In recent times, many BPO industry experts have embraced the fact customer service is absolutely vital to keep the customers satisfied. It cannot be denied that the quality of product or service on offer often takes a backseat when an organisation makes their customers lose time through lack of information or visible lag in customer service responsiveness. This can be detrimental to long-term-loyalty of the customers with a particular brand. Timeliness, now has also been witnessed as a key factor that leads to gaining or losing a sale when a prospective customer needs assistance at a particular point of time. This is where professional inbound call centresplay an important role in the successful functioning of an organisation.

Let us now discuss in detail, some of the major reasons as to why timeliness in customer service plays an instrumental role in delivering exceptional omnichannel customer experiences:

Timeliness in social customer service

In the current era, social media platforms have emerged as drivers to increasing customer base for many business conglomerates. In the recent times, customers have shifted to these channels for service and getting quick responses for their queries. According to a research conducted by few inbound call centressolution companies, almost two thirds of customers turn to social media platforms for receiving quicker customer service. Some organisations which enacted slowly to respond on these platforms have suffered on the customer loyalty aspect, while those who ignored such queries on these platforms have witnessed customer churn which has been detrimental to the long term sustainability of these business units. Some of the in-depth analysis also indicated that businesses who adhere to their customer’s timeliness requirements have witnessed 20-40% growth in their top line.

Optimisation of voice channels

With timeliness in customer service having gathered prominence, many experts are skeptical of the fact that voice channel can be up to the required pace. Customer support on phone has often been associated with long hold times often adding to the frustration of the customers. Most of the recent studies also indicate that more than half of the customers hang up the call when put on hold for longer durations. Some have also expressed frustration about the inability to get in touch with a real customer support executive who can add a human factor to the conversation and pays heed to their queries. This is where inbound call centresenabled with features like prioritised callbacks eliminate the lead time and executives can call customers when they are available. Such call centres also offer IVR menus to their customers that can help customers cut to the chase and save much valuable time.

Personalised marketing offers and sales acceleration

It has also emerged as an established fact customers tend to appreciate personalised marketing offers due their personal nature that are in sync with their tastes and preferences. However, proficient inbound call centresfocus on the timeliness of such offers as these call centres consider it as important as product’s quality and relevance to the customer. They also ensure that such promotional offers are sent well in advance so that customers have their fair share of time to enact on the offer. Such expert BPOs also follow up with last minute offers before the end of an offer. Some of the call centres with the best technology at their disposal use the GPS technology to track the location of their customers and come up with flash offers for a few of their esteemed customers.

Timeliness leads to compelling feedback from customers

In order to have an all-round view of how the customers perceive our brand, their feedback needs to be solicited on a regular basis. Many leading inbound call centresare well versed with the art of conducting surveys immediately following a service interaction. Such call centres believe that it is the best time to get a candid and detailed portrait of customer experience. Many BPOs also conduct periodic surveys for their clients as such a practice will be instrumental in making regular customer service improvements.

We can interpret from the above discussion that timeliness in customer service is as important as delivering the actual product or service. It can also be safely established that customers demand timeliness in their interaction with a brand. It is a constant challenge for any organisation to keep pace with the fast-paced world of omnichannel customer service