Good customer service simply means providing timely, authentic, unbent service to a customer and making sure their needs are met in a manner that reflects positively on the company or business. Customer satisfaction has a huge impact on your business’ success. A low satisfaction level means your customer retention and loyalty levels will likely be low too, and it’s also a sign of bad customer service. Research shows that if a customer, says customer A receives good customer service, customer A will in turn tell two or three people respectively. However, if customer A experiences poor service, he will tell ten to twelve others.
Ways To Improve Good Customer Service
1. USE THANK YOU NOTE
In improving good customer service, use thank you notes. Thank you notes help you show customers how much you value them and their patronage. It goes to show them that your brand views them as people not just as a source of profit. One way to thank your customers is to offer them something special during holidays or birthdays such as a small gift or card. Or hold a customer appreciation day just to thank them for choosing to do business with you. Remember, they are the reason you are in business so make them feel appreciated.
In sending thank you notes to your customers, ensure you customize and hand sign these notes. Don’t just send out emails or print out a generic typed notes using Microsoft word. Be sure to personalize the cards, hand write the customer’s name and make the signature follow the same logic. Customize the tone, look and writing style of the cards to reflect your brand. Keep in mind that a “Thank You” note done right can generate word of mouth advertising for your business. Doing business is not always about bringing in new customers but also about keeping the existing customers. Therefore, make your customers feel remembered. Below is a sample of a thank you note for different kinds of customers:
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For a new customer after their first purchase:
Dear Karen,
Thank you for visiting us and making your first purchase. We are glad that you found what you were looking for. It is our goal that you are always happy with what you bought from us. So please let us know if your buying experience was anything short of excellence. We look forward to seeing you again. Have a great day!
Best regards,
Your friend at (business name).
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For a repeat customer,
Dear James,
It delights me to tell you that you have now been our customer for a whole year. We would just like to say thank you for being a part of our business family. We are very grateful for your continued patronage because we wouldn’t be here without loyal customers like you. You could have chosen any other business, but we appreciate that you have stuck with us. Thank you again, and have a great day!
Sincerely,
Your friend at (business name).
2. ADOPT CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
Customer feedback is one of the most important assets your business can have. It can tell you a lot about your customer satisfaction level. Feedback is a clearly indicates how satisfied or dissatisfied customers are with your brand, service and products in general.
Customer feedback can also help you improve your services and products. It offers you data that makes it easier to make the right business decisions. Actively ask customers to leave feedback-be proactive and ask them for it whenever you get an opportunity. Send them a survey either monthly or after every purchase. You can initiate an interaction between them and your support team to find out how well you satisfy them. You could also run social media polls asking customers to rate which part of their interactions with your brand they like the most. Furthermore they could also comment what improvements they would like to see.
3. USE FEEDBACK RECEIVED TO ENHANCE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE
You need to do something with the feedback you receive from customers in order to make it useful in your customer service process. Take time to regularly review feedbacks. Look closely at your customer feedback and identify the main 3-5 common recurring complaints received from customers. Once the most common complaints have been identified, its time to prioritize them according to the frequency of mention.
Read Also: 15 ways to build awesome customer experience
It’s obviously better to fix first the problem most people are complaining about and mentioning the most. Good customer service often comes down to consistently checking in with your customers and making sure they are happy with your products and services. Though following the flow chart of order placement, payment and delivery (for online customers). If you do that successfully, you are on your way to becoming known for providing good customer service.
4. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
There is nothing more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that the person hasn’t been paying attention. Pay attention to your customer if you are truly interested in providing a good customer service. Customers can use a variety of channels to communicate with you. You need to track all of them and be responsive. Try to give your customers your undivided attention. Customers often percieve multi-tasking as being rude. When customers are in front of you, ensure you make eye contact if you are on the telephone. Customers can hear the click-clacks of the keyboards. Make sure the click-clacks they hear is relative to your conversation with them.
5. BUILD A GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM THAT IS CUSTOMER ORIENTED
One of the ways to improve on good customer service is to build a team that is customer oriented. In building a team, know that different team members perform better at different tasks depending on their motivations, skills and behavioral attributes. In building a customer oriented team, here are some steps to take into consideration:
- Capture the different behavioral attributes needed for your team. Competencies that are often used in organisations are comprised of the critical behaviours, skills, values and personal motivations needed.
- Implement a range of selection assessment techniques that measure both the skills required for the job as well as the important customer oriented behaviours. These assessment techniques can include competency-based interviews, specific job tasks and customer communication activities. They will show you how well the candidate engages with a customer. Examples of these include taking a customer inquiry, responding to a customer’s set of questions, as well as handling a customer’s complaint or concern. Whilst the candidate won’t necessarily have the knowledge of your products and services, you will quickly see how they engage with others.
What Is the Language of Customer Service?
Use empowering verbs (instead of negative ones). Genuinely feeling a customer’s frustration can go a long way. When you say you’re “glad to help,” their perception of the interaction is altered. Keeping your distance will make you appear both professional and approachable.
How Can You Maintain Composure When Furious?
Use your relaxation techniques when your temper starts to flare. Try deep breathing exercises, visualize a soothing environment, or repeat a word or phrase that is comforting, like “Take it easy.” In order to promote relaxation, you might also practice some yoga positions, write in a notebook, or listen to music.
How Do You Win Over a Client?
When you initially meet the client, give them a kind smile to show them that you are pleased to see them and enthusiastic about the possibility of working together. When speaking with the client, make eye contact, shake hands firmly, and pay close attention to what they are saying. Additionally, you ought to project a calm and concentrated demeanor.
What Do You Say to a Person Who Is Angry With You?
Try expressing something like, “I recognize your anger.” I’m curious to know what’s going on. What is it about which you feel angry? This demonstrates your desire to understand things from the viewpoint of the other person, which might make him or her feel better. When you do this, try to avoid sounding judgmental.
