As the owner of a business, all one wants is a satisfied customer, right? After all, they are the key to helping your business grow. Having a performing and responsive online store is vital, nonetheless, a successful customer service strategy can take your business to the next level.
Think about that. Who wouldn’t like to leave a good impression on a first-time visitor? Likewise, a returning customer satisfied with the quality of your service is keen to leave a review and even refer your services to friends and family.
Whether you are starting or running a business, this article will aim to provide some important insights on how to create a successful customer service strategy.
The Importance of Maintaining a Good Customer Service Strategy
Do you take the time to analyse what your customers say about your business? Are they truly satisfied? Before we allude to the steps to craft outstanding customer service, we will dedicate some lines on why you should not take your customer service department for granted.
As acknowledged before, customer service is an effective tool for businesses to acquire a competitive advantage. In addition to improving first-time visitors’ engagement, it allows for the opportunity to retain customers.
Returning customers tend to buy more often and even spend more, as they already know your services to a certain extent. According to Hubspot’s report, only a 5% increase in customer retention can increase company revenue by 25-95%.
6 Steps to Craft a Successful Customer Service Strategy
Keep the Conversation Going With Your Customers
Do you keep track of what your customers have to say? Furthermore, do you allow them to somewhat keep the conversation going? Firstly, we know that most customer service departments have an email address for customers to easily address their concerns.
However, nowadays, most services are aware of the importance of responding promptly to customers, hence by having a live chat service available on the website. It is a huge advantage for buyers throughout their customer journey.
All data generated from conversations with customers have great value for any business. Thereby, you can access the most common requests. It is an easy way to know how your customer feels and what should be revised or upgraded.
Another way to keep an eye on customers’ feedback is by reaching buyers after-sales. For instance, this can be through a quick survey submitted via email with their order confirmation. Furthermore, you can likewise take a moment to verify and reply to their products review.
In that way, they will be sure that their voices are heard and that your company is working on those improvements!
Close the Feedback Loop
Speaking about customer feedback, consider closing the feedback loop. No one likes the feeling of receiving negative feedback, but companies better figure out a way to inform them they got it and are considering ways to fix the issue or compensate the customer.
Just as we highlighted before, responding to both positive and negative comments and reviews is a way to ensure the customer is heard and receiving the attention they deserve.
Therefore, dropping them a line won’t take too long and the customer will be happy to know they were not ignored. If the feedback is way too negative, analyse the case attentively and consider compensation.
Consider Offering a Special Discount or a Reward
Let’s face it: everyone loves a discount. Luckily, there are many ways to compensate customers with discounts and special offers. For existing businesses, a rewards program, or referral program can be an effective way to motivate customers to shop again.
Moreover, for new business, a welcome discount is a wonderful strategy. Some customers feel way more appealed to shop if they get a discount to place their first order.
Provide Self-Service Solutions
Some customers do not have a significant request to make. They might need information about a specific product, or just wish to check one thing about the refund policy. Moreover, living in such a fast-paced world, they have no time to waste and simply expect a quick and efficient solution when they shop online.
More than having an effective FAQ ready, a chatbot can complement the self-service assistance.
Focus On a Personalized Approach
Providing self-service solutions is a significant step to take. Furthermore, if you want to add that extra touch, consider personalization. If the customer mentions their name, use it to reply to the following messages.
Moreover, most customer service tools nowadays allow us to check the customer’s history. Thanks to that feature, it is possible to reach them already knowing what kind of concerts they had before. Therefore, there is time to prepare personalized replies or provide special offers if that applies.
Enhance Your Digital Customer Service
People spend more time than ever on the internet, and they feel extremely frustrated when they realize something is not working promptly throughout their customer journey. When it comes to customer service, make sure that customers can switch channels smoothly in case they want to.
In other words, the more customers have the possibility to do everything within a single channel, the more satisfied they will be. Can they ask for information through live chat and place the order directly on the chat if they wish to? That would be perfect. If this is not a possibility at the moment, find ways to integrate the communication offered through all the channels where your service is available.
Build a Perfect Customer Service Strategy
Building and maintaining a successful customer service strategy is a never-ending task. Business evolves, and so do your customers. Adapting and eventually changing is part of the process. Hopefully, we can count on new technologies to make the communication between businesses and customers easier.
Therefore, make good use of your customer’s feedback to keep improving your services!
Do you think you could use some help in crafting your successful customer service strategy? Say hello!
