Customer Service is one of the most important aspects of any business. If you are not providing excellent customer service, you are losing customers and money. By following these tips, you will be able to provide better service and keep your customers happy!
Tip #1: Happy Employees = Happy Customers
One of the best ways to improve customer service is to keep your employees happy. Treat them right, pay them well, and build a positive work environment where they have the grace and space to thrive. And build a rewards and recognition program that’s tied to their performance. Now this will all depend on your company and culture but start by asking your employees these questions:
- How are you feeling about your work right now? Do you need help with anything?
- What can we do to keep you motivated, happy, and committed to providing our customers with the best products and/or services?
- Am I or are we doing anything that will make you want to leave the company? If yes, what is it and what can we do to resolve this?
Happy Employees = Happy Customers is not just a statement, it’s a fact. They will go above and beyond for you IF you do the same for them.
Tip #2: Train Your Employees Well
Make sure your employees are well-versed in your products and services. If you have a customer service team, make sure they are appropriately trained and equipped to handle client enquiries, difficult circumstances, and deliver exceptional customer care.
- Incorporate scenario-based training where employees can put theory into practice and safely learn from mistakes
- Teach your employees how to fish by using on-demand knowledge management system as the single source of truth for product specific information
- Be diligent with offering continuous learning opportunities. Regularly upgrading your employees’ knowledge, skills, and tools is how you will stay viable and competitive
This will help your employees feel prepared and confident in their abilities and ensure that customers are happy with the service they receive.
Tip #3: Set Clear Expectations and Quality Checks
Another way to improve customer service is to set clear expectations when it comes to your customer service standards – protect the brand, at all costs. These standards should include the level of service that you expect your employees to provide, as well as the type of attitude that they should have when interacting with customers. Once standards are set, establish a quality assurance process that will help you track and provide KUDOS or improvement opportunities for your employees on a consistent basis.
Remember that anything you consistently monitor and action will go up and get better!
Tip #4: Use Customer-Centric Tools
Use technology to your advantage – improve customer service in your business by using customer-centric tools. Direct routine transactions to low-cost support tools such as chat, text, and bots that can be transferred to a human agent at any point during the customer interaction. Build user-friendly FAQs/manuals, think instructional videos but more fun and engaging!
For your sales calls, complex interactions, and/or to your VIP/premium clients, offer Video Chat support to take your customer experience and brand recognition to the next level.
Tip #5: Listen to Your Customers and Take Action
.png)
Request for feedback at the end of every customer interaction. It can be 1-question satisfaction survey or as simple as the happy/sad face poll with an open comments section. Your customers won’t always participate but they will take time to give feedback where it counts and you definitely want to know what’s important to them as they use your products and services.
More importantly, make it easy for them to give feedback and offer rewards or incentives for doing so. This will help you identify any areas where your customers are not happy with the service they receive and make necessary changes.
