Has your company ever had a dissatisfied customer? If you’ve been in business for any significant period of time, chances are, the answer is yes. While it’s impossible to please everyone, it’s absolutely within your power to please almost everyone. Great customer service goes a long way in retaining existing customers and attracting new ones.
The Benefits of Great Customer Service
Customer service is about giving your customers what they want, when they want it, in the best way possible. If your business provides great customer service, you have a much better chance of keeping and expanding your customer base.
1) Strengthen Your Initial Point of Contact
The initial point of contact for your business is likely a receptionist. Make sure that this person exemplifies your company’s culture, and has the knowledge to answer any questions that might come their way. If you use a live answering service, ensure that it’s a reputable company that trains its operators to shine in industry-specific roles. For example, an operator for an oil and gas company should be able to understand the jargon and procedures of that industry.
2) Prioritize Communication Training For All Employees
A bad customer experience can occur at any point in the customer lifecycle, ruining your relationships. In addition to making sure the right skills are demonstrated, you need to be sure they’re being demonstrated consistently. Train your employees in customer communication, so that they understand the importance of tone, knowledge and patience.
3) Practice Empathy
Some customers will be angry from the moment they walk in or call. Others will be full of questions. And others will just want to talk. Your employees should know how to handle all of them and provide the same empathetic service every time. Everyone has bad days, and it’s impossible to know what’s going on in their lives. Even the most unreasonable customers deserve respect.
4) Implement Time Management Strategies
Customers appreciate someone who will see their problem through to a resolution. At the same time, you can’t spend too much time handling one customer while others are waiting. Practice tactful ways of ending a conversation or handing it off to another employee. Each customer is valuable, but one shouldn’t monopolize your day.
5) Encourage Customer Feedback
To make sure you know about the kinds of experiences your customers are having, create an accessible way for customers to give feedback. Whether it’s a phone survey at the end of a service call, an email survey sent directly from your CRM tool, or a website form, creating a means for customers to provide feedback makes it easier for you to identify areas of improvement, and address displeased customers before they publically voice their dissatisfaction.
Solutions You Can Trust
The best forward-facing employees in your company should have a fairly deep knowledge of how your product or service and how it works. Without this, they won’t know how to help customers when they run into problems. Outsourcing your answering service is incredibly beneficial, but only if the operator knows your business!
Contact Us for more information about our professional answering service solutions.