Managing Customers’ Expectations to Improve Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT)

“This is ridiculous how you handle your customer support, it’s been two weeks!!!!”

This is a complaint one of our clients received from their customer before they began following our best practices and allowed too much time to go by before updating their customer about an active ticket.

It’s been shown that customers who feel the need to proactively reach out report satisfaction scores about 10 percent lower than customers who don’t check in. Additionally, a 10 percent increase in a company’s customer satisfaction score results in a 12 percent increase in trust from its customers.

Managing expectations is a crucial component for good customer service. Rather than being bothered or annoyed by service technicians touching base with them, customers expect to be followed up with to enhance their positive service experience. Because of this, service desk representatives should always check in with their customers as their ticket resolution progresses.

The Perfecting Service team works with customer service technicians to get them into the habit of ensuring that any delays or unforeseen problems are communicated to their clients right away, that no more than a few days pass without the customer getting an update about their ticket, and that appointment times are kept or at the very least rescheduled with appropriate notice.

We work to make sure that our clients’ customers do not feel the need to call or email in to check on the status of their tickets because they are getting updated frequently enough that they know that their issue or request is actively being worked on.

When customers’ expectations are properly managed, it leaves a much better impression and a happier customer.

Alona Bolotnikova is committed to increasing client satisfaction and retention for managed service providers. Her years of experience in customer service and an overzealous eye for detail helped form Perfecting Service, “the best-kept secret for MSPs."