Services Opinion Uganda

Five ways to optimise mobile support for your customer

In today's technology-driven society, businesses need to maintain a strong internet presence through the use of a well-designed website and social media. However, many companies forget that they need to take additional steps to cater for their mobile customers. By meeting the needs of your mobile customer, you will allow your business to reach a greater audience, and optimising your mobile customer support systems can lead to greater customer satisfaction and return customers.
Sheza Gary
Sheza Gary

Use mobile apps to develop interest

A successful mobile app will be fun, engaging, and useful while developing interest in your brand. There are a variety of ways a mobile app can help to meet the needs of your customers:

• Offer mobile customers discounts and exclusive deals for downloading the app;
• Feature a store locator that will allow your customers to find your nearest branch from anywhere;
• Provide tools and calculators in your app that may be able to help your customer in their daily lives;
• Give your customers the opportunity to relax and unwind while being exposed to your brand. A simple mobile app game will help to get your brand name noticed; and
• Develop an app that can take payment information securely so that your customers can do some basic shopping via the mobile app.

The type of app that will work for your company will depend on the size of your business, the needs of your customers, and the resources available for app development.

Create a mobile-friendly website

nokhoog_buchachon via
nokhoog_buchachon via freedigitalphotos.net

Most websites that have been created for computer viewing won't be compatible with mobile phones and other devices. Therefore, it is important that your company designs a separate website to accommodate mobile users. This website will be a slimmed-down version of the computer site, but it is important that you don't slack on the design.

It is essential that you programme your main website to send mobile device users to the website's mobile version automatically. Be sure to test the mobile site on all operating systems before you launch it to ensure that the pages display as intended and are user-friendly. This is an important step to ensure that customers using iPhones, Blackberry devices, and Android devices are all able to use the mobile site in order to optimise your company's mobile customer service.

Invest in an automated phone system

An automated phone system can be a great asset for your company as these office telephone systems will ensure that all calls are answered and are routed to the correct departments to be handled as soon as possible. Automated, office phone systems are easy to use and set up and they are generally inexpensive. These systems will offer a variety of features that can improve your company's communication, making them an asset for a strong phone presence.

Provide mobile users with simple support features

Smartphone and other mobile devices have the capacity to let customers quickly access support with the simple touch of a screen. It is important that you make it easy for your customers to get a hold of you if they need assistance, and posting a contact number on your app or mobile website that they can simply click on to make a call is a convenient feature.

For customers that are utilising a tablet, a live chat system that can operate on their mobile device can offer quick and easy support. Be sure to research the best times to make customer support available, and if having 24/7 support isn't an option for your small business, make customer service available at times of the day when your customers most frequently contact you.

Use social media

Most mobile users have social networking profiles that they can access on the go, so you should be sure to take advantage of this market. Develop dedicated customer support resources on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This is a quick-and-simple way to connect with your customers without needing to make a ton of changes to your mobile website. Your customers will be able to post comments and tweets or send direct messages if they are experiencing problems. While social media might not be the right platform to engage in a lengthy conversation, it can be used as a starting point for creating a ticket, and then email, text, or phone conversations can keep the conversation going to resolve the problem.

The ability to use a mobile platform successfully will help your organisation to deliver service and support to consumers more efficiently. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that, by 2017, 87% of connected device sales will be smartphones and tablets, and failing to optimise your mobile customer support properly can cause you to miss out on a wealth of potential customers. If you have any additional tips for how you optimised your company's customer support on mobile, please share your thoughts and experiences.

About Sheza Gary

A veteran strategist of projects related to business and technology. Since 2009, she has been advising highly innovative ways of intelligent use of technology that enhance business efficiency and productivity, which ultimately leads to the greater profitability of businesses. A technophile, she always strives to provide helpful tips and valuable resources to the small businesses. You can follow Sheza Gary on Twitter at @shezagary.
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