You can start by improving the overall experience a customer has when they get in touch with your business. Regardless of the channel, you need to make sure you are providing clear, friendly and helpful communication at all times. Whether it be by phone, in-person, via email, or in a messenger app, you need to make the experience pleasant and effective.
1. Make The First Impression Count
First impressions count for a lot, so you want to make sure your business gives a good one. That means answering the phone in a professional manner, greeting a customer as they enter your store, or sending a well worded and grammatically correct email or message.
Don’t be afraid to embrace automated systems to allow first interactions to run smoothly. They need to be designed with the customer in mind and function well. If they do, that first impression for your customer will be pleasant. But if your phone system sends them round in circles, or they only deal with automated responses, then the impression will not be a good one.
When using automation you need to make sure you follow the automated interaction with a personalised one by calling or messaging back as a real live human.
2. Minimise Response Times
People are busy and they don’t like to be kept waiting. They have contacted your business for a reason and are looking for answers. The last thing you want is for them to hang up the phone, or check out your competition because they have waited too long for an email response.
Again this is where automation can help. Having a good phone system can direct them to the extension they need quickly, or can offer a call back service so they don’t have to hang on the line. Utilising a good online system to send appropriate responses will also let your customers know their message has been received and when they can expect to hear back from you.
One of the greatest ways to minimise response times is to have a live chat function on your website. Your customers will instantly be able to connect with a representative of your business and have their queries answered.
3. Make Customer Service A Priority
You cannot afford to drop the ball when it comes to customer service because it is the main form of interaction between a customer and a business. Poor service will reflect negatively on your reputation and in a world of online reviews you do not want that. Don’t let communication breakdown between you and your customers. Solve their issues, fix their problems and make their interactions with your brand positive.
4. Treat Your Customers Like Real People
Treat them like real people because they are real people. They are not another number in the system, an inconvenience with a complaint or a waste of your precious time. Without customers your business would not function. So treat them with the respect they deserve.
That means not speaking from a script and having a genuine interaction. Keep in mind how you can best serve your customers and the tools you have to do it. Utilise purchase history information and any other data you have at your disposal.
Communicating better will create a better experience for them and also for you. That ease of communication will leave them more likely to buy from you and to refer others to your business also.