Customer Service

Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, is an emerging business model for today’s technological business landscape. Typically, most SaaS businesses operate solely over the Internet. However, most customers prefer having customer service agents available to handle their unique concerns. Luckily, United World Telecom offers numerous ways to accommodate these needs. With the versatility of virtual phone numbers, you can easily and efficiently set up a top-performing customer call center.

In this article, we will cover numerous aspects of starting a customer call center for your SaaS business, including:

• Hiring & Training Talent
• Accommodating Customers
• Enhancing Inbound and Outbound Calls
• Getting the Word Out

Hiring & Training Talent

Your call center needs qualified individuals to man the phones. You’ll want to select qualified individuals that display the best qualities to carry out your company’s mission. While starting a customer call center may seem daunting, United World Telecom makes the process incredibly simple.

Virtual Numbers Offer Great Versatility

First, virtual phone numbers can be used with any device that has Internet and audio capabilities. This includes laptops, smartphones, headsets, landlines, tablets, and more. Employees who are familiar with any of these devices can begin using virtual phone numbers immediately.

A User-Friendly Option for Call Centers

Second, virtual phone numbers from United World Telecom require very little technical expertise. Thanks to an intuitive dashboard interface, your customer call center representatives will not need significant training to use it. This means that your organization spends less time training, resulting in cost reductions in overheads.

Accommodating Customers

Remember that customers can reach your business from around the world with virtual phone numbers. This can give your SaaS business a wider international reach that wouldn’t be possible through other means. By setting up a toll free number, you accommodate customers that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to reach you. Similarly, you can use United World Telecom’s international toll free numbers (i.e. ITFS, UIFNs, mobile accessible numbers). With these, you alleviate any obstacles that may prevent customers from reaching your customer call center.

Enhancing Inbound and Outbound Calls

United World Telecom’s add-ons and features, paired with virtual phone numbers, can greatly enhance how your call center functions. United World Telecom offers some of the following add-ons:

• Failover Forwarding
• Time of Day Routing
• Simultaneous Ringing
• CallMe Click

One example of how you can increase the functionality of your communications is by using the popular add-on CallMe Click. It enables website visitors to reach your call center simply by clicking on a link (i.e. button, phone number). This instantly bridges the gap and makes it simple to resolve issues, finalize transactions, and provide important information. This creates a seamless experience for interested customers that would otherwise require dialing a number manually.

Getting the Word Out

It’s necessary to have a customer call center for your SaaS business. Though, if no one knows how to reach you, it’s useless, right?

Once you’ve virtual obtained phone numbers for your call center, it is time to make it known to your clients and potential customers. You should mention that your organization has an available call center wherever it is relevant. Be sure to display the phone number on your website(s), advertising, and promotional materials. This ensures customers are aware that you have a customer call center, and they know you are ready to help.

Get Virtual Numbers for Your SaaS Company from United World Telecom

As you can see, United World Telecom offers the easiest way to fortify your customer call center for your SaaS business. With virtual phone numbers available in over 140 countries, your company gains endless ways to establish a customer call center for your SaaS business. Signing up with United World Telecom is simple and can be completed within minutes, giving you access within 24 hours or less to start serving your customers today!

All good businesses should want to create long-term relationships with their customers. This key to success can become overlooked when your company is focused on closing sales and finding more and more customers. Truthfully, the best strategy a business can formulate is to acquire many loyal (long-term) clients instead of many new clients.

The value of a loyal customer outweighs the value of a new customer based on multiple factors. For example, did you know that loyal customers spend significantly more money on a brand they trust than a new customer will? Loyal customers are the key to many brands’ success, and oftentimes, many brands will choose to focus all their attention on gaining customers rather than customer retention.

What is Customer Retention?

Customer retention is the best way to market your business, but what is it exactly? Customer retention isn’t just business jargon. It is a strategy that maximizes the value of your current client base.

You can still focus part of your business on finding new clients, as new clients should become loyal clients. When you make customer loyalty a substantial part of your marketing department, you will get more shoppers at your store who will shop for more extended periods of time and purchase a larger quantity of items.

Customer loyalty is not a bold, new way of thinking. Shifting your attention to your brand-loyal customers will you put you ahead of your competition because many companies are still focused on pulling in the most customers. You’ve probably seen marketing ploys that offer such enticements as “10% off for new customers, only.” But what about the hundreds or thousands of customers that already like your brand? Many strategies exist that will allow you to make your loyal customers feel appreciated. Oftentimes, they can take minimal effort while saving your company a lot of money on marketing, rather than just spending your budget trying to acquire new customers. So the question is, how do you turn a customer into a loyal client?

