What character traits come to mind when you think of the best customer service professional you’ve ever met? Patience? Agility? Compassion? How about resilience?
While there certainly were some notable highlights, 2023 was a turbulent year across the tech industry. As we head into 2024, many customer service teams are working overtime to help their employers support their products and services to meet customer expectations. And doing so will take resilience.
CSMs like Ibtihale Laghzaoui have an innate knack for building relationships, accepting criticism, navigating roadblocks and finding clever solutions. The Online Customer Service Manager at OppFi says she and her counterparts should do whatever it takes to go above and beyond to serve clients in 2024. “Cultivate empathy and adopt a customer-centric mindset,” she says. “It's important to hone the ability to understand and resonate with customers' challenges, actively seek feedback and be responsive to their concerns.”
Built In Chicago got Laghzaoui’s take on all that was 2023 and what’s ahead in 2024.
OppFi is a financial technology platform that powers banks to help average consumers access credit.
What trends or changes did you notice in supporting your customers over the last year? What lessons from these experiences will you bring into 2024?
Consumers are increasingly seeking tailored solutions, which prompted our investment in understanding their unique needs and preferences. For instance, we have noticed an increased reliance on digital communication and a heightened demand for personalized experiences. In response, we have amped up our digital communication channels such as email, chat and video conferencing. We’ve also implemented strategies to deliver personalized virtual support and recommendations. The results are stronger relationships and increased customer satisfaction.
Delivering a seamless and holistic customer experience starts with our employee experience.
Delivering a seamless and holistic customer experience starts with our employee experience. ”
OppFi strives to foster a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing that enables us to better understand customer pain points, gather feedback and implement improvements. By taking a cross-functional approach, we can address customer needs more efficiently, build robust relationships internally and manage concerns before they escalate.
Our team aims to provide an enhanced overall customer experience in 2024 by leveraging our ability to respond to changing circumstances and customer needs efficiently and effectively.
2023 posed many challenges. How did you support your clients to address their needs and retain their business? Were there any specific incidents when a client was at risk of churning but support from a customer success professional helped keep them or win them back?
Our customer success team is pivotal in meeting customer needs and ensuring business retention. At OppFi, we have an unwavering commitment to deliver exceptional customer service at every touchpoint. It’s critical for our team to promptly address inquiries and concerns, consistently exceed customer expectations and proactively identify areas for improvement.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, we developed additional procedures to enhance the customer experience. One notable initiative was enabling customers to reschedule payments and perform other various tasks through simple email requests in lieu of phone calls. We also improved our digital communications to minimize confusion and misunderstandings by emphasizing clear and concise messaging to convey all necessary information, instructions and updates. Ultimately, delivering exceptional service is the cornerstone of our customer success strategy.
What advice do you have for those looking to shift into a CS role in the next year? What skills or qualities are most important to bring into the job?
Customer success roles are often collaborative in nature, which means employees will be working with cross-functional teams to achieve common goals. Good leaders understand the importance of fostering a positive work environment for all employees by supporting team members, providing an equitable culture and promoting development opportunities. A motivated, happy team is more likely to deliver exceptional customer service.
The customer success landscape is ever-evolving with new technologies and methodologies. It’s important to take on a growth mindset and commit to your own professional development. I'm a big proponent of continuous learning, and I take advantage of every internal opportunity our Learning and Development Team provides. By acquiring an in-depth knowledge of your product and industry, you are better able to provide valuable insights and guidance to colleagues and customers.
