To Make Customers Happy, Don't Skimp On Customer Service



When it comes to customer service, don't skimp. A strong investment in happy customers can earn big rewards for your online store in the form of repeat business, customer referrals and a strong brand image. Research shows that repeat customers spend 67 percent more than new customers, according to marketing consultant BIA/Kelsey. Jul 09, 2019 Customer service responses are email and other online communications that address customer concerns. They let your customers know you care about their experience with your company and that you will respond to their concerns. Customer service response templates are often used to save time and achieve standardization. To help, here are 13 customizable templates.

1. Make your customers feel important. Call your customers by name. Ask about their families, vacation plans, additions to the family. Acknowledge their accomplishments. Know what is happening in your community!

2. Smile warmly, and often. A smile not only demonstrates you care, it shows your customers that you are warm, friendly and that you do care about them.

3. Listen carefully when your customers are speaking to you. Try to give your customers your undivided attention. Multi-tasking is often perceived as being rude. When customers are in front of you, make eye contact. If you are on the telephone, customers can hear the click-clack of keyboards. Make sure the click-clack they hear is relative to your conversation with them.

4. Know your products and services. Customers want to work with knowledgeable employees. Learn everything you can about your products so you can be better equipped to answer customer questions. If you’re uncertain about something, ask for help.

5. Understand the cost of losing one customer. If you are in a competitive environment, knowing the value of a lost customer is critical! When you lose a single customer, you don’t lose one transaction, you miss out on a lifetime opportunity of profitability with that customer. This obviously impacts the company’s bottom-line, which has a HUGE ripple effect, including the job security of every employee.

Customer

To Make Customers Happy Don't Skimp On Customer Service 1-800

6. Ask your customers what they want. Listen carefully to your customers and ask questions to find out what aspects of service are most important to them.

7. Treat your customers as individuals. Not all customers are alike. Each customer has individual needs and concerns and they want to be treated with a personal touch that does not make them feel like a number. Communicate in the manner your customers like to communicate.

8. Keep your promises to your customers. When you tell your customer you are going to do something, follow-up as quickly as possible. Given them time-frames and honor them.

9. Don’t waste your customers’ time. Everyone is busy and nothing will frustrate a customer more than feeling like his or her time has been wasted. Complicated voice mail systems, making customers repeat their service request more than once and un-knowledgeable employees are some major time-wasters. A customer’s time is as important as your time!

10. Make it easy for your customers to complain. Your customers want to feel heard, especially when they are frustrated with the service they received. Invite feedback by asking customers what they liked best and least about your service. Ongoing surveys are a reliable and consistent approach to gaining feedback, but don’t miss the opportunity when you are with a customer. The mere fact that you have asked sends an amazing message of how you value your customers and their feedback.

11. Ask your customers what they want. Constantly ask your customers what you can do for them and how you can do it better. They may want extended hours, educational classes or the ability to speak with a manager. After you ask, try to give them what they want and keep them informed of the process along the way.

12. Reward your loyal customers with generosity. Look for ways to go the extra mile, particularly for your loyal customers. When possible, bend a rule, throw in a little something extra, waive a fee or send a small gift. Demonstrate through your actions that you consider them to be special and you are thankful for their continued business.

13. Maintain a sense of humor and have fun at work. Your customers want to do business with people who genuinely enjoy what they do. Laugh with your customers and make the service experience fun for them.

14. Thank your customers every chance you get. Sincerely thank your customers. Thank them for calling, bringing in a payment, meeting you at their home, calling in for help, and yes, even calling in to complain! For many, there are options available and they chose your company over the competition.

15. Never take your customers for granted. Your customers ARE your business!

————————————-

David Saxby is president of Measure-X, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based measurement, training and recognition company that specializes in customer service and sales skills training for utilities. He can be reached at 888-644-5499 or via e-mail at david@measure-x.com. Visit the Measure-X Web site at www.measure-x.com.

Let’s talk.

Customers

You want to offer exceptional customer service. You know that a good customer experience leads to benefits for your business like a loyal customer base, customers who are willing to pay a premium for your products, and customers who leave great reviews. And if you’re offering, or thinking of offering live chat customer support, you’re probably already aware of the benefits such as increased sales, high customer satisfaction, and reduced customer support costs.

But what happens when you don’t offer good customer service? Like this example, where the customer service agent addressed his male customer during the chat session as “ma’am” and didn’t have a basic understanding of the problem? Or this example where the customer had to wait 20 minutes before being connected to an agent and received a canned response that didn’t resolve her issue?

