8 Golden Rules to Attaining Excellent Customer Service
As a business owner, it is pertinent to have quality products and services that serve and meet your target audience’s needs. The other core facet of business success is hinged on customer service. You want your services and products are available to your prospective customers at their convenience. You also want a good rapport with your customers to keep them coming back. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Here are eight practical rules to attaining top-notch customer service.
Ensure communication is seamless
The business terrain is radically changing. Most customers shop from the comfort of their homes at a tap of a finger. Most of your prospective customers do everything virtually. That is why you need to make sure that you have a working phone number for your business. Besides, you need to ensure that you have a team to answer the customer calls, respond to their queries, and promote your business, etc. Picking calls shows that your business cares about the customers and will keep them faithful to your business.
Tip: It is also essential to invest in social media communication channels to give consumers options in getting in touch with you.
Keep your word
It takes a lot of effort and investment to win the trust of a customer and retain them. Remember, there is high competition, and all businesses are trying to sell their goods and services. You need to build a good relationship with your customers if you are to get ahead of the pack. As a rule of thumb, be very careful not to do something that affects your business rating. For example, you need to keep the promises that you make to your customers. If you promise that you will deliver their purchase on a given time, make no mistake of going against your word and failing to keep your promises. In case you fail to keep the promise for a genuine reason, it is your obligation to reach out to the customer, explain and apologize and make them understand when they will receive their goods. This will help that their trust in you will not erode.
Give a listening ear
Your customers will not know everything about your business or products and services. At times, they will seek clarification and more information from time to time. If a customer approaches you to talk to you about their concern, it is only right that you pay keen attention. Imagine if a customer talks to you, and you are not paying attention, and you force them to say the same thing over again? That only shows that you are not interested in their business and may lose customer trust.
Use tech to improve customer service
Tech can also help you scale up your service and support. The beauty is that you do not have to be everywhere physically to assist customers. You can automate processes and have machines helping. For example, you can invest in such tools as chatbots, which will respond to queries from your customer 24/7 even when you have closed your physical shop. These tools can help respond to customer queries automatically, saving you time and the cost of hiring staff at every customer service touchpoint.
Talking of saving costs, you don’t need to invest a lot in tech infrastructure to meet your customer service needs. You can even outsource world-class IT support to help you build proper infrastructure for your business and support your staff. It will save you a lot in cash-you will only be paying for the services and infrastructure you need plus you will have access to a team of professionals you might not afford to have on your payroll. All in all, the right IT infrastructure and tools are essential in attaining the excellent service you are craving.
Handle all complaints professionally
The customers are always right, and even when they are not, treat them as such. Customers may come to you because your product had issues. Even though you are convinced that you have the right products, you must listen and follow up. And if there is a way of intervening like reimbursing the customer, make sure you do so. This is necessary to avoid any negative publicity that may affect your business. Better even, use feedback to improve the products!
Be ready to assist
People will come to you to ask for assistance, even if they are not necessarily making purchases. For example, if you are in the phone industry, a customer may approach you to find accessories even though they did not buy their phones. Try as much as you can to assist them and show concern. This will attract them to your business and will gain you word of mouth referrals.
Invest in your staff
You also need the right people handling your customers. For starters, it is essential that your employees trained on handling complaints and queries from customers and attending to the customers. Treat them well and they will treat your customers better. In other words, give them the right platform to do their best.
Show concern
Attending to your customers’ needs goes beyond pointing the direction where they can retrieve the item they are looking to purchase. For example, if a customer comes to your clothing store and asks for a trouser their size, take the initiative of taking their measurements and walking them right to where the trousers are. Make an effort to find their favorite or preferred color and show them where it is. Making the extra efforts is crucial as it shows your customers that you are concerned about them.
Final thoughts
Succeeding in business and beating the competition in your niche will require you to go beyond having good services and products. You will need to ensure that your customer service is top-notch. Attend to all customer needs and queries to win their trust and see your business grow!