1. Set up an email list

First, you should acquire your customers’ email addresses, so you now have a method of communicating with them all the time. This can be done through pop-ups once they enter your website, where you can create a loyalty program with benefits that requires an email address and phone number to sign up. If your business operates in a retail location, you can have your cashiers ask for email addresses when customers are checking out. Be sure to have a reason to take their email address; a lot of customers will be afraid that you will spam them with content that they don’t want. Ensure your customers that they will only receive emails periodically and these emails will only have important information and deals inside. These emails also prompt your customers to head to your website or store whenever they receive an email.

2. Set up a toll free number

Customers become loyal when they trust a business or brand. By providing your customers with a way to get in contact with your business through the phone, your customers will be more likely to trust your company and want to make repeat purchases. They also know that if there is a problem with the product that they purchased they can call your customer care line and get problems resolved efficiently and effectively because you have earned a reputation for that.

3. Remind them to return

Since you are able to get in contact with your customers by phone and email, you can now remind them to come in. For example, if you are running a pilates studio and you haven’t seen a member in a few weeks, you can remind them that you’d love to see them or maybe let them know about any new updates to the studio. Or, if you’re running an online shop, you can send out an email to show your customers all of the new items that you have in stock since the last time they visited the site. Both of these strategies work to “push” your customer into visiting your store.

One of the easiest ways to set your small business apart from the competition is to have stellar customer service, but many companies don’t bother. However, these customer service strategies will take your company from “just another business” to a company that your customers can’t part with.

Although all businesses can benefit from having a strong customer service team, if you are the owner of a smaller company then you’re up against lower prices from big box stores, and usually, those stores carry more items than your small store can. How will your business compete?

Big name stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot have a lot on their sides, such as national advertising and bigger budgets, but there are still ways that small local businesses can compete with these big guys. Instead of making excuses as to why your business can’t compete, set a goal to not only keep your existing company, but bring in new consumers even as that big new competitor moves in on your territory.

How to Offer Excellent Customer Service?

So what are the ways that your small business can compete with the big boys? They’re the same strategies that big companies and small businesses alike can use. A lot of them don’t cost any extra money, and when you carry out these strategies correctly, you will find that your business will be doing better every day.

1. Enhance your role in the community

Small businesses can get the upper hand over larger businesses by becoming essential members of the community. Have your business publicly support local or even international causes, because if your name is on a cause that people support, they will be more likely to shop at your business knowing that you care about what they care about. You can do this on a small community level by merely offering your venue as a space for charity events or by sponsoring a town softball team.

2. Sell your customers an experience

If a larger company has come into your town and is selling the same products you sell for less than you can keep up with, then you need to have another way to compel customers to come into your store. Make your customers feel good when they come to your store. Greet them with a smile, remember their names, make small talk; when your customers feel known and wanted in your store, they will want to return over and over again.

3. Stock merchandise that your competition doesn’t sell

An excellent way to get new people into your store is to go into the big store down the street and find out what they don’t have, then stock up on it. Chances are, if people are looking for a particular item and the big store doesn’t have it, they will probably head your way, and if you’ve got it, then you’ve just saved their day and earned a new customer.

4. Stay in contact

The internet is an essential tool for expanding your business outside of its local market. Build a website for your company, create an email list for your loyal customers, and offer them exclusive discounts or invitations to things like holiday parties so you can give back to your customers. Sign up for social media sites so you can keep in constant contact with customers. An important place for all small businesses to be on is Yelp because you can do damage control with people leaving negative comments about your store, or you can send thank you messages to those who leave positive reviews.

5. Expand your business without moving

Purchasing a virtual phone number for your business can allow you to interact with customers all over the world and therefore expand your reach outside of your local community. Along with social media and building a website, you should also consider getting a toll free number which is a useful advertising tool that keeps you connected to all of your customers. These virtual phone numbers also come packed with features like call forwarding, so you never miss an urgent call and automated greetings to give your small business the impression that it is more extensive and therefore more professional.

6. Set up a loyalty program

Encourage your customers to return often by offering them incentives for their continued business.

All of these strategies are either free or low-cost and can help seriously expand your business. If you take anything away from this article, be sure that it is to make customer service your #1 priority!