Are you trying to offer your audience the best customer service you can ever give? That’s great to hear. Not many companies are willing to put their thoughts, let alone their resources, into customer service, but little did they know that customer service can be the difference between a successful company and one that struggles significantly. If that claim seems to be little nuts, know that companies in the US alone lose billions of dollars every year simply because of poor customer service. As such, it is easy to assume that any company that does not focus on customer service will hurt its ability to generate revenue.
So, with all of that said, how exactly do you offer excellent customer service? Here are some tips we would like to share with you to do precisely that:
1. Don’t Let the Problems Pile Up
The longer you take to address the issues, the more issues you will have to deal with. Leaving problems to pile up will only overwhelm you, creating more unhappy customers to deal with. Unfortunately, those problems won’t solve themselves. You have to go ahead and deal with the problems yourself, no matter how redundant or simple the problem or question they have for you to solve. However, through all of the frustration you might be feeling, always remind yourself that customers don’t have the same training as you when using your products or services. As such, it is only fair and expected that they have various questions about your offerings.
Now, a mistake you might make here is that the questions they are asking are bad questions. For instance, a customer may be pointing out a flaw in your product or even a company process. Rather than getting angry at them, put yourself in their shoes. Acknowledge their concerns about your company, and understand that they’re only pointing it out because they want you to improve.
On that note, if you cannot solve the issue they have made aware of right away, let them know when you will solve it. Even if you do not have an upfront solution, the simple thought of you working on a possible solution can ease their minds and turn them into happier customers overall.
2. Always Maintain Positive Communication
You might have the right intent in mind to help your customers, but if you word it in such a way that offends them, it’ll only hurt your relationship with them and potentially other customers. As such, knowing how to communicate is key to successful customer service, and even in the most serious of topics, there is always a way to sugarcoat things to ease their minds.
One mistake you might make here while attempting to communicate with your customer is to state the fact. Sure, it might be true, but it isn’t something your customer wants to hear. For example, imagine a customer wants their products refunded but, for some reason, you cannot do it until the next day. Saying something like, “Sorry, I cannot refund your products now. I will only do it tomorrow” sounds offensive and outright cold. Instead, make it sound a little more positive. Stay something like, “If you can come back tomorrow, I will be more than happy to refund your products!”
Really, it is the wording that can make or break the customer service experience, so do your best to maintain positive communication and set the right expectations to keep customers happy.
3. Personalize Your Services as Much as Possible
Whenever a customer comes to you and wants to talk to you, they want to be treated like a unique individual. Personalization is what makes your customers feel special when purchasing from you, and in customer services, they expect the service you provide to be personalized.
When trying to offer personalized help to your audience, an important thing to note is that you must show respect to your customer’s time. They’ve dedicated their time to come to you for help, and you should show that you care. For example, rather than telling them that they will receive an update to their problems within a certain number of business days, ask them how they want to receive it. Do they want to receive the update through phone or by email? This act of respect to their time also makes the whole customer service experience much more personalized, leaving them happier and believing that you truly care for their issues.
Put simply, you want to give customers some control over the situation. This makes the entire experience much more positive, enabling you to maintain positive relationships with your customers.
4. Focus On Customer Experience, Not on the Issue
Yes, the issue itself is essential and needs to be solved. However, jumping right into getting a solution isn’t always the right thing to do. This is much like how some websites, although offering the best content one can ever find, still fail simply because the user experience is horrid! Good customer service reps know that customers aren’t actually reaching out to them for an immediate solution. Rather, they want first to hear and experience the kindness and empathy they wish to receive from customer service. Also, they want to receive a real solution to fix the problem rather than simply getting a time when the problem will get fixed.
When trying to offer an excellent customer service experience, always remind yourself that you should never take things personally and communicate in a way that reflects that fact. Remember, they aren’t directly attacking you, even if it sounds like it. They’re just reacting to the situation they’ve found themselves in. For that reason, whenever you respond, always respond with a smile. Be helpful, rather than argue with your customers. Only through positive interactions can the problem be thoroughly understood, helping you solve it quickly and effectively.
Conclusion
All in all, good customer service can be summarized to the following: maintain positive communication, focus on bringing the best customer service experience possible, personalize the customer service you offer, and deal with the problems right away. By following these tips, you’ll be able to maximize not only the success rates of your customer service efforts but also minimize the time spent on customer service. This gives you more time to focus on other critical aspects of your company, one of them being taking in the feedback of your customer base and using them to improve your business. In the long run, as customers see how their insights and input have become a reality in your company, they will feel happier to have reached out to you and voice their concerns. This leads to strong relationships that create loyal customers, ensuring your company stays successful for many years to come.
CrewBloom offers top-tier affordable professionals with expertise in remote sales and support roles to give companies the support needed to keep both business and customers happy. If you are looking to outsource customer support in the US to provide you with expert customer service reps to keep your customers happy, work with us today!
