the tone of your CS. Brands have had to bear the brunt of unresponsiveness and harsh customer support tone. Invariably, your CS positions you in the heart of people, and it is also a great way to generate feedback regarding your processes and product. Looking for brand insights? Think customer support!

2. Customer retention

Have you ever re-patronize a brand simply because of how they last treated a discrepancy in your order? Most likely! Let’s face it - Asides every retention mechanism in your growth handbook, excellent customer support systems would blow your mind in improving customer retention. 

On the flip side, terrible customer support systems have stopped 82% of customers from completing transactions with brands. Looking to retain your customers further? Think customer support!

3. Trust building

Successful businesses take time, effort, and consistency. More importantly, the ability to establish trust among customers is an essential core of successful businesses. When customer support provides prompt and apt responses to customer needs, your brand shows you care. This builds dependability and reliability on your brand. Looking to build customers' trust in your brand? Think customer support!

4. Increase your customer lifetime value (CLV)

The most important revenue metric is the CLV. CLV is the total average revenue generated from a single customer. To increase how much a single customer spends, they must be satisfied each time they come (as a prerequisite for their return). An excellent customer support system improves CLV because - customers with an impressive CS experience are likelier to repatronize a company, or refer someone else.

Overall, customer support is an integral part for any brand looking to grow.

Make some introspections.

Monitor your CS processes.

Innovate on the existing ones, and keep growing.