How to Build a Post-Sale Support System That Scales With Your Customers

A post-sale support system is everything that your customers are given once they’ve made their purchases, and these are so important to a growing business because they make your customers feel properly cared for. In this article, we explain why scalability is essential and how to properly build a post-sale support system that scales with your customer base.

It can be very difficult to properly scale your support system when you experience quick and/or unprecedented growth. Also, failing to scale your support as your business grows will ultimately lead to frustrated customers, lost sales, employee burnout, increased operational costs, and increased turnover rates. However, building a scalable support system will maintain service quality, lower or maintain operational costs, build customer loyalty, and improve employee engagement.

One of the easiest ways to make your support system scalable is by automating routine tasks. Use automated responses and automated follow-ups so that customers get an immediate confirmation that their issue is being looked at as well as confirmation that their request is moving through the system. 

 

You can also set up a ticket routing system and an escalation workflow so that customer issues are automatically separated out by keywords and then appropriately escalated so that the most pressing issues are addressed and resolved first while the lower priority ones are solved through automation.

Many successful businesses are using AI chatbots as part of their scalable customer service model. Modern chatbots can be trained on historical tickets and other information you feed them so that they can answer questions and handle basic issues like account updates or simple order changes.

 

AI chatbots can also be used as part of escalation workflows so that the most complex and pressing issues are handled by trained human employees while the most routine tasks are handled by the software of your choice. For example, a CNC machinery  manufacturer could train a chatbot to answer common questions about their fiber lasers while escalating more complex questions to one of their CNC specialists.

Self-service options are a simple but effective way to let customers solve their own problems and answer their own questions without employee involvement. The most basic self-service option is to build out FAQs on various landing pages and/or as its own page on your website so that the most common questions and issues can be answered or resolved in seconds.

 

Also, you can create helpful articles that quickly answer most customer questions and have an automated system put in place that guides customers to these articles before they actually need support from an actual employee. Try to diversify your self-service options as your business grows so that there is an entire self-service section to your site that can help customers get their issues resolved quickly and without hassle.

Within all of these support features, you should try to segment your customers based on the seriousness of their needs. The most pressing and complex issues should be put in a higher priority list and receive personalized attention from your support staff. You can separate out the most common high-priority issues you expect your customers to have and then assign them keywords or phrases so that your team and software know what to look at first.

 

Less pressing or complex customer issues can be resolved through automation and AI chat bots. Basic things like delivery time estimates, simple order changes, and other routine tasks do not need to be prioritized or even necessarily handled by actual members of your team. You can also create an escalation workflow so that unresolved tasks can be increased to a higher level of priority.

You can also set up a support system connected to multiple channels that your brand works in. The first channel can be for email so that any incoming customer emails are converted to tickets so that they can be separated by keywords and routed to the right team members. Another channel can be for phone integration so that support agents on the phone with customers have access to customer ticketing histories and other relevant information.

 

Live chats can be integrated as well to answer customer questions quickly during regular business hours. Lastly, social media messages can also be channeled into your support system so that they can be treated like regular support tickets.

Track Key Metrics

Use key metrics like first contact resolution, response times, resolution times, and customer effort scores to understand how quickly and often customer problems are getting resolved. Metrics like customer satisfaction and cost per resolution are also important for the long-term financial success of your business.

 

On top of testing these metrics, you should regularly test your system, stay on top of industry trends, and invest in continuous improvement/training of your employees as you scale. Creating this feedback loop will keep your support system perpetually strong.

Building a scalable support system will maintain service quality, increase sales, lower operational costs, build customer loyalty, improve employee engagement, and lower employee turnover rates. You can make your support system scalable by automating routine tasks, using AI chatbots, establishing self-service tasks, segmenting your customer base by issue priority, using multi-channel support, and tracking key metrics. By implementing all of these tactics, your support system will keep service quality high, reduce employee burnout, and, most importantly, keep your customer base happy.