Excellent customer service is one of the hallmarks of a successful business. When you look at the leading brands in the United States, one thing they all have in common is that they prioritize customer satisfaction. If you’re trying to grow and expand your business, then you should start with optimizing the customer experience.
Improving your customer service means making customer support more available, promoting brand loyalty, and hiring the right people. Continue reading to learn more about how to bolster your company’s customer experience.
1. Make customer support more available.
It’s frustrating for customers when they’re trying to get support for an issue, and they have to jump through hoops to get the answers they need. Indeed, many companies lose customers over long hold times and interdepartmental call forwarding to multiple agents. The more you can do to ease the process of customer support, the better it will be for your customer retention.
Due to social distancing, many businesses are operating virtually. The irony of it all is that, due to social distancing, the need for customer support has increased during the coronavirus pandemic. How do you continue to provide customer support while many offices are shut down due to social distancing? The answer is call center/contact center software.
One of the best things about Bright Pattern’s contact center software is that you don’t have to have an on-premise call center. Your customer support reps can work from their homes and provide the same level of service they could at an on-premises call center. You can even record these calls for call center quality assurance purposes to ensure your customer service reps are implementing best practices.
As they say in the sports world, “the best ability is availability.” The best thing you can do to improve your customer service is to make customer support more readily available.
2. Giveaways are golden.
As a business owner, surely you appreciate your customers, but it wouldn’t hurt you to occasionally go the extra mile to show them. When people frequent your business, whether it’s online or on location, you can send them off with positive vibes by giving them something practical and inexpensive.
For instance, if you own an office supplies store, giving away 2GB flash drives during back-to-school sales or a pack of ink pens with purchases over a particular amount is a great way to show your appreciation.
3. You need a functional app.
One of the keys to providing excellent customer service is meeting people where they are, and these days, people are on their smartphones. Developing a mobile app is a great way to keep in touch with your customers while allowing them around the clock access to your products, services, and customer support.
Before you release your app or add new features to an existing app, you need to incorporate usability testing into your best practices. There are few things more embarrassing than rolling out a new app that your customers can’t easily use. With data analytics and the right tools, you can format your app to have a customer-friendly user interface.
4. Value customer feedback.
If you’re willing to listen to your customers, they’ll tell you exactly how to win them over. That’s why you should make implementing customer feedback part of your best practices. Customer service is relational, so when you show your customers that you listen to and value their feedback, they’re more likely to become loyal customers.
5. Don’t be afraid of making personal connections with customers.
If you own a small business, you have an opportunity to build relationships with your customers. Believe it or not, those relationships could help to sustain your business during these hard times.
During the coronavirus pandemic, there have been thousands of businesses that have had to shut their doors for good. However, there have also been stories of businesses that have survived because their loyal customers wouldn’t allow them to fail. That’s what building relationships with your customers and the community can do for an enterprise.
