We live in a digital age — there are smartwatches, smart cars, and even smart jewelry that tells you to stop slouching. Today, 91 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 use the internet, where they can research, interact with brands, and complete purchases from the comfort of their personal devices.
Yet, 40 per cent of small businesses have not yet invested in a website for their business.
Is creating a website on your list of business priorities? If you are ready to take your business to the next level, a website is a critical step to get you there.
You may already be familiar with the benefits of having a website, such as reaching a larger audience, increased online visibility, and improved brand recognition. A website for your small business also provides another key benefit: A business website can serve as a cornerstone of your customer service efforts.
When users need help, whether it’s to return an item, install software, or learn more about your product features, they are likely to head to a search engine or your website. Your business needs to be there when they search for your website
Small businesses can no longer view a website as a luxury — it’s now a requirement, especially because of the benefits it offers your customer service efforts. Here are six ways your small business website can help drive growth and keep customer service front and center.
Provide Real-Time Customer Service
Customers expect service on their schedule. A business website can provide customers with the information they need when they need it. A helpful website isn't just a convenience; it can drive sales.
Providing site visitors with the information they need to make purchase decisions can cut costs and speed up the decision-making process. Answering questions with excellent content on your site can reduce customer frustration.
Use your website to host a frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) page, how-to guides, and detailed explanations of features, and other content that make up a knowledge management system. Ask your customer support team what challenges customers face and create resources to help customers solve those problems without the help of an agent. Customers expect to be able to use the internet to find the information they need fast, and your website can provide it no matter what time they have a question.
Cut Customer Service Costs
How much does your business currently spend on customer service costs? A small business website can reduce your costs while providing customers with the high level of customer service they expect.
When your website provides answers to common questions and needs, customer support teams can focus on more detailed or complex support requests. A live chat or AI-powered chat bot can provide additional information to customers while keeping call and email volume low.
As a result, your business will have more resources to invest in your customer service efforts, as well as in critical growth areas such as marketing, product development, or sales.
Elevate the Customer Experience
When looking for information about a brand, most of your leads and customers would rather avoid an automated call system and instead find the answer to their questions with just a few clicks online. Most of us prefer to access information online, especially due to recent events. In fact, “87 per cent of service professionals say customers have increased their use of digital channels during the pandemic.”
A customer's experience with a business impacts how they feel about a brand, if they make a purchase, and whether they recommend that brand to friends and family. When leads and customers can easily find the information they need on your business website, they are more satisfied. That translates to positive feelings about your brand.
An easy-to-navigate website with clearly labeled pages and an internal search feature helps customers find the information they want fast. As a result, they associate your business with a positive experience and are more likely to buy from you or recommend you to their friends.
Access More Customer Data
A deep understanding of who your customers are can improve marketing campaigns, increase personalization efforts, and help your sales team know what your leads and customers actually want from your small business. But gathering customer data can be a challenge, especially for small businesses that may not know where to start.
Your website can provide you with the data you need to drive business decisions, including decisions related to customer service. Tracking user data can help you better understand the ages, locations, and languages of your audience, what campaigns and pages they interact with, the actions they take on your website, and more.
Connect your website to your CRM. Doing so can provide detailed customer behavioural data as well. You may see a new customer is spending a great deal of time reading documentation and watching how-to videos in your knowledge base. This could indicate that your onboarding process needs improvement or that a customer service call — just to check in — is in order.
Accessing this kind of customer and lead data can provide your business with critical information you need to better serve your customers.
Drive Leads from Your Website to Your CRM
Customer service isn't just about providing current customers with answers to questions. It is also about providing leads with the information they need to convert and make a purchase.
A website is a resource guide, and it should also serve as a marketing asset. A well-optimized website built with your audience in mind can turn casual browsers into leads and customers. For example, directing website visitors to a webform or downloadable guide is one way to fill your sales pipeline and better understand who your customers are and what they need.
Lead information can then be added to your CRM platform, where it can be scored. Then you can nurture leads through an automated email campaign and pass the most qualified leads off to sales. Part of customer service is making transactions easy to complete, and smoothing the transition from lead to customer will increase your customers’ satisfaction with your business.
Monitor Users Through the Customer Journey
Collecting data throughout the customer journey provides critical information about how your customers find your business, what information they need to navigate the buying process, and, when applicable, where and why they decide to drop out of your company’s sales funnel.
How do your leads turn into customers? What frustrates customers and causes churn? Tracking the customer journey on your website helps your business discover issues and find where leads are getting lost. That way you can provide the service touchpoints they need to get back on track.
By connecting your website with your CRM platform, you can track data such as which pages customers are likely to visit before requesting a product demo, how many pages they visit and how long they stay on them, and which pages are most popular. For example, suppose a large percentage of visitors leave your website after briefly visiting a page that shows your pricing structure. In that case, your copy might not explain the benefits you offer in enough detail, and the page needs to better guide visitors to the explanation of your prices.
This data can also highlight areas where customers struggle. Learn where the friction is in your sales funnel so you can focus on providing the service and guidance they need.
Scale Customer Service Efforts
Small businesses generally have smaller budgets than their larger competitors, and this can limit scaling efforts. For instance, if your sales increase by 25 per cent, will customer service calls increase as well? If your customer service agents are currently struggling to keep up with customer demand, that could create a stumbling block to growth.
On the other hand, your website and digital assets are much easier to scale as your business grows. Talk to your customer service representatives and ask what kind of content would help alleviate their workload. Proactively working with your agents to provide new content and methods for customers to help themselves through your website helps your business shift to a proactive approach to customer service.
Conclusion
Delivering fantastic customer support and service isn't just about increasing the number of satisfied customers. Providing reliable customer service can also help your small business compete more effectively and drive expansion.
If your business is looking to grow, a website that connects to your CRM platform and other business tools is crucial. Use your website to help customer service — and the rest of your company — help your customers and increase their satisfaction in your small business.
