In today’s business world, it doesn’t matter how great your products or services are; your business is only as good as your customer service. So, if it’s less-than-satisfactory, attracting and retaining new leads will be challenging.
Yet, despite many brands recognizing this and making changes to reflect this understanding, as evidenced by recent studies detailing that as many as 50% of customers said they hadn’t seen an improvement in American customer service.
Fortunately, there are various changes business leaders can implement to get the balance between outstanding customer service and reality correct. From outsourcing a phone answering service to installing live chat software, we outline several business leaders should consider down below:
Improve Communication With Customers
As we all know, communication is integral in today’s business world. By communicating concisely and clearly, your customer service team minimizes the chance of messages getting misunderstood or misconstrued, significantly narrowing the window for conflict.
Not to say that conflict won’t ever arise, but when it does, effective communication will ensure that the conversation becomes de-escalated and a feasible resolution is reached. Fortunately, this has become easier over the years with the emergence of new communications channels like social media, live chat software, text message marketing, direct mail, phone interactions, and more.
Although this has made communicating with customers much more accessible, it has presented the additional challenge of managing multiple lines of communication. So, why not take one off your customer service teams’ hands, and outsource a phone answering service?
From putting an end to communication barriers and minimizing missed calls, a phone answering service can improve how your business interacts with customers in many ways. Consider finding out more by contacting providers like Signpost and seeing how their live receptionists could help you improve your customer service today.
Actively Seek Out Customer Feedback
Asking your customers to fill out a short form about how your customer service team performed at the end of their interaction will no longer cut it. Instead, you must implement changes to your customer service strategy that encourages your team members (and customers!) to seek out/leave feedback.
Fortunately, there are many ways that you can encourage your customers to leave their honest thoughts about your organization, including:
- Ask customers for their opinion on your interaction over the phone, face-to-face, or in writing.
- Use surveys, but provide an incentive like a discount on their next order if they leave a review.
- Allow customers to leave online reviews and many more.
Reward Great Customer Service
Chances are, when dealing with customers on a one-to-one basis, if they’ve talked to a member of your customer service team about a previous issue and had a positive experience, they will mention that time and maybe even the name of the employee that provided this incredible experience.
Or if a customer doesn’t name-drop, one of the other members of the customer service team or managers is sure to share who they think is overachieving. It’s only sensical that you want this employee to continue delivering this level of customer service.
When this happens, ensure that this employee recognizes their achievement and is rewarded using an employee recognition scheme. This will encourage them to continue delivering exceptional customer service and keep your customers happy.
