One of the things your client will hardly forgive you is poor customer service. Actually, a third of your customers would leave you after a single bad experience, without even making a complaint.

As much as the quality of your customer service contributes to your customers’ churn, it also contributes to their retention. Your customers are ready to pay more, share their private information, and reward you with their loyalty if your service meets their expectations.

Here are six great tips on how to provide great customer service to your clients, and consequently, improve your bottom line.

Respond quickly

The speed of response and the speed of resolution are the two most important factors of customer service no matter what channel they use to reach us. 

Time is the only resource your customers can’t recover, and they value it preciously. If they have a question to ask or a complaint to make, they want your response to come as quickly as possible.

When it comes to their expectations, with all the technology improvements we’re witnessing, they are only getting higher, and they now expect the immediate, real-time service.

To meet their demands, you need to respond to their requests as soon as possible. However, your customer service will only boost their frustration if your answer is generic, like in the case of British Airways’ response when a client left their complaint on Twitter for losing their suitcase.

Know your product

Your customer support agents spend their working hours troubleshooting for the clients. To be able to help them solve their issues efficiently, they need to know all the details about your product or your service inside-out.

However, in addition to being able to solve the problems your clients are facing, your reps should also be able to go the extra mile and provide additional value. If there are any new features of your service or a product that your customer could benefit from using, your customer service agent should be proactive and offer them guidance. 

Personalize your service

Apart from a timely and expert response from your customer service representatives, you’ll boost your customer satisfaction significantly, if you’re able to provide them with personalized service.

The truth is, your customers expect your reps to know who they are and what they want, as well as all about their previous interactions with your company.

Taking time to learn as much as you can about your clients can go a long way in keeping them happy with your service. It can prove especially important when your company is facing hard times, as these customers you know and call by names and not by their ticket numbers are more likely to be loyal, forgive your mistakes and stick with you.

Train your staff how to best communicate

It’s essential that each one of your employees, especially those working in customer service, is trained on how to communicate with customers properly. 

This means they need to know how to treat your customers with respect, and never let their emotions stand in the way of delivering your customers the best service possible.

They should also be trained on how to really listen to what your customers have to say, while also watching for other signs of non-verbal communication – the tone of their voice if they’re on the phone, or their body language if they’re speaking face to face. 

Automate certain tasks

With the growing demand for 24/7/365 customer service, and the inability of your staff to handle more queries at once, automation can significantly improve your customers’ satisfaction. 

Here are a few suggestions:

  • You can consider implementing a conversational AI chatbot to handle some of your customers’ queries. These chatbots are now able to successfully manage up to 80% of the most common customer queries, and take the significant burden out of your reps shoulders, leaving them more time for the complex ones.
  • If you’re in the world of digital marketing, you can check out SEO reporting tools for agencies and significantly save the time your staff spends on creating reports for your clients, thus enabling them to add more value to the service you’re offering.
  • Your clients won’t always post their complaints or questions on your social media accounts, they will post wherever they find suitable. Use social media listening tools and be informed timely whenever there is a mention of your company online.

Ask for feedback

Customer service reps should always pay close attention to what your customers are saying during their interactions and evaluate how successfully they’ve handled their tasks.

Still, to be able to provide great service to your customers, you should ask them directly for their feedback. You might be surprised by the quality of the suggestions you get.

Don’t be afraid to use questionnaires, surveys or directly ask your customers for their opinion of your service, as the answers you get can really make a difference when it comes to improving it.

Use these great tips to provide great customer service, boost your customer satisfaction and improve your bottom line.

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