It is no secret, companies with terrible customer service gain a bad reputation quickly, and a bad reputation can be difficult to shake. About half of all consumers will give a brand just one week to respond to a question or complaint before they make up their mind to stop doing business with them. On the other hand, companies with great customer service enjoy loyal customers, and preference as a supplier of goods and services among consumers.
Did you know that the cost of attracting new customers is six to seven times that of retaining one of your existing customers? It makes more sense to be providing great customer service to keep costs low, develop a good reputation, and grow your business. But what makes great customer service? Companies with great customer service do not necessarily all follow an exact formula, but they do tend to all perform well in certain areas.
For example, having friendly employees and customer service representatives, creating personalized experiences, and making it easy for the customer to easily find whatever information or product they are looking for are all hallmarks of companies with excellent customer service practices. Here are some tips on how to give great customer service, centered around one of the common customer service problems, mistakes.
- Admitting mistakes.
- Fixing mistakes quickly.
- Avoiding mistakes altogether.
Have you ever had trouble with a product, and called a company to get some answers only to find that the company would do nothing more than deny any and all wrongdoing? Nothing turns a customer away faster than denial of a valid concern. If your company has made some mistake or error, then the best thing that you can do to correct that mistake is first admit it. Your upset customer will be no more upset than they already are, and you will be well on your way to the next step in the process.
As stated earlier, customers do not have limitless patience when it comes to getting responses or services from a company. Fixing a mistake quickly is a key component to providing good customer service. It should be a priority to rectify mistakes as soon as possible so that your unhappy client finds some closure, and receives the quality of product or service that they expected, and which you promised.
While it is good to admit that you have made a mistake and fix it, it is more important to learn from that mistake so that it does not happen again. Make it a point to analyze recent customer complaints with your team, and take steps to change processes that might prevent those mistakes from happening. For example, if a product arrived broken in three different instances in the past month, then perhaps there needs to be some changes made to your packaging processes.
About 52% of respondents in a survey about how companies can do a better job of engaging consumers said that companies should make it easy for them to ask questions and get information about products before they make a purchasing decision. Companies with great customer service will endeavor to adhere to best practices, not just because it is smart for a business financially, but because it is good policy to do good business. The customer might not always be right, but they should always be treated with care.
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