The B2B customer service experience goes beyond call centers and service emails–nudging its way to voice calls, social media, live chats, and self-help resources, and becoming the binding force for omnichannel communication.

There are a few key questions that businesses often google about customer service experience. We want to share some of our perspectives while covering these questions and helping businesses scale their customer reach.

Let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions about customer service experience. 

#1 What is B2B Customer Service Experience?

Customer service experience is a sentiment associated with a brand’s ability to deliver personalized, meaningful, and timely assistance to customers. Its definition must go beyond the archaic understanding of a siloed call center approach to a much more pervasive one. What is considered customer service experience today is much more complex and comprehensive than it was years ago.

The digital, economic, and social changes that we witnessed in the aftermath of the pandemic, have changed customer expectations. Consumers today shift through digital channels and seek personalized, connected, and positive experiences. There is a need to create more intent-based customer journeys, to engage customers at the right channel, at the right time, and with the right context. 

It’s not just about capturing customers’ attention at every touchpoint but guiding them throughout customer lifecycle. This is where customer service experience plays a major role, in helping businesses with their growth, reputation, and customer retention.  

#2 What are the best practices to enhance the Customer Service Experience?

There are three key requirements to delivering a purposeful customer service experience - understanding user persona and behavior, identifying the right communication channel, and understanding the measurement metrics. You can duly fulfil these requirements with the following practices: 

a). Understand customer behaviour and needs

To deliver a seamless customer service experience, it is important to first segment users based on their digital behaviour and determine B2B customer engagement strategies and best-suited communication channels. Contact centres can enable intent-based customer journeys by identifying key customers’ attributes and characteristics. 

Read More: How Contact Centers Can Create Intent-Based Customer Communication Journeys

Mckinsey identifies four key personas, where each has a liking for specific digital touchpoints to interact with businesses. 

i). Digital by lifestyle: These people are the archetypal omnichannel consumers who are heavily invested in digital environment and spend a lot of time in front of screens. For recommendations, feedback, complaints, reviews, purchases, etc. they rely solely on their digital networks. 

ii). Digital by choice: They are very selective in using digital media. They adore watching videos on Netflix or YouTube, prefer to check in online to in person, only shop online, etc. Depending on their needs, they can transition between digital and offline channels.

iii). Digital by necessity: They communicate with brands on digital platforms even if it is outside of their comfort zone, out of sheer necessity. 

iv). Offline society: They prefer staying in the cocoon of the non-digital world and rely more on in-person communication. They like to physically visit bank branches, shop in brick-and-mortar stores, and usually avoid any form of digital communication.

For example - Let’s say you want to engage someone who falls under the ‘Digital by lifestyle’ category. You can leverage self-service tools or chatbots to address queries on order cancellation, device installation, change of subscription plans, etc. Similarly, to engage someone who falls under the ‘Digital by choice’ category and wants seamless, transparent, and consistent conversations with service agents - you can make Voice Call central to your omnichannel communication strategy.

b). Establish a credible brand identity across touchpoints 

In an omnichannel environment, it’s important to deliver a consistent customer service experience across channels, be it Voice Call, Email, Chatbot, Website, or SMS. You need to weave both digital and traditional touchpoints to educate and assist customers through critical processes (pre-sales, order delivery, service, feedback, etc). The key is to have personalized, contextual, and timely conversations that establish credibility. 

The four ways to have trusted customer communication and elevate your B2B customer service experience.

First, get your customer service numbers listed on Truecaller Business Program to display a branded Caller ID when calling customers. With Truecaller Verified Business Caller ID solution, you can put forward a credible brand identity with the green screen, non-editable brand name and logo, verification badge, and business category tag. Customers can instantly recognize your brand and your customer service agents can connect with them at the very first instance. 

Second, have transparent customer communication. You can further build your brand reputation by being clear, transparent, and straightforward in your customer communication. For example, if Voice Call is your primary touchpoint, then with Call Reason (which comes with our Verified Business Caller ID package), you can set the right expectations for customers before the call is picked up. 

