Last updated on September 10th, 2021 at 02:41 pm
Customer satisfaction plays a crucial role in the success of your business. No matter how great a service or product you offer, the important though often overlooked aspect of a business is customer service. One of the things that a customer is most likely to remember about your business is their interaction with your company. Leave your customers feeling happy after they have interacted with your business by following these five ways to improve your customer service.
1. Create memorable and personal customer experiences
Creating memorable and personal customer experiences will promote trust between your customers and your business. A study done by Wunderman found that 79% of consumers only buy from brands that prove they care about them. It is quite simple to go that extra mile to create meaningful interactions with your customers. One of the easiest ways to do this is by addressing your customers by name, whether on the phone, in person, or through online interactions such as email or chat.
Personalizing your messages to your customers is one of the fastest ways to build a connection with them. Think about it, if someone calls your name, you’re going to turn around and listen to whoever was calling. A message that begins with “Hey Jackie” is 26% more likely to be opened than a message beginning with “Dear Valued Customer.” By using your customers’ name in your communications with them, they will feel more connected and receptive to your business and messages.
2. Thank your customers
These days, everything is automated. As soon as someone signs up for your mailing list, they receive an automated (and hopefully personalized) welcome message. This is great, you should utilize automation as it is a huge time saver and offers numerous benefits for your business. But you should also consider a more old-fashioned approach. When someone purchases from your website, you should have an automated email message ready to go, thanking them for their business. You should thank your customers, as this shows them how much you value them.
If you have room in your budget, send personalized thank you notes to your customers with their orders. Print a batch of postcards to have at the ready for every order. Hand-write each customer’s name and sign your own for an added personal touch. On top of making your customers feel valued, this can also help generate word-of-mouth advertising for your business. When a customer receives a personalized, handwritten note, they are sure to be pleasantly surprised as not many businesses make that small effort. More often than not, people will take to social media to share the joy and appreciation of this personal touch for all of their online networks to see.
3. Establish clear guidelines
Train your customer service staff and make sure each person understands how important their role is. You can easily improve your customer service by establishing a clear set of guidelines for your employees to follow. For example, always be courteous, positive, and supportive of customers and fellow employees. Training each employee from the start will provide your customer service team with a strong foundation. There are basic customer service guidelines that you should always follow. Such as always answer your business phone, listen to your customers, don’t make promises you cannot keep, etc. Make sure each employee is properly trained to follow these guidelines and any other ones your business has. It wouldn’t hurt to review these guidelines every so often as well to make adjustments as needed. Schedule to have your employees review them periodically.
4. Ask for customer feedback
Unfortunately, odds are you won’t be able to satisfy every single customer or solve every single issue. To help maximize your customer satisfaction, ask your customers for feedback, especially when they are not happy. It’s great to pay attention to your happy customers and listen to their feedback. But it is equally, if not more, important to listen to those that are not quite satisfied with your service. If you create an easy way for your customers to provide feedback, you can find out what you’re doing right, as well as where you can improve. Once you know the areas that need improvement, you can focus your efforts there.
Allowing customers to easily provide feedback will help you learn where you’re falling short in your customer service efforts, and alleviate unhappy customers from taking to social media to publicly voice their grievances. Take the time to allow feedback, look it over and then improve upon it. Your customers will see that you are dedicated to continuously improving your customer service.
5. Reward your loyal customers
Aside from making sure you handle incoming requests and issues from customers, there are other fun ways to improve your customer service such as rewarding your loyal customers. Keep your current customers happy by offering them personal discounts and incentives for their continued support and encourage them to continue buying from you. If you can’t offer discounts, you can offer your most valued customers early access to new features your service offers or extra content that is not publicly available on your website.
The customer makes your business, so having a happy customer is imperative to your success. Follow these 5 ways to improve your customer service, increase your customer satisfaction, and better your business. The more happy customers you have, the more business you will have.
