Customer service: The crucial skill at the crux of the c-suite

Customer service used to be silo-ed as a department within large, enterprise organizations. Often labeled “support,” parts of customer service migrated over to marketing with the rise of social media. 

Soon, technology companies were using customer service and support calls, chats, and sites as a way to prioritize bugs or future product improvements.

These days, you’re hard pressed to find a technology company that won’t tell you to go upvote a customer service chat so that “the feature you are looking for becomes a priority for the company.”

But customer service doesn’t stop there – it’s a critical issue for the c-suite.

When customer service becomes a sales problem

Media and publications report often on bad customer service experiences, like when Rent the Runway was a few days late with their shipments, just at a time when competition in their space is heating up.

And we know consumers are quick to take to social media to report bad service.

Then, customer service becomes a sales problem.

• How do you answer questions about customer service follies? 
• How do you make sure potential customers know it won’t happen again – or at least what steps the company took to rectify the action? 
• Moreover, how will this salesperson be the best customer service rep right now on the phone with this future customer in order to close the deal?

Customer service is no longer silo-ed. It need not be its own department. Aspects of customer service are becoming major priorities within marketing and sales teams – and it is the c-suite who is expected to be able to weave together a very human organization with the very high modern customer service expectations. 

But how can you build in customer service experience into executive roles that years ago required, well, very little? Can modern executives close the chasm between their respective fields and the new expectations of service and a customer-first mentality? 

Best practices and best-in-class at customer service pre-sale

First and foremost, customer service doesn’t necessarily mean someone at your company is talking directly to a future or existing customer. For technology giants, content often fills this role. 

Leading enterprises produce various forms of content around customer service like blogs, videos, podcasts, and social media posts across various channels every week.

• Much of that content is how-to oriented – not just for technology and solutions, but for e-commerce in general
• Content can vary in length, and should include quotes from non-internal brand experts in the field, and step-by-step visuals on how to set this up for yourself
• Ideas to include in the content includes: downloaded checklists, calendars, and the like

The goal here is two-fold:

1. Earn an audience through organic search to better manage LTV:CAC
2. Earn the trust of future customers by educating them prior to selling them

In fact, you can see this playing out in spaces where online advertising isn’t a possibility – like CBD. Brands like Canvas 1839 or CBDistillery have massive content libraries to educate readers and win trust before the sale. 

For other brands, like ScaleFactor, content plays a huge role in customer service pre-sale, but not just written content. For them, tools and calculators also drive up brand engagement and help serve potential customers long before they sign on the dotted line. 

Best practices and best-in-class at customer service post-sale

Post-sale customer service includes how you help on-board customers, as well as how quickly you can help answer their questions.

But those really going above and beyond in post-sale customer service or customer aftercare have built out customer service programs that speak to the target customer, making them feel even better for buying from the brand. 

For instance, Patagonia’s Wear Worn program encourages customers to send clothes back in rather than throwing them away where they end up in a landfill. This is a resonating point Patagonia’s customers who are nature-lovers very concerned by how people are treating the planet. To them, closed loop production matters. A lot. 

Even up and coming brands are using this kind of post-sale customer service to resonate with their customers, and build brand loyalty and affinity (after all, it all comes back to LTV:CAC).

Take A Day for example, which just launched a Carbon Offset Buy Back program which their customers can purchase. A Day’s customer base are travelers, but traveling has a high carbon footprint. And more recently, frequent fliers who claim to be eco-conscious have been called out via the #FlightShaming hashtag. A Day helps to solve this, giving their customers a way to offset their carbon footprint when flying. 

The future of the c-suite: How marketing & sales execs can sharpen their customer service chops

So, if the future of the c-suite depends on service, how can marketing and sales executives sharpen their customer service skills?

Well, watching the market in general to see what others are doing is one great way. But beyond that, the first step is to listen to your customers.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Hop on sales calls: Hop on a sales call at least once a week to hear how your product is being sold and where you can make customer service improvements to increase brand trust and affinity in potential customers. Alternatively, you can record all sales calls and listen to at least one a week. This should be a requirement for all non-sales employees. 
2. Hop on case study calls: There shouldn’t only be one marketer in your organization who has all the tribal knowledge about why customers love your brand. Hop on a case study call at least once a week (or record them) to understand why customers love your brand, why they love your brand over competitors, and what they wish you’d do a bit better. Then, do those things. 
3. Find your tribe 100: With the calls above and working with your team, find the 100 customers who love your brand the most –– and would do anything for you. Then, create a special Facebook or Slack group to invite them to. In there, run new marketing ideas and campaigns by them, gauge their reactions, and work with them to better your business, both for existing customers and potential new ones.