Bad customer service can lead to frustrated and dissatisfied customers, a negative reputation for your business, and lots of lost customers. In the examples above, these live chat agents simply didn’t observe some of the general rules of live chat etiquette, or even general customer service etiquette.

Do you want to avoid ending up like them? Then make sure you follow these 10 live chat etiquette tips for your support team.

Rule #1: Don’t Keep Your Customer Waiting

When it comes to live chat, the faster your agent’s response time, the better. Research has shown that over half of all customers have become irritated if they don’t talk to a live person right away while 45% of customers will abandon a purchase if they don’t receive an answer from customer support right away! You should consider having your live chat agents automatically accept live chat requests to allow customers speedy access to the information they’re looking for.

Rule #2: Good Grammar, Spelling, And Use Of Language

Customer

Ensure that your live chat agents have exceptional grammar and spelling skills in whatever language they’re offering the support in. A customer support agent with bad grammar or spelling will indicate to your customer that you don’t value them and will make your entire business seem unprofessional. Provide tools like infographics with common grammar mistakes to avoid or a dictionary widget for their internet browser. Also, your live chat agent should not use internet speak (such as “lol” or “brb”), shorthand, or type in all caps (which may indicate that the agent is shouting). Also, jargon or technical terms should be kept to a bare minimum to prevent the customer from becoming confused.

Rule #3: Provide A Proper Introduction

A bit of familiarity goes a long way in creating an emotional connection between your customer support staff and your customer. By introducing themselves, your agent will put a personal touch on the interaction that will allow the customer to feel more comfortable in exchanging information with your customer support team.

Rule #4: Be Friendly And Cheerful

Being friendly and cheerful can mean the difference between a cold, boring interaction and an enjoyable one. Your customer support agent should be empowered to use a friendly, personable tone when engaging with customers. In fact, one report found that almost 75% of all customers expect their customer service agent to be friendly, meaning that customer service friendliness was expected more than receiving the help that customers need, demonstrating the importance of being friendly.

To Make Customers Happy Don't Skimp On Customer Service Online

Rule #5: Always Be Honest

Your customer should never be lied to or deceived. In a situation where a customer’s demands cannot be immediately met or there is bad news, your live chat agent should be honest with your customer while seeking the next best alternative. If your live chat agent makes a promise, they should make sure to deliver on that promise.

Rule #6: Keep The Chat Positive

Your live chat agent should always endeavor to frame the conversation in a positive manner. In the event that there is negative news, your agent should place that news at the beginning of the interaction while “saving” the positive news for the end, as this has been shown to have a positive effect on customer enjoyment.

Rule #7: Stay On Topic

While it’s important to be friendly, it’s even more important to never lose sight of the goal of solving the customer’s problem. Resist the urge to engage in a discussion that isn’t related to that problem. Even if the customer would like to go off track your customer support agent should steer the conversation back to the issue at hand in a polite manner in order to maintain efficiency.

Rule #8: Be Caring And Empathetic

Sometimes your support team will encounter angry or frustrated customers. Instead of trying to argue with them, your customer support team should work hard to diffuse the situation. They should apologize for any inconvenience caused and be willing to spend a reasonable time to allow the customer to cool down. Your agent needs to be willing to empathize with your customer, let them know that they’re on his or her side and that their feelings of frustration are understandable.

Rule #9: Check In

It is quite common for customers engaged in live chat to take pauses. They could be on a bathroom break or answering an urgent phone call. Whatever the reason, it is important that you do not end the live chat conversation immediately after getting no response. You will want to give your customers 2-3 chances to respond while they’re off, with each chance being at least a couple of minutes before you end the chat.

To Make Customers Happy Don't Skimp On Customer Service Telephone Number

Skimp

Rule #10: End On A High Note

Don’t end a chat session as soon as you think you’ve solved the issue. Your agents need to have a chat ending protocol to ensure customer satisfaction that should include:

Make
  • Thanking the customer for the time taken to discuss their issue,
  • Asking the customer whether their issue has been resolved and if they have anything else that they need assistance with.
  • Wishing them a good day and telling them goodbye.

By training your live chat support team to follow these 10 easy rules of chat etiquette, there is no reason why your team would be unable to provide exceptional customer service. And with a solution like HappyFox Chat to aid them in providing instant responses to resolve issues or finalize sales quickly, what more could you need?

Of course, these 10 are not the only rules of chat etiquette that your live chat support team should follow. Have you got a rule of your own? Let us know what it is in the comments section below.