Offering good customer service can be a powerful marketing tool. Yes, customer service isn’t the most exciting aspect, but it’s something that has to be done. Some interactions can be amazing. For example, you may come across a customer that loves what you’re doing and they will have nothing but good words to say. Then, some interactions can be horrible. For example, a customer may not be so thrilled with what you’re offering and may be a bit too vocal with their frustrations. We understand if you would like to walk away from these complications, but in all honesty, without these consumers, your business wouldn’t even exist. Besides, handling customer service the right way is going to make your business stronger. In order to make your customer service a powerful tool, we are going to give you some advice on making your customer service better …
Make the Feedback Simple
Regardless of how good your products and/or services may be, you’re never going to have the perfect customer experience. Eventually, you’ll come across someone that runs into an issue and you’re probably going to hear about it – it goes without saying that you cannot please everyone. However, don’t turn this into a bad thing – take the feedback and use it in order to strengthen your business. The more feedback you get, the better off you’ll be. If you start to hear the same issue over and over again from different customers, then it’s obvious that there’s a problem that you need to fix. Therefore, we recommend making it easy for your customers to give you feedback – you don’t want someone that is trying to reach out to you with feedback to have a hard time getting to you.
Eliminate Pitfalls
You need to be honest with yourself about the product/service you’re offering. Sure, you may love what you’re doing and how you’re offering it, but will others? Do you think it could be better? Speak with people you trust, like your friends or family, and get their honest feedback on your business. This type of knowledge could help you fix an issue before customers tell you about it. The trick here is to eliminate pitfalls before a paying customer walks into them.
Have a Good Team Ready
When your customers take the time to reach out, you will want to have the best team talking to them. For this reason, we recommend you hiring a customer service team that is capable of eliminating hiccups in the operation. Before you hire the team, take a look at them and see what type of people they employ – the workers should be passionate and motivated. If you choose someone that actually cares about your product, they will take the time to hear what people have to say and help come up with a solution. Once you have a good team in place, speak with them and encourage them to listen to the customers.
Really Listen to What People Have to Say
Make sure the customer service team is listening just as much as they talk. Great service doesn’t involve forcing a strategy on people that doesn’t work – try to balance being an expert while listening to people’s concerns and offering what customers feel is right.
Build Trust
A customer-company relationship doesn’t have to be platonic. You can go the extra mile and show passion for the client as this build trust, loyalty, and a longer relationship with the customer.
Conclusion
Even if you feel you have good customer service, chances are, there’s room for improvement – nothing is perfect, so there’s always something that could be improved. Remember, happy customers are long lasting customers.