With all of the day-to-day tasks and strategic planning resellers contend with — sales, marketing, HR, finances and more — technology can help a small operation provide a level of customer service and marketing automation that buyers are accustomed to receiving from large companies and enterprises.
Your reseller company can help your clients step up their game with more targeted marketing and partially automated customer service.
From a website that boasts amazing UX and online stores that make purchasing and filling orders a breeze, to email campaigns that are more likely to convert – your technology offerings can help put your clients’ businesses on top of their game.
Use technology to respond quickly
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and just like your clients contact you in a time of need and discontent, so do theirs.
When the fire is already lit under a client or potential client, a slow response to address these issues can lead to poor brand perception, irate customers and loss of lucrative opportunities.
“They’re usually contacting you because something isn’t working. They often want a quick response, and there needs to be a system to immediately alert you to the problem,” says customer service and experience expert Shep Hyken.
If you opt in to the white label support offered by GoDaddy’s reseller programme, you and your customers will always have the security of support when it is needed.
Some common issues resellers and web development clients maybe experiencing include:
- Current website is not providing leads
- Business owners are not able to get communications from potential buyers through their website, and their customers are unhappy
- Lack of reporting tool use, so business owners don’t know where leads are coming from
- Hard to make simple changes on current website platform, and owners cannot do it themselves
- Business owner does not think they are being found in internet searches
You should have a clear plan for how to address these issues, Hyken says.
Collaboration tools and apps that offer automated email responses, such as Zendesk or Freshdesk for SMBs, provide self-service appointment scheduling and allow the entire team to see and address problems.
This can go a long way in improving preparation and response time when it comes to putting out customer service fires.
You can also use error tracking and crash reporting tools to monitor their clients’ sites and proactively stay on top of any potential issues.
There are even tools that can notify you there is a client issue and have the problem almost averted before the business owner even knows the website is down.
“Technology has made consumers less patient…If you aren’t in the business of making your customers’ lives easier and better, your brand is dead,” says customer experience expert Blake Morgan.
Create guides and videos
Customers are often willing to serve themselves if it’s easy and efficient. Research from Steven Van Belleghem found 70 percent of customers now want a company’s website to have a self-service application.
How-to guides and a section of frequently asked questions can help customers resolve many smaller issues they may encounter, even at odd hours when your team is out of the office.
One highly effective strategy is to host your own videos and tutorials on YouTube, Hyken says.
Many design agencies use these videos to help their clients navigate WordPress interfaces or make small changes to their sites.
Tools such as Magisto and Brandcast make creating and promoting polished-looking videos fairly simple.
A survey by Animoto found 77 percent of consumers consider companies that create online videos as more engaged with customers. And of those consumers that do watch videos, 67 percent said they watch instructional videos.
“You can embed it on your website and send it as a response to common questions,” Hyken says.
“And the best part is that it also works as its own marketing tool as people will find your videos.”
Deploy chatbots and self-service technology
Enabled by artificial intelligence, chatbots can now handle many basic customer service inquiries, Hyken says.
Resellers can deploy these programs on their own sites to deal with simple matters like change of address, upgrading a plan, requesting an appointment or changing a card on file.
Chatbots can also be used to actively engage prospects and visitors with more information on their products or services.
“It could be used for simple things like that and doesn’t waste [an employee’s] time,” Hyken says.
“It’s often better for the customer. They can often more easily find out what they want.”
While a number of tools and services enable smaller firms to develop their own chatbots, resellers should ensure the technology serves the customer, Morgan says.
“If it’s simply a move to look cool, or a marketing ploy, customers will be able to see that immediately,” Morgan says.
Tap into the support of your vendors
Another way to offer best-in-class customer service is to tap into the capabilities of your vendors. GoDaddy offers white-label support for your customers with a team dedicated exclusively to helping our resellers succeed.
Don’t lose sight of the power of people
“Small businesses need to remember they’re already being compared to big companies in the customer service experience.
"The human-to-human interaction is important where there is friction at any point,” Hyken says.
- Reach out to make sure they know how to use the products and services you provide.
- Follow-up to make sure the problem they were researching is fixed.
- Touch base with clients or potential clients on a regular schedule, just so they know you are available.
- Having personal contact with a company gives clients confidence in products.
While technology can certainly enable best-in-class customer service, you’ll always want to ensure you retain the personal relationships that likely set you apart.
