Customer service guru, Shep Hyken, said it best, “An amazing customer experience comes down to this - Sell a product or service that works and be nice to the customer about it. It’s as simple as that.”
Easy enough to say, but a bit more challenging to put into practice. That’s why we’ve put together 10 tips to help you deliver good customer service to your customers.
1. Provide multiple ways for your customers to get in touch with you
In today’s day and age, it can be difficult to get in touch with a customer service department just to help you solve a small issue. Providing different ways for customers to easily communicate directly with your business is critical.
The goal should be that every customer should be able to reach you via phone, email, live chat, web, etc. And make sure they don’t have to wait more than is necessary to talk to you.
2. Acknowledge that you’ve received their request
Most people will wait hours on end to try to get a customer service representative on the phone because they think that if they have talked to someone, then their request is being worked on. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.
Whether you receive a request by phone or email or web, send the customer an acknowledgement of the case, including a case number and a contact person.
We all like to know that we are being heard.
3. Solve customer problems immediately
When a customer contacts you with an issue, get the right people to deal with the issue immediately. Don’t waste time by “cherry picking” the easy requests. Customers expect immediate gratification and their expectation should be fulfilled to the best of your ability.
4. Don’t be afraid to over-communicate with customers
When your customer runs into an issue they cannot solve by themselves, they contact you. But, with everything that’s going on in their lives, it’s easy for customers to sometimes forget why they contacted you in the first place.
Use CRM to keep track of all your customer conversations and include the email history to refresh their memory on why they contacted and what the solution to problem is.
You can help them by sending summaries via email and inform them of what actions were taken to help fix the situation. Doing this will increase the effectiveness of your interactions and make your customers feel appreciated.
5. Go above and beyond customer expectations
Even if things seem like they might be going well, they might not be. What you don’t do in a customer relationship defines you just as much as what you do.
Check-in frequently with your customers to ensure you are meeting their needs, and conduct anonymous customer satisfaction surveys to get additional feedback.
6. Give them new ideas and inspiration to improve their business
A work day is filled with so much to do most people don’t have the time to look up and breathe, much less find the time to find new ideas and inspiration.
Become a trusted advisor to your customers. Give them tips and tricks to help them get more out of their day or ideas on how to generate or save more money. This is an extra service that you can provide to your customers “just because” and goes a long way in creating customer loyalty.
7. Find every opportunity possible to thank your customers for their business
Customer loyalty is not a given. Surprise your customers with your gratitude! Every time you send an invoice, visit a customer, or hit a milestone together, you have an opportunity to say thank you. Birthdays and major holidays are a great time to thank your customers for their business.
8. The customer is always right
If you haven’t met your customer’s expectations, own up to it, then do whatever is necessary to fix it. Once the solution is in place, make sure you regularly follow up to ensure that the solution works and that your customer is satisfied. This same thing applies if you sell to a customer that you have never sold to before.
9. Make sure you deliver on your promises
Customers want a partner that they can count on. Only make promises that you can keep. Although this can be a challenge, set your customer’s expectations low and then work hard to always exceed those expectations.
Deliver what you promise to your customers and you will begin to build trust with them. Fail to deliver on what you promise time and time again and watch your relationship erode to nothing.
10. Understand your customers and their needs
It’s important not to talk past your customers or try to sell them something that they don’t need. Show them that you really care about them by asking good questions.
Before you walk into a meeting with them, create a list of the “top 5-10 questions” that you want to ask in order to build the relationship and get a good understanding of their business. You don’t have to ask all the questions, but your forethought and willingness to listen will really go a long way in building rapport and trust.
Conclusion
Good customer service means being better than average.
If your customer service is on par with your competitors, your business is nothing special. In order to stand out from the others, you have to provide “good customer service” more than just one time. It needs to be all of the time, day in and day out.
If you would like to deliver good customer service, then then sign up to a free trial of SuperOffice Service.