Good customer service is absolutely essential to running a successful business. In fact, it’s often more important than price. According to an American Express global customer service barometer, seven out of ten consumers have paid more for excellent service (1). So, if you want your business to thrive, you and your employees need to be committed to providing great customer service, and we’re going to discuss how to achieve that.
You should continually try to improve your customer experience. One way you can keep improving is to ask for customer feedback and address any problems that are reported. This is definitely worthwhile, since American customers tell an average of fifteen people about their poor service experiences (1).
Naturally, you’ll want to do your best to provide excellent service before any problems occur. After all, you often don’t get a second chance—NewVoiceMedia reports that 51 percent of consumers will not buy from a business after one negative experience.
Competence
It’s essential that all your CSR have a basic knowledge of your products. Customers expect the people they call to understand them, and your representatives must be prepared to connect customers to an expert if the problem is complicated. This not only ensures that the customer gets help—it also saves time.
Personalization in Your Customer Service
Customers want to be treated as individuals, so customer service agents must listen attentively to learn what they need. This takes patience, because a customer’s needs may not always be easily understood or identified.
Some customers have trouble describing their issues, and this shouldn’t be seen as a nuisance. This is an opportunity to fix their problems and retain them as customers.
Proactive
You should be sure to keep your customers up to date with any crucial information about their orders or products. Although your customers may not enjoy certain information, they’ll prefer being informed over not knowing something important. It’s a good idea to keep customers in the loop regarding any issues that may affect them, from shipping delays to product recalls.
Convenience
Customers want to reach you if they have a problem, and it pays to make this easy. According to the Harvard Business Review, it costs 5 to 25 percent more to gain a new customer than it does to retain a current customer (2). So, try to make your customer service readily available in a variety of ways, such as by phone, email, chat, etc. Customer retention will more than pay for the costs of good service.
Conclusion about Customer Service
Creating a positive customer experience is likely more important than any other factor in leaving your customers satisfied. Avoiding customer service problems will prevent harm to your business and generate rewards in customer loyalty.
