We’ve all been there—on hold with customer support for one thing or another, listening to mediocre (at best) music, and frustrated. Frustrated that we’ve had to call to begin with, and often frustrated that we’re not receiving the customer support that we expected
It doesn’t matter what the product or service is. From furniture delivered scratched and dented to an expensive diagnostic tool on the fritz—customers expect that you’re going to fix the problem quickly and without adding to their frustration. And as we all know and have experienced, this isn’t always the case!
What’s Important to the Customer?
How a company supports its customers differs depending on the product or service offered, of course. But generally speaking, what do customers want, and why is it so important?
A recent Forbes article reported that 7 in 10 consumers in the U.S. have spent more money to do business with a company that offers better customer service over its competitors. Gladly’s 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey found that 26% of customers will stop purchasing from a company after just one bad customer service experience!
To be sure your customer service efforts are top-notch, focus on what customers expect:
- Consistent experience with no repetition: Your customer doesn’t want to have to explain their problem five times to five different people or be bumped around your system, being given different answers from different departments.
- Personalized and fast service: Gladly’s survey found that 59% of customers cited being treated as an individual rather than a number as important, and 53% cited the timeliness of the problem being resolved.
- Skip the computer: This one should come as no surprise to anyone that’s ever called a customer support number—the Interactive Voice Response systems, or IVR, that many companies use were cited as a frustration point for customers. We all want to speak to a live person!
When customer service is done correctly, it not only boosts your bottom line but creates a strong and positive relationship with your customers!
A Technical Team for Diagnostic Products
Now that we know what customers are generally looking for in customer service, let’s focus more specifically on what customers want from a technical team after purchasing a diagnostic product.
Before a customer buys, they may ask:
- How do I know that we’ll receive the proper support for this product when we need it?
- Is there a support team available and are they easy to reach? Phone, email, website?
- Do I get to talk with a “live” person who understands the product and my needs?
- Are there tools available to help me? (Training, log sheets, competency, etc.)
Implementing a new test can be time consuming. Often customers are busy and may not feel that they have the time or resources to bring on a new assay or deal with a test that isn’t working the way they expected. Having a trained technical support team available to walk them through the process and provide tools can make onboarding a new test and training staff easier and less time consuming.
The take-away? A knowledgeable and experienced product support staff is a must. A medical laboratory scientist-based support staff gives the customer the opportunity to speak with someone who has “been in their shoes” and can relate to the demands and stresses put on healthcare staff. Because they have worked in labs and other medical facilities, they understand the importance of the requirements and regulations involved, such as training/competency, quality control, proficiency, and method validation.
Sekisui Diagnostics is proud of its Technical Services team, most of whom are experienced medical laboratory professionals and/or former medical technologists. We believe that this background benefits our customers and the service they receive from us.
Our Point of Care Technical Services team consist of trained laboratory professionals that are ready to provide the support you need:
- Determining a workflow to meet your specific needs
- Providing supportive documentation related to rapid test products
- Offering startup/ evaluation assistance and troubleshooting services
- Supporting CLIA to Waived Moderately Complex transition
Our Clinical Chemistry Technical Services Team offers:
- Extensive product and laboratory knowledge
- Wide variety of support materials available including analyzer applications, technical, and supportive information
- Assistance with installation and troubleshooting
- Data reduction services
In the end, evaluating a new test should not stop with a review of the features, benefits and performance, but should include the pre- & post product support available from the company once they’ve made the decision to buy. For customer support to be successful, a company must understand the needs of its customers throughout the process and after a sale.
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