How Z Natural made customer service a strategic pillar to retain customers and boost employee efficiency
Challenge
- A large proportion of Z Natural's revenue was from repeat customers, who typically bought many times more than a new customer. Delivering a CX that retained customers was a strategic priority.
- Delivering a consistent CX was a challenge because of their multi-tool setup to handle customer queries. They were using Gorgias, Live-chat, and Gmail separately. Also, switching between tools reduced agent efficiency.
- Z Natural has a two-pronged business model and needs to offer differentiated customer service workflows. The B2B model often required a more personal touch, and it was hard to provide as their agents were busy responding to B2C clients’ repetitive, more voluminous queries instead.
- Gorgias' ticket-based pricing was not scaling seamlessly with them. As orders grew, CS expenses unpredictably tripled for the team. Gorgias’ inability to fix bugs after repetitive follow-ups only made matters worse.
Solution
From the outset, Jon and Bryon's criterion was the ability to handle all channels from one inbox, bug-free. However, the scope expanded after they experienced the power of Richpanel’s entire suite of capabilities. In Richpanel, they saw the potential to delight and retain more customers with self-service. Here's what Jon had to say:
We didn't want to eliminate anyone's position. The main thing for me was not cost-saving. It was improving the customer experience. You want to retain customers for 5-10 years in the long term. You want to give them a great CX with quick and satisfying answers. Repeat customers are more valuable. It's their lifetime value that matters.
Consistent CX
Z Natural configured self-service to automatically collect damaged item photos and choose missing items from problematic orders. They also configured it to restrict order edits and address changes to only unfulfilled orders. Since their product line is unique, they frequently fielded questions about ingredients, usage, regulations, and taste. All these responses are now standardized in their self-service widget. As a result, customers receive prompt responses that are consistent across channels through automated self-service workflows.
Many channels, one Inbox
Web, SMS, Facebook, and email conversations were unified under one centralized Richpanel inbox. They also used the Attentive integration for SMSes coming from SMS campaigns. Z Natural leveraged the multi-brand capabilities to replicate the similar setup for a secondary brand Lean Factor without having to go through the operational overhead all over.
Strategic Benefits
B2C self-service that enables B2B personalization
Amber, who handled sourcing, B2B sales, customer service, and operations, now lets Richpanel do her customer service heavy lifting. She is now entirely focused on B2B sales and sourcing. Both are strategically important areas for Z Natural's business.
CX for conversions
Richpanel allowed the support team to personalise responses, even for B2C customers. They now handle more valuable pre-purchase questions and other unique issues.
Their repeat visitor conversion rate is a benchmark smashing 10%, and their new visitor conversion rate is an unreal 6%.
Here are some of the comments they have received on CSAT surveys.
"I've loved every bit of this interaction/order. Smooth process, and I felt appreciated for being a larger customer."
"Quick feedback, non-cookie cutter answers."
"I’ve never experienced such prompt service from a customer support team. They were kind, swift, and so so helpful! 10/10 would recommend this company to others!"
Z Natural Foods, Jon and Bryon Parker's brainchild brings customers the finest quality in hard-to-find whole, all-natural and organic foods. They pride themselves on quick shipping and top-notch customer service.
