Five ways to upgrade customer service
You should continually strive to improve and upgrade customer service because your customers are everything. Period. If you are selling a product or service, the customers who do business with you are the reason why your business is growing. Whether they have a good experience or poor experience, they will discuss their experiences with others, resulting in new customers flocking to your business or current customers leaving for your competition. Here’s how to avoid losing customers and make your customers fall in love with your company!
In a business, regardless of the industry or product offerings, customer service usually takes a back seat to build a great product or service portfolio. But why is this the reality? In today’s uber-competitive world of Fortune 500 companies and newly minted startups, customer service and customer happiness should be at the forefront of everything businesses do. That is why companies ranging from Dominos Pizza to the University of Michigan Health-West and everything in between leverage smart software to help clients to help themselves or allow staff to assist customers quickly and effectively.
1. Be Knowledgeable
Knowing your product offerings is paramount to being a successful customer service team member. Not only does it help with the delivery of your answers and gives more clarity, it also allows you to be much more effective in communicating your answers which makes customers get the information they need faster. In addition to this, as a customer support rockstar, being agile and helping with unexpected issues or requests will showcase you and your company’s attention to detail.
2. Be Goal Orientated
Making it your mission to help customers get to the “light at the end of the tunnel” will not only increase customer satisfaction but also allow you to service more customers with less effort. Being goal-orientated also changes how you engage with and interact with customers looking for help. For example, if a customer is in urgent need of help, you will be used to help them resolve their issue as quickly and as effectively as possible. This gives your organization the perception of speedy, helpful and reliable service on top of an already great product offering.
3. Quick Responses
No one likes waiting. Honestly, when was the last time you enjoyed listening to elevator music for more than five minutes while waiting to speak with a representative or waiting a few hours for a reply to your email request? Definitely not me! Being quick to return requests allows your customers to know that you care a lot about them and are willing to help when they need you the most.
4. Be Personable
Robotic responses are a pain and giving a personal touch makes all the difference when your customers need help. Things like asking about your client’s day will make the conversation much more meaningful and you can connect on a more personal level. Putting a smile on their face will make their overall experience much more enjoyable.
5. Be Engaging
Following up with customers a few days later to make sure that you were a help to them. This ensures that your customers are being taken care of. In addition to this, asking for feedback is paramount to making a highly successful customer service offering and will allow you to make changes as needed.