In order for a business to be successful, you must be able to provide excellent customer service and support. Customers are at the heart of any business, and if you are unable to offer your customers full support, then you will soon start to lose money.
Therefore, it is so important that you are able to find ways to improve customer service and support within your business. Good customer service is what can make your business stand out, and it can help you retain a loyal customer base.
Loyal customers will also often tell their friends when they have received good customer service, which can lead to more profit for your company.
In this article, we will go over 5 ways that your business can improve customer service and customer support. If you find that your business has been lacking in the customer service department, then this article is for you! Keep on reading to find out our top customer service tips.
Utilise Technological Solutions
One thing you can do to improve customer service within your business is to utilise technological solutions. Essentially, this just means taking advantage of the technology available and using it to help you deliver excellent customer service.
One of the best things to come out of the evolution of technology is the ability to be able to communicate with someone 24/7. Of course, this is mainly used by people to talk to their friends and family, but it also has applications within the business world too.
For example, integrating knowledge base systems allows you to respond quickly to customer complaints by providing a centralized hub of information. This not only facilitates rapid issue resolution but also empowers customers to find solutions independently while searching for tutorials, how-to manuals, and frequently asked questions, all in one place.
If your business offers IT support to customers, then it would be beneficial to have a way of having remote desktop access, so that you can fix any issues remotely. TSplus remote support allows your business to share screens and see the issues directly, which means that when customers are experiencing any IT issues, your team can access their desktop and resolve the issue.”
Provide Proper Training To Staff
When it comes down to providing excellent customer service, one of the most important things you need to do is train your staff properly. Your staff are the ones that will be dealing with customers, so it is crucial that they are properly trained and that they know what they are doing.
Without providing the essential training to your staff, they will be unable to resolve any issues that customers have, which will just lead to disgruntled customers. Disgruntled customers mean less money for your business, so it really is important that you give your staff the training they need.
Of course, initial training for new employees is a must, but it may also be beneficial to offer additional training every few months so that your employees can get a refresher course on customer service.
Offering additional training is also a great way of getting together with your team and it can be a good opportunity for people to ask questions and make suggestions about the current way the business runs.
It could be that they have had a lot of the same complaints from customers, or it could be that your employees need extra support. Whatever it is, having the opportunity to discuss these issues as team will ultimately help you deliver better customer service.
Promote And Encourage Customer Feedback
Another thing you can do to help improve customer service within your business is to encourage customer feedback. As a business, it is so important that you value the opinions of your customers, so you must ensure that you are giving your customers the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions.
A great way to gather feedback from your customers is to send out an automated email every time they have used your services. It should just be a short email that asks customers if they would be willing to provide feedback of the service they have just received.
It would be best to use some kind of survey software or customer service tool, instead of customers just responding to an email, as this will just make it easier for you to access the feedback. Go through this feedback once a week or even once a month and see if there is a common suggestion that keeps popping up.
It could be something like they find the website difficult to navigate, or they may struggle with filling out a certain form. Whatever the feedback is, you should listen to it and act on it straight away. This way, when those customers use your services again, they will know that you have listened to them and that you value their opinions.
Have A Clear Set Of Service Standards
Having a clear set of service standards is so important within a business, as it gives your employees something structured to follow when they are providing customer service. Setting your own customer service standards also means that you can make changes to them whenever you need to.
Sometimes it can be difficult to navigate through customer service when a customer is very angry, however, if your employees have a guideline to follow, it can just make everything that little bit easier. You should have a series of questions for your employees to ask customers, as this will allow them to get the relevant information out of the customer.
However, it is important to remember to still be friendly and open when asking these questions, as you don’t want it to appear that you are bored and just working your way through a checklist.
You should also allow a lot of breathing room between each question and allow employees to have informal chat with the customers, if appropriate. Doing this can help make customers feel valued, and it can also ease some of the stress or worry they may be feeling.
Personalise Your Customer Service
Personalising your customer service is another great way of improving customer support within your business. When customers have a complaint, or they have an issue with something, ultimately, they just want their feelings to be heard and they just want someone to help them.
Because of this, it is a good idea that you tell your staff to personalise their customer service to every customer they speak to. Of course, it is important that you keep up with the standards set by the business, but you will have much happier customers if you are able to tailor your customer service skills to each issue that arises.
Not only will it make the customers happier, but it can also help you enjoy your job more as you won’t just be following the same monotonous protocol.
You should allow your employees the freedom to chat with customers, as this can help customers feel more at ease and it can calm them down if they are angry at something.
Being able to calm down customers when they are angry is definitely a skill, but as long as your employees have a calm and welcoming approach, you should be able to talk the customers down.
