Customers are your company’s life-blood
Whatever industry your business operates in, your customers are at the very heart of all that you do. With so much competition out there, it’s imperative to ensure that you are always looking for ways to provide excellent customer service. With this in mind, let’s take a look at ten top tips for delivering just that!
1. Ask for & utilize customer service feedback
When it comes to excellent customer service, your existing customers can be a valuable source to facilitate your improvement. Ask your customers for their feedback via questionnaires and surveys. You can also ask your customers for their feedback in real-time when they complete their orders. Many customers will be happy to provide their feedback, so don’t make the mistake of missing the opportunity to ask! Ensure that you take the time to properly analyse the feedback that you receive so that you can utilize it effectively. The customers that you have are the key to your success. Taking the time to assess their enjoyment of the buying journey and your products is invaluable.
2. Quick Response
The modern consumer expects speedy responses. If you want to provide the best customer service that you can, you’ll need to be sure that you can implement this. However, it doesn’t mean that you should rush to provide a quick fix that doesn’t actually satisfy the customer. The quality needs to be maintained at all times. If the problem is more complex, respond to let the customer know that you are working on getting the issue solved as quickly as you can. Ensure that you have enough staff to cover all areas of your business from your phones to your online chats and social media. Your consumers expect contact across multiple platforms consistently so you’ll need to ensure that you have enough hands to provide it!
3. Know your products inside out
When you’re working in customer support, you’ll need to ensure that you know your products like the back of your hand! You need to be able to discuss every aspect of your products in great detail, including all of the troubleshooting ins and outs for when things go wrong. The key is to keep learning all of the time, the more troubleshooting that you do the more knowledge that you will gain. Keep a record of everything that you learn, to refer back to on future occasions.
4. Get Personal
Customers want a company that feels personable as opposed to another faceless corporation. If you offer a personalized service that revolves around high-quality human interaction, this will do wonders for your branding and your reputation. It doesn’t mean that you can’t use chatbots too, but you won’t want to automate your customer service entirely. Doing so could mean you lose the personalization that many customers want. Get to know your customers as individuals, along with their wants and their interests. Many companies like to send their customers cards on their birthdays to add that personal touch!
5. Use A CRM System
CRM refers to Customer Relationship Management. It’s a system that serves to manage all of your customer interactions. CRM can help your business to improve its customer service in the long run. You’ll have an easy view of all of the individual customer’s interactions with the company so far. A CRM system can facilitate a more positive experience for the customer because they will not have to re-explain their issue or query between different departments. In addition, you can use your CRM system to store all of the personal and contact information that you have about each of your customers. Having all the details in one place will help you to deliver a personalized service.
6. Professional Answering Service
Using a professional answering service can skyrocket the customer service levels of your business! We currently exist in a society where the consumer expects immediate gratification and constant assistance. It might be real-time responses to social media, EDI systems to track the whereabouts of their goods, or 24/7 telephone lines. If you opt for a professional answering service, your business can be contactable via a virtual receptionist 24/7.
Your consumers will receive an around-the-clock and highly professional service. You’ll gain back some time to get on with running the other areas of your business. With a phone answering service, you’ll gain professionals who will study your business thoroughly to ensure that they can provide a personalized service.
7. Stay positive
Simple but true (and sometimes easier said than done) maintaining positivity in customer service is everything. In our highly digitized world, it’s often the case that most customer service interactions are not in person. With this in mind, it’s a whole lot more essential to consider your voice and your language carefully. Doing so will make certain that you give off the right impression. It’s crucial that you use your problem-solving skills as much as you need to and try to neutralize any tense situations.
8. Real-time support
In recent years, some companies have begun to offer video chat services to help their customers in real-time with queries. Providing these services will improve your customer service because you’ll be able to increase your chances of quickly resolving issues. You will also improve your customer satisfaction and offer a service that may set you apart from your competitors.
9. Make the most of social media
It’s increasingly expected that companies offer support via social media channels. Facebook has 2.32 million users worldwide per month, and many people use it daily. An increasing amount of consumers prefer to be able to send a quick Facebook comment on their lunch break and expect immediate responses. It’s advantageous to keep on top of modern customer service trends to keep your consumers as happy as can be!
10. Consider UX
When it comes to customer service, you should consider your UX (user experience) when it comes to your website. Your user experience needs to be pleasant for the customer; they need to find your website easy to navigate and require minimal explanation to use. If your UX design is perfect, your customers will have a better experience; whether it’s to browse, read your blog, or make an order.
Changes in market trends, technology, and expectations mean that it’s vital for a business to reevaluate customer service continually.
