Perceber as diferenças entre Serviço ao Cliente e Apoio ao Cliente faz toda a diferença quando se possui um negócio, não importa qual o sector.
É verdade que estes dois conceitos (e serviços) são muitas vezes confundidos. Contudo, embora por vezes se toquem, a verdade é que são diferentes e possuem as suas especificidades. Descubra-as!
What is customer service?
We begin, then, with Customer Service. This concept integrates absolutely everything your business does to attract and retain customers.
Therefore, this type of service strives to provide new tools that increase customer satisfaction by meeting their desires and needs.
That being said, it’s important to understand that this type of service encompasses many strategies and should accompany the various phases of the Customer Journey. In other words, it doesn’t focus solely on sales or after-sales service.
In this sense, offering a wide range of payment options for online purchases or personalized customer service are some basic examples to help your service stand out from the competition.
However, there are also small details you can focus on. When it comes to impressing the customer, every detail counts, even the smallest ones. Here are some more creative examples:
- Place a bowl of water for animals entering your establishment;
- Offer a chocolate or biscuit to accompany coffee;
- Provide drawings and coloring pencils for younger children;
- Congratulate customers on their birthday and even offer a gift or discount;
- Etc.
What is customer support?
On the other hand, Customer Support is the service dedicated to assisting the customer whenever they make contact.
It’s important to note that this type of contact can be made for a variety of reasons: difficulty making a purchase, address inquiries, payment problems, a defective item, and/or even simply to offer praise.
Therefore, a business must create procedures and responses for a wide range of situations, in order to be quick in resolving them, but also coherent and consistent in their responses.
To do this, it’s important to know your business well. Equally important is offering different channels of contact to the customer (whether online or offline, in-store or at the company).
And very, very important is the way they treat customers. Today’s customers expect not only politeness, but also empathy and, of course, quick responses.
That’s why it’s so necessary for a company’s survival to invest in customer service strategies, without forgetting to invest in the training of professionals working in the brand’s Customer Support services.
The truth is that these services are crucial and can make all the difference for a company, and therefore should also be aligned with its values and corporate mission.
This type of service not only makes a difference when attracting new and more customers, but is also essential for their retention. After all, a satisfied customer always returns. And, even more importantly, a satisfied customer easily becomes a brand ambassador, recommending it to others.