Whether you run an ecommerce business or have a brick-and-mortar store, delivering outstanding customer service is definitely your number one priority. In this article, you’ll discover 9 effective ways to give once-in-a-lifetime experience to your customers.
First, let’s find out why it’s important for your business to focus on improving customer service.
Significance of Outstanding Customer Service for Your Business
Want to know how critical superior customer service is to your business? Take a look at these stats:
- Around 70% of the customer’s journey depends on how he/she is being treated by the company.
- Businesses lose more than 75 billion dollars annually because of inadequate customer services.
- 77% of consumers would suggest a brand to an acquaintance after having even one positive experience.
- Customers are eager to spend 17% more on a business that has exceptional customer service.
Now that you know how customer service can make or break your brand, we’re sure you’d want to know ways to take your customer service to the next level.
Potent Ways to Improve Your Customer Service
From chatbots to 24/7 helpdesks to using dedicated customer service software, here are 9 ways to help your business deliver extraordinary customer service.
1. Offer live chat sessions
In the era of instant messaging, customers want everything instantly. So if you own an online store and you’re not using live chat, then it’s high time that you get out of your cave.
There are plenty of advantages to offering live chat support on your website.
It helps your customer reps respond to your consumers in real time while making your customers feel important and heard.
Whether your reps are handling sales inquiries, juggling hands-on upselling or battling queries about invoices and delivery, the live chat feature can help you and your team to be more dynamic. It also helps you become steadier in your replies, as you can develop some pre-written replies.
2. Introduce Chatbots
Another exciting way to accelerate your customer service is to introduce chatbots.
These clever machines can not only respond to customer requests and inquiries in real time, but they can also recognize when the customer is confused. In this case, they smoothly direct the conversation to a live customer care agent.
3. Offer 24/7 helpdesk support
Ensure that your customer requests and queries are catered to 24/7. Use a live answering helpdesk support so that your consumers are always responded to in real time, either by a live agent or a chatbot.
4. Provide an omnichannel customer experience
The best way to improve your customer service in this era of technology and social media is to be prepared to help your customers at any time, at any place and via any channel.
While customers in the past relied mostly on phone calls or emails, customers today want to be reached via social media or text messages. So be ready to offer an omnichannel customer experience that integrates all possible channels and touchpoints.
5. Write easily understandable Returns Policy and FAQs
You can greatly reduce the number of queries your customer service reps receive by addressing the most common questions in your FAQ section.
Similarly, craft an easy-to-understand returns policy so that your customers know what to do in case they wish to return their purchase, without ringing in to talk to your agents.
Use a simple language and avoid any legal or technical gibberish.
6. Use dedicated customer service software
Are you currently handling your customer support via email? If yes, then it’s time to boost customer satisfaction by introducing an integrated helpdesk.
Many modern customer service software empowers you to do more than just send emails.
You can connect your social networking accounts, or integrate your business VoIP system or even live chat. This will help you maintain a crystal clear sequence of all customer communications and respond more rapidly.
7. Allow self-service options
Did you know that customers who can serve themselves are more contented than those who have to rely on your customer support for every little thing?
Tech-savvy consumers today anticipate the ability to easily access their account, change payment procedures and particulars and view order status and billing account. So, introduce self-service options to prevent menial inquiries from clogging up the arteries of your business.
8. Evaluate customer gratification
Want to improve your customer service? It’s essential to measure customer satisfaction to see if you’re actually heading in the right direction.
Several customer support software is equipped with features that let you easily send out survey forms after customer interaction. This is a swift method to evaluate your customer service, and the feedback you receive can be valuable, giving you a way to follow-up.
9. Offer Informative Videos
Pre- and post-sales videos are beneficial for your business, particularly as an add-on to your self-service features.
You can share ‘getting started’ or ‘how-to’ videos to walk your customers through the process or to introduce new features in your products. Also, sharing informative videos from time to time, either on your website or social media, will keep your customers engaged.
Key Takeaway
Customer service is an extremely significant part of your business. By leveraging all these 9 ways mentioned in this article, you can upsurge lasting loyalty and the lifetime value of your consumers.
Now it might sound overwhelming to implement and manage ALL of these ways.
Worry not! With our intelligent customer service platform, integrating all these methods into one tool is just a matter of minutes.
