5 Tips on Providing Outstanding Customer Service | SMB Compass
Ezra Cabrera | July 22, 2019
Business owners want nothing more than to create loyal customers who patronize the products and services they offer. That’s why so many apply for fast business loans, which allows them to implement expensive marketing strategies and advertising methods used to instill loyalty in clients. While these measures are effective, there’s another strategy that works better and requires little to no capital – customer service.
The key to providing exceptional customer service lies in cultivating you possessing a genuine desire to go the extra mile for your customers. Great customer experience doesn’t just happen in a face to face setting; it should also be implemented on social media, company websites, and in telephone communications. You need to constantly think of ways to make your customer experience superior to that of your competitors.
Here are five tips to help you:
1. Really Know What You’re Selling
Customer service employees generally spend a majority of their time solving product-related problems for customers. How can you effectively solve their problems if you don’t have in-depth product/service knowledge?
Expansive product knowledge is a crucial part of delivering great customer service. Ideally, you should be able to discuss your product or service’s features, how it benefits your customers, and how to fix it in great detail. Ideally, you should let your customers feel like they are receiving enormous value for their money. Be sure you learn everything there is to know about your products and services so you can help your customers in any and all ways.
2. Personalize Your Services
Personalizing your service means knowing your customers first hand and treating them as friends. While automation is an important part of customer support, it can’t replace genuine human interaction when it comes to providing excellent customer service.
Studies show that 40% of consumers want better human service. Your customers would prefer to interact with a person – not your company or your brand. Many companies know this which is why many send gifts to customers during special occasions.
In order to personalize service, it’s important to know your customers – their names, birthdays, and even their interest and hobbies. Although you can’t do this for every customer, it helps to go off the usual script and add a personal touch when it comes to customer service. This goes to show you care about your customers and you want what’s best for them.
Related: How to Keep Your Customers Happy: The Secrets to Success
3. Positive Attitude is Everything
If you’re looking to improve customer service, keep in mind that your attitude is everything. How would you feel if you went into a store and the staff greeted you with a frown? You probably would not purchase from that establishment.
Additionally, the right attitude turns a negative customer experience into a positive one. Whether online or off, a positive attitude should always be portrayed in your language and tone of voice, especially in written communications. It’s easy to misinterpret emails or live chats since you’re not interacting face to face.
Your brain uses different signals to interpret a person’s tone, such as facial expressions, body language and more. Since your customers won’t be able to detect this online, a good idea is to use smiley faces, stickers, and emojis.
4. Listen to Your Customers
When a customer gives feedback – positive or negative – make sure that you’re actively paying attention. Let your customers know you’re listening to them as they speak to you. It’s a good idea to even go as far as entering into the mind of the speaker; putting yourself in their shoes. By listening attentively, you’ll be able to hear your customer’s problems and solve them effectively and quickly.
Every customer is different. If you want to personalize your service, your response to feedback should be tailored to customers based on their complaint, personality, and emotional state. Active listening helps you become aware of your customer’s personality and current emotional state.
5. Keep Your Promise
The number one rule of customer service is this: deliver what you promised. If you promise something to your customers, make sure you can deliver. You can’t build credibility and earn the respect of your customers if you break your word.
In the event that you can’t keep a promise, be sure you make up for it. For example, you can offer to replace a defective item, refund their money, offer more discounts, or give an item away at no charge. Even though you’ll lose a bit of money, you’ll gain a loyal customer in the long run.
Fast Business Loans for Small Businesses
While it’s true that you don’t need much to improve customer service, you do need working capital for daily business operations. If you find yourself in a cash crunch, fast business loans are the answer. With enough cash, you can make some necessary improvements in your services. This, in turn, will help attract and retain customers which will be helpful in the growth of your business.
Related: 4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Fast Business Loans
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