According to a Zendesk’s report that evaluated more than 4,400 startups worldwide, more than 70% of the founders and decision-makers reported that they do not have a formal customer service strategy.
This was one of the findings of The Startups CX Benchmark, a report by Zendesk, Inc. in which it analyzes more than 4,400 start-ups SMEs from around the world.
The report shows that, within the group analyzed, although there is no single business approach, success stories have one thing in common: the ability to provide more comprehensive support to customers from the start. For this reason, many companies are missing the opportunity to offer experiences that set them apart from their competition and thus ensure long-term business success.
According to the report, fast-growing startups – those that doubled the number of customer service agents in the first two years of Zendesk use and have 18 months or less in publicly disclosed funding rounds – have made larger investments and accelerated in your customer experience (CX) strategies. 33% of these companies are more likely to add omnichannel or multichannel support in the first two years. The result is faster resolutions (about half the time customers expect), better staff efficiency, and more options for customers to find the support they’re looking for, leading to an improved CX.
Six actions to improve the customer service
The report identified six actions that companies should focus on to operate as a fast-growing startup in the first two years, in order of priority:
• Set up a customer service feature that prioritizes speed and convenience for your customers and service teams.
• Add live channels, such as phone and chat, which are faster alternatives to email and web requests.
• Start messaging channels, such as social networks and WhatsApp, to reach customers through the channels they use daily.
• Set up a help center or FAQ that includes at least 30 articles that answer the most common questions.
• Every six months, introduce at least one new application or integration to your customer support platform to increase support agent productivity and streamline workflows.
• Maintain between three and eight hours the time for the first response and resolution of the service.
The data also indicated that faster-growing startups directed more resources toward self-service and live channels such as phone and chat. Additionally, unicorns (or startups valued at more than $ 1 billion) adopted even faster live channels for their data collection. They also prioritized adding self-service features like help centers 61 percent faster than other startups in their first year.
“Startups that want to excel must invest in building a strong foundation in customer experience from the start,” said Jeff Titterton, director of marketing for Zendesk. “Customers expect more from companies, regardless of size, age, or industry. Having differentiated customer service can be the difference between stopping climbing and becoming a successful and fast-growing startup, ”he added.