Mobility-first customer service solutions for small business: Tips for the holidays and beyond

The holidays are almost here, and that means more customers, more sales and lots more for you and your employees to do. But with the right mobile strategy, you can keep your customer service game strong all season long. Here's how to help improve customer service using mobile, so customers can connect with your business faster and easier.

Just like you stock your shelves and put up decorations, you need to prepare your website for the holiday rush. Take a look at how it runs on mobile devices to give customers the best experience possible. Here's how to help improve customer service with a mobile website makeover:

• Light the way. Check your search engine optimization (SEO) so customers can find your site when searching on the go.
• Would you rather have lots of presents you don't want or a few that you love? It's the same with content. Cut out unnecessary copy or images so customers can find the information they want faster.
• Check your list twice. No one has time for multiple clicks. Simplify your navigation so customers can find what they want the first time.
• Is your next customer just around the corner? Use location-based functionality to make it easier for people to find your closest location, look to see if you have what they want on your shelf, or even offer services like buy online/curbside pickup.

If you already have a mobile app it may help you track user preferences to deliver personalized customer experiences, while push notifications help you engage customers when you have something exciting to share. Here are a few ideas for how to improve customer service using your mobile app:

• On-demand support. Adding a chatbot to your app means customers can receive answers to queries 24 hours a day. If a chatbot can't answer a customer query, it can escalate to an experienced agent for follow-up, even sharing contextual information to aid in a quick resolution.
• Instant access to the nice list. Integrate a booking system into your app so customers can schedule a service without making a phone call.
• Virtual workshop. Incorporate augmented reality (AR) to let customers virtually explore and interact with your products before they order.
• Letters to Santa. Use your app to get first-hand feedback from customers through reviews and surveys so you can improve your products and services.

Your employees are essential to your business success. Here is how to help improve customer service by making sure your employees are available and responsive, especially in a hybrid work world:

• Provide help on the first jingle. Unified communication solutions make sure your customers can reach your employees regardless of their work location, with features like Auto Receptionist, Hunt Group and Simultaneous Ring.
• Establish the rules of the workshop. Make sure employees know what you expect in terms of responsiveness when they work from home. In addition to establishing response time expectations and availability hours, monitor their performance to make sure their productivity doesn't slip when working outside the office.
• Connect your team. A unified phone solution makes it simple to find and connect with a remote coworker instantly so they can collaborate and coordinate customer service without the wait.

If you provide mobile devices for your employees, then mobile device management (MDM) for small businesses is a must, as it lets you manage, monitor and control these business-provided devices. This technology makes it simple to reduce risk and protect against cyberattacks by letting you control how devices are used, when apps are updated and if devices have the right security settings. You can even lock or delete a stolen or lost device in case a Grinch gets their hands on it.

If you prefer to let employees use their own mobile devices for work, you need to make it easy for them to connect. A solution like One Talk can be added to a personal device so employees can be reached by customers and access all your business communication features.