In business, customer service is the cornerstone of success. How well you handle the problems that come up in this area is a defining factor in your company's reputation and longevity. ESTO is no exception — like any business, it runs into its own unique customer service obstacles. In this article, we'll look at the most common problems and the strategies ESTO uses to solve them effectively.
1. Communication breakdowns
Communication breakdowns between customers and service providers can cause frustration. Since ESTO's market is multicultural, language barriers and cultural differences exist, making effective communication a challenge.
ESTO's solution
- Introduce multilingual support and use translation tools to bridge language gaps;
- Train staff who work with customers from different cultures. This helps support specialists understand which customer would appreciate being asked how they're doing, and which would see that as an invasion of privacy.
2. Handling complaints and resolving problems
Resolving complaints and questions quickly and satisfactorily matters enormously. If problems aren't handled effectively, it can damage your brand's reputation.
ESTO's solution
- Build a solid customer service protocol that lets representatives resolve problems quickly and decisively, following an established framework;
- Encourage a customer-first approach — actively and genuinely listening to the problem first, then offering solutions.
3. Balancing personalisation and efficiency
Personalised service often works against efficiency. Striking a balance between personal attention and efficient service delivery can be tricky.
ESTO's solution
- Use customer relationship management (CRM) tools to gather and analyse customer data, enabling personalised interactions without sacrificing efficiency;
- Train staff to know when to personalise service based on customer preferences, and when to streamline processes to keep service fast.
It's worth noting here that while technology carries huge weight in fast service, an ESTO team representative didn't hold back when asked about the most common customer service problems any business might face:
"One problem a lot of people run into today is over-reliance on artificial intelligence in customer service, especially in online chat. People like talking to people, not robots. Open phone-line and chat hours are also often set incorrectly. You need to measure and watch when customers most want to get in touch. ESTO's answer to this is support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
Edward Räim
Head of Baltics
4. Adapting to shifting customer preferences
Customer preferences keep changing, shaped by market trends, technological progress, and industry standards. Adapting to those shifts is an ongoing challenge.
ESTO's solution
- Run regular surveys or feedback sessions to gauge customer satisfaction and adjust services accordingly;
- Adopt innovations and technology to keep pace with industry changes and meet shifting customer needs, without replacing the human touch. On this front, other businesses can learn a lot from ESTO's rollout of flexible payment methods. It puts the customer first at every step — they're never blocked from buying what they want, and they get to set their own budget by paying for their purchase on their own terms.
5. Workforce
It's easier to improve a support team member's competence than their character. Even if a candidate has huge experience and seemingly everything the job requires, you need to make sure they carry a set of values that matches yours and the company's — one that lets them connect not just with colleagues, but with customers too.
ESTO's solution
- ESTO makes sure its customer support team is made up of people with excellent cross-functional skills, or so-called soft skills;
- ESTO's customer support isn't just staffed by industry professionals — it's staffed by naturally empathetic listeners with analytical and creative skills who genuinely believe in the brand and its values.
The bottom line
Solving customer service challenges takes a multi-pronged approach. That means aligning your strategy with a diverse customer base, promoting effective communication, and adopting technological innovation, all while prioritising genuinely human conversation. By recognising these shared challenges and rolling out tailored solutions, ESTO has raised the bar on customer service standards, strengthened its customer relationships, and lifted its customer service rating to 4.8 stars on Google.
If you want to learn more about ESTO's customer support tricks, read our blog: Improving customer support: ESTO's skills and strategies.