Customer service has become more important than ever. Two-third of businesses compete based on their customer experience (CX).
Besides, 96% of consumers say customer service influences their loyalty to a brand.
If you don’t have a well-planned customer service strategy, you are highly likely to lose business. According to Channels, after just one negative experience, 51% of customers will never do business with that company again.
Providing excellent customer service is key to building a loyal customer base, and one way to do so is by implementing a customer loyalty system. This type of system rewards customers for their repeat business and can help to encourage loyalty and engagement. So, what else can you do? Well, let’s move on to the excellent customer service tips that you must employ. Be sure to check out the leading product visualization tools.
6 Tips to Provide the Best Possible Customer Service
1- Practice Empathy and Patience
Empathy is all about putting yourself in the customers’ shoes to better understand how they feel about your products or services. Showing empathy also helps improve customer satisfaction and reduce frustration.
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At the same time, it is essential to have patience. You might encounter very similar problems multiple times a day or come across customers with little to no knowledge about your product. Practicing patience will enable you to handle those customers and solve their problems efficiently.
2- Help Customers Help Themselves
77% of customers say they view companies more positively if they offer self-service options. Another advantage of providing self-service options is that it reduces the burden on your support team.
Besides, self-help options are available even when you are not providing solutions to customers’ problems all the time. Here are some self-help options you should consider:
- Knowledge base
- Interactive voice responses (IVR) for contact centers
- Online forums
- FAQs
- How-to blogs
3- Invest in Cloud-Based Phone Systems
Cloud-based phone systems allow you to offer customer support via phone 24/7. Modern call center software like CallHippo offers smart call forwarding, meaning you can redirect business calls to your smartphone so you don’t miss any important calls.
Another benefit of investing in cloud-based phone systems is that it enables you to integrate your communications with your everyday applications for business processes (e.g., CRM).
But that’s not it. You even get real-time updates related to customer interaction, can listen to customers’ calls while your agents handle them, and reduce the amount of missed calls. However, it is essential to take time to choose the right call center software to get the most out of your investment.
4- Maintain a Positive Attitude
Usually, customers reach out to support teams when they have an issue with the product. The best way to ensure that the conversation goes as smoothly as you would want it to be is by maintaining a positive attitude.
Let’s take an example. Say one of your customers has not received his order for more than a week after the promised date. There are two ways to respond to this.
- Negative language: Sorry to hear this, but I can’t get you your order until next week due to COVID restrictions in your area.
- Positive language: Sorry to hear this. The delay is happening because of COVID restrictions in your area. But, I will make sure that you get your order as soon as the restrictions start easing.
Maintaining a positive attitude reduces the chances of upsetting the customer and increases understanding between the buyer and the company.
5- Minimize Your Response Time
77% of customers expect an instant response when communicating via online chat, 64% when talking over the phone, and 73% when talking face-to-face.
This makes it imperative to provide a timely response. If not, you will see a decrease in customer satisfaction. The best way to improve your response time is by setting up automation, just like this.
As soon as I created a ticket in Grammarly, I received an automated response from the company stating that they have got my request and that the issue will be solved asap. This assures the buyer that you are working towards their problem, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.
6- Reward Loyal Customers
Customer service is more than just resolving the issues or providing great support. It also involves rewarding loyal customers because they have been associated with you for a long time.
Major brands like Uber, Starbucks, and Sephora have loyalty programs in which customers earn points by using their services. They can then redeem the points for exciting rewards or discounts on their next purchase.
Consider creating a loyalty program to reward customers and increase their chances of staying loyal to your brand.
Final Thoughts
Providing awesome customer service has become more important than ever. By employing the six tips mentioned above, you will be able to offer the best possible customer service and increase customer satisfaction.
Did we miss any vital strategies to provide great customer service? What other tactics do you implement to offer excellent customer service? Let us know in the comments.
