6 Tips to Provide Great Customer Service They Won’t Forget
Customer service is the biggest factor in building a successful brand. Why? Because it’s the number one factor in determining whether someone buys from you or not.
To get people to try your brand for the first time, product quality and effective marketing are imperative. But, what helps in keeping people engaged? What is it that ensures their satisfaction, and hence the creation of positive word of mouth?
The answer is simple – customer service.
According to research conducted by Microsoft, over 96 percent of consumers cite customer service as an essential factor when weighing in their loyalty for a brand. Similarly, American Express quotes that 90 percent of Americans decide whether or not they want to purchase from a given brand depending on their customer service!
So, one thing is for sure; customer service is a crucial element of the consumer purchasing journey. And many businesses realize its importance and try to deliver service that customers are likely to remember.
If you wish to do the same, here are some tips that might help you.
1. Have a strong follow-up
Whether it be abandoned carts, reaching out to old customers, or resolving complaints, a strong follow up is always appreciated by customers.
For instance, let’s say a given visitor abandons a cart of your online shop midway through the checkout process. To lure them back in, you can send them sales follow up email. This can either be a mere reminder of their cart or a discount if they complete the purchase.
What exactly the follow up should entail depends on your prevalent marketing tactics. The bottom line is to ensure that your customers don’t forget you, you must reach out to them from time to time.
But, while you are doing so, make sure you don’t appear annoying or intrusive. Seek permission before sending them promotional follow-up emails. When resolving complaints, be personal and upfront.
Having the right tone and message is essential for quality customer service.
2. Be patient and consistent
Before finalizing a purchase, a potential customer will bombard you with questions. In the present online world, this is even more true and understandable. After all, one cannot physically see the products most of the time.
At times, the questions of customers may seem silly or annoying. Yet, you can never relay the feeling to them. You must be empathetic, patient, and consistent with your responses, each time they reach out to you.
Customers are likely to remember brands that respond well to their queries and offer them the best pre and post-purchase services.
3. Be open to learning
Customer service is by far the most ever-evolving department of any company. While the general cases that your brand has to deal with will remain the same, now and then a curveball will come your way. You will find yourself in front of a customer with a unique problem or query.
Make sure you understand that customer service is all about learning from the experiences and customers before you. There is no standard way of dealing with all customers.
Your customer service representatives will have to gauge customer’s moods, understand novel challenges, and respond according to the situation. At times, the approach taken may not settle well with a given customer.
Take this as an excellent opportunity to learn and improve your service.
4. Make sure your customers understand
To ensure that your customer doesn’t experience post-purchase dissonance, you must ensure that they form the right expectations about your brand and product.
For instance, let’s say you are an apparel store, and you are offering 25 percent off on all products that are priced below $25. You relay the same to your customer who misunderstands the offer to mean that everything in the shop has a 25 percent discount. Upon completing the purchase, the customer might think that the brand fooled them!
To avoid such a situation, you must make sure that your customer understands the different discounts and policies of your brand. And the best way to be certain is to ask them. Remember to always use positive language and tone.
End the conversation by confirming that the customer understands your point and is satisfied with it.
5. Achieve the balance
Every customer service representative will find themselves at a crossroads when a given customer’s problem is taking too long to be solved, and other potential customers are waiting in line. There is only so much time you can allocate to one customer.
Yet, people like having the same representative with them, through the entirety of their issue so that they don’t have to repeat it all again and again. So, how do you decide whether it is time to pass the torch to another representative? You do so by staying focused on your goals and company protocols.
At the same time, to cater to customers’ needs, the company must use tools such that the case, in its entirety, is forwarded to another representative so that customers don’t have to repeat themselves.
Many companies use chatbots to be available to the shoppers browsing at any given time. In such a case, the customers can drop in a note if they are confused. A representative can go on to employ them with the right content that assists them in making a buying decision.
6. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.”
Giving the wrong information is much worse than letting your customers know that you don’t have the right response to a given query. In case a given inquiry is too technical for your understanding, let them know that you will get back to them after finding out the right response.
People love transparency in brands. Deliver this to them via the right responses. You don’t always have to be perfect and knowledgeable. You just need to be accommodating and helpful.
And while you are doing so, you are likely to come across people who will be unreasonable and rude to you. This is why it is essential for you to have thick skin. Don’t resort to using a negative tone.
Don’t lose your cool. Let customers know that you are willing to help them in the best way possible.
Ending Remarks
With these six crucial tricks up your sleeves, you are ready to provide a type of service that customers are unlikely to forget (for the right reasons!).
Do you think there are other ways you can offer great service to customers?
