Are you familiar with the situation when customers buy a product or service once and don’t return to you while marketing budgets for attracting new customers are constantly growing? Most likely, the company makes mistakes in customer service management or doesn’t have a client-focused strategy at all. Read below how to avoid such mistakes and become a leader in your niche by building a quality service.
What are customer service standards, and why are they needed?
Customer service standards are not a formality. These are the rules that help employees communicate with clients and turn them into buyers. At least two reasons why customer service quality standards are being introduced exist:
- A customer loyalty increase and sales growth. The clients feel satisfaction from communicating with the company. They likely buy your products/services rather than from competitors.
- Double control. The employee understands that both management and clients watch his actions. He is sure that the work performed will be analyzed objectively.
The standards depend on the activities of the company. For instance, the instructions for a call center employee will differ from the rules for hostesses at the reception. However, universal requirements for all companies are:
- An employee’s appearance (image);
- Rules of interaction with clients;
- Prohibited employee behavior;
- Rules for working with documents and money.
It’s necessary to understand that setting standards alone won’t help you improve your customer experience. Numerous business owners and top managers expect immediate benefits from the implementation of a customer service strategy. But building a client service culture is a rather complicated process that requires effort, time, and money.
Top ways to improve the customer service quality
If your startup or small business isn’t focusing enough on customer service, it’s time to fix it. Customers should be happy with their first brand experience. Here’s how you can improve your customer service:
-
Use technology
Clients can easily switch from one brand to another, so the sales team must not miss a single buyer. Invest in technology so that your employees have all the resources to attract consumers.
The choice of tools depends on your needs. For instance, if you want to improve the responsiveness of your sales team, choose a phone call automation software or IVR (Interactive Voice Response).
-
Share knowledge within the team
Nothing discourages a client like waiting for a question to be answered. A quick way to ensure that each employee can solve a customer’s problem is to create a centralized knowledge base. It can be hosted on a corporate network or in cloud storage.
If all team members have access to the information, such as purchase history, they will definitely consult the client. A centralized knowledge base will also be useful if employees work remotely.
-
Provide answers in advance
One of the main problems of customer service is the inability to find all the necessary information on the site. Don’t force customers to search for product information, make a call, or write to support chat. Provide all the necessary answers on the website.
Many people prefer to solve problems on their own. They will appreciate the ability to find information quickly and save a lot of time.
Such content can be presented in the following ways:
- make a large section with FAQ;
- tell about a product or service using videos, texts, images, drawings, diagrams, tutorials;
- create a separate page with the most relevant information.
-
Personalization
Personalization is the level of personal interest to the client in the process of any interaction with him. The term evolves depending on the business’s strategic goals. However, its ultimate and only purpose is to form recommendations following the client’s unique preferences, needs and wants in order to increase sales and profits.
Personalization includes:
- recommendation of a product or service;
- individual bonuses, taking into account the optimal mechanics of the discounts;
- individual ways and optimal time of communication;
- personal text and addressing by name.
In addition, it’s crucial to offer the clients the product/service/position that they really need and want, and not everything in a row.
-
Follow social media
Spend time researching social media to find out exactly customers’ needs and wants. It’s not a secret that most users will criticize you.
Remember, negative reviews are reviews as well. They help you identify weak points. Nevertheless, you need to minimize their impact, and ideally — direct the negativity in a constructive direction.
You can quickly react if a customer is unhappy or unsatisfied with your product or service. When clients see that you respond to comments and suggestions online, they will definitely appreciate that the company cares about its image and values each buyer.
-
Motivation system and KPI
You need to focus not only on control but on team motivation by improving your business’s customer service quality. Motivation problems are the main drawbacks of any business.
Each employer independently determines the methods to encourage the entire team to stay productive in order to meet their needs and achieve the overall task. A motivated employee enjoys the work and experiences satisfaction. Motivate your employees, and you will receive high-quality customer service.
Implementation of a client-focused plan will lead your business to the concepts of “quality service” and “customer-oriented company”, which in turn will:
- increase sales, providing guaranteed profit growth;
- create a competitive advantage and a path to market dominance;
- help build customer loyalty to the brand;
- reduce the budget for marketing, advertising, and PR;
- reduce staff turnover, attract the best specialists to the company;
- improve relationships within the company and the team;
- make customers happy who return again and again.
We’ve listed the best ways on how to improve your company’s customer service. Surely, there are many more of them, and each company is individual. But if you want a loyal audience, think carefully about the user experience from start to finish. Look for opportunities to exceed expectations and make the purchase not just a pleasure but the only alternative. Good luck!
