This newsletter was hand-curated while listening to It Will Find You by Maps.

Service Blog

September 28, 2020

Hi there,

Catch up on your prescribed dosage of customer service with this week's latest and greatest content on the Service Blog.

Enjoy,

Rebecca White

HubSpot Service Blog

8 Best Places to Share a Great Customer Testimonial Video

Have you ever watched a TV commercial and noticed a disclaimer? When you do, it's hard to trust the spokespeople in the ad because we know they're being paid to advocate for the company. The people above aren't customers voicing their praise for Nestle products, but rather actors being paid to look like happy brand evangelists. Ad campaigns like these have made consumers more skeptical of testimonials because some believe brands hire actors to promote their products and services. As a marketer, it can be incredibly frustrating when you share a testimonial video then receive a slew of comments accusing your brand of deceit. Now, what you thought was going to be a successful acquisition campaign has quickly turned into a salvage operation across your social media accounts. An important component in creating successful customer testimonial videos is finding the right channels and messaging to share them with. Even if you have amazing content, it doesn't mean much if you don't know how to properly distribute it. You need to know when and how to reach your target audience if you want your testimonials to be effective. Below are some great places to share customer testimonial videos, along with some handy tips for maximizing your content's reach.

What is Proactive Live Chat? [+ How to Implement It]

As an introvert, sometimes I get nervous when it comes time to start a conversation with someone. For example, if I'm at the store and I need to ask a question, it might take me a few minutes to work up the courage to talk to a salesperson. Have you ever had a hard time starting a conversation like that? Well, your customers do sometimes. That's why you might need to take the lead and start the conversation on live chat. In fact, taking a proactive approach to live chat will produce an incremental 105% ROI and millions of dollars in positive business benefits in a typical business-to-consumer (B2C) organization. With stats like that, you can't ignore proactive live chat. Below, let's learn what proactive live chat is and discuss some tools to help you get started.

The Ultimate Guide to Training for Customer Service & Support

As a shopper, what experiences with a company have stood out to you more — their marketing tactics, or their customer service? Most likely the latter. Customer service is a company's opportunity to connect with customers, solve problems, and show they care. And when customer service is executed well, it can resonate with customers for years to come. That's why training your customer support team is just as important (if not more) as training your marketing or sales teams. Service experiences are what stick with your customers and inspire reviews and word-of-mouth advertising. Customer support shouldn't be an afterthought. Happy customers come from excellent service and are your best advocates – even better than your most talented marketers. That's why we've compiled this guide. By the end, you'll gain a complete understanding of how customer service training benefits your business, when different types of training might come in handy, and what materials you need to execute a thorough training program. Keep reading or use the chapter links below to jump ahead.

12 Customer Service Trends That HubSpot Reps Will Be Watching in 2020

In a world that's being changed rapidly by technology, it only makes sense that the same is happening with customer experiences. As we progress forward with new, innovative developments — from telephones to computers to internet to social media — the customer service industry has adapted, too. An industry that was once handled solely in person or via snail mail is now dominated by AI systems, virtual representatives, and human interactions conducted through social media, live chat, and the occasional phone call. Today's customer experience is giving customers more power. They get to control how, when, and where they interact with service representatives. For example, more than 70% of Twitter users expect a response from a business within an hour when using the platform for customer service. And, if that expectation isn't met, there's plenty of competitors lining up to lure away those unhappy customers. To keep up with these constantly shifting trends, we put together a list of the most important ones that HubSpot service reps are looking out for this year.

The Psychology of Social Proof (and Why You Need Your Customers' Help)

Just how little do people trust advertising? A 2019 survey from Nielsen found that outside of websites, most digital marketing tools have relatively low trust levels. Which means, as important as your marketing campaigns are to customer acquisition, most consumers will take these messages with a massive grain of salt. In fact, 58% of North American consumers say they don't trust online advertising "much at all," even though most admit that advertising often provides them with information that helps them make buying decisions. This sentiment includes search engine results, banner ads, videos, and even messages that they signed up to receive from an email list. On the other hand, 91% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% trust customer opinions that have been posted online. Needless to say, there's a big gap when it comes to how people view paid online advertising as opposed to recommendations from a normal, everyday consumer. As a result, it's more important than ever to incorporate social proof into your acquisition strategy — but keep in mind, this is one job that your business can't accomplish on its own.