In the growing market of mobile app development, providing top-notch customer service can be the deciding factor that makes your app stand out.

Exceptional customer service is not just about addressing issues; it’s about creating a positive, enduring relationship with your users, ultimately helping to retain and attract a loyal customer base. For mobile app developers, the challenge is to integrate customer service in ways that resonate with tech-savvy users.

Here, we will explore 10 practical ways you can ramp up your customer service and ensure your users feel valued, heard, and satisfied.

1. Instant Support Through In-App Chat

Time is of the essence, and users appreciate immediate assistance. Incorporate an in-app chat feature allowing users to contact support without leaving the app. Real-time problem solving not only boosts satisfaction levels but also decreases frustration that can lead to negative reviews.

2. Regularly Update Based on User Feedback

Listening to user feedback and acting on it is one of the most effective ways to show your customers you care. Regular app updates that address common concerns, fix bugs, and add requested features will keep your users happy and show them that their input has a direct impact on the product.

3. Personalized Support

A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t cut it. Personalize the customer experience by using the user’s name and understanding their history with the app. This makes the user feel like more than just a ticket number in a sea of support requests.

4. Comprehensive FAQs and Self-Service Options

Sometimes, the best customer service is the one that enables users to help themselves. Whether your customer wants to know how to create a website like instagram or simply needs to know how to make contact, craft a thorough FAQ section that covers a broad spectrum of queries. An easy-to-navigate knowledge base can empower users and reduce the volume of simple support requests.

5. Video Tutorials for Complex Features

Another excellent way to bolster customer service is through educational content. Video tutorials can guide users through more complex app features, providing a visual, step-by-step breakdown that’s both informative and engaging.

6. Implement AI for Efficiency

Utilize artificial intelligence to streamline customer service. Bots can handle basic inquiries and troubleshooting, freeing up human agents to tackle more complex issues. AI can also analyze patterns in customer queries to help predict and prepare for future points of friction.

7. Feedback Loop Communication

When users give feedback, ensure there’s a loop that informs them of the outcome. Whether you’ve implemented a suggestion or decided against it, a follow-up communicates respect and consideration for their input.

8. Multilingual Support for Global Users

In today’s global app market, providing support in multiple languages can significantly enhance your customer service reach. Consider the demographics of your user base and aim to cater to the languages they speak.

9. Accessibility Matters

Ensure your customer service is accessible to all your users, including those with disabilities. This can range from having voice commands to answer FAQs to ensuring chat and email support are readable by screen readers.

10. Community Forums for Peer Support

Fostering a community around your app can lead to a dynamic peer-to-peer support system. A dedicated forum where users can ask questions, share tips, and offer solutions can create a strong sense of belonging to something bigger than just an app.

These 10 strategies can serve as a roadmap to achieving higher levels of customer satisfaction, building loyalty, and ultimately driving the success of your app. Remember, it’s the customer who defines the success of your product. Keep them at the heart of your development process and watch as your app flourishes in a marketplace that values support just as much as functionality.

There was a time when you could walk into a bank and tell the size of its budget based on look and feel alone. Mega-banks would have luxuriously decorated spaces, whereas locally owned branches may not have been as elegantly styled but made up for it with “know your first name” customer service.

Today, this line has completely blurred – every bank, no matter how big or small, knows not only your name but also your personal preferences, thanks to automation.

And while smaller banks still may not have the budget to roll out the latest technology on a large scale, their mobile customer experience often feels similar to something that a larger bank may offer. In fact, most of the top-rated mobile banking apps are from credit unions. Eastman Credit Union, a regional enterprise in Tennessee, claimed the top spot on last year’s MagnifyMoney “best banking apps” list. It even has an Apple Watch offering.

So, have apps leveled the customer service playing field in retail finance? Banks continue to report that enhancing customer service is their number one investment priority.

How can app functionality help accomplish this goal?

Make It Personal

Just as knowing a customer’s name in a branch setting can make them feel special, your app needs to do the same. The ability to personalize an app makes users feel more connected to your brand, while also making life easier. For example, Barclays allows customers to assign a different profile photo for each account to help more easily distinguish between them.

Marketing automation provider Marketo recommends that you take advantage of the data already at your fingertips (such as a user’s location, open frequency, time spent in the app, and features used) to provide personalized messaging that links to different places within the app, serving relevant, useful content to your customer, which can result in greater user loyalty and retention.

Focus on Functionality

This may seem like a no-brainer, but have you ever downloaded an app only to question what value it provides? Don’t rush to put out an app just for the sake of saying that you have one. The functionality needs to be robust enough to provide a positive customer experience. Specifically, you should focus on the following:

• Speed matters: While you have no control over users’ network speed, you can manage how quickly they can find the info they need at a glance, without having to swipe or hunt through nested menus. Be sure that your interface is clean and easy to navigate.

• Money transfer capabilities: Being able to move money between accounts or make payments should be a minimum requirement of any app. To make this as easy as possible, some apps have enabled users to send money to contacts using just their phone number.

• Mobile deposit: Check use may be declining in some countries, but it’s still an important payment method for many people. So the ability to deposit a check via mobile is vital. In fact, a reliable and easy to use offering of this functionality helped Eastman Credit Union claim the number one spot.

Peace of Mind Matters

Just as customers who feel safe and looked-after in a branch setting and by financial professionals such as Gordon Simmons continue to do business, they will keep logging into an app that provides the same sense of security. This means that you should be thinking through:

• Alerts and notifications: The ability for an app to send an alert (for example, when the account’s balance drops below a preset amount) can be highly valuable when it comes to helping people manage their finances. But alerts can go both ways. The ability to use the app to notify the bank of a lost or stolen card is another valuable feature that makes customers feel like their bank is looking out for them.

• Simplified security: User authentication is a vital security step for any mobile banking app but it doesn’t have to be a tedious process. With a growing number of phones offering biometric tools, support for solutions like Apple’s Touch ID is now a must.

While many banks have already done a thorough job of thinking through the above, they have made less progress in integrating their app with the rest of their operations.

The Boston Consulting Group states that more banks need to adopt a journey mindset. This means that you should be considering what the customer’s path looks like and providing them with the information they need to take the next step before they even recognize what the next step may be. Keep in mind the following:

• Context matters: Effective mobile banking apps offer customers contextually relevant information. For example, if your customer is at a car dealership, you could provide the latest auto loan rates. You can further take advantage of GPS functionality by using beacons to automatically check the customer in when they arrive at a branch location.

• Moving between channels: Apps can’t work in isolation. Connecting with other channels such as social media or phone banking from within the app also make users’ lives easier. Being able to call a representative from within the app and seeing an estimated wait time, or withdrawing cash from ATMs through an app, helps create a more connected omni-channel banking experience.

No bank’s customer service strategy can afford to omit a mobile app anymore. But developing one requires a strategic mindset and true dedication to enriching the customer experience. This is increasingly important in an era where customers can complete more functions autonomously and have less frequent interactions with customer service reps.

By offering a feature-rich app that provides a seamless experience, banks big and small can continue to deliver excellent customer service, further driving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

About the Author

Dan Weis works at NCR leading the retail banking mobile app team. The mobile apps are used by nearly 5.5 million consumers.

Until 2015, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) was based on a simple math formula: outsourcing non-core services (including customer call centers) to more cost-efficient partners and markets to reduce spend.

When technology was deployed, it was predominately committed to optimizing the BPO infrastructure and managing “bums in seats”. BPO suppliers focused on solutions that could mitigate operational costs and driving process efficiency.

However, as the end consumer becomes increasingly mobile, equipped with smarter devices and, most importantly, higher customer service expectations, corporate America needs to address how best to service this new customer.

In 2015, BPO needs to move beyond managing call center bodies. This is particularly important to inbound call centers. As the vast majority of consumers use their always-ready mobile phones to reach the call center services, providers need to revisit their call centre architecture and develop mobile-centric efficiency throughout the lifecycle of the call.

BPO companies have traditionally differentiated their services by providing workers at a lower cost. Historically, operations focus on large-scale transaction processing beating the clock on handling times: i.e. Average Hold Time – AHT or Average Speed of Answer – ASA). These business models need to be revisited.

As in other verticals such as retail, health and finance, the consumer is now at the center of operational design and customer satisfaction is the new and key-performance index. The challenge for many providers is executing on this vision. Designing mobile hooks, leveraging new APIs to enhance the existing call flow and creating omni-channel content delivery is outside the scope of most call center operations.

We see this shift in national and municipal services such as Next Generation 9-1-1 in the Canadian market and Next Generation 3-1-1 service in cities such as Chicago and New York City where the incumbent call centre now offers onmi-channel interactions catering to the mobile user. SMS-based call flows allow for instant information and operator text chat (via SMS and application layers) allow for on-the-go convenience as well as operational efficiency and cost savings for the call center.

The goal is to move away from an intelligent SIRI-type system to an anticipatory GoogleNOW-type approach. Delight the customer by anticipating their preferred channels and their time-sensitive needs.

This is no easy task. For over 20 years, BPO call center performance was measured, in large part, on cost-per-call or by the number of seats in a call center. This simplistic math lead to globalizion of services with early adopters such as GE and American Express moving operations to India in the early 90s. The Philippine’s BPO sector is the fastest growing industry in the country with 900,000 Filipinos employed full time in 2013 providing an estimated 1.3M new jobs in the IT / BPO sector by 2016.

However as we move into 2016, the consumer is demanding smarter services from legacy call center IVR and live operators. At its core, the call center will continue to focus on availability, information accuracy and consistency. While voice communication will remain the call center’s mainstay, here are a number of key next generational services that can complement and enhance the live operator experience:

1. Mobile Triggers (CTA) to reach the Call Center

This has become a standard creative ad unit in mobile advertising. Traditional media also has leveraged mobile # or * services. This quick mobile access needs to become ubiquitous.

2. On-Hold Omni-Channel Selection

When customer security authentication is not a concern, providers can use the hold time to offer options to mobile callers that mitigate high abandonment rates (AAR) and optimize their on-the-go mobile requirements. Jumping into a text based chat is an example.

3. Disconnect Mitigation Strategies

If the call is dropped, push text-to-queue services to make sure the customer is reentered into the priority line or trigger a call-back service with instant SMS notification.

4. End-of-call informational push

Send end-of-call informational summaries (virtual sticky notes) via SMS to mobile callers with time sensitive information.

5. Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Always move a live call into a mobile C-SAT survey that can be completed at the customer’s convenience. Text-based multiple choice questions result in much higher response rates than IVR surveys.

6. CRM Push Follow Up

Acquire an opt-in to future communication from the caller. This allows for timely follow-up engagement/closure using the request channels to delight the customer.

The business flow can be made asynchronous allowing the mobile consumer to jump into their preferred communication channel before, during and after the call. Increased use of cloud-based technologies allow call center operators to differentiate their services and ultimately become big data and analytics shops providing insights to drive their clients business objectives.

This move will enable providers to participate in the business goals of their clients … a far cry from simply answering the phone cost-effectively.

About the Author

Gary Schwartz is CEO of Impact Mobile Inc, Chair Emeritus MEF / IAB and Director of LBMA.