In today’s time, it is imperative for businesses to have top-notch customer service if they intend to stand out in the market. However, improving customer service isn’t as simple as it sounds. Day to day running of the organizational tasks and maintaining your calm with all kinds of complaints pouring in from the customers is a daunting task. Deep down, it is important to realize, customer relationships – the kind that create happy customers – should never be compromised. There are many ways through which companies can enhance their customer service for the better and consequently improve customer retention. Following is a list of few of them:
Table of Contents
1. Check Your Customer’s Pulse
No, you don’t need to check if they’re still breathing, but you certainly need to check the level of their happiness. Every time you interact with a customer on the phone, ask them about their feelings regarding the product or service. Furthermore, you can also think of conducting a quick survey or fill out a comment card according to what the customer tells. This way, customers will know you want to improve and enhance customer service. Businesses that don’t contact customers after issuing a product or service are never able to fully understand the customer’s needs.
2. Define The Ethos Behind Setting up a Customer Service Belief System
If you think your entire staff knows about the concept of customer service, you’re wrong! Ask them about the reason behind good customer service and hear what they tell. You might also get shocked to know some of the responses, but that’s fine. Most managers think that everyone is on the same page, but that is not how things work. Not to forget, everyone has a different say on the standards of services. So it is better for you to educate your staff on the reason behind setting up good customer service.
3. Data Drive Your Business
If you don’t practice collecting valuable data from the customers, start doing it now. Furthermore, it doesn’t need to be in elaborate detail. Once you know about the area that is most profitable for the business, you can easily increase sales by opening a branch of the business in that locality. Similarly, there are many factors that can give you creative ideas for improving the revenue of the business. Always collect name, phone number, address, and e-mail address from your customer. However, only ask for such details if the customer is in a good mood.
4. Lay Down Laws of Customer Service
If every business had telepathy, the rate of success would have been completely different right now. Sooner or later, you will come across a situation, were devising a customer service law will become mandatory. In simple words, customer service law needs to put the customer first. Furthermore, you need to make sure all employees adhere to this law. In many firms. Employees often carelessly handle customers, which is why the business gets defamed. So it is better to educate employees regarding this law.
5. Establish Measures of Success
Keep in mind, every business is different. However, what binds all businesses together is their need to satisfy the customers. This is where you need to identify the loopholes and pick up the visible measures of success. For instance, if you want to retain a customer and ensure they frequently connect with your brand, it is essential to mark it as a goal for the company. Unless you don’t shape the needs of your customers as goals, the business won’t be able to achieve success. If you want your employees to have a better know-how of customer service, make them undergo ITIL 4 Training program.
6. Check Your Employee’s Pulse
Your employees can collect as much customer information as they want. This is because they know the moods of customers during the call and can tell you the right time to contact them. For instance, nobody wants to wake up in the morning and attend a 15 minutes call from a packaging company. Talk to your employees and allow them to give their take on customer service. Your employees are the people who can identify the obstacles, the customers are facing with regards to a product or service. So always value them and allow them to give their feedback on new company policies or rules that can affect sales.
7. Understand Customer’s Problems
The problem with the manager is, they forget to know what it is like to be customers of a business. The only thing that can help is pure observation. So when you have the customer’s around, watch their movements and learn from their behavior. You also need to acknowledge the customer buying pattern. Are they annoyed with the outlet design? Do they look confused and want to go somewhere else? Gather this information as you witness them coming into the factory outlet. Don’t overlook their response when they see a product.
8. Change Your Employment Policy
One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of companies make is, they often look for “experienced” employees to fill the position of customer service representatives. Keep in mind, the millennial generation is talented and hands-on concerning their tasks. They don’t need to be experienced to prove themselves. Give a chance to the younger generation, so they can benefit your business in several ways. Even if you hire an experienced CSR, there is no guarantee of a business benefitting from it. So it is important to look for a creative candidate instead of the right candidate.
9. Contact Them through Social Media
With the inception of social media, the dynamics of customer services have changed a lot. The benefit of social media is, companies can directly contact the customers without the need for a third party. Similarly, customers can give their feedback on a product or service directly to the company unapologetically. Although some of the comments on social media are rude, they do give an idea of the problems that are being faced by the customers. This way, companies can take quick action and men a problem before it goes out of hand.