Third, reach customers at a suitable time. Calling customers frequently in a day (assuming they have missed your calls) can backfire. Identifying your high-intent customers and reaching out to them in a suitable time window is essential. By using a feature like Call Me Back (a part of the Truecaller Verified Business Caller ID solution), you can enable interested customers to request a callback so that your representative can connect with them later.

Read More: Get Clear Idea of Your Customer Intent With Call Me Back

Fourth, add further differentiation to your Caller ID. Using our Video Caller ID feature, you can run use case-based videos in the backdrop of your Verified Caller ID - adding an extra layer of brand identity and delivering a more lively calling experience to customers.

#3 How can we measure B2B customer service experience? 

By now, we have already established that customer service experience is so important, and because it is so important, it is also undeniably essential to measure. 

There is, however, more than one way to measure customer service experience. 

a). Net Promoter Score

Calculating a Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the most common measure of customer service. The score will let you know whether your customers love your brand or aren’t a fan. 

This method includes collecting customer feedback to rate their experience on a scale of 0-10. Scores ranging between 0 and 6 are detractors, 7-8 are passives, and 9-10 are promoters. To determine NPS, you must subtract the percentage of detractors from the promoter responses. 

Once you have the score, you can work on improving or maintaining a decent customer service experience for those that are passives or detractors. 

b). Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Another famous metric is the CSAT score, which is one of the most straightforward ways of measuring customer experience. 

Moreover, it is also effortless to calculate. You just need to send a survey to your customer right after he has made a purchase or had an interaction, depending on your type of business. The survey will ask how satisfied the customer was during his engagement with your brand. 

The CSAT score is nothing but the average of that survey. 

It is a great way to get an instant response on whether the customer enjoyed their service experience. 

The customer service or customer experience as a whole can feel very abstract. It's true that it is beyond hard to measure things like brand loyalty, but these metrics can help make the abstract a bit more understandable and tangible. 

Plus, you can never improve something you can’t measure. 

Customer service experience: The most underrated asset of any business

We have already discussed the importance of customer service experience. Let’s summarize this article with a few interesting facts on customer service experience. 

Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-service-stats

• Investing in a new customer is about 5 to 25 times costlier than retaining the existing ones.

• If your customer service is excellent, over 75% of customers will transact with you, even after you make a mistake.

• 54% of buyers say they want all customer experiences to be personalized.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is B2B customer service experience different from B2C?

The B2B customer service experience diverges from B2C primarily in the complexity and scope of interactions, as B2B relationships typically encompass multiple stakeholders, extended sales cycles, and significant transaction volumes. Moreover, B2B focuses on cultivating long-term partnerships anchored in trust and reciprocal benefits, necessitating an in-depth understanding of the client's business needs and the delivery of personalized, expert service.

What are some common challenges in delivering a high-quality B2B customer service experience?

The provision of a high-quality B2B customer service experience frequently encounters obstacles such as managing the diverse expectations of multiple stakeholders and ensuring service consistency across various channels. In addition, considering the intricacy of B2B relationships, offering personalized, expert solutions promptly, and navigating longer sales cycles pose significant challenges.

Why is B2B customer service experience crucial in the current business environment?

In today's business climate, B2B customer service experience is essential as it profoundly affects customer retention, loyalty, and overall satisfaction - factors directly linked to a company's profitability. Furthermore, with the surge of digital platforms and intensifying competition, offering a superior customer service experience has emerged as a distinct competitive advantage in the B2B arena.

What role does technology play in enhancing B2B customer service experience?

Technology serves a crucial function in amplifying the B2B customer service experience, enabling instantaneous communication, personalization, and predictive analytics for a more profound understanding of customer needs and proactive issue resolution. Additionally, technological tools such as CRM systems, AI chatbots, and data analytics platforms can automate mundane tasks, optimize service delivery, and furnish invaluable insights, substantially enhancing the overarching customer service experience